MAGIC: Magic Blog: Glass Half Full

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani once said he could walk out into the middle of Times Square and start handing out $100 bills. A third of the people would say he was not handing out enough money. Another third would say he was handing out too much money. Another third would say they didn’t like the way he was handing out the money. Welcome to a new feature on orlandomagic.com – GLASS HALF-FULL. A local sports writer once told me that his job was to watch the battle from the mountain top, ride down, and bayonet the wounded. We live in a world of cynics. But not here, at GLASS HALF-FULL. I will do my best to answer your questions going forward.

What can you expect? Rainbows and gum drops. No scraped knees and rubbing alcohol, here. I will give you the flip side. I will give you Cotton Candy, not the dentist’s office. It’s not Fast Food. It’s Good Food Fast. Being negative takes up a lot of energy. Being nice is easy. Will there be some spin? Sure, but I prefer the word “Influence”. By nature, I am an optimist. Sure, former draft pick Jerryl Sasser couldn’t shoot, but you should have seen him defend in practice. And, he had a never-wavering confidence about him. You say, “What’s the deal with Fran Vazquez staying in Spain to play? I say, he’s still an asset to the Magic and that’s part of the process of drafting international players. Hopefully, that gives you a look into the Magic-blue colored world I can tend to drift into. My takes will be credible though, just the other side of the coin. Archived Columns

Do you have questions? Get your answers by emailing glasshalffull@orlandomagic.com.

Posted by Glass Half Full, Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 6:55 PM

Future Power Rankings

Every once in a while, someone just shows how the glass is half full better than Glass Half Full. Having said that, here is ESPN’s paragraph on the Orlando Magic in its “Future Power Rankings” currently featured on ESPN.com:

“The Magic look like one of the league's teams to beat in 2009-10, and we're guessing that will continue to be the case for the following three years as well. Orlando is blessed with a young superstar big man in Dwight Howard, and most of the veteran cast around him -- Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson, Mickael Pietrus and Vince Carter, for example -- should remain spry enough to contribute strongly to the cause for a few more seasons. There is young talent, too, in Brandon Bass, Ryan Anderson, J.J. Redick and Marcin Gortat. But it appears we can stop mentioning that they own the rights to Fran Vazquez. In the front office, the Magic have several strengths -- one of the league's premier coaches in Stan Van Gundy, the committed ownership of the DeVos family and an underrated general manager in Otis Smith. That pushed Orlando to a fourth-best finish in this category. When it comes to money, Orlando has no cap space for the foreseeable future. The Magic are willing to pay the tax, however, despite their small market, and the new arena that comes online next year should help considerably on the money front. They also benefit from one of the league's most desirable markets. Orlando's balmy weather, the Magic's winning ways and the lack of state taxes in Florida combine to put them near the top of the list for any prospective free agent. The one area in which the Magic can't expect much further help is the draft -- it appears they'll be picking somewhere between 27th and 30th for the next few years.”

Posted by Glass Half Full, Tuesday, November 3, 2009, 10:33 AM

The Little Engine That Could

Jameer Nelson is the little engine that could.

While Dwight Howard rightfully commands the attention, a look at his point guard's numbers show just how valuable he is.

In wins last year and in the early going this season Nelson is averaging 17.7 ppg, while shooting 53 percent from the field overall and 53 percent from three-point range. He has 202 assists against just 67 turnovers and averages 1.4 steals per game.

Not so glass half full, in losses over the last season-plus Nelson averages 12.9 ppg., shoots 37 percent overall and 23 percent from three-point land. He has 40 assists and 22 turnovers and averages 0.7 steals per game.

Jameer makes the Magic go.

Posted by Glass Half Full, Saturday, October 31, 2009, 1:09 AM

First Quarter Magic

You ever hear someone say that the only thing that matters in the NBA is the last two minutes of the game?

Not so.

Take your Magic for instance.

Last season the Magic were all but unbeatable when leading after the first quarter. The Magic have led after the first quarter in each of its first two games this year - both wins.

Here's a look back at the best records when leading after the first quarter last year:

Orlando Magic 47-4 .922
Los Angeles Lakers 41-5 .891
Cleveland Cavaliers 46-7 .868
Portland Trail Blazers 33-6 .846
Phoenix Suns 33-7 .825

Posted by Glass Half Full, Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 11:56 PM

Three-Point Play

1) Dwight Howard has grabbed 2,254 rebounds the last two seasons. That is the highest back-to-back total since Dennis Rodman in 1992-93 – 1993-94 seasons.

Most Rebounds in Back-to-Back Seasons - Since 1992-93

Dennis Rodman: 1992-93 - 1993-94 2499 (1132 + 1367)

Dwight Howard: 2007-08 - 2008-09 2254 (1161 + 1093)

Kevin Garnett: 2003-04 - 2004-05 2247 (1139 + 1108)

Kevin Garnett: 2002-03 - 2003-04 2241 (1102 + 1139)

Shaquille O'Neal: 1992-93 - 1993-94 2194 (1122 + 1072)

2) After missing the second half of last season, Jameer Nelson is back and healthy. When Nelson went down, he was putting up the best numbers of his career.

