Orlando Magic Daily
Fansided

Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag Vol. 5: Lottery dreaming

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Mar 21, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Stanley Johnson (5) shoots the basketball against Ohio State Buckeyes forward Keita Bates-Diop (33) during the second half in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. The Wildcats defeated the Buckeyes 73-58. Mandatory Credit: Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 21, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Stanley Johnson (5) shoots the basketball against Ohio State Buckeyes forward Keita Bates-Diop (33) during the second half in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. The Wildcats defeated the Buckeyes 73-58. Mandatory Credit: Godofredo Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next

You can see this question is pretty old — both about the Magic’s depth and Andrew Nicholson — but, unfortunately, it is still pretty relevant.

Nicholson has started to see some more playing time of late — although that too seems to be drying up as he has appeared in just two of the last five games after appearing in eight of the previous nine. The key for him is still his defense and whether he can play tough enough to rebound and battle bigger players.

Andrew Nicholson, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets
Oct 22, 2014; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic forward Andrew Nicholson (44) shoots over Houston Rockets forward Donatas Motiejunas (20) at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: David Manning-USA TODAY Sports /

His offensive game has undoubtedly tailed off for whatever reason. He is simply not as efficient in the post as he once was either.

This year, Nicholson is posting up on just 17.1 percent of the plays he is in the game for and he has scored just 13 points on 5-for-21 shooting. That is REALLY bad.

Especially since this was supposedly Nicholson’s calling card.

For Nicholson to get anywhere in the NBA, he has to regain his touch from the post. His defense seems to have gotten a little bit better and he has definitely increased his strength and ability to rebound and do those other things. But they are still not good enough to make up for his struggles on the offensive end.

Orlando is giving him a chance to bump up his value at the end of the season and he has made a little progress, but not anything too significant unfortunately.

Next: What position is Aaron Gordon?