Hedo Turkoglu could really benefit from a campaign like the one that features his fellow teammate J. J. Reddick. "Perhaps the best shooter in the history of the NBA", starts the commercial seen in heavy rotation on NBATV, almost overnight became a household name for fans subscribed to NBA's flagship TV channel. Turkoglu's commercial would simply focus on his career-high numbers across the board: 19 points, six rebounds and four assists per game. Opening line would just need be changed to "Perhaps the Most Improved Player of the season"...

"I feel that I am at the right place and at the right time" says Turkoglu, while selecting a post-game meal recently in Dallas. "In four years in Orlando, every year I got better. Here I have a coach that gives me a chance. Stan Van Gundy wants me to get the ball a lot. They gave me the ball and my job was made simple: just go out and play."

Through three years with the Magic, Turkoglu was a constant that in many ways kept the Magic equation in balance. He averaged about 14 points and four rebounds per game. Last season, no Magic player had more of an effect than Turkoglu, adding roughly six points in their favor every time he stepped on the floor.  Hedo is impressed at his own numbers -- like many players, he underestimated the vast array of statistical tools at media's fingertips -- and he throws another number in the mix, with pride.

"I am No.3 in Orlando. I was never among the main offensive players on a team, and here I am the third option. I have a promise from the coach and from the players that I will have a chance to succeed here. I am more free than before, I don't have to think a lot about how I am playing, I just have to go and play."

In parallel with his playing days in Orlando, Turkoglu had been working a double shift back home as well. Sandwiched around a short mandatory stint in the Turkish military, Hedo had been an active member of the Turkish national team through the summers. Staying in Orlando means 90 degree averages through the summer. Istanbul, Hedo's birthplace and Turkey's largest city, is a more manageable 70 degrees.

"If you stay here, you don't have a chance to play a lot of basketball, you just practice and train a lot. The best way for me to stay in shape is to go and play for Turkey through the summer. I got excited about playing through the summer, not just mentally but physically as well. I came back from the European championships in excellent shape. That helped me have a good season this year."

The European championships that Hedo mentions featured enough NBA players to fill a locker room: Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Darko Milicic, Andrei Kirilenko, Rasho Nesterovic, Tony Parker, and of course Hedo Turkoglu. Back in the NBA locker room, it is common for international players to have their lockers grouped together. All his career, Hedo had a fellow European close by his side. That is, until Darko Milicic this year left Orlando for Memphis.

"I am only with Americans now", says Hedo in a mockingly strong Turkish accent, "It is tough without a foreign guy. Everything is different. When I was in Sacramento, it was a good time with Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac all the time. In San Antonio it was the same thing with Rasho Nesterovic. Last year with Darko here in Memphis, I really got used to it. But as they say here, life goes on. Life simply goes on."

I ask about the number '3' he used before, being the third option on the team, and how he gets along with options No.1 and No.2, namely Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis. He says its different than before, but he is getting used to it and it is working out great.

"We go see movies together, we eat together, we hang out often. We are a good group of guys, we know how to spend time together. It is not like other teams where Europeans hang out together and American players hang out together. We are more together in this team."

Since the NBA started giving out the Most Improved Player award in 1985, no team had a player selected more times than the Orlando Magic. It happened three times so far, and although Hedo this season improved by roughly 50% in his points, rebounds and assists, he is not thinking about any awards. To him, success this year -- his eight in the league -- seems simple and not unexpected.

"Its really simple. I have been in this league for a long time. I just learn and get better. I played so many games, here in the NBA and around the world for Turkey, and I saw so many tricks. I just picked them up and have a chance to use them."

Full of tricks, and playing for the Magic. Walt Disney couldn't have scripted it any better than Hedo Turkoglu so effortlessly did.