Jameer Nelson, 2008-09 Stats (w/Single-Season Career Ranks)

Minutes/Gm: 31.2 (Most)

Points/Gm: 16.7 (702/42) (Most)

3PM/Gm: 1.95 (82/42) (Most)

3P Pct.: .453 (82/181) (Best)

FG Pct.: .503 (267/531) (Best)

3) Here’s a look at the NBA blocked shot leaders since 2004-05:

Dwight Howard - 814

Samuel Dalembert - 778

Emeka Okafor - 621

Jermaine O’Neal - 610

Yao Ming - 609

Special thanks to Stats LLC for being a service provider for Orlando Magic broadcast partner Sun Sports/FSN, as well as GHF.

Posted by Glass Half Full, Friday, October 23, 2009, 4:06 PM

Encore, Encore

So, what does Superman do for an encore?

After being named First Team All-NBA, Defensive Player of the Year, and garnering an NBA-record 3.1 million All-Star votes, Dwight Howard and his super friends are looking to take the next step.

Personally for Howard -- who remained on the bench to watch the L.A. Lakers celebrate the title on the Amway Arena floor - his stated goal is simple this season, win the championship.

To that end, Howard will personally focus on three areas as the Magic Kingdom jumps on his broad shoulders.

First, he will again look to dominate defensively. This 23-year-old is a very unique player in the fact that he can absolutely dominate a game without scoring. Remember, he became just the fifth player in NBA history to lead the league in both rebounding and blocked shots in the same season, joining the likes of Addul-Jabbar, Walton, Olajuwon and Ben Wallace.

Second, he will look to stay poised and patient in the post offensively. Hack-A-Howard and the double- and triple-teams will be coming full force and Dwight will look to make the opposition pay by slowing down a little and effectively passing out of the paint to what he calls his “snipers”, a.k.a. the Magic’s three-point shooters that go by the names of Lewis, Carter, Nelson, et al. If the opposition looks to pay more attention to the perimeter, look for Howard to score big in the paint and with an ever-expanding offensive repertoire.

Third, he will continue to work on his free throws. He has worked extremely hard and will continue to do so. GHF predicts a career-best percentage from the line.

Dominate defensively, poised and patient offensively, and a few free throws are the secrets to Howard, and Magic, success.

Posted by Glass Half Full, Thursday, October 1, 2009, 3:05 PM

Magical Swiss Army Knife

As training camp practice hit its third straight day of double sessions, one thing is Glass Half Full crystal clear: the Magic resemble a Rubik's Cube.

Multiple players can play multiple positions which in turn will create match-up nightmares for the foes, while also allowing the Magic to defend in a multitude of ways depending on the situation.

Can you say Swiss Army Knife.

Take newcomer Matt Barnes for example. The six-foot-seven incher can play shooting guard, small forward or even power forward. "Half Man, Half Amazing" Vince Carter plays, two, three and can handle up top as a point forward. Mickael Pietrus can slide from the two to the three and Brandon Bass can play the four and five, as can the Polish Hammer Marcin Gortat.

Rashard Lewis who has been a match-up problem as a power forward can slide between the four and small-forward, six-foot-ten Ryan Anderson shoots it like a two, and Jameer Nelson is a scoring point guard.

Glass Half Full even saw Dwight Howard drain a three-pointer after practice Wednesday night.

Posted by Glass Half Full, Friday, September 25, 2009, 11:37 AM

Glass Half Full is Back

Here’s to short summers.

Shorts summers – it was just 107 days since last season ended to the start of training camp - translates into your Magic playing into June and for the NBA Championship. With that in mind, here are the Glass Half Full keys, in three-point play fashion, for the season, and for another short summer.

1) Stay Hungry … In the words of owner Rich DeVos, the Magic are “happy, but not satisfied.” And that is key numero uno – stay hungry. The Magic can not be satisfied with last year’s Eastern Conference Championship season which boasted 59 wins (including 27 road wins), a second straight Southeast Divisional title and a 6-3 regular season mark vs. the other big three (Cleveland, Boston and the Lakers). The team will look to come to the gym each night with that hungry like a bear mentality, playing each possession like it is their collective last. There can be no “flipping the switch” mentality and the team while having it’s eye on the grand prize, will have to work each day, practice, game and possession to get back the opportunity it had last June. All that, knowing they have a bigger bull's-eye on their back. There will be no sneaking up on people and a ton of attention to deal with (24 national television appearances), all things which come with success.

2) Play Together … One of the keys of last year’s group was that they always played together. Everyone knew their role, everyone bought into the concept of the sum is bigger than the parts. The Magic kept their core together, Superman and his super friends, and added five new faces in Vince Carter, Ryan Anderson, Matt Barnes, Brandon Bass and Jason Williams. How they gel will go a long way in getting to the finish line.

3) Defense … While most focused on the Magic’s three-point shooting and inside-outside, spread-them-out, pick-your-poison offensive attack last year, it was actually the defensive mentality which was the key to success. Head Coach Stan Van Gundy will look for that same effort, an effort which saw the team ranked in the Top 10 of seven different defensive categories. Orlando allowed 94.4 ppg., while holding opponents to a 43.3 shooting percentage. Whether holding opponents down in the shooting percentage, limiting transition and points in the paint opportunities or playing hard without fouling, Orlando must bring its defensive mentality. Over the last two years the Magic are 81-18 during the regular season when holding foes under 100 points.

Joel Glass is the Vice President of Communications for the Orlando Magic.