What happened to the Bench Mobb?

After the big December trades the Magic reserves, headlined and spurred on by Gilbert Arenas, decided to nickname themselves the “Bench Mob.”  Once they were informed that the Lakers already call themselves the Bench Mob, it was suggested they add another “b” and play off of Mobb Deep. Thus the Bench Mobb was born.

That has pretty much been the extent of the Bench Mobb excitement.  Their play as of late has been lacking, although some of that can be attributed to the J.J. Redick injury.  Redick has missed 7 straight games causing the Magic to play Gilbert Arenas and Chris Duhon together in the backcourt.  Gilhon is obviously a recipe for sloppy turnovers (yum!).

There ain’t no such thing as half-way bench stars (Shook Ones… stretch?) and regardless of injuries, the production just simply hasn’t been there.  On Wednesday night’s telecast, Jeff Van Gundy called the magic bench “substandard” and later added that the Magic “have the worst bench in the league.”   While that is clearly going too far, it goes to show the respect that others have for the so called, BENCH MOBB.

There is no doubt that team depth is important, but few would point to it as a true difference maker.  However, the stats say otherwise.

For the season, Orlando is averaging 28.5 ppg from its reserves (2,050 points).  Prior to the trades, the bench scoring doesn’t really show a real connection between points scored and wins/losses.  However, post trade… it shows quite the opposite.

To continue reading this post and to see the post trade stats, click HERE.