Magic at Atlanta Hawks Game 3: Magic’s 3-point threats thwarted

Ryan Anderson had some telling comments the other day regarding Orlando’s shooting struggles in Games 1 and 2. As reported by Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel Anderson said:

“They know how to guard us,” Anderson said. “They have a great game plan coming into these games. They’re trying to eliminate aspects of our offense that we’re really used to going through. We’re not getting as many open shots. We’re not getting as many 3s. So we just need to continue to work on the glass.”

It sounds like the Magic has made a focused effort to get offensive rebounds because they realize they need all of of the possessions they can get. Atlanta, using the Dwight Defense, has managed to eliminate what’s normally the second-most efficient part of Orlando’s offense.

The Magic have launched 45 3-point attempts in the two games and made just 11. For the season they averaged 25.6 attempts and 9.4 makes overall and 21 attempts and 4.8 makes against the Hawks, both lows vs. any opponent.

I fired up the Synergy Sports Technology machine to look at each of Orlando’s 45 3-point attempts in the series to see where the needle points on the “missing open shots vs. not getting many open shots” scale.

The verdict: The Magic haven’t gotten many clean looks but they got more in Game 2 than Game 1. By my subjective count, in Game 1 Orlando players got nine good looks on 3-point attempts (with two of those in garbage time) and made three. In Game 2 they got 13 clean looks on 3-point attempts and made four (J.J. actually closed out pretty strong on that that J-Rich dagger). Those totals don’t count two long heaves at the buzzer by the Magic.

How did the Magic get those clean looks? A breakdown:

Game 1

• Turkoglu missed after Josh failed to get around a screen.
• Anderson missed on a secondary fast break.
• Turkoglu missed after Etan switched off to hm.
• Arenas made a 3 after Jamal doubled Dwight (that’s the one).
• J-Rich missed as Jamal watched.
• Jameer made a 3 after Jamal spun around a screen.
• Jameer made a 3 as Jamal closed weakly.
• Jameer missed in garbage time 3 after Dwight crumpled Hinrich with a screen.
• Turkoglu missed a 3 that the Hawks pretty much let him shoot in garbage time.

Game 2

• Turkoglu missed a transition 3 set up by Jameer.
• Jameer missed a spot-up 3 after Jamal closed weakly in a scramble after an off offensive rebound.
• J-Rich made a quick-release 3 after a weak close-out by J.J.
• J-Rich missed a spot-up 3 off a Dwight post up after Hinrch and Smoove appeared to mix up the coverage.
• Redick missed a spot-up 3 after a weak close out by Smoove.
• Bass missed a 3 on a secondary break.
• Turkoglu missed a 3 off a Dwight screen after both Josh and Zaza went with Dwight.
• Redick missed a long 3 as Jamal watched.
• Turkoglu made a 3 as Joe made a half-hearted effort to get over a screen.
• Anderson made a spot-up 3 on secondary break after Zaza made a good effort on a close out but got there late.
• Anderson missed a spot-up 3 after a scramble caused by Jameer’s dribble penetration against Jamal.
• Anderson made a 3 after Marvin bit on a pass fake.
• Anderson missed a spot-up 3 after Al and J.J. switched and J.J. was late on the close.

Five thoughts after looking at those plays:

1. The Magic recognize that Jamal isn’t fighting over screens, providing much resistance against dribble penetration or keeping track of his man when they rebound misses. They are looking to exploit all of those weaknesses to set up 3-point shots.

2. All of the other Atlanta perimeter players have been generally sound in their efforts to limit 3s.

3. Hinrich’s awareness and ability to cover a lot of ground really helps Atlanta’s cause–there were a handful of 3-point attempts where he helped off his man and still was able to recover and challenge kick-out 3s.

3. Stan Van Gundy’s quip that “I don’t really have a strategy for getting guys to shoot the ball well” applied more in Game 2 than Game 1 and is relevant to Turkoglu most of all. Closer to the truth is that Van Gundy doesn’t really have a strategy to get guys clean looks against the Dwight Defense.

4. Atlanta’s length bothers Orlando’s shooters so late close-outs or even the threat of them tend to make the Magic rush their 3-point attempts.

5. The Magic have gotten exactly one clean look off a 3-pointer from a Dwight post-up.

Notes

• L.D. on Dwight the Ironman: “He’s a specimen. He’s got the potential to play at that level for 48 minutes. I hope he doesn’t. “
• L.D. on J.J.: “I expect him to be a little bit more aggressive. His decision-making was not as good in Game 2.”
• L.D. on the remarkable Twin effect vs. Orlando: “He’s a solid defender. He knows how to play his position. He knows how to defend the post. Defending Dwight is not an easy job.”
• Twin drew a couple charges in Games 1 and 2 against guys other than Dwight. That seemed a bit risky to me since a foul for Twin against anyone else seems like a waste. L.D., though, said he likes it: “That’s how he plays. He’s about winning basketball. He doesn’t care who the player is he is going to step up and make the play. I wish we could get more play like that out of everybody. That’s just who he is.”
• Twin on Van Gundy and Dwight’s reaction to his comments about getting physical with Dwight: “I know this is not their first playoff series. This is not the first time they’ve heard someone say they need to be physical guarding Dwight Howard.”
• Pape Sy’s cousin, Almamy Soumah, is in town from France. He’s a journalist for the French Web site basketsession.com. He’s also 6-foot-6 and a cool dude.

Michael Cunningham, Hawks basketball