HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Stan Van Gundy had no idea why his players were going through one of their worst shooting slumps of the season. The Orlando Magic, outside of Dwight Howard, were missing wide open attempts and their offense was stalling through four games against the Atlanta Hawks. For a team that relies heavily on the three, that’s a death sentence and Van Gundy was simply out of answers.

"Maybe when I draw the diagram, I’ll start drawing the ball going in," Van Gundy said tongue-in-cheek. "I’ve been leaving that part out. Generally when I draw the play, it’s just who is going where. Maybe I haven’t made it clear enough that I would like for the ball to go in the basket. Normally, the arrows stop where the guy gets the ball, but I’ll start drawing them all the way to the basket."

Because of their struggles, the Magic fell behind 3-1 in their first-round series with the Hawks. With their season on the line, their offense finally showed up in Game 5. They had their most impressive game of the series, winning 101-76 and shooting 41.0% from the field and 42.3% from behind the arc.

Now, as the series heads to Atlanta for Game 6, the Magic will look to duplicate that performance and try to save their season with another win.

"It was a good spark for all of us and we feel more comfortable," Hedo Turkoglu told HOOPSWORLD. "We needed that. I’ve never seen that many open shots missed, especially with this group of guys. In my time here, I haven’t seen all of our good shooters missing that many shots. [Game 5] was a good spark for us and hopefully we carry that on to the next game."

On Tuesday night, every active player scored for the Magic and their balanced attack was much more effective than relying solely on Howard, which they had done for much of the series. Not only did it keep Atlanta guessing, it also gave Orlando confidence and allowed them to step up on the defensive end.

"That’s how you get yourself going," Turkoglu said. "When you play well on offense and you’re making good shots, it starts to help the rest of your game. You go back on defense and you’re more into it because you just want to get the ball and go back down the court and do the same thing again. As long as we keep ourselves in this same mentality and have this same passion, I think we can finish this series."

Prior to Game 5, Howard told reporters Orlando would win the series if they were able to win that game. One thing the Magic haven’t lacked in this series is confidence. Even through their struggles, they felt that they were losing the games rather than admitting that the Hawks were playing well and beating them. They didn’t feel as if they had given Atlanta their best effort and their last win only further solidified that mindset. The players still refused to give their opponent any credit.

"Listen, we’ve always had confidence in ourselves, we just hadn’t had a really good game," Turkoglu said. "If you look at the whole series, we hadn’t had a great game and we hadn’t been able to get off to good starts. We were behind from the beginning and trying to chase them. But even on our bad nights, we were still only losing by 2 or 3 points. You know what I’m saying? [In Game 5], we got off to a good start and kept it going for the whole night."

Now, in order to keep their season alive, they’ll have to continue playing at that level and remain focused. Their overconfidence has, at times, led to complacency but the group understands that they must play at a high level if they want to avoid having their season end early.

"We can’t just relax after one game and go back to jacking up bad shots and hurrying our offense," Turkoglu said. "We can’t just fall back on, ‘Oh, we made our shots so now we’re playing great.’ We can’t just say that. We also had to play great defense, get off to a good start, not rush our shots and have balance [to win Game 5]. That’s when we’re in our comfort zone."

That’s somewhere the Magic hadn’t been in awhile until their last game and the fate of their season rests on whether or not they can get back in the zone tonight. Playing an elimination game on the road is always tough and the Magic will need to do whatever they can to get Howard’s supporting cast involved, even if that means drawing the ball going into the basket.

Prospects to Watch During Workouts: This weekend a number of teams will hold their first individual workouts and prospects from around the nation will have an opportunity to improve their draft stock. Each year, several players make strong impressions during workouts and climb draft boards as a result.

Last year, Paul George was viewed as a second-round pick until strong workouts allowed him to climb into the lottery. Scorers such as Dominique Jones and Jordan Crawford solidified themselves as first-round picks after dominating individual workouts and showing their ability to light up defenders.

