victor oladipo

Josh Cohen

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ORLANDO – Returning to the Nation’s Capitol, not far from where his basketball career began in Upper Marlboro, Md., allows Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo a chance to visit with his family and friends.

But it also gives him a chance to go back to the place where Oladipo was often doubted as a player and many wondered if he’d ever get a college scholarship, much less make it to the NBA.

Oladipo said that, deep down, the doubters pushed him to succeed in his basketball career just as much or more than the supporters did. Playing on a powerful DeMatha High School team, Oladipo got better each year of high school and took advantage of his one scholarship offer to Indiana University. And at IU, Oladipo went from being a mostly overlooked recruit to an All-American by his junior season.

So every time that Oladipo is back in the Washington, D.C. area he said he often thinks about his unlikely rise to the NBA, all of the work that he’s put in and the doubters that fuelled his fire.

``You are always going to have people in your life who believe in you and say that you can’t do things. But the biggest thing is that you believe in yourself,’’ said Oladipo, who was back in the starting lineup on Saturday a night after playing his first game of the season because of two injuries that wrecked his preseason. ``When you believe in yourself you are capable of doing anything. I had that belief, no matter what, or who told me I couldn’t do something or who told me I wasn’t good enough. It made me work even harder. You can call them haters, or naysayers or whatever you like, but they actually helped me as much as anybody else did.’’

One person who was a big supporter for Oladipo was his mother, Joan, who travelled to Orlando when her son had surgery on Oct. 25 to repair a fractured bone beneath her right eye. Oladipo was in a great deal of pain following the surgery and the medicine he was given made him so nauseous that he had several violent fits of vomiting. Oladipo said his mother, who just so happens to be a registered nurse, was a life-saver for him.

``She did what all mothers would do, and she was there for me the whole time,’’ said Oladipo, who mother and sisters sat near courtside for Saturday’s game. ``That was my first surgery ever so I was kind of nervous, but with her there it just made everything better. For her to be there, with me struggling so bad through that week (after the surgery), it was so good for me having her there.’’

GOOD PROBLEM TO HAVE: File this one under, ``A Good Problem to Have,’’ for the Magic.

With Oladipo back into the fold, head coach Jacque Vaughn had a decision to make with his starting lineup and his rotation at the two guard slots. Vaughn’s job is somewhat easier because Oladipo and Evan Fournier can play either point guard or shooting guard and he’s already used point guards Luke Ridnour and Elfrid Payton on the floor together because of Ridnour’s shooting abilities.

Oladipo, who missed six weeks with a knee injury and a facial fracture, was back in the starting lineup on Saturday in place of Payton.
  In the first nine games of the regular season – Payton started at point guard and Fournier started at shooting guard. Oladipo, who missed six weeks because of a knee sprain and a fractured bone beneath his right eye, returned to action on Friday and played 25 minutes off the Magic’s bench.

With Oladipo back in the starting lineup on Saturday, the Magic are hoping to avoid disrupting the stellar play of Fournier and the development of the 20-year-old Payton.
  Fournier, who only recently turned 22 years old, has played the best basketball of his career early this season while contributing four 20-point games and 10 games of double-digit scoring. He’s also been one of Orlando’s most efficient players what with his 50 percent shooting from the floor and his team-high 51.2 percent shooting from 3-point range.

Payton’s play has been typically up and down so far, hence his move into a reserve role as the Magic attempt to alleviate some pressure from him. The rookie has distributed the ball well (5.9 assists a game) and he’s limited his mistakes (2.6 turnovers a game), but he’s been a poor shooter (32.9 percent) and a reluctant shooter (one attempted 3-pointer all season).

Some of Vaughn’s burden of spreading the minutes out was relieved on Saturday night when Ridnour led the team because of a personal matter. There is a chance that the veteran point guard could rejoin the team for Monday’s game in suburban Detroit.

``When we get whole, we’ll worry about rotations. We’re just not whole yet,’’ Vaughn said. ``It’s not necessary to say that Victor’s minutes will impact Evan’s. … We’ve put Evan in a position to have success. It’s still early in the season and with our coach-player relationship, he’s still learning me as I am learning what he can do. You always hope that you can put a guy in a position to have success and he’s taken advantage of those opportunities. There’s a great confidence level there right now and we don’t want to do anything to disrupt that.’’

ETC: Orlando entered Saturday night’s game shooting 40.4 percent from 3-point range, the second-best shooting percentage behind the arc in the NBA. Only Atlanta (40.6 percent) is better. The Magic made 12 3-pointers on Tuesday in Toronto and they have hit at least three in every game this season. Said Vaughn: ``Any time that you can make shots, that’s the great equalizer. Overall, our offensive rating would be better if we shot more of those (3-pointers) and kept that percentage. If we’re six of 12 like we were (Wednesday night) in New York, I’d take that. But if we were 20 of 40, I’d take that, too.’’ … All throughout his basketball life, Aaron Gordon has been the best player on his team. But coming to the NBA as a 19-year-old rookie, he’s had to make the adjustment to being just another highly skilled player. With the Magic, he’s been used solely as an energy player off the bench – similar to the role that he had for USA Basketball’s Under-19 Team in the summer of 2013. Said Gordon: ``That role is fine for me. It’s just a matter of being on the floor. It’s doesn’t matter if you start; it matters if you finish. I get out there as a starter or a reserve, it doesn’t affect me in any way.’’ … The Magic’s road-heavy schedule early in the season will take them to suburban Detroit to play the Pistons on Monday night. It will be Orlando’s eighth road game so far compared to just four games at the Amway Center.

