By John Denton Nov. 13, 2015
ORLANDO – Taking note of how much deeper the Orlando Magic are in terms of talent and competition at each position, coach Scott Skiles said at the beginning of the season that there would be nights when deserving players wouldn’t see minutes because of numbers issues with rotations.
After reserves Channing Frye and Shabazz Napier were pressed into action because of injuries to others and delivered in big ways, they will be seeing big increases in their time on the court starting tonight when Orlando (4-5) hosts Utah (4-4) at 7 p.m. Frye, in fact, will get his first start of the season, while Evan Fournier and Tobias Harris will shift to their natural positions at shooting guard and small forward.
Frye and guard Napier didn’t play much early in the season, but both were key figures in the Magic’s 101-99 defeat of the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. With Victor Oladipo (concussion) out for the foreseeable future and Jason Smith (sore knee) and C.J. Watson (calf strain) still ailing, Frye and and Napier expect to figure prominently into the Magic’s plans against the defensive-minded Jazz.
Napier, a second-year pro with a history of making big shots as a two-time national champion in college at UConn, scored 12 of his 22 points and hit four of his five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s win. He has made 43.8 percent of his 3-point shots – something that could come in handy with starting point guard Elfrid Payton coming off a 1 of 13 shooting night and struggling with his shot (34.5 percent) much of this season.
Skiles said that Napier deserves to see his playing time increase with the way that he’s delivered when called upon. And there could be a need at both point guard and shooting guard in the next few games with Oladipo out after accidentally banging his head into the shoulder of teammate Dewayne Dedmon in Wednesday’s first quarter.
“If anybody on the team has a complaint about the coach (not playing them), it’s Shabazz,” Skiles said of Napier, who is averaging 4.6 points and 1.6 assists in 10.6 minutes a night over eight games. “He’s played great in every practice. He was great in the exhibition season. Every time we’ve put him in the game, he’s done something positive and we’ve got to keep going to him. We’ve got to get him out there more. He’s earned it. He’s earned more playing time.”
So, too, has Frye with the way he’s shot the ball of late and showed improvement in his all-around game. That play could earn Frye a starting nod tonight against a rugged Utah frontline that could feature 6-foot-10 power forward Derrick Favors (16.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 2.4 steals) and 7-foot-1 center Rudy Gobert (8.7 ppg., 11.9 rpg. and 3.4 bpg.). Gobert, the league’s top shot-blocker and most disruptive force inside, didn’t play in Utah’s 92-91 loss in Miami on Thursday night and is a game-time decision tonight.
Frye, a key free-agent signee in July of 2014, failed to get into five of the first seven games this season because Orlando has played Tobias Harris, Aaron Gordon and Smith at power forward. But the 10-year veteran has come on strong of late and helped the Magic while center Nikola Vucevic missed three games and Smith has been out of the past two games.
On Wednesday, Frye drilled six of seven shots and both of his 3-point tries for 14 points. Two nights earlier, Frye kept the Magic within striking distance of the Indiana Pacers by scoring 14 points, grabbing eight rebounds and hitting the 3-pointer that broke a 78-all tie with 7:30 to play.
The Magic like using Frye against teams with big frontlines because those interior players are less likely to follow him to the perimeter to contest 3-point shots. And when teams switch pick-and-roll plays and try and check Frye with a guard, the 6-foot-11 forward has shown more of a willingness to take those smaller players down on the low block for post-up plays.
“That’s just basketball,” Frye said. “The first game (against Chicago on Nov. 1) I was just popping and I told myself that I had to take advantage of (guards checking him). Now, with big guys guarding me there are only a few who can show (on the pick-and-roll) and then get back to me. Or when they switch and put a smaller guy, I just want to make the simple play.”
The Magic plan to move Fournier to shooting guard and Harris from power forward to small forward with Oladipo out. In addition to averaging 14.7 points, 6.9 points, 3.9 assists and 1.56 steals a game, Oladipo is also the Magic’s best on-ball defender. His absence creates a big void for a Magic team that hopes to get collective efforts to compensate for the loss of the standout guard.
Frye said that him, Devyn Marble, Andrew Nicholson and Napier have played lots of highly competitive one-on-one and two-on-two games outside of practice to keep their skills sharp when called upon. That competitiveness helped them stay sharp when their opportunities were called upon recently.
“That’s our job as professionals. We have to be ready for anything. Coach is constantly on guys about giving us sparks and hunt a good rhythm,” Frye said. “We just try to stay ready, we’ve been playing one-on-one and I’ve been barbequing those guys,” Frye joked. “We’re just being ready. You’ve got to understand that some games you aren’t going to play and some games you are. You have to be ready for anything. You’ve got to keep your swag up – as weird as that sounds – to do whatever it takes to stay in shape and be ready.”
Added Napier: “No matter what happens, whether I play or don’t play, I’m going to continue to prepare as if I’m going to play. When my number gets called I’m going to go out there and try my best. That’s all that I can give the team.”
