Magic Finish 52-30
Confession:
Call it writers block, laziness, or whatever you want, but it hasn’t been easy for me to write or talk about the Orlando Magic. I’m not exactly sure why. I think it’s because they’re situation has bored me. I mean, the Magic have been third in the East for how long? Nobody has challenged their position, but the Magic were not good enough to challenge the Pistons or Celtics either. So the way it played out made me feel like we were standing still and just going through the motions.
Now I won’t say that I’m not “happy” with the Magic’s season. After all, we finished third in the East, won the Southeast Division, and 52 games which was the third most in franchise history. We also set a couple franchise records by winning 27 road games and making 801 3-point field goals.
And still, I feel I should be more excited than I am. I know most would say I should be thrilled for the season the Magic had, but I’m not. I said this team would win 50 games last off season, so they haven’t done anything I didn’t expect.
Here is what I think it comes down to. After watching all 82 regular season games, I think the Magic are still a player or two away from contending. The 2004 Detroit Pistons come to mind. They were a very good team, but Joe Dumars still felt they were missing something so he made a great move to land Rasheed Wallace. Of course we know how that turned out.
That’s pretty much how I feel about Orlando. We’re a really good team, and the future is bright, but I still think we’re missing something. I’ve had to watch our backcourt get abused to many times this season to honestly say that I think we can truly contend.
Now that doesn’t mean this regular season hasn’t been a successful one, because it has. This organization is defiantly going in the right direction. I just wish Otis Smith would have made a deal instead of waiting it out and doing nothing. Hopefully he’ll redeem himself this off season.
All in all, I’m still satisfied with the Magic’s regular season. While it was no where near as entertaining as watching the Western conference towards the end, it still has plenty of exciting moments and can be chalked up as a success.
Up next, the 2008 NBA playoffs…
Call it writers block, laziness, or whatever you want, but it hasn’t been easy for me to write or talk about the Orlando Magic. I’m not exactly sure why. I think it’s because they’re situation has bored me. I mean, the Magic have been third in the East for how long? Nobody has challenged their position, but the Magic were not good enough to challenge the Pistons or Celtics either. So the way it played out made me feel like we were standing still and just going through the motions.
Now I won’t say that I’m not “happy” with the Magic’s season. After all, we finished third in the East, won the Southeast Division, and 52 games which was the third most in franchise history. We also set a couple franchise records by winning 27 road games and making 801 3-point field goals.
And still, I feel I should be more excited than I am. I know most would say I should be thrilled for the season the Magic had, but I’m not. I said this team would win 50 games last off season, so they haven’t done anything I didn’t expect.
Here is what I think it comes down to. After watching all 82 regular season games, I think the Magic are still a player or two away from contending. The 2004 Detroit Pistons come to mind. They were a very good team, but Joe Dumars still felt they were missing something so he made a great move to land Rasheed Wallace. Of course we know how that turned out.
That’s pretty much how I feel about Orlando. We’re a really good team, and the future is bright, but I still think we’re missing something. I’ve had to watch our backcourt get abused to many times this season to honestly say that I think we can truly contend.
Now that doesn’t mean this regular season hasn’t been a successful one, because it has. This organization is defiantly going in the right direction. I just wish Otis Smith would have made a deal instead of waiting it out and doing nothing. Hopefully he’ll redeem himself this off season.
All in all, I’m still satisfied with the Magic’s regular season. While it was no where near as entertaining as watching the Western conference towards the end, it still has plenty of exciting moments and can be chalked up as a success.
Up next, the 2008 NBA playoffs…
posted by OVERWADED @ 2:19 PM
3 Comments:
At 5:20 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
OVERWADED, you put a lot of thought into your post, and it's hard for me to argue against anything you wrote. For all intents and purposes, the Magic had the SE division clinched and the third seed clinched long before the regular season came to an end, but never really came close to challenging the Pistons for the second seed; so in that sense, there hasn't been much suspense about where the Magic would wind up in the standings.
However, It was great seeing Dwight Howard continuing to develop as a top NBA center; the breakthrough year that Hedo Turkoglu had; the steadiness of Rashard Lewis; along with the Magic becoming one of the most prolific three point shooting teams in NBA history.
There was also a lot of discussion regarding the Nelson/Arroyo/Dooling tag team at PG, along with J.J. Redick's playing time or lack of it.
Yes, it's a very long regular season, but now the playoffs are here! I'm sure all you guys are as psyched up as I am!
GO MAGIC!!
At 1:11 AM,
Matt said…
OVERWADED, it was not the writers' block that stopped you from writing. I know you too well to figure that you did not want to plant seeds of doubt in an otherwise seemingly successful season, which is a noble excuse for not writing. I have had my doubts, as well which makes me believe that it would be a few years before Magic could become a contender but I am not going to get into it until after the play-offs which I am optimistically excited about, and that is why I am coming home for the second round assuming the Magic would not be upset in the first round.
I agree totally with the points that Mike raised as to why we should look upon this season in a positive light, but would like to add the consistency of the team under Stan Van Gundy. The stats reflect that Magic has beaten the teams they should with minor slippage. Not only that but they did it with a good margin of points. The games they have played may not have been what we wanted them to be but compared to walk-up style of Brian Hill it was quite an upgrade.
So it is time to get all psyched up, as Mike has put it, and say loud and clear: GO MAGIC!!!!!!
At 3:52 AM,
OVERWADED said…
Thanks for the comments guys.
It has been amazing to watch the growth of Dwight Howard. I continue to remind myself of that. It really is a privilege that few other teams or fans have; to watch a player go from good to great right before your eyes.
As for Turk, damn he's awesome. He was just named Eastern Conference Player of the Month! He's almost as important to this team right now as Dwight is. But I also give a lot of credit to Van Gundy for giving Hedo the freedom, and having the confidence in him to play. Hedo is the best example we have of showing what a difference a good coach can make.
As for Lewis, the Magic would not be where they are today without him. I do believe he was the right guy to bring in, but he was overpaid. I hope to see him play more aggressive in the playoffs.
Here is what it comes down to right now. I know we have a solid team. It's not like we're the Atlanta Hawks going into round one against the Boston Celtics. I have reason to be optimistic. This is the time when I need to put my worries aside, and just cheer for the moment. I admit, I'm getting excited, not just for the Magic, but for the playoffs in general. It's hard to believe the last time the Magic won a playoff series was in 1996, and for the first time in a long time, we have a good shot at doing some.
Here are some recent comments from Dwight Howard:
"Everybody knows what LeBron did, everybody remembers," Magic center Dwight Howard said."I want to be remembered."
Howard is confident enough to say,"We want Toronto to feel like they're in hell."
He's also light-hearted enough to add with a laugh,"This is Superman against Lex Luther," referring to his match-up against Raptors star and buddy Chris Bosh.
"Patrick Ewing [Magic assistant coach and former NBA great] is always talking to me about this....You get remembered for what you and your team do in the playoffs," he said."You can do a lot of great individual things, but what really matters is if you led your team. I know a lot of it is on me - and that's OK. I can handle that."
I don't know about you guys, but hearing Dwight Howard say such comments gives me goose bumps. It really does make you think, and will for sure make us all watch. This is the time when we have to watch; after all, this is the time of the season "where amazing happens".
GO MAGIC!!!!!
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