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Oladipo: "Biggest Thing is That You Believe in Yourself"

ORLANDO – After all of his teammates had retreated to the locker room and most of the 15,947 delighted fans had exited the Amway Center, Victor Oladipo wrapped up a postgame radio interview and went over to the Orlando Magic’s center-court logo for an emotional belly flop.

All at once after the Magic’s 101-85 defeat of Milwaukee on Friday night, Oladipo was flooded with an avalanche of memories – both positive and painful ones.

He thought back to the day last month when his right knee buckled and he briefly feared for the worst only to later be relieved to realize it was just a sprain. He reluctantly recalled the accidental elbow that connected with his cheekbone, saying it felt like getting smacked in the face with a baseball bat. And when he thought back to the aching pain and unsettling nausea that followed his facial surgery – a somewhat horrifying procedure where doctors went in through his eye lid and the roof of his mouth to install a metal plate and screws – Oladipo actually had tears well in his eyes.

All he could think to do after a successful return in which he scored 13 points and proved to be an absolute catalyst for his Magic squad was let the emotions pour out of his body. Disregarding those still around basking in the Magic’s victory, Oladipo jogged over to midcourt and gave the Amway Center’s parquet floor a playful, belly-first hug.
  ``That was my first time playing on that floor in a looooonnnnnnggggg while,’’ said Oladipo, stretching out his words to express his emotions. ``I just tried to pay my respects. (Belly-flopping) was something I just wanted to do. I can’t really explain it, but it was kind of an emotional moment for me.’’

The Magic (4-6) certainly fed off the emotions of their fiery guard on Friday. Oladipo’s impact could be judged more on how his teammates played when he was on the floor than the three field goals he made and the six free throws he connected on. In what proved to be the most important statistic of the night, Orlando was a plus-22 in scoreboard points in the 25 minutes and 13 seconds that Oladipo was on the floor.

``This was my first time playing with Vic and we’ll get more comfortable playing together, but it was just so great seeing him healthy and playing again,’’ said Magic guard Evan Fournier, who scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half. ``Having Vic back is going to be so good for us moving forward.’’

Oladipo, last season’s runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting, was playing for the first time all season following a series of hard-luck injuries. He sprained a ligament in his right knee in the fourth practice of training camp, an injury that knocked him out of seven preseason games over a three-plus-week period.

Then, just as Oladipo was set to return for the final preseason game, he took an accidental elbow to the face and suffered a fractured bone just below his right eye. He had surgery on Oct. 25 – a procedure that involved a plate and several screws being inserted – and he only recently returned to practice while wearing a protective mask.
  Oladipo said all throughout Friday’s game that he was thinking back to his struggles following the surgery to fix his face. And the pain of being away from the game of basketball was almost as crippling as the swelling and aches that he experienced following the procedure.

``There were a lot of tough nights, sitting in bed, not beign able to do anything and in pain with my face hurting and throwing up,’’ Oladipo recalled. ``It was tough what I went through, but it gave me an appreciation for how much I love the game of basketball. All of that was a test of my character, but for me to come back and play the way I did tonight that was pretty big for my heart and my mind. Now, I’ve just got to build on it.’’

Oladipo said he was so wrapped up in the emotion of being back on the floor he actually paid little attention to his impact on the team. His entry into the game sparked momentum-swinging runs in the first and third quarters that gave the Magic healthy leads. His drives helped collapse the Milwaukee defense and resulted in 10 Orlando 3-pointers. And his aggressiveness going to the rim played a big role in Orlando getting 27 free throw attempts and holding a 10 free throw advantage in terms of makes.

Told that Orlando was a plus-22 in points during his time on the floor, Oladipo said: ``Today? I was just coming out and helping. That (plus-22 advantage) is pretty surprising. I was just being patient and trying to find my teammates and having fun. I couldn’t care less what happened – well, I wanted to win first and foremost – but as far as me playing individually, I just wanted to win. It was a blessing to be back out there.’’

Oladipo made just three of 10 shots, something that could partly be attributed to the rust from being away from the game for the past six weeks and partly because he is still adjusting to the hard-plastic mask he’s being forced to wear to cover the hardware in his face. He said after the game that nothing – not even a few missed shots or a turnover here or there – was going to ruin a glorious night where he got to play the game of basketball that he loves so much once again.

``I hit my first couple of shots and a couple of free throws and it is what it is, but I’m just glad to be out there. If I came out today and shot zero for 20, I wouldn’t have cared,’’ Oladipo said with a chuckle.

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Oladipo Celebrates Return and Victory with Belly-First Hug on Court

ORLANDO – Somewhat sloppy and sluggish early in the game, the Orlando Magic got an incredible lift from the emotional return of standout guard Victor Oladipo on Friday night.

But more specifically, this is where Oladipo exerted his biggest influence on Friday night’s game and sent an electrifying charge through his Magic mates. Oladipo, who was playing in his first game since last April because of some hard-luck injury woes, repeatedly got the ball at the end of the shot clock, used his blinding speed to blow by defenders and create offense for Orlando seemingly out of thin air.

