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Starting SG is Bogans
Topic Started: Oct 28 2007, 07:01 PM (307 Views)
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Legend
Bogans win SG

ORLANDO - Keith Bogans' reign as the Orlando Magic's starting shooting guard lasted exactly one game this preseason before head coach Stan Van Gundy benched him, chewed him out in the locker room and called him out publicly to the media.

In an odd sort of way, that actually brought a smile to Bogans' face.

It was, Bogans said, exactly the opposite of the treatment he got last season under former Magic coach Brian Hill.

"I took that as, 'Hey, I want to be coached,' because last year I didn't get coached at all," Bogans said. "(Last season) I made a mistake, I came out and nothing was explained to me at all. This year, they're taking the time with me and letting me know when I make a mistake. That makes a big difference as opposed to a coach taking you out and just sitting there frowning. I don't respond well to that. I've always played for coaches who coached me."

The mistakes have been few for Bogans since that dubious start to the preseason. The expected battle for the starting shooting guard slot has mostly fizzled because of injuries to J.J. Redick (hand), Trevor Ariza (foot) and Keyon Dooling (groin).

But even if those players had been healthy, it would be hard to imagine them playing much better this preseason than Bogans.

The 6-foot-5 guard has done everything Van Gundy has asked of him, whether it's guarding the likes of LeBron James, Joe Johnson and Jason Richardson or knocking down open shots. Bogans shot a stellar 54.3 percent from the floor this preseason while also making a staggering 13 of 22 tries (59.1 percent) from 3-point range.

So Bogans has overcome the early barbs from Van Gundy, and these days there's nothing but praise for arguably the Magic's grittiest player.

"He's our best perimeter defender, there's not much question about that," Van Gundy said. "He's a very good rebounder on a team that needs rebounding. And he has shot the ball unbelievably. He's done everything we could have hoped for. He's gotten himself in great shape and he's playing well."

He's played so well he'll start at shooting guard Wednesday night when the Magic open the regular season against the Milwaukee Bucks. In the first three games alone, the Magic will face the likes of Michael Redd, Richard Hamilton and Gilbert Arenas -- players that Bogans knows he'll be assigned to guard.

He did such a good job last week of making life miserable for Cleveland's James that Chinese fans actually booed and heckled Bogans.

"Whether I'm starting or not, I know I bring something to this team," he said. "I play defense first, and I want to guard the best guy every night. Whether he gives me 40 points or I shut him down, I want that challenge of guarding the best guy."

Bogans' role this season couldn't be any more different than last season when he fell out of favor under Hill. He was benched in a game last March, and then did not even play in 12 of the final 17 games of the season.

And the ultimate indignity came in the playoffs when Bogans did not even get on the floor.

"The whole year last year was disappointing, and then not playing in the last 20-something games and not even seeing the floor in the playoffs, it disappointed me and motivated me going into the summer," he said. "I told myself I was going to do everything in my power to not let this happen again."

So Bogans didn't take a vacation this past summer, instead spending several hours a day at the Magic's headquarters. He worked with a trainer to drop 15 pounds and honed his jumper by taking hundreds of shots a day. And he's carried that strong work ethic into preseason practices where he's usually the last player off the floor.

"I remember a coach once told me, 'If you take care of your game, your game will take care of you.' I'm staying in the gym every day, I'm the last one off the floor a lot of days because I'm getting shots up," he said. "In my mind, it's a comfort thing. I'm putting the work in so when I'm shooting I'm feeling like the ball is going in."

And he knows with the weapons the Magic possess, those wide-open shots are going to come.

"We have Dwight (Howard), Rashard (Lewis) and (Hedo Turkoglu) and then you have Jameer (Nelson) penetrating, so the defense has to help somewhere," said Bogans, a career 34.7 percent shooter from 3-point range. "Two guys are going to have to help on them. I haven't been known to shoot the ball that well, so they are going to leave me. Now, I'm to the point that when they leave me I'm going to make them pay."
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MAGICMANEVAN
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Good article :yes:

I love the last line of it lol

He deserves it, and how hard he worked in the offseason is great news considering the issues with injuries to the other guys.
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gomagic33
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Mr. Anderson
Well, we saw this coming. He outplayed and "outlasted" the other candidates for the SG starting spot. He deserves this.

Rest assured if he ever slips SVG will have no problem benching him. This is what I like about SVG. He doesn't mind changing the SL unlike Brian Hill who insisted on the SL even if it's obviously not producing the results he wants.
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dxwwf3
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Oct. 28 2007 06:01 PM
It was, Bogans said, exactly the opposite of the treatment he got last season under former Magic coach Brian Hill.

"I took that as, 'Hey, I want to be coached,' because last year I didn't get coached at all," Bogans said. "(Last season) I made a mistake, I came out and nothing was explained to me at all. This year, they're taking the time with me and letting me know when I make a mistake. That makes a big difference as opposed to a coach taking you out and just sitting there frowning. I don't respond well to that. I've always played for coaches who coached me."

I think this tells us a lot. It seems things were worse than even I expected.
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MAGICmanSAM
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God is LOVE
Wow...that article was a direct shot from Bogans to Brian Hill. Pretty powerful stuff.

Looks like players that were on Brian Hill's bad list are beginning to take their shots now. Tonight I was watching Midnight Magic and they were interviewing JJ and asked him what the Magic need to defeat the Pistons on Friday. After Dante Marcatelli jokingly said they have to bench JJ Redick, Redick quickly said, "That didn't work last year." Another shot at Brian Hill!
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Pitbullz EP
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Magic in 5
I like Bogans attitude. I think one of the better points SVG made was that he'sn a good rebounder from the guard position. I think that helping our bigs in the reb department is going to be a huge neccesity for our backcourt players.
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