Orlando Magic News for January 31st - J.J., Nicknames, and Hedownage

by Ben Q Rock on Jan 31, 2008 5:18 PM EST in News

J.J Redick's trade request has gotten plenty of media attention. Hell, it even made ESPN.com! But nobody has the story covered quite like Kelly Dwyer, who transcribed the conversation that took place between Redick and Magic GM Otis Smith. Shocking.
'Hedowned' is Matt's new favorite word. For a formal definition of "Hedownage," refer to this video, as well as this one. Thanks.
The Toronto Raptors' point guard platoon of T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon is affectionately nicknamed "Forderon". I tried coming up with a similar nickname for our Carlos Arroyo/Jameer Nelson tandem, but the best I could do was "Nelroyo." "Arrson" would be better -- it's scorching hot! -- but the two guys don't shoot well enough to earn that moniker. TheFalcon suggested "Loser" for the composite nickname. Subtle, but effective. It's pretty damn appropriate that his avatar on MagicMadness is a photo of Mark Twain.
Earlier this week, Will Brinson speculated the Magic would sign 5'5" point guard Earl Boykins. I don't think that would have been a good idea -- how many undersized one-guards does this team need?! -- but it's all moot now. The Charlotte Bobcats, our division rivals, have signed him for the rest of the season. Boykins isn't a great player, but keep in mind that Charlotte was giving Jeff McInnis (PER: 6.4) 26 minutes a game this season. So that's an improvement.
Hedo + Rashard = Hedard Turkolewis. How euphonious.
David Berri's Wages of Wins method of measuring a player's value has come under a lot of scrutiny; just take this quiz and see the results. Berri just published a complete list of every NBA player's Wins Produced at the midpoint of the season. Here's how the Magic's guys did - the number in parenthesis is the player's rank out of 446 total players:
- Dwight Howard (1)
- Hedo Turkoglu (64)
- Jameer Nelson (77)
- Keith Bogans (131)
- Carlos Arroyo (142)
- Adonal Foyle (175)
- Trevor Ariza (219)
- Maurice Evans (259)
- Bo Outlaw (297)
- James Augustine (316)
- J.J. Redick (322)
- Rashard Lewis (343)
- Keyon Dooling (382)
- Brian Cook (405)
- Pat Garrity (417)
According to this method, there are 342 players in the NBA who are more productive than Rashard Lewis. As disappointing as he's been, it's hard to buy that he's really that awful. (Hat-tip: SuperSonicSoul)
Don't forget to tune-in to TNT at 7 PM eastern to find out who the reserves for the All-Star teams are.

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Boykins is not a pont guard

Hey Ben Q, take it from someone who watched him chuck the Nuggets out of many a game. Boykins shoots more than the Idaho Militia Gun Club.

If Boykins would play like a point guard and be a distributor he would never have been looking for work. In reality the guy is a 5' 5" shooting guard.

Be very glad that he did not sign with the Magic.

The worst thing about him is he becomes an instant crowd favorite and it makes it impossible to criticize him. No one wants to hear it because he is so short we should all just be happy he can play.

by Jeremy on Feb 1, 2008 1:54 AM EST 0 recs

Thanks for the clarification, Jeremy. I noticed his assist rate was pretty low. Oddly, it's higher than Keyon Dooling's. Actually, no, that doesn't surprise me. Did you know Keyon is 60th among 63 NBA point guards in assist rate?

Where too much free time happens.

by Ben Q Rock on Feb 1, 2008 9:23 AM EST up 0 recs