Orlando Magic Player Evaluations: Luke Ridnour

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Luke Ridnour, Shane Larkin, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks

Feb 11, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic guard Luke Ridnour (13) drives past New York Knicks guard Shane Larkin (0) during the first quarter at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /

The Good and the Bad

It is hard to say exactly what Ridnour excelled at and what Ridnour struggled with. He was a player that did what was asked for him, however low those expectations might have been.

Season	Tm	G	MP	FG%	3P%	eFG%	FT%	TRB	AST	STL	TOV	PF	PTS
2014-15	ORL	47	14.5	.426	.317	.483	.857	1.4	2.0	0.4	0.8	1.4	4.0
Career		830	26.1	.431	.349	.474	.862	2.3	4.5	1.0	1.6	2.1	9.3

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/15/2015.

Could the Magic really expect anything more from Ridnour?

Sure, the shooting numbers could be better. A whole lot better. But they are in line with Ridnour’s career numbers. Orlando got what it signed up for in Ridnour.

He was a solid distributor too. He posted 5.1 assists per 36 minutes (slightly below his 6.2 average for his career) and so was decent distributing the ball off the bench.

Really Ridnour amounted to something of a warm body to fill minutes and be a leader in the locker room. That might be a cold way of looking at things, but his impact on the floor and his expectation of an impact was really really small.

So how do we measure his season?

Let’s start with the expectations — Ridnour was expected to hold the ship steady and be a good leader in the locker room, particularly for young guards Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton. Ridnour did all of that. There really is no complaints about what he produced at the end of the day.

But, the Magic needed something a little more coming off the bench for the team to be successful. Really, any failure from Ridnour was more a failure in management for not providing the Magic with a more impactful backup point guard.

The Magic had a depth problem all season. The Magic got good contributions from several players off the bench, but it was inconsistent at best. And it never came from Ridnour (see next slide).

Ridnour at this point is probably not fit for the role he had to play. Not for this team at least. Ridnour would be great if there were another player in the second unit who could carry the offense or run things. Ridnour did not have the safety blanket of someone to stir the drink.

And when you do not have that, you are relying on the point guard. Unfortunately, this point guard was not one to deliver.

Next: Best Game of 2015