Tag: Hedo Turkoglu

All-Time Miami Heat vs. All-Time Orlando Magic

Our next Sweet Sixteen match features the two youngest franchises remaining in our tournament. The Heat acquired many of their franchise icons through free agency and trades, led by the front office mastery of Pat Riley. The Magic used the draft (and specifically, holding the number one overall pick in the draft three times) to acquire many of their stars, all of whom helped them deliver a first-round upset over the Pacers. How do the All-Time Miami Heat vs. All-Time Orlando Magic compare to each other?

Heat vs. Magic 3

Key Matchups

Miami’s athleticism vs. Orlando’s athleticism: The Heat have one of the most athletic starting wing pairings in the tournament in Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. The Magic have one of the most athletic starting backcourts in the tournament in Anfernee Hardaway and Tracy McGrady. Both have athletic big men who can protect the rim (Alonzo Mourning for the Heat, Dwight Howard and young Shaquille O’Neal for the Magic). The defensive matchups in the starting lineups will be fascinating; Tim Hardaway suffers from a huge size disadvantage, while Rashard Lewis will struggle to keep up with either of Miami’s wings. Will Miami dare put Hardaway on Lewis, so Wade and James can guard Penny Hardaway and McGrady? Who will Orlando put Lewis on?

Miami’s small-ball lineup vs. Orlando’s small-ball lineup: Miami’s jack-of-all-trades, LeBron James, will play power forward at times, and will be surrounded by shooters in this configuration (most notably Eddie Jones and Glen Rice off the bench). Stan Van Gundy had great success in Orlando surrounding a big man with four shooters around him, so expect him to utilize this tactic and stagger O’Neal and Howard’s minutes with Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, and Dennis Scott alongside them both.

Biggest Mismatches

LeBron James vs. Orlando’s small forwards: It’s unclear how Orlando will guard James in this series. Rashard Lewis has the length to bother him, but doesn’t have bulk or elite athleticism. Tracy McGrady has the athleticism and length, so he’ll see plenty of minutes on James, but he’ll likely start each game on Dwyane Wade. Expect Nick Anderson to get many minutes alongside Hardaway and McGrady to help Orlando match up better with Miami.

Orlando’s size vs. Miami’s size (in the starting lineup): Orlando’s starting big men (Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard) are far bigger and bulkier than Miami’s (Alonzo Mourning and Chris Bosh). Orlando also has the tallest backcourt in the tournament, and a 6’10” starting small forward. There’s no good defensive matchup for Tim Hardaway, who may cede a lot of minutes to Eddie Jones and Glen Rice since Miami already has two ball-dominant players in Wade and James.

X-Factor

In the mid-1990s, the Magic had the makings of an NBA dynasty. Shaquille O’Neal was one of the greatest prospects ever coming out of college, and Penny Hardaway made two all-NBA first-team appearances in his first three seasons in the league. However, they never fulfilled those expectations, getting swept out of the playoffs in the first round (1994), the NBA Finals (1995), and the Eastern Conference Finals (1996), before O’Neal left the team via free agency. In 2010, the Heat had the one of the greatest free agency coups in sports history, re-signing Wade and signing-and-trading for James and Bosh. In their four years together, that group became champions, making four straight NBA Finals berths and winning two championships.

Results

These two franchises engage in a classic battle. While Orlando has the talent to defeat Miami, the Heat have the championship mettle, and James shines as the best player in the series. It’s party time in Miami.

Miami_Heat_The_Big_3_CelebrationParty

Heat win, four games to three.

Next Round

Miami faces the All-Time Celtics.

All-Time Orlando Magic Team

All-Time Orlando Magic Team Infographic

The All-Time Orlando Magic team is impressive, considering they’ve only been around for 26 years. It helps that they’ve won three NBA draft lotteries, and drafted two future Hall-of-Fame players with those picks (Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard). The other player, acquired through a draft day trade, was a four-time all-star (Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway), and was one of the great ‘what if?’ players of the previous generation. Since they’ve never won a championship, they enter our tournament as the 25th seed, but their high-end talent will provide problems for their first round opponent.

The starting backcourt is enormous, featuring 6’7” Penny Hardaway and 6’8” Tracy McGrady. It’s hard to believe there will be a taller pairing in this tournament, and both were brilliant playmakers during their Magic careers. Penny’s career was cut short by injuries, but he was so effective that he was named to the All-NBA first team in his second and third seasons in the league. T-Mac was an absolute monster, and won two scoring championships in his four years in Orlando. During his Magic tenure, there was a legitimate debate as to who was better between McGrady and Kobe Bryant, and the stats comparison between the two from 2001-2004 illustrates why:

Kobe-TMac comparison

Unfortunately, McGrady was haunted by his inability to escape the first round of the playoffs, while Bryant went to three NBA Finals during that period (winning two). Similar to Hardaway, injuries later curtailed McGrady’s career (while Bryant remained consistent and became one of the greatest players ever), but his Magic tenure cannot be characterized as anything but dominant.

The starting frontcourt is also massive, with 6’10” Rashard Lewis at small forward, 6’11” Dwight Howard at power forward, and 7’1” 325lb Shaquille O’Neal at center. Lewis will provide much needed spacing for this group, while Howard and O’Neal will dominate the glass and protect the paint on defense. Offensively, these two will have to stay out of each other’s way, and their horrendous foul shooting will be a liability down the stretch of close games. Despite these challenges, they should make a great pairing, and they have the ability to dominate most opposing front lines.

The bench is predictably weak, considering the youth of the franchise. Darrell Armstrong and Jameer Nelson are two undersized point guards who get the most out of their physical abilities. Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott will provide more spacing for O’Neal and Howard, while Hedo Turkoglu has the ability to play the 3 or the 4, and run the offense as a point forward. Bo Outlaw and Horace Grant are the backup big men; both will compete defensively and on the glass, but this team might be better served playing Turkolglu or Lewis at the 4 when O’Neal or Howard rests in order to space the floor better.

This will be a very difficult team to coach. Howard, O’Neal, and Hardaway were all known for their immaturity during their Magic tenure. O’Neal once compared Hardaway to Fredo Corleone, and he and Howard engaged in a humiliating feud over a nickname. Grant, Outlaw, Nelson, and Anderson will have to provide veteran leadership for this team to reach its full potential.

Coach: Stan Van Gundy

All-Time Franchise Winning Percentage (through 2014-15): .493