3 is new Magic number for Vucevic
Nikola? Nikola Vucevic?
Is that really you? Orlando Magic fans should be forgiven if they did a double-take when Vucevic set up behind the arc Thursday night and hoisted 3-point shots during a preseason game at Amway Center. Basketball aficionados typically associate long-range shooting with guards, and for good reason. Take a look at the career leaders in that category, and you’ll see Ray Allen and Reggie Miller atop the list.
The Magic hope to adjust everybody’s thinking in the months ahead. At a time when the entire NBA is gravitating toward 3-point territory, team officials want Vucevic, their 7-foot starting center, to participate in the trend. On Thursday night, he boosted his confidence, sinking two of his three attempts from long range.
“I think it creates lots of things for us offensively and a lot of space that we need,” Vucevic said. “But I think it’s also the way the league is going. We have to adapt. Also, I think that it fits us.”
In theory, having Vucevic launch 3s does fit the Magic. Either he’ll have wide-open looks from the perimeter, or opposing defenders will have to drift away from the hoop to guard him. And if opponents leave the paint, it’ll open wider driving lanes for Vucevic’s most athletic teammates: Elfrid Payton, Aaron Gordon and Jonathon Simmons.
Frank Vogel and his assistant coaches spent the final stages of last season and the entire offseason devising ways for the Magic to modernize their offense. The team finished last season near the bottom of the NBA in points scored per possession and in 3-point shooting percentage. To be competitive now, serious improvements must occur.
Yet at the same time, the Magic return almost the same nucleus that struggled last year. The returning players must improve their own shooting, but Vogel and his staff also must find ways to make those returning players more effective. Having Vucevic attempt, and preferably make, 3s is part of that strategy.
“Space makes everyone better,” Vogel said. “We’re encouraging him and pushing him, and a big part of his summer plan was to work on the 3 ball. He came into camp [ready] and he’s shooting maybe one a practice or so. And we’ve been trying to push the envelope to just give him the green light and teach him to find ways to make it a weapon more than once a game.”
Vucevic always has been an above-average midrange shooter for someone his size, and last season he ventured farther from the hoop than ever before. Over his first five seasons combined, he attempted 26 3-pointers. Last season, he went 23 for 75 from deep.
That success rate of 30.7 percent wasn’t good enough to scare opponents, so he’ll have to prove that he can make the shot consistently.
And there’s another potential problem. Vucevic possesses a strong low-post game and excels as an offensive rebounder. If he drifts farther from the hoop, he won’t be able to use his lowpost moves as often or collect as many offensive boards.
Vucevic will have to learn when to stand beyond the arc and when to station himself near the basket. He’ll have to survey the floor and make correct reads on the fly. Where are his teammates standing? How’s Vucevic’s defender playing him? Are the time and score optimal to attempt a 3-pointer?
“If I’m just standing [out] on the 3 and I’m not making my guy do really anything, it’s not helping the team nor me,” Vucevic said. “I think as we play more and more games, as we practice more and more, it will just come automatically.”
That must be music to Vogel’s ears.
After all, space helps everybody.
It just might be time for Magic fans to rethink who should and shouldn’t take 3s.