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Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel points out the Magic need more out of Hedo Turkoglu is they want to have success this season.
That’s why the Magic need Turkoglu to turn up the aggressiveness.
“He’s shooting the ball as a last resort,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “It’s virtually impossible to shoot the ball well like that. You’re ending up shooting it against more pressure. He just won’t shoot the ball when he’s open.”
Turkoglu is passing the ball well. His 5.7 assists per 36 minutes is the highest output of his career, and he’s
leading all small forwards in assist rate.That’s good, but the Magic don’t want him just for his passing. As a 6-foot-10 small forward with a fantastic shot and deceptive quickness, Turkoglu can be an above-average scorer. It’s just going to take a different mindset.
“He plays his best basketball when he’s not predetermining what he wants and he’s shooting his open shot, making the defense come to him. Lately he’s just been very reluctant,” Van Gundy said.
You can read the full story here.
McCann is absolutely right. After a warm reunion, which saw Turkoglu play well (including a triple double) and the Magic go on a big winning streak, Turkoglu has really struggled. Terrible turnovers, poor shot selection and a lack of aggressiveness have been hte major problems.
Tom Ziller of SB Nation puts together a hilarious Venn diagram of some of the world’s ruthless leaders. Van Gundy compared NBA commissioner David Stern to them.
“I certainly can’t have an opinion because David Stern, like a lot of leaders we’ve seen in this world lately, don’t really tolerate other people’s opinion or free speech or anything. So I’m not really allowed to have an opinion.”
You can see the diagram here.
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel points out Van Gundy is no match for Stern.
Let’s face it, it doesn’t really matter who Van Gundy was talking about; what matters is Stern is the focal point of Van Gundy’s complaint. And that’s not good. If Van Gundy’s lucky, he will just get fined, but I think he gets worse. I think Stern exiles Van Gundy to his secret gulag where other outspoken NBA rebels have been imprisoned. Think about it: Has anybody seen Stephen A. Smith lately?
You see, Stern does not like it when somebody sheds a clarifying light on the ridiculousness of his league’s obviously flawed and arbitrary officiating methods. Most coaches just whine about it, but Van Gundy came armed the other day with one of the most incredibly eye-opening stats I’ve ever heard.
You can read that story here.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).
Original Story:
http://howardthedunk.com/2011/03/08/o...