Still shaking off rust, playing his way into shape and adjusting to the hard-plastic mask he’s being forced to wear to protect his surgically repaired face, Oladipo made just three of 10 shots, but got to the free throw line eight times (with six makes) to score 13 points and spark Orlando to a 101-85 defeat of Milwaukee.

``Words can’t describe how I was feeling checking into the game and words can’t describe how I was feeling when I got checked out. Man, it just feels good to play basketball again,’’ an emotional Oladipo said. ``Now we’ve just got to rack up some wins, keep it going and not be satisfied.’’

Playing before an Amway Center crowd of 15,947 fans, Oladipo evoked plenty of ooohs and ahhs in his first game of the season. Most importantly, his return woke up a sleep-walking Magic team and he helped produce a second straight victory for Orlando (4-6).

How about this for an immediate impact from Orlando’s masked man: During Oladipo’s 25 minutes on the floor, the Magic were an impressive plus-22 on the scoreboard. His attacking nature also helped the Magic have a plus-13 advantage in free throw attempts – a rarity this season for the Magic.

``The immediate picture that you see painted for us with Victor being able to play is the penetration level and 27 free throws by us tonight,’’ said coach Jacque Vaughn, who was delighted to get Oladipo back and get the Magic back closer to whole. ``That ability to get downhill himself and to cause the defense to collapse – we need that.’’

In another solid display of team basketball, Oladipo had plenty of help in the form of Tobias Harris (26 points and 10 rebounds), Nikola Vucevic (18 points and nine rebounds) and Evan Fournier (15 points and three 3-pointers).

Not to be overlooked, rookie forward Aaron Gordon (eight points) was an absolute difference-maker early in the game and was a plus-19 during his first 13 minutes on the floor. Gordon outplayed Milwaukee’s Jabari Parker – the No. 2 pick in last June’s NBA Draft – who had just six points in 26 minutes.

Afterward, Oladipo’s teammates were quick to give the electrifying guard credit for sparking them on Friday night. Now, they are exciting about having him back in the fold in the days, weeks and months going forward.

``Having Vic back is great because he is such a big part of this team,’’ said Vucevic, who made six of 11 shots and six of eight free throws and have five of his boards come off the offensive glass. ``Victor helped us a lot tonight and he brings so much to us energy-wise. He was playing so hard tonight and flying around and driving the ball and making plays for others. So it’s great to have him back.’’

Then, just as Oladipo was set to return for the final preseason game, he took an accidental elbow to the face and suffered a fractured bone just below his right eye. He had surgery on Oct. 25 – a procedure that involved a plate and several screws being inserted – and he only recently returned to practice while wearing a protective mask.

Milwaukee (4-5) got 24 points from Brandon Knight, but only five of those came in the second half when Oladipo was checking him for nearly 15 minutes. The Bucks had 56 points in the paint, but only 14 of those came in the second half.

The Magic are in arguably their toughest stretch of the season as far as the schedule is concerned what with four games in a five-night stretch. Orlando was in Toronto on Tuesday and in New York on Wednesday before getting Thursday off. Following Friday’s game against the Bucks, the Magic were scheduled to fly to Washington, D.C. to face the Wizards on Saturday.

Much like at the start of the game, Orlando opened the third period slowly, but Vaughn wasted no time going to Oladipo for a lift. The confident guard came in attack mode and jump-started Orlando’s play on both ends of the floor – much the way he did in the first half. Oladipo’s dazzling third-quarter sequence, one where he blew by Jabari Parker for a left-handed layup and then he drilled a nifty step-back jumper over Knight, gave the Magic a commanding 73-61 lead. And Orlando’s advantage remained at 12 points (80-68) by the start of the fourth quarter.

``Victor hasn’t played a bunch with the group that was out there with, but he’ll continue to be around his teammates and understand them more,’’ Vaughn said. ``But a good first night for (Oladipo).’’

Worried about rust and his conditioning after missing six weeks, Oladipo put those fears to rest early on his relentless hustle and attacking nature. How big of an impact did Oladipo have: Through the first three quarters of the game, the Magic were a plus-17 on the scoreboard when the No. 2 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft was on the floor.

Orlando led 52-49 at the half, but it came following a 24-minute stretch of extreme highs and lows. Good starters most of the season, the Magic were incredibly flat in the first few minutes and they found themselves trailing by 13 points just 6:27 into the first quarter.

But the game changed midway through the first quarter when Oladipo and Gordon entered the game. Oladipo checked in for the first time all season with 3:45 left in the first period to a warm ovation from the Amway Center crowd. Oladipo had a rebound on his first possession and drilled his first shot – a long 3-pointer. And the immediate impact of having the electrifying guard back was seen early in the second quarter when Oladipo got the ball late in the shot clock, exploded past a defender and was fouled on a dunk attempt. He made both of those free throws and finished the first half with eight points. Most importantly, Orlando was a plus-10 during his 11 minutes on the floor.

Gordon, the No. 4 pick in last June’s NBA Draft, absolutely changed the tenor of the game with his hustle in the first half. He made all three of his shots and both of his two free throws early on and had eight points, three rebounds and two assists in the first 24 minutes. Like Oladipo, Gordon’s influence one the game could be seen in his first-half impact on the scoreboard as Orlando was a plus-14 with him on the floor.