This year, several prospects are hoping to change how they’re perceived through strong performances in individual workouts. Some of these players didn’t get the recognition they deserved because they played for a smaller school while others possess skills that they weren’t able to showcase at the collegiate level. Some will try to prove that they’re top picks while others will be hoping to climb into the second round. Either way, these are some of the players to keep an eye on as workouts get underway:

Bismack Biyombo, Congo – After a dominant showing at the Nike Hoops Summit two weeks ago, Biyombo burst onto the scene and into first-round projections. While his 7-foot-7 wingspan and outstanding athleticism have already allowed him to climb draft boards, the big man could help his stock even more if he proves himself against his peers and passes the eye test in this setting.

Serge Ibaka, a fellow Congo native, climbed draft boards after displaying his upside in workouts three years ago. Now, Biyombo finds himself in a similar position and can solidify himself as a top five pick if he has a strong showing over the next several weeks. While questions about his age linger, he can change the focus to his game if he does well in workouts, just as Ibaka did when similar concerns surfaced.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Jimmer Fredette, BYU – He may be one of the biggest names in the draft, but there are plenty of critics who aren’t sure if his game will translate to the NBA. At BYU, Fredette was a phenomenal scorer that was able to lead the nation in scoring by averaging 28.5 points. Now, executives want to see how effective he can be against elite defenders and in a situation where he doesn’t have a green light. They’ll also want to see how he performs on the defensive end, an aspect of his game that was heavily criticized even in college.

As of today, Fredette is projected as a mid-to-late first rounder, but a strong showing in workouts could help him move into the lottery. Scorers usually shine during this process and if he finds his rhythm during a workout, he could make a team with a top pick fall in love. Much like Stephen Curry two years ago, Fredette will have to prove that he’s not a one-dimensional player whose best days are behind him. Individual workouts are the perfect setting for him to erase that notion.

Josh Selby, Kansas – After an inconsistent freshman season, Selby’s decision to enter the draft and hire an agent was one of the most surprising. He had been on the NBA’s radar for years, but he was expected to return to school to improve his stock. Now, he’ll turn to workouts in an attempt to climb draft boards.

He’s currently working out at Impact Basketball in Las Vegas along with twenty other prospects, and he has played extremely well against his peers. He has emerged as one of the best scorers in Vegas and shown why he was one of the top recruits in the country coming out of high school. Many players and talent evaluators that have watched him play have said his game is built for the NBA rather than college and they expect him to be an excellent scorer at the next level. He has drawn comparisons to Monta Ellis in terms of his scoring ability and he has been unstoppable at times at Impact, winning pickup games against any combination of players. Selby is one of the most intriguing players in this class and strong workouts would prove that he’s ready to play at this level and solidify him as a first-round selection.

Andrew Goudelock, Charleston – If you’ve never heard of Goudelock, that’s because he played for the Charleston Cougars in the Southern Conference. Because he played for a small school, he has been left off of some mock drafts, but he’s the type of player that could come out of nowhere and dominate in the next several weeks. He was the fifth-best scorer in the nation last season, averaging 23.7 points per game, and he had some of his best games against tough competition such as North Carolina and Tennessee. During the season, he was often double or triple teamed and he’s looking forward to showing what he can in this setting.

"They won’t be able to double-team me in workouts. They won’t be able to develop special schemes to stop me. It’s just going to be man-to-man, straight basketball. I’m looking forward to it because that’s when I’ll really be able to show what I can do," Goudelock told HOOPSWORLD in January. After a nice showing at the Portsmouth Invitational, don’t be surprised if Goudelock continues to play well and starts showing up on mock drafts.

Julyan Stone, UTEP – Another player that could climb into the second round after workouts is Stone, simply because his game is perfectly suited for this process. At 6-foot-7, he’s bigger than every other point guard in this class and is a matchup nightmare.

Last year, Mikhail Torrance was able to use his size and length to distance himself from the pack in workouts until a heart ailment caused him to go undrafted. Stone is even bigger and more athletic than Torrance and could create some buzz in a weak point guard class. He recently worked out at the IMG Basketball Academy and received rave reviews from those in attendance. His schedule is filling up with workout requests, and he’ll have plenty of opportunities to show why he belongs in the league.