Brian Schmitz: Magic could learn from ‘Big Nasty.’
The Magic will come out of their corner tonight for their opener against the Miami Heat, having talked about being bigger and tougher.
Coach Frank Vogel wants his team to play “smashmouth” basketball.
GM Rob Hennigan had a pugnacious style in mind when he picked Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton in the 2014 draft, calling them “hard-nosed dudes.”
All this build-up of testosterone and promise of physical play brings a wry smile from Corliss Williamson.
“I love it,” he said. “I came in in the ’90s, so that’s the way the game was played.”
Williamson is a Magic assistant coach – and
their full-contact conscience.
In another life, he was one of the toughest, hardest-nosed dudes around, reveling in playing smashmouth basketball. They called him “The Big Nasty.”
If just a little bit of nasty rubs off on the Magic, maybe they can overcome shortcomings that include on-court cohesiveness, shooting and go-to scoring.
After acquiring strongmen Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo, playing with an edge has been a theme in this latest version of the rebuild. But Vogel admitted he has been “disappointed in that” at times during the preseason as the club returned to its meek, mild ways.
While offensive and defensive growth can take time with seven new players, Vogel doesn’t see why the Magic can’t bring physicality “immediately.”
Williamson knows how being the hammer instead of the nail can change the complexion of a team.
“It sets the tone for you,” he said. “It puts you in an aggressive state of mind. When you’re aggressive defensively, it also bleeds over to the offense, where you’re attacking the basket stronger.
“It just gives you a confidence that you can compete with anyone if you’re playing with a physical presence.”
Williamson held that belief at Arkansas, where he played for coach Nolan Richardson, who preached his famed “40 Minutes of Hell” defense. He then played 12 seasons in the NBA and had fights with Jermaine O’Neal and Derrick Coleman.
No one was going to push him around growing up in Russellville, Ark. He played at James Park, an unforgiving stretch of concrete and grass. He learned about hard fouls and brawls. By 13, Corliss had earned the nickname “Big Nasty” from his AAU coach/cousin.
“That’s a part of me. That’s how I learned how to play the game as far as being physical, playing against older guys, being pushed around, learning how to push back. So I bring that same mentality as a coach,” he said.
“It’s a different era. Guys today… their personalities are a little different than when we were growing up. So you have to figure out how to reach and touch each one of them.”
Williamson, 42, hopes to touch and toughen Nikola Vucevic, who is more finesse than force. The only time he might go to the dark side is donning a Darth Vader mask that his wife got him for his 26th birthday on Monday, but “The Big Nasty” is trying to convert him.
Vooch will play an even more critical role against Miami. Biyombo, brought in to provide the defensive muscle that Vucevic lacks, will miss the opener. It hurts because Hassan Whiteside is a shot-blocking force, leaving Vucevic and Ibaka to tag-team him.
Ironically, Biyombo will serve a carry-over one-game suspension for being too physical during last season’s playoffs with Toronto, reaching the four-point limit in flagrant fouls.
You can only hope Williamson’s mentality translates. He has a tattoo of a Tasmanian devil on his chest. He played with a frown and, in a pregame ritual, popped teammates in the chest to see if their hearts were in it.
“You just can’t talk about it, saying, ‘I’m a physical guy,’” Williamson said. “It’s something you have to bring every day. In order to be able to be conditioned to it, you have to do it in practice.
“It starts above your shoulders. If your mind is in the right place, your body will follow.”