Vaughn talked before the game that Orlando had to become a better team at protecting the rim, and the Magic’s defense was exposed once again in the early going. Milwaukee scored 20 of its first 21 points in the paint and had a staggering 42 points in the paint in the game’s first 24 minutes.

Oladipo said that there were surprisingly little nerves in his first game back because he had little expectations of himself. Even if he played poorly, Oladipo said he was going to enjoy this night because he was finally getting to play the sport he loves so much after an extended time away.

``It’s just basketball and I’ve been playing it pretty much my whole life. But man, it was fun,’’ Oladipo said with a wide smile. ``I was just trying to go out there and be effective and not do too much in my first game back. It’s going to take a while for all of the rust to get off, but it’s just an honor and a blessing to be back out there. I really have a higher appreciation for where I am (being back on the floor) right now.’’

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Oladipo's Return Helps Spark Magic to Victory

ORLANDO – Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo said on Friday that just because he suffered a couple of injuries that he won’t change his relentless and fearless style of play.

However, Oladipo – who played for the first time this season on Friday night – has taken measures to become a smarter and more efficient player in Year 2 of his career.
  Oladipo was the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year award and averaged 13.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals a game last season. But those numbers came at a cost as the guard was often knocked to the floor and he was punished physically by bigger players coming to swat his shot.

In addition to slimming down his body and adding muscle, Oladipo also spent much of his summer perfecting a floater shot in the lane and a mid-range jump shot. The thinking was that those shots will eventually help Oladipo avoid overpenetrating – something that often leads to turnovers and blocked shots – and also keep him from getting battered so much by bigger players.

``I’ll attack the rim, just maybe not as frequently as last year,’’ Oladipo said. ``I want to be a smarter player than I was. Last year, I was almost trying to bully people and you can’t always do that when they are 10 times bigger than you. … (The mid-range) shot is a big shot in this league. A lot of teams give it up. It can be a low percentage shot, but if you work at it it can be one of your biggest assets and that’s what I’m trying to do.’’

Ironically, Oladipo got hurt twice before ever playing a game – he sprained the MCL in his right knee after landing awkwardly on a drive to the rim during the fourth practice of training c then, just as he was about to return, Oladipo was hit below the right eye by a teammate’s elbow and he fractured a bone in his face. He had surgery on Oct. 25 to repair the fracture and he’ll wear a mask for the foreseeable future to protect the area beneath his eye.

``Whether I would have hit my face or not, I would have been stupid to play the same way,’’ Oladipo said. ``It’s all about building that confidence, being a smarter player and being in tune with the game and seeing where it opens up. It’s all a learning process and I’m still learning. It’s only my second year, believe it or not.’’

FOUR GAMES IN FIVE NIGHTS: The Magic are in arguably their toughest stretch of the schedule what with four games coming over a five-night stretch. Orlando was in Toronto on Tuesday and in New York on Wednesday before getting Thursday off. The Magic hosted Milwaukee on Friday and then were scheduled to fly to Washington, D.C. to face the Wizards on Saturday night.

Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said that he has to be more judicious in using his reserves during stretches such as these when the games are coming at a rapid-fire pace. He did just that on Wednesday in New York, playing four reserves a combined 70 minutes.

Vaughn said Saturday’s game – the fourth over the five-night span – could see reserves such as Andrew Nicholson, Willie Green and Ben Gordon play extended minutes to spell the starters.

``(Four games in five nights) is a pretty tough feat,’’ Vaughn said. ``You have to have the balance of rest, being mentally sharp – it’s a tough balance. It’s demanding on the body and hopefully we can continue to use guys to help us through that situation. For example, in the New York game, Andrew and Willie gave us great minutes. We needed them to produce and they produced for us.’’

ETC: Vaughn said that power forward Kyle O’Quinn would not travel with the team so that he could remain in Orlando and get treatment on his sprained left ankle. O’Quinn, one of Orlando’s steadiest players late last season and all throughout this training camp, turned his ankle in the opening game in New Orleans and hasn’t played since. … First-year Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd, a likely Hall of Famer in a matter of years, knows a thing or two about playing the point guard position and he likes what he sees in Magic rookie Elfrid Payton. Kidd said that Payton will benefit greatly from playing for Vaughn, Kidd’s former teammate with the New Jersey Nets during their playing days. Said Kidd: ``He’s very aggressive. He’s doing a great job for his team. His coach was a point guard in this league who had some success and he can be a great mentor for him to help him through playing that position.’’ … Milwaukee came into Friday night’s game having lost 16 consecutive times in Orlando. Incredibly, that streak dates back to Dec. 29, 2004 – Dwight Howard’s rookie season in Orlando. … After playing the Wizards in Washington, D.C. on Saturday night, the Magic will be off on Sunday before playing the Pistons in suburban Detroit on Monday. It will be Orlando’s first regular-season game against former Magic coach Stan Van Gundy since he became the Pistons’ President of Basketball Operations and coach.

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Oladipo Makes Season Debut

TORONTO – Past the point of worrying about taking contact to his face, Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo said the only thing standing between him and a return to action is shaking the rust off his game.

