It would be natural to credit the Orlando Magic players for showing some pride and stepping up to avoid the sweep, and that credit would be deserved. Obviously, they should have shown up earlier, but at least they showed up once.
Magic Blog: Key Coaching Adjustments Carry Magic To Game 4 Win
But Orlando’s Game 4 success also had a lot to do with some subtle changes coach Stan Van Gundy made. Van Gundy blamed himself for Orlando’s Game 3 loss, a sentiment that many people felt was misguided. A lot of people felt he should have ripped his players instead of criticizing himself. But Van Gundy backed up his talk by making some key coaching adjustments that helped the Magic win Game 4, as SB Nation’s Magic blog Orlando Pinstriped Post noted.
The Magic’s offense, which has struggled mightily in this series, finally got on track tonight thanks to a worthwhile adjustment from coach Stan Van Gundy. As his brother Jeff, an ESPN analyst, pointed out during the telecast, Orlando sent staggered screens Nelson’s way, which added another dimension to its offense. An initial screen from power forward Rashard Lewis on the wing would start the play, and then Howard would come over to set another screen for Nelson between the wing and the baseline. The small forward, either Carter, Mickael Pietrus, or Matt Barnes, would slide along the baseline from the strong side to the weak side to take away a help defender. Nelson could drive to the basket for a layup or dump the ball to Howard on the roll. Another option, one which worked well tonight, was to keep the dribble alive and pull the ball back out to the initial weak side. If Boston’s defense blinked for even a second, Howard was open for a delayed lob. It’s a gorgeous set that worked well against Boston’s elite defense.
Van Gundy also put long-forgotten Brandon Bass into the rotation, and Bass rewarded him with 11 minutes of solid, energetic play. He also wasn’t afraid to sit Vince Carter for key fourth-quarter possessions when Carter was playing poorly.
Bottom line: if Van Gundy really deserved blame for the Game 3 debacle, he also deserves a lot of credit for the Game 4 win.
See More:
