Magic Lack a Go-To-Scorer

[magicman123]

with AJ's quickness and redick's ability to create his own shot, i think these 2 need to play more in the crunch time........

[eyriq]

This sums my points up nicely, from your article:

I noticed the difference between TS% and eFG% is 50+ points for most of the players on the list, suggesting a high rate of free-throw attempts. The exceptions (Tony Parker and Shaquille O’Neal) had teammates that could get to the line just fine (Duncan, Ginobili, Kobe, Wade). Also, (and maybe as a result) Parker and Shaq usually weren’t the ones taking the last shot.

Mavericks fans understand how being able to draw shooting fouls can lead to crunch time success - their (better) team of jumpshooters lost to Dwyane Wade’s Heat in the 2006 finals. While the Mavericks were shooting jumpshot after jumpshot, Wade was driving to the hoop and drawing fouls. Not only is driving (an aggressive action) easier to do in the clutch than shooting an 18-footer (a finesse action), but Wade’s efficiency rate at the free throw line was much higher than the Maverick’s jumpshots.

In all, it seems having a go-to player with a free throw rate of at least 7 attempts per 48 minutes is enough to give your team a crunch-time advantage. That’s a higher standard than you may think. Only 61 players since 1990 have met that career mark with a USG% > 20 and Points Per Game >10. Notable players that fall short: Ray Allen, Chris Webber, Glen Rice, Steve Nash, Tony Parker, and Deron Williams.

lol, not really if your point is big men can't be closers. That would be pretty silly of him to disprove in one section a point he is making in another. If you are talking about needing multiple closers, you should notice that neither Shaq nor Parker were considered closers in his example and thus needed someone to offset their deficiencies. While Shaq didn't make enough free throws to have a considerably higher TS% than eFG%, Dwight does not have the mechanical flaws that Shaq has and I feel there is still hope that he can hit those at a higher rate.

Edit: That does bring up another point that Dwight can work on outside of ball handling/passing, and that is his free throw shooting. Right now the differential between his eFG% and TS% is only 28%, which would also show that he is not connecting at the foul line enough to be a clutch player.

[TheRevTy]

My point was that THE most necessary component is a perimeter guy who gets foul calls.

[TheRevTy]

By the way, if you think the Magic DON'T NEED a go-to guy, why'd you make the thread?

[eyriq]

By the way, if you think the Magic DON'T NEED a go-to guy, why'd you make the thread?

Who said I don't think we need a go-to-guy? It is quite clear that for a team to be successful in the post season they do need one. Where I think we are parting ways is in your assertion that Dwight or bigs in general can not be relied upon to be that go-to-scorer. I quite frankly think they can, and I've stated that in my lil world I think Dwight is only a few years away.

The reason I posted this thread is in how it frames the discussion about what a go-to-scorer looks like. Understanding our teams weaknesses is good for framing the debate around who and what is to blame for our shortcomings. This year Hedo as been the focus of much malignment, when in reality, like Cammo has been saying all along, he is one of if not the most important offensive player we have on this team. He is best suited to be our go-to-guy and while he does not measure up to even the most basic of measures of what it takes to be one, his performances do not occur in a vacuum, they occur in an environment that includes a deadly pure scorer like Lewis and the best defensive player in the league in Dwight.

So no we do not have one yet, yes we should be eternally thankful that we at least have one that comes as close as Hedo does, and no we shouldn't give up on the post season due to this deficit.

[EasternMagic]

maggs anyone? trade for turk?

No way, maggs is a shot first even if Yao Ming has a hand in my face kind of guy... don't really want a player like that on this team

I don't even know that I would say we need a go to scorer... We have a starting five filled with capable scorers, none of them are necessarily considered go to scorers but I like the way we are set up. And are record agrees with me

[MagicStarwipe]

The loss of Jameer hurts us in this area. He was probably even a level above Hedo as a guy that can get his own shot off in crunch time.

[ivDT]

vince carter is a lot closer to meeting 3hf's criteria for a go-to player than anyone we currently have on our roster. chauncey billups, despite his age, still meets the criteria perfectly.

just sayin'. i probably wouldn't want either of those players over rashard lewis. er, rashard's contract notwithstanding.

corey maggette is definitely not a go-to player and that's regardless of what the 3hf blog says. (he doesn't meet their criteria, btw...)

here's a list of players who are close to meeting 3hf's criteria (i had to lower the requirements so that you could see where certain magic players rank): http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/tiny.cgi?id=LD7f2

[CourtsideTV]

hedo turkoglu called..he wants this thread locked..