Oladipo, the runner-up in last season’s Rookie of the Year voting, has yet to play for the Magic this season because of a sprained knee ligament and a fracture just below his right eye. Oladipo hurt his knee on the fourth day of training camp, knocking him out of the first seven games of the preseason. Then, just as Oladipo was set to return to the final preseason game, he took an accidental elbow to the face and needed surgery to repair the fracture.

Oladipo has been practicing with the Magic the last four days while wearing a protective mask. He said that while his conditioning is getting close to where it was when he reported to camp in exceptional shape, his ball-handling, jump shot and timing are still coming around.

``It’s just trying to get a rhythm back. Slowly but surely it’s coming back. But really I think it’s just all in my mind,’’ said Oladipo, who averaged 13.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists a game last season. ``I’ve just got to go play as hard as I can and let the game come to me. If I do that, I think I’ll be all right.’’

Oladipo practiced with the team on Monday and worked Tuesday morning with the team and then again individually before the game in Toronto. His plan is to work out before Wednesday’s game in New York and then again Thursday while the rest of the team is off. There is no definitive timetable on Oladipo’s return, but he’s itching to return. And he’s just fine with playing in the mask even though it feels quite uncomfortable.

``I think the biggest thing is the sweat because all of it just kind of drips down and it’s nasty,’’ Oladipo said with a laugh. ``I don’t think it’s that bad with the vision because it’s wider around the eyes so that I can see better. It’s just something that I have to get used to.’’

Magic coach Jacque Vaughn has tried to bring Oladipo along slowly as he works his way back into full-contact work. He said that the fiery guard has shown no hesitation to withstanding hits, but he is still working his way back into form after being sidelined for six weeks.

``A little rusty and he’s getting used to the mask that he’s having to wear,’’ Vaughn said. ``That’s a comfort issue within itself, whether it’s what you see peripherally or the sweat in the mask. We’ll continue to let him play some and get him some extra work on the side. Everything becomes rusty – your ballhandling, your feet and everything – when you’ve been out as long as he has. So we’ll continue to try and dust some of that rust off.’’

CANADIAN CLUB: Traveling to Toronto for Tuesday’s game brought back faint childhood memories of being north of the border for Magic rookie Elfrid Payton, whose father, Elfrid Sr., was a star defensive end in the Canadian Football League for years.

Elfrid Sr. played in 189 games for seven teams in the CFL from 1991-2004. In 1995, just a year after Elfrid Jr.’s birth, Payton Sr. led the Baltimore CFLers to the Grey Cup title while registering 18 sacks. That squad is still the only American-based team to ever win a Grey Cup. Elfrid Sr. finished his career with 154 sacks, the second most in league history. He was inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame in 2010.

``I saw him play a few games in Canada, here (in Toronto) and Montreal,’’ Payton said. ``I was much younger though.’’

Payton had at least seven assists in the first four games of his career, equaling a NBA record done only before by Oscar Robertson (1960) and John Wall (2010). Through his first seven games, Payton is playing 30.2 minutes a game and is averaging 8 points, 6.4 assists, 4 rebounds and 1.57 steals. He said he considers himself fortunate to be a part of a Magic franchise that is building and allows him to play through his ups and downs as a rookie.

``It’s a blessing and as much as I can take advantage of this opportunity, that’s what I’m trying to do,’’ said Payton, who got his eighth straight start on Tuesday night.

HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE: Magic power forward Andrew Nicholson, a native of suburban Toronto in Mississauga, returned home on Monday and was able to take some of his teammates to a favorite Jamaican restaurant in the area.

Nicholson expected to have about a dozen friends and family at the game, even though he was unlikely to play on Tuesday night. After being a fixture in the regular rotation much of the past two seasons, Nicholson came into Tuesday having played in just two games and for only seven minutes.

He said that despite the lack of playing time, he’s tried to keep himself ready with extra work on the side and postgame conditioning sessions when he doesn’t get into games.
  ``I’m in great shape and I’m still doing my thing to stay ready,’’ said Nicholson, who worked over the summer to try and regain his touch on low-post moves. ``I’m going back to what I’ve done in the past and now I’ve just got to wait until I’m called, I guess. I’m just trying to get myself better in every aspect – lift more and run more – and I look at it as an opportunity to get myself better, really.’’

Vaughn said he’s talked extensively to Nicholson about keeping himself ready, so that he doesn’t have to work to get ready if needed because of injuries or struggles to other players.

``It’s the ultimate test of being a professional. We’ve had conversations about him staying in great shape so that when his number is called you are ready to go. You almost want to be in better shape than when you came into camp – that’s his challenge. He has other examples around him – like Willie Green the other night. To have yourself ready, you can really have your number called any night.’’

ETC: Vaughn said it’s a tremendous luxury to have veterans such as Luke Ridnour and Green on the Magic bench this season. Ridnour, who is in his 12th NBA season, had 11 points, four rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes in Sunday’s game when Payton struggled. Green, who is also in his 12th season, hit four of his eight shots and scored eight points in Sunday’s loss at Brooklyn. Vaughn said that having players with several years of experience was by design. ``That’s something that we had hoped for, having guys like that on our roster,’’ Vaughn said. ``Being on the road, and in a tough game, those guys helped us be in a position where we’re up two with six minutes to go because of their efforts.’’ … Tuesday’s game in Toronto started a stretch of games that is considered the most grueling throughout the NBA’s marathon schedule. The Magic play four games in five nights – in Toronto on Tuesday, in New York on Wednesday, at home against Milwaukee on Friday and in Washington on Saturday. Those four games will make up the second and third of 17 back-to-back sets of games this season for the Magic. … Orlando shooting guard Evan Fournier, whose strong start has come in part because of his ability to finish at the rim, wants the rest of the league to know that he’s 6-foot-7 and not 6-6 as he was mistakenly listed in the past. Said Fournier: ``I’m glad people say I’m 6-7 now because I’m not 6-6. I think the first preseason game was in Miami and they said, `Six-six, from Paris,’ and I said, `Awww c’mon, I’m 6-7.’’’

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Oladipo in Process of Getting Rhythm Back

Dan Savage

ORLANDO – Victor Oladipo made quite an impression on the Orlando Magic during his rookie season with his fearless attacking of the rim and his willingness to absorb heavy amounts of contact and keep on going.

On Saturday, when Oladipo went through a series of drills while wearing a mask to protect the facial fracture below his right eye, the standout guard promised that nothing would change in the way that he throws his body around on the basketball court.

``I think when you get worried, that’s when an incident or something happens. So I’m just going to go out there and play and I’m going to be like I don’t have anything on (protecting his face),’’ said Oladipo, who has no firm timetable on his return because of the nature of his injury. ``I’ll soon be back to being like my normal self.’’

The Magic certainly can’t wait for Oladipo to be back to being the dynamic guard who changed games with his hustle and his grit and often willed Orlando to victories with his contagious energy. The runner-up in last season’s Rookie of the Year voting has yet to play this season after sprained his right knee on the fourth day of training camp and then fracturing a bone in his face when he took an accidental elbow to a spot near his right eye.

Oladipo, who played 80 games as a rookie, has missed all eight preseason games and all six regular-season games so far for the Magic (2-4). With the swelling down in his face, he’s been cleared to fly again and he will travel with Orlando on its three-game trip against the Nets (Sunday afternoon), Raptors (Tuesday night) and Knicks (Wednesday afternoon). Oladipo will continue to go through drills and hopes to soon be incorporated into a full-contact practice that will get him ready to return to game action.

Asked directly when he would play in a game, Oladipo replied: ``I don’t know.’’ Asked when he wanted to play, Oladipo cracked: ``Shoot, you don’t want to ask me that because I’d play tonight if we had a game.’’

Oladipo underwent a procedure on Oct. 25 where a specialist went through his right eye slit and the roof of his mouth. A metal plate and several screws were installed to secure the fracture.

During one drill on Saturday, Oladipo was working on defending the pick and roll and his head nearly collided with that of fellow Magic guard Elfrid Payton. Oladipo pulled back to avoid the contact and he said that he’s yet to receive a blow across the mask to see how much pain it would cause.

``It hasn’t happened yet, but I think my face is stronger than it was before it got hurt any way,’’ he said. ``They made (the eye holes) pretty big so that I could see. I think the biggest adjustment is getting used to it, having something on your face while you are playing.’’

One silver lining of the face injury is that it gave Oladipo more time to rest the sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. When he first returned to practice two weeks ago, he was being forced to wear a brace on his knee. He has since shed the brace and said his knee feels 100 percent.

``It gave me more time to heal. It feels better,’’ said Oladipo, who averaged 13.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists a game last season for the Magic. ``It’s going to be fun getting back. It’s all a process and it will be fun to come back and play with these guys.’’

Orlando started the season with four consecutive losses, but has rebounded to win the past two games in dramatic fashion. Tobias Harris hit a buzzer-beating game-winner in Philadelphia on Wednesday night and rookies Aaron Gordon and Payton led the Magic to an overtime defeat of Minnesota on Friday.

Sitting out of those games has been torturous for Oladipo, who has modeled a variety of suits while sitting on the bench with his teammates. He believes this is the longest that he’s been away from basketball since his freshman year of high school when he cracked a bone in his foot and couldn’t play all summer.

``Just imagine something you hold dearly away from you temporarily and telling you that you have to sit and watch,’’ he said. ``You can’t do what you have been doing your whole life and something that you love to do. Not being able to do that and having to sit and watch for five weeks, that’s pretty tough.

``But it could be way worse,’’ Oladipo continued. ``I could have done really bad stuff to my face and my knee. It’s all temporary things, so I’m lucky.’’

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Masked Oladipo Participates in Limited Practice

CHICAGO – If there’s any standout player in the NBA who can relate to the hard-luck plight of Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo these days it’s Derrick Rose, the former MVP who missed most of the past two seasons because of injuries and missed Tuesday’s game with not one, but two sprained ankles.

Rose, who has twice torn ligaments in his knee, knows a thing or two about having a stellar career interrupted by injuries. As Rose asked rhetorically on Tuesday morning, ``Who sprains both ankles on the same play?’’ Those injuries caused him to miss Tuesday’s game against the Magic.

Oladipo, the runner-up in last year’s Rookie of the Year voting, has yet to play this season for the Magic after spraining the medial collateral ligament in his right knee and fracturing a bone beneath his right eye. Oladipo injured his knee on the fourth day of training camp when he landed awkwardly on a hard drive to the rim. Then, just as he was about to return from the knee injury and play in the final preseason game just days before the regular-season opener, Oladipo was hit in the face by an accidental elbow for a teammate during a scrimmage.

