The mistakes have been few for Orlando's Keith Bogans since a dubious start to the preseason. The expected battle for the starting shooting-guard slot has mostly fizzled because of injuries to J.J. Redick (hand), Trevor Ariza (foot) and Keyon Dooling (groin). But even if those players had been healthy, it would be hard to imagine them playing much better this preseason than Bogans.

The 6-foot-5 guard has done everything Stan Van Gundy has asked of him, whether it's guarding the likes of LeBron James, Joe Johnson and Jason Richardson or knocking down open shots. Bogans shot a stellar 54.3% from the floor this preseason while also making a staggering 13 of 22 tries (59.1 percent) from three-point range.

So Bogans has overcome the early barbs from Van Gundy, and these days there's nothing but praise for arguably the Magic's grittiest player.

"He's our best perimeter defender; there's not much question about that," Van Gundy said. "He's a very good rebounder on a team that needs rebounding. And he's shot the ball unbelievably. He's done everything we could have hoped for. He's gotten himself in great shape, and he's playing well."