FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.
ORLANDO – It wasn't Stan Van Gundy, or any of his assistants, who stopped Orlando Magic practice Friday morning to make a coaching point, correcting newly-acquired power forward Brandon Bass and making sure he understood clearly his defensive assignment on a particular play.
It was center Dwight Howard. Coach Stan Van Gundy just stood back and nodded his approval. He liked what was happening.
"Our returning guys are taking more of a leadership role, trying to make sure everyone is on the same page, and that's our biggest challenge right now,'' Van Gundy said. "We're putting a lot of new pieces together.''
Howard, going into his sixth NBA season, has grown not only into the best center in the NBA but also into the clear leader of the defending Eastern Conference champs. He isn't just leading by example. He's leading vocally, too.
"I want it (the responsibility) on my shoulders,'' he said. "I can carry that load.''
The Magic have put together the deepest, most talented team in franchise history, setting the sights clearly this season on their first NBA title. Whether they can surpass the success of last season, or the Magic team of 1995 -- both lost in the NBA Finals -- is another question.
Not satisfied with just reaching the Finals, the Magic make some surprisingly significant changes to the roster this summer, adding five new players who will be part of the opening night rotation. At least two newcomers will be in the starting lineup when they open against Philadelphia on Wednesday.
The safest and easiest option this summer would have been to just re-sign free agent Hedo Turkoglu and bring back much of the same team, expecting they would improved with another year of maturity and continuity.
Instead they gambled, trading for eight-time All-Star Vince Carter, letting Turkoglu leave for Toronto, and adding role playing guys like Bass, Matt Barnes, Jason Williams and Ryan Anderson. All five are part of the 10-man rotation that Van Gundy has promised to use early this season.
"We had one of the lowest scoring benches in the league because I played our starters big minutes,'' Van Gundy said. "Our bench has been very, very good in preseason. We'll open playing 10 guys because it's going to be hard for me to take anyone out of the rotation.''Preparation for the season has been complicated by the looming, 10-game suspension given to power forward Rashard Lewis for violating the league's substance abuse policy last spring. A random drug test uncovered a banned substance in a supplement he was taking.
For at least the first 10 games, the Magic will be using either Anderson or Bass at power forward while Lewis watches from the sideline. Bass gives them a true power forward, something they didn't have last season. Anderson gives them another outside shooter, which is what Lewis will provide when he returns.
They also will start Jameer Nelson and Carter in the backcourt, along with Howard at center and Mickael Pietrus at small forward.
"I think we can function pretty well with just about anyone we put on the floor,'' Van Gundy said. "There are a lot of ways we can go.''
Last Season By the Numbers
Record: 59-23. Finished first in the Southeast Division, and third in the Eastern Conference behind the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers. Made it to the NBA Finals, beating the 76ers, Celtics and Cavs before losing to the Lakers.
Offense: 109.2 points per 100 possessions, 11th in the NBA. 3rd in shooting, 20th in turnover rate, 28th in offensive rebounding, 7th in free throw rate.
Defense: 101.9 points allowed per 100 possessions, 1st in the NBA. 1st in shooting defense, 26th in opponent turnover rate, 2nd in defensive rebounding, 4th in opponent free throw rate.
Top Performers: Dwight Howard was the force in the middle that led the Magic to the NBA Finals, leading the team in points per game (20.6), rebounds per game (13.8) and blocks (2.9). Jameer Nelson was the team leader in assists, dishing out 5.4 a game with Rafer Alston being the king of the steals, with 1.8 a game.
All statistics via Basketball-Reference.com.
Player to WatchFanHouse's Matt Moore and Tom Ziller preview one player to watch from each team. Here's a snippet of Ziller's post on Jameer Nelson.
Last season, Nelson shot jumpers like he never had before. Jam's previous season high effective field goal percentage on jumpers was 49.8 percent in 2005-06. He shot an amazing 58.2 percent on jumpers last year. You expect improvement from your young guards, and Orlando's team offense was certainly more stable last season than ever before. But that sort of superlative performance screams like a fire alarm. Can the Magic really expect Nelson to shoot so deftly again?
See Ziller's full post on Nelson.
Offseason Tracker
IN: Vince Carter (trade), Ryan Anderson (trade), Matt Barnes (free agency), Brandon Bass (free agency), Jason Williams (free agency)
OUT: Hedo Turkoglu (free agency), Courtney Lee (trade), Rafer Alston (trade), Tony Battie (trade).
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
If the Magic DO go small, as is suggested they will, it will hurt them in the long run. Bass is a small forward, Pietrus is a big guard, Nelson did not recover for the playoffs last season, playing him too much too soon hurt the team. It would be wiser in the long run to start Anderson not Nelson, these first ten games, then see if Lewis could beat of Bass or Anderson, and if Nelson could beat out Pietrus. If the Cavs or Magic get all the way to the championship, the may have to contend with Bynum, Gasol, Artest up front for the Lakers, and before that, will need to contend with Perkins, Garnett, Pearce up front for the Celtics. Small ball won`t get the job done, though it`ll sell tickets early in the season with how dainty and pretty it will look.
Just got my Sports Illustrated NBA Preview Double Issue (October 26, 2009). Their predictions:
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Eastern Conference Finals:
Celtics over Cavaliers
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Western Conference Finals:
Lakers over Spurs
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NBA Finals:
Celtics over Lakers
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Who said the Magic are going small??? They not only have the size up front, they have more athletesism and are younger than most front Courts!!! They can go either way, they have the depth and talent to do so!!!
The Magic are deep and talented but I pick the Cavs to make the finals. As good as they are, everything revolves around Dwight Howard who still cannot dominate Shaq because his game is inside. Shaq as old as he is, is still the strogest player in the game and basically has played Howard pretty even and does'nt even need double team help. Not having to double Howard means everyone stays at home and the Magic are beatable. Don't know why so many people underestimate Cleveland, who is not old, had the best regular season record and got significantly better. Going undefeated in the preseason means nothing.
Shaq in no way helps the Cavs defend the pick and roll, which is/was the Cavs main problem!!! Shaq will do either of two things, leave the shooter wide open or be slow to recover picking up Howard going to the basket!!!
Let's not forget Shaq's awful knees and terrible conditioning =P Sure, he seemed fine last year, but Phoenix docs aren't in Cleveland. Dwight'll be on the floor much longer than Shaq when the two teams meet. He'll be a non-factor.