Oladipo’s return to the floor will depend on how he responds to treatment, and he almost assuredly will have to wear a protective mask when he does play again. He sat on the bench with his teammates in Orlando last week, but he is still not allowed to travel because of his lingering swelling and the affects of pressurized cabins on airplanes.
  Rose became familiar with Oladipo’s game over the summer when he was on USA Basketball’s National Team and the Magic guard played for the Select Team. Unprompted, Rose called Oladipo the surprise player of that week-long camp, saying he didn’t know Oladipo had such a wide-array of talents on both ends of the floor.

``I love how he plays and he plays with so much confidence. I’m already a big fan of his. I love how he takes the game so serious,’’ Rose said in July. ``He’s such a talent with his size, what he can do on the floor and how he reads defenses, especially defensively. He’s a big-time talent.’’

Rose was asked on Tuesday what advice he would have for Oladipo as he tries to battle through injuries and get back on the floor and the Bulls guard preached patience for the 22-year-old Oladipo.

``I would just tell him to have faith and be patient. He’s young and he’s very good as everybody knows,’’ Rose said of Oladipo. ``He’s going to have a lot of basketball to play, so he just has to take it slow and let everything heal. Then, when he gets back out there he’ll be back out there (fully) and he can play as hard as he can.’’

COLLEGE MEMORIES: Sometimes it’s not enough for a player to simply go through practice if he wants to fully maximize his talents and reach the NBA. Such was the case for former teammates Nikola Vucevic and Taj Gibson, who played together at USC five years ago.

After some prodding by then-Trojans coach Tim Floyd, Vucevic and Gibson would regularly stay after practice and wage one-on-one battles on a daily basis. Both claim that facing the other sharpened their skills and stoked their competitive fires and helped prepare them for life in the NBA.

Gibson, now a standout power forward for the Bulls, marvels at the metamorphosis of Vucevic, Orlando’s standout center. During his two seasons at USC, Vucevic was a skinny 7-footer who very much preferred shooting face-up jumpers to playing physical basketball in the low post. Now, however, Vucevic has bulked up to 250 pounds and he has become a solid post player with his array of powerful moves.

``When Vooch first got to USC he was more of a jump-shooter, but Coach Floyd made us go at it every day after practice so that both of us could get stronger,’’ Gibson remembered. ``Nik was even like a 3-point shooter in college, but he is way, way better now. He’s always been one of those guys with a strong work ethic. He worked hard in college because he always felt like he was underestimated and over the years he just kept improving every year. Now, you see his confidence is through the roof and it’s just a testament to how hard he’s worked.’’

Gibson said he and Vucevic never miss a chance to talk trash or cut up with one another when playing against one another. They also like to reminisce about their rise to the NBA. Said Gibson: ``We laugh out there all of the time. And when I talk to Coach Floyd he’s in awe of us (for making it to the NBA). Coach Floyd always said that (Vucevic) was a special kid and it’s nice to see how far he’s gotten.’’

HAPPY HOMECOMING: When the Magic decided not to retain E’Twaun Moore over the summer, the combo guard jumped at the chance to sign with the Bulls because of the proximity to his home of East Chicago, Ill.

Moore averaged 7.8 points in 2012-13 and 6.3 points in 2013-14 during his two seasons with the Magic. But Orlando drafted Elfrid Payton and Oladipo in the past two drafts and signed veteran shooting guard Ben Gordon in free agency, making Moore expendable.

Moore grew up about 40 minutes away from the United Center, and playing for the Bulls allows him to spend lots of time with his family. Moore, who survived a tough neighborhood upbringing as a child, was able to build a dream house for his parents last year in suburban East Chicago.

``I grew up watching the Bulls and the best player who ever played the game in (Michael) Jordan, so it’s every kid’s dream from this area to play for the Bulls,’’ said Moore, who played only sparingly in Chicago’s first three games. ``I always look at the scores and see how (the Magic) are doing and I still talk to some of the guys (such as Mo Harkless and Kyle O’Quinn).’’

ETC: Both Orlando (Kyle O’Quinn) and Chicago (Joakim Noah) were without key big men on Tuesday night. O’Quinn, a starter for the final 19 games last season and in the season-opener, has missed three past three games after spraining his ankle in New Orleans. Noah missed the game with flu-like conditions. Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said that losing O’Quinn – a versatile big man capable of playing both center and power forward – has been a blow to his team. ``He was a guy who was in our rotation and played both positions for us. And you take this scenario where we’re playing a back-to-back and against good bigs, we need him and we’ll definitely miss him,’’ Vaughn said. … Vucevic had dinner in Chicago on Monday night with Bulls’ rookie forward Nikola Mirotic, a fellow native of Montenegro. The two played against one another for several years as teenagers while living in Montenegro and remained friends while Vucevic played professionally in the NBA and Mirotic was in the Spanish League. … Orlando guard Ben Gordon, who had the best years of his NBA career with the Bulls from 2004-09, said he’s in a situation now that reminds him of his playing days with the Bulls. He is delighted with the role that Vaughn has given him and he likes having the freedom to be a scorer off the bench. Said Gordon: ``It’s been great being able to come in and have an impact on the younger guys and try to develop the culture in the right direction. I’m trying to show them what it is to work hard every day and most importantly I’m being able to play impactful minutes for us. Obviously we’ve gotten off to a rocky start, but I think this team will be fine as long as we continue to work and learn from our mistakes. It’s a process with a lot of young players and we’ll take our bumps along the way, but I’m happy to be here with these guys because they work and they are hungry.’’ … Orlando completes its first back-to-back set of games of the season on Wednesday night in Philadelphia against the 76ers. The Magic are scheduled to have 17 back-to-backs this season.

