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Overall
Win/Loss Record (as of November 30th): 6-10, fifth place Southeast
Division
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26
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This Month:
23
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Team
Statistics and League Rank
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Individual
Statistical Leaders
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SDH’s Worst of the Month: Jameer Nelson
 It is not so much for his game that Jameer Nelson has been placed as November's worst, but for the mere fact that he simply does not belong on this young up and coming team in Orlando. Nelson is essentially a dinosaur from a bygone era and should have never been re-signed by the Magic after the team sent +Dwight Howard away to the +Los Angeles Lakers. For much of his time in Orlando, Jameer was much less of a facilitator and more of a spot up shooter who got the ball off screens and from kick out from the paint. Now he is expected to perform in a role that he has not done in his entire career which has resulted in him in not being as efficient on the offensive end as he once was. Plus, his presence takes away minutes from the Magic's up and comers such as third year point man E'Twaun Moore and Victor Oladipo thus making him more a hindrance than a help in Orlando's youth movement. | SDH’s First of the Month: Nikola Vucevic Last season Vucevic was one of the pleasant surprises of the 2013 NBA season as he burst out the gates with a splendid sophomore effort averaging a double-double in points and rebounds. This season, he has raised the bar going from being a decent NBA caliber center to a potential All Star posting phenomenal numbers yet again averaging a new career high in points in 15.0 per game while hitting his shot with a splendid .557 accuracy. By the end of November, he scored in double figures in all but two games with eight of them being 15 points or more while at the same time posting eight double-double games as well. Certainly, Vucevic has proven to be more of a blessing for an Orlando team that had lost a superstar big man a season prior and may possibly be in line to be the next great center to play in South Florida following the path of such greats who have passed through there such as Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard; however, unlike them, he was not selected first overall in the NBA Draft nor was he expected to have a major impact as his predecessors. If he maintains his stellar production, Vucevic will certainly be in the running for the Most Improved Player Award or even an All Star team selection; nonetheless, his stock has definitely increased and will certainly be one of Orlando's top priorities to secure once he becomes eligible for a contract extension after this season. |
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Last season when many had expected the Orlando Magic to simply slip away into oblivion after trading away their star of the past seven years Dwight Howard, Orlando did the opposite as it showed to still have plenty of fight left in them. And despite finishing with the league's worst record, the Magic proved to be one of the teams to watch out for as the finished the regular season with by compiling a treasure trove of young talent that would rival any in the league. In what many would consider rather dark period, the Magic made the best of a bad situation by discovering quite a few diamonds in the rough with limitless upside in young athletic talents such as Arron Afflalo, Nikola Vucevic, Andrew Nicholson, Maurice Harkless, and Tobias Harris, to name a few. Armed with the second pick of last summer's NBA draft who happened to be Victor Oladipo, this young and surprising talented Orlando Magic team planned to certainly turn some head this upcoming season and they have certainly surpassed even the most optimistic of expectations. So far, despite their 6-10 start, the Orlando Magic have played with such a poise, coherence and consistency that is rarely seen in most young rebuilding teams and while many still expect this team to return to the lottery once again at season's end, those doubters will certainly be in for quite a shock as this Magic team looks to defy all expectations.
