Denton: Magic-Suns Notes
By John Denton
December 11, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
PHOENIX – Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy met with Rashard Lewis Friday morning to discuss the standout power forward’s declining to re-enter a game Thursday in Utah, and the issue was deemed ``no big deal at all.’’
Lewis picked up two fouls in the first five minutes of Thursday’s 120-111 loss to the Utah Jazz. When reserve power forward Ryan Anderson scored 14 first-half points, Lewis told Van Gundy that he’d rather stay out of the game and leave Anderson in.
Van Gundy admitted after the game that he was ``baffled,’’ by Lewis’ refusal to re-enter and said he didn’t want a player in the game who was in the mindset of not wanting to be on the floor.
The coach and player talked on Friday morning, and Van Gundy said it was a non-issue heading into Friday’s game against the Phoenix Suns. Lewis is one of Van Gundy’s favorite players and he said Lewis’ selfless acts in the past should be factored into the equation in this situation.
``It was a one-time thing. I’ve coached Rashard, counting playoff games, a couple hundred games and we have one thing that we disagreed on and it was a matter of 5 minutes and change. I’m just not going to blow that out of proportion,’’ Van Gundy said. ``If I got along with everybody else in my life as well as Rashard and I then I would be in great shape.’’
Van Gundy said he never considered benching Lewis in the second half for his refusal to re-enter the game in the second quarter. Magic General Manager Otis Smith said that there would be no discipline taken toward Lewis and he also deemed the incident to be over with.
``When it happens more than three times then we have an issue,’’ Smith said while sitting courtside before Friday’s game. ``But when it’s an isolated incident … Ryan hadn’t hit a shot in about four games and all of a sudden when he hits one or two you let him stay on the floor and play for awhile. It’s a nonissue to me.’’
Smith and Van Gundy said that while players can’t be allowed to call the shots on the bench and decline coach’s orders, they can, in this case, make suggestions to coaches about leaving players with the hot hand in the game. Van Gundy said that considering Lewis’ team-first attitude the past two-plus seasons, he felt Lewis was trying to do what was best for Anderson and the Magic at the time.
``He had thoughts and thought that was what was best for the team,’’ the coach said. ``One thing that I have confidence in with him all the time – even if I disagree with him as I did at the time – he is thinking about the team. He isn’t thinking about himself. He was thinking, `I’ve got two fouls, I don’t want to worry about foul trouble in the second half and Ryan was playing good.’^ It’s just not a big deal.’’
BARNES VS. NASH: Few players have had much success guarding Suns point guard Steve Nash through the years, but Matt Barnes’ one season in Phoenix taught him a few tricks of guarding the two-time MVP.
Barnes said that the teams that had success against Nash last season were the ones who used bigger guards or forwards who could steer Nash with their size. Keeping Nash out of the lane, where he either finds center Amar'e Stoudemire for dunks and layups or perimeter shooters for 3-pointers.
Barnes switched to Utah point guard Deron Williams late in Thursday’s loss and effectively shut down the Jazz star who had already battered the Magic for 32 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds.
``We were just trying to change things up and put more length and strength on (Williams) to keep him from posting up,’’ Barnes said. ``I was already thinking (Thursday night) about how we might defend Nash. I remembered last year when teams would put a bigger guy on Steve (Nash) so he couldn’t get into the lane.’’
ETC: Magic power forward Brandon Bass, who has been in and out of the regular rotation all season, did not play because of flu-like conditions. It’s the second game this season that Bass has missed because of the flu. He signed a four-year, $18 million free-agent contract with the Magic over the summer, but he’s played in just 15 games so far. … Former Magic forward Grant Hill was asked by NBA.com recently about what advice he would give to snake-bitten Portland center Greg Oden, who recently suffered his second season-ending knee injury. Hill missed all or large parts of four of his seven seasons in Orlando from 2000-06. Said Hill: ``The idea of being out and getting knocked down, and going through the ordeal of rehab once and then twice … you have to try and not lose your mind.’’ … Mickael Pietrus wore a butterfly band-aid below his eye in Friday’s game. He was hit by a Mehmet Okur elbow Thursday night and there was no foul call on the play. Said Pietrus: ``The ref said that he didn’t see anything. I told him: `I’m bleeding!’’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonDecember 11, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
PHOENIX – Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy met with Rashard Lewis Friday morning to discuss the standout power forward’s declining to re-enter a game Thursday in Utah, and the issue was deemed ``no big deal at all.’’
