I attend several Orlando Magic games each season, at some point I may buy season tickets. But over the last few years I have been watching games, and felt that Jameer Nelson would never be the type of point guard that could lead this team to the NBA Finals.
It seemed like he would be a liability on defense, and his offensive mentality as a point guard would be more of a detriment to the team than a positive. When Jameer was injured last year, and the Magic picked up Rafer Alston I thought that was a great move for the Magic.
I felt that Alston does not look for his shot first and knows how to run an offense, and that would be a better option for the Magic who kind of operated with a hot potato mentality when Nelson was in there. At the time I felt the Magic needed to run the offense through Dwight Howard and make sure he received a large number of touches each game.
There were times when Nelson was playing, and Howard would not touch the ball for long spurts in the game. I thought this was a mistake at the time, and the way Alston played in the playoffs last season only strengthened my resolve to run Nelson out of town. When the NBA Finals rolled around and I heard they were starting Nelson I was livid, he had not played in over two months and now he is starting Game One of the NBA Finals?
The series turned out to be a disaster for the Magic as Nelson struggled to get his legs back while Alston mostly watched from the sidelines. Maybe if Alston plays the result is the same, but at least the Magic would have ridden with the horse that go them there in the playoffs.
Well Nelson has started to change my mind this season, averaging 12.6 ppg and 5.4 apg he has looked very good in the playoffs with two 32 point games against the Bobcats. I am started to view him as an asset now more than a liability, his offensive prowess this year has been the difference. He has been able to exploit weaker point guard matchups in a big way, so if Dwight is not having a good game Jameer has picked up the slack for him.
With the Magic up 2 – 0 over the Atlanta Hawks Nelson has again been impressive, maybe this time if the Magic make it to the finals Nelson will be himself. He has finally won me over, as I was looking for another answer at the point guard position.