[MagicBasketba11]

hedo turkoglu called..he wants this thread locked..

x2

[Bensational]

Rashard Lewis fade away is the only unguardable 1-on-1 move we have on the team. This makes him our best go to scorer when we absolutely need a basket. Plus, he is pretty cold blooded. And he is a great free throw shooter.

i always wanted to see Lewis take more shots in crunch time, but i'm guessing his ballhandling is what keeps the ball out of his hands?

if there was anyone who could be considered "money" with a shot, it's Lewis.

Hedo has the best drive, for the moment. I believe Lee will strip him of that title in a couple of seasons. I honestly expect Lee to become that guy for us. He has the handles, the hops, and the ability, he just needs the green light.

right now though, if it's crunch time, i feel most comfortable with the ball in Meer's hands. he makes stuff happen - the right stuff.

[N4U|Redux]

^ someone better strip Hedo of that title in a couple of seasons simply because Hedo will be an old man.

i expect someone will strip him of it next season though; because Hedo won't be here.

[orl1724]

By next yr Lee will develop further as will Dwight and as if thats not enough Meer will be back and will asume the role of 4th qrt guy as he was doing before the injury. The bigger question is who will replace Hedo's 15-20 ppg on a nightly basis when he leaves.

[Guerilla Jam]

By next yr Lee will develop further as will Dwight and as if thats not enough Meer will be back and will asume the role of 4th qrt guy as he was doing before the injury. The bigger question is who will replace Hedo's 15-20 ppg on a nightly basis when he leaves.

I don't think one man will replace it. It will be distributed to a number of players, with Lee getting the bigger share.

Hedo will no longer be a consistent go-to guy with this shape and I can't believe he failed to get in shape during the whole season. The season (which one I don't remember) he put on supposedly 10-15 lbs of muscles he sucked. His agility suffers big time with extra weight, and he had to get rid of it. He doesn't play in a way to use the added strength so why hinder the mobility? This year it is not even muscle, he just looks chunky and out of breath. Those missed lay-ups are just funny, he can't lift his *** from the ground.

[aleZ]

There's a lot of successful teams who don't have go to scorers, the Spurs got a lot of rings without a guy like Kobe, Lebron or Wade (Duncan is more the all around type). The Magic are way more dangerous now than during the Tmac era.

Plus: Dwight is nearly unstoppable at his young age, I don't see him having peaked at all.

[Diehardmagicfan]

^^^
Well about the spurs you have parker and ginobli able to get to the rim at will with parker having the speed and ginobli with his footwork.


Dwight will become the closer.

[ivDT]

There's a lot of successful teams who don't have go to scorers, the Spurs got a lot of rings without a guy like Kobe, Lebron or Wade (Duncan is more the all around type). The Magic are way more dangerous now than during the Tmac era.

er, the spurs probably aren't the best example of a team that doesn't have any go-to scorers...

they certainly don't have any dominant scorers like the 3 guys you mentioned, but that's not the same thing as not having any go-to scorers.

Plus: Dwight is nearly unstoppable at his young age, I don't see him having peaked at all.

yeah, seriously. anyone who thinks dwight has peaked needs to be committed. his passing will continue to improve along with his free throw shooting and his repertoire of post moves. i don't know if he'll ever attain the rare status of being a big man that you can reliably go to in the clutch, but it would be silly to rule it out at this early a stage.

[Magicalltheway]

last year there was so many times that Hedo would drive to the basket late in games and would draw 3 or 4 players which left dwight all alone. The simplest lob would have Dwight easily dunk for the final shot, but Hedo would try to shoot some only a few times he made it and mostly he would not. Simply Hedo lacks the athletisism and strength sush as Wade or James to be able to force his will on games. That is what we have to concentrate on next year.

[Idunkonyou2]

I think the Magic have many go to scorers. Not one really stands out over the other, besides maybe Hedo and of course Nelson. Unfortunately the Magic don't have Nelson. Lewis, Lee and Howard all seem to get hot down the stretch as well (Howard in the 3rd, while Lewis and Lee make big shot after big shot in the 4th).

[craig01]

I think that the theory of the "go to" scorer is misleading.

What is important is to have versatility with several "scorers", and not have all of one's eggs in a single basket.

Most contending teams have several players capable of putting up 20 on a regular basis.