Lewis picked up two fouls in the first five minutes of Thursday’s 120-111 loss to the Utah Jazz. When reserve power forward Ryan Anderson scored 14 first-half points, Lewis told Van Gundy that he’d rather stay out of the game and leave Anderson in.
Van Gundy admitted after the game that he was ``baffled,’’ by Lewis’ refusal to re-enter and said he didn’t want a player in the game who was in the mindset of not wanting to be on the floor.
The coach and player talked on Friday morning, and Van Gundy said it was a non-issue heading into Friday’s game against the Phoenix Suns. Lewis is one of Van Gundy’s favorite players and he said Lewis’ selfless acts in the past should be factored into the equation in this situation.
``It was a one-time thing. I’ve coached Rashard, counting playoff games, a couple hundred games and we have one thing that we disagreed on and it was a matter of 5 minutes and change. I’m just not going to blow that out of proportion,’’ Van Gundy said. ``If I got along with everybody else in my life as well as Rashard and I then I would be in great shape.’’
Van Gundy said he never considered benching Lewis in the second half for his refusal to re-enter the game in the second quarter. Magic General Manager Otis Smith said that there would be no discipline taken toward Lewis and he also deemed the incident to be over with.
``When it happens more than three times then we have an issue,’’ Smith said while sitting courtside before Friday’s game. ``But when it’s an isolated incident … Ryan hadn’t hit a shot in about four games and all of a sudden when he hits one or two you let him stay on the floor and play for awhile. It’s a nonissue to me.’’
Smith and Van Gundy said that while players can’t be allowed to call the shots on the bench and decline coach’s orders, they can, in this case, make suggestions to coaches about leaving players with the hot hand in the game. Van Gundy said that considering Lewis’ team-first attitude the past two-plus seasons, he felt Lewis was trying to do what was best for Anderson and the Magic at the time.
``He had thoughts and thought that was what was best for the team,’’ the coach said. ``One thing that I have confidence in with him all the time – even if I disagree with him as I did at the time – he is thinking about the team. He isn’t thinking about himself. He was thinking, `I’ve got two fouls, I don’t want to worry about foul trouble in the second half and Ryan was playing good.’^ It’s just not a big deal.’’
BARNES VS. NASH: Few players have had much success guarding Suns point guard Steve Nash through the years, but Matt Barnes’ one season in Phoenix taught him a few tricks of guarding the two-time MVP.
Barnes said that the teams that had success against Nash last season were the ones who used bigger guards or forwards who could steer Nash with their size. Keeping Nash out of the lane, where he either finds center Amar'e Stoudemire for dunks and layups or perimeter shooters for 3-pointers.
Barnes switched to Utah point guard Deron Williams late in Thursday’s loss and effectively shut down the Jazz star who had already battered the Magic for 32 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds.
``We were just trying to change things up and put more length and strength on (Williams) to keep him from posting up,’’ Barnes said. ``I was already thinking (Thursday night) about how we might defend Nash. I remembered last year when teams would put a bigger guy on Steve (Nash) so he couldn’t get into the lane.’’
ETC: Magic power forward Brandon Bass, who has been in and out of the regular rotation all season, did not play because of flu-like conditions. It’s the second game this season that Bass has missed because of the flu. He signed a four-year, $18 million free-agent contract with the Magic over the summer, but he’s played in just 15 games so far. … Former Magic forward Grant Hill was asked by NBA.com recently about what advice he would give to snake-bitten Portland center Greg Oden, who recently suffered his second season-ending knee injury. Hill missed all or large parts of four of his seven seasons in Orlando from 2000-06. Said Hill: ``The idea of being out and getting knocked down, and going through the ordeal of rehab once and then twice … you have to try and not lose your mind.’’ … Mickael Pietrus wore a butterfly band-aid below his eye in Friday’s game. He was hit by a Mehmet Okur elbow Thursday night and there was no foul call on the play. Said Pietrus: ``The ref said that he didn’t see anything. I told him: `I’m bleeding!’’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