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Oladipo, Rose Have Great Respect For One Another

ORLANDO – Rather than waste time focusing on the hard-luck injuries that have derailed the start to his second season with the Orlando Magic, Victor Oladipo has instead turned his attention to the loving support around him and his determined return to the basketball court.

Oladipo, who endured a procedure last week to repair a facial fracture just below his right eye, was somewhat emotional on Friday when talking about what it meant to him for his mother, Joan, and his twin sister, Victoria, to travel to Orlando to assist him following the first surgery of his life. Oladipo went on to point out how emotionally moving it was that several of his Magic teammates visited him after the surgery in hopes of lifting his spirits.

Thinking of those things, instead of glumly sitting around and asking, `Why me?’ are far more productive toward his eventual return to the basketball court, Oladipo said on Friday.

``I just think it’s all a part of the process, it is what it is and it’s a part of playing the game, getting injured sometimes,’’ said Oladipo, who rejoined his teammates on the bench Thursday night during the 105-98 loss to the Washington Wizards. ``I think it’s a test, really, of my character, who I am as a person, and who I want to be as a player. But I’m just going to keep working hard and not be discouraged.’’

Oladipo, last season’s runner-up in the Rookie of the Year voting, missed three weeks of the preseason after landing awkwardly and spraining the medial collateral ligament in his right knee on the fourth day of training camp. Then, just as Oladipo was set to return for his first game action and the Magic’s final preseason tune-up before the regular-season opener, the guard took an accidental elbow to the face and he went down to the floor in a heap. He described the impact of the blow as feeling ``like a bat hit me in the face.’’

Last Saturday, Oladipo underwent a procedure where he said doctors installed a metal plate and three screws to repair the damaged area under his right eye. He said that he had stitches removed on Friday, but there is still noticeable swelling in his face.

Oladipo’s mother and sister were previously scheduled to visit him in Orlando, and their timing couldn’t have been more perfect considering the pain that he was in following Saturday’s surgery. It also helps out, Oladipo said, that his mother is a registered nurse.

``My mom and my twin sister were here and if they weren’t here I don’t know what I would have done,’’ Oladipo said. ``I really don’t know what I would have done if my mom wasn’t here. That’s what she’s here for. It’s hard to explain because that’s your mom. There’s nothing like it. You’ve got to have her here, especially with something like that (surgery). She was here, woke up early, she was there the whole time and she was the first person that I saw when I woke up.’’

Oladipo was also happy to see several of his Magic teammates, including Kyle O’Quinn, Maurice Harkless, Elfrid Payton and Devyn Marble, a day after his surgery. Oladipo’s mom and sister prepared a feast for the group, but their purpose for attending was to lift the spirits of their somewhat groggy teammate.

``It was amazing. We all went over there and we were playing video games. (Oladipo) was comfortable around us after he warmed up a little bit. His face was swollen, but we’re his friends and we don’t care about that stuff as long as we have him in good spirits,’’ O’Quinn said recently. ``He wants to be with us right now, but he can’t. It was good to have his mom cooking and giving that good family feeling. I think that’s what he needed most.’’

Oladipo admitted that he was touched that his teammates cared enough about him to spend one of their off nights with him in hopes of boosting his lagging spirits.

``It meant a lot to me, it did,’’ he said. ``It was tough just laying there and not being able to do anything but pretty much sleep. But for them to come over and us have a good time and chilling and playing video games, it was pretty cool. I’m glad that they did that because it definitely helped my heart and my spirits as well.’’

Oladipo said there is no definitive timetable for his return and he can’t even re-start conditioning exercises until he’s off pain medication and the swelling in his face subsides more. He knows that when he returns he’ll likely have to wear a brace on his still-healing knee and a hard-plastic mask over his surgically repaired cheek area.
  All in all, Oladipo said things with his two injuries could have been much worse and he has tried to keep telling himself that he will be back on the floor in due time. He worked hard on his body (he dropped 20 pounds) and his game (he added a mid-range jumper) in the offseason, and now the injuries are just obstacles in the way of him getting back out on the floor for the Magic.

``I’m just taking it day by day. The biggest thing is my mental and focusing on my mind. I’m staying into it, staying into the games and what’s going on around here. I think if I do that, I’ll be all right when I come back,’’ he said. ``It is (frustrating), but it’s just another challenge. It’s not the first time that it’s happened to me in my life. I’ve been facing challenges all of my life. I’m just going to work even harder now. I just take it as a sign that I need to work even harder than I was before. I’m looking forward to getting back and helping my teammates out.’’

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Support From Family and Teammates Helping Oladipo Recover

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Due to Tropical Storm Nicole, the NBA has announced that the Dallas Mavericks at Orlando Magic game on Wednesday, November 9 will tip-off at 5:30 PM. Amway Center doors open at 4:30 PM.