It is sad to say that many have so far overlooked the Magic due to its 6-10 start, but upon closer analysis, one will see that this team is far more better than their record would appear as they have thus far statistically outperformed their opponents in the first 16 games of the season in spite of their losing record. The Magic rank among the top ten teams in field goal percentage, and have thus far kept their opponents to shooting under .450 percent from the field while at the same time forcing them to turn over the ball at a rather high rate. Upon looking at the numbers, one can see that this is a truly focused and disciplined team despite the majority of its roster being under the age of 25 and unlike most team who are in the same situation, the Magic have not allowed themselves to allow their inexperience be an impediment to them. In fact, one can go as far to say that the Magic are in fact a far more polished team that most of their opponents in their own conference, especially from such veteran teams who should be performing way better than they have been in the +New York Knicks and +Brooklyn Nets. And despite their losing record, in an Eastern Conference that has been relatively sad thus far, the Magic, with their rather impressive team numbers can might just become a dark horse in the conference and might just surprise many a spectator with a unexpected playoff appearance which will certainly dumbfound many a commentator who had Orlando at the bottom of their regular season projections. The only true weakness that has been holding back the Magic is their high propensity of turning over the ball on offense as can be seen by them being near the bottom of the league in protecting the ball which can be blamed on their lack of a true point guard. At it stands now, the team's most senior member at the point guard position has spent most of his career as a catch and shoot player while the other two are either too green to be trusted full time at the point or simply past his prime and can no longer make a major impact. Other than acquiring an elite caliber point guard, there are really no other major gaps in terms of roster depth for the magic as they already have two All Star caliber players to build on in swing man Arron Afflalo, who currently leads the team in scoring, and Nikola Vucevic, who has truly blossomed in his third season as a go to player in the paint. Both of them are surrounded by a bevy of athletically gifted and talented players who are both quite versatile having the size, shooting range, and skill to play numerous positions which can prove to be an even greater asset than acquiring the number one draft pick in next season's draft. With the treasure trove of talent the team possesses, they can easily pull of a trade to acquire one or even two marquee name players the same way that Danny Ainge did with the +Boston Celtics gathering enough desirable assets to pull off a trade to get +Kevin Garnett and +Ray Allen to play alongside +Paul Pierce. And we all know what happened as a resulted--namely four Atlantic Division titles, two NBA Finals appearances, and the Celtics' first NBA tile since 1986--which will certainly gives fans in Orlando plenty of hope for the future whether or not their team's front office decides to make a move or not. It was originally believed that Orlando would face a long hard road to rebuilding right after the massive Dwight Howard trade, but in fact it was the complete opposite as the Magic actually came out far better off than the other teams involved in that trade. The +Los Angeles Lakers, the team who acquired Howard struggled to make the playoffs last season with him in the lineup and not only did they lose Dwight in the off season, but they also seem to be heading downhill very fast and may probably be heading to lottery upon season's end. The +Philadelphia 76ers got equally gipped in the deal as their major acquisition, +Andrew Bynum, who now plays for the +Cleveland Cavaliers, was lost to them for all of last season and probably will never return to his All Star form due to his chronically arthritic knees. Finally, the +Denver Nuggets would come out of the whole deal on top of the other three as the presence of +Andre Iguodala helped the team win a franchise record 57 games last season; however, that satisfaction would be short lived as Iggy would bolt in the off season signing with the +Golden State Warriors leaving the Nuggets empty handed and headed for a downfall of their own. Now, the Magic have come up smelling like roses as they not only acquired a bevy of young talent in the deal, but also possess three first round picks from the Lakers, Sixers and Nuggets which all may end up as high lottery picks with the way all three teams have been playing. As it stands now, Orlando is not only on the fast track to return to playoff contention, but if the Magic uses their assets wisely to pull off a big trade and get a marquee player either by the trade deadline or in the off season, can potentially become a force in not only the Eastern Conference, but the entire league. Already the Magic are still in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race despite currently resting at the bottom of their division barely behind the +Atlanta Hawks, +Charlotte Bobcats, and +Washington Wizards by just a few games to a point where a well placed run can jockey Orlando to second place. Unfortunately, that is unlikely to happen until the Magic manage to figure out a way of holding onto the ball and not allowing their opponents to score an estimated 31.2 points per game off their turnovers. Nonetheless, the Magic are still on the right track on the road to return to respectability as they have shown through their solid execution and consistent play on both ends of the floor. It will be interesting to see what will happen in the coming months as Orlando has an overflowing war chest of young talent which most NBA team can only dream of having and just one mid season move can change the the team's destination from returning to the lottery to making a potential post season run. As the months go by and as teams become more desperate to shake up their rosters in an effort to make the playoffs, watch the Magic to be mentioned in numerous trade rumors and scenario as they will certainly be a team to watch out for as the regular season rolls on. |
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Tuesday, December 31, 2013
SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for November: 23. Orlando Magic
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