Believe In Blue and White

Nobody really gave two craps about the Orlando Magic upon entering the ‘08-’09 NBA season. Despite their young and talented nucleus composed of Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, and Rashard Lewis, there were a lot of criticisms made their way that prevents them from being considered among the elite. Easily falls in love with the three-point shot. Not tough enough. No inside presence aside from Howard. No real quality power forward. Weak bench. And the list goes on.

Well, guess what, naysayers? These bunch of soft three-point shooting miscreants just led the league in fewest points allowed, became the only team in NBA history to defeat the Boston Celtics in a Game 7 on their home court, made the Cleveland Cavaliers their bitch in the Eastern Conference Finals, and silenced the haters with their successfully unique style of ball that propelled them to the Finals. Not too shabby a season, I must say.

Center of Attention

The season was never a pleasant surprise because of Dwight Howard, who, in his 5th year, has established himself as one of the best defensive centers that played the game. I said “defensive” because his offensive shortcomings were exposed during the playoffs in which his athleticism and power were completely nullified by tough defenders who body him up (Kendrick Perkins) or guys who just match up his natural abilities (Andrew Bynum and, to a lesser extent, Pau Gasol). It was painfully obvious that Dwight needs a dependable jump shot or post moves that can change how defenders play him which he can use to his advantage. However, let’s not get into the debate about his offense because there is still time to develop those skills. For the past season, however, he resembles Bill Russell in the way he anchors the defense and changes the opponents’ shots with his mere presence. Simply put, he gives the Magic a chance to win every night.

Something To Prove

The surprising thing about their run to the playoffs and into the Finals is the development of Jameer Nelson as their point guard. He was quite unappreciated coming to the season because of his inability to assert his offense during the past year, but he really stepped into the plate this year, scoring 17 points while dishing out 5 assists per game, and landed him a spot on the All-Star team. Despite his banner year, there has been contention whether or not he deserved to play in the Finals and steal precious minutes away from Rafer Alston, who was responsible for taking the Magic in the Finals. Now that Alston was traded (more on that later), consider the ‘09-’10 season as the year of redemption for Jameer, who will try hard to prove that he can take the Magic beyond where Alston brought them.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Also a big surprise was the bench play. Contrary to popular belief, Orlando has more than capable guys coming off the bench because of three separate occurrences. First was the injury of Mickael Pietrus. Originally slated as the starter, Pietrus was demoted to the bench because of the steady play of Courtney Lee going deep in the season and the playoffs. The situation did not dissuade Pietrus from scoring at will, however, as he was instrumental in defeating the Celtics on Game 7, as well as having done an admirable job of defending LeBron James in the Conference Finals.

J.J. Redick may have been known as a shooter coming into the league, but in a team that values defense more than anything, he has yet to show consistency on both ends of the floor, which explains why he hasn’t played enough minutes to justify his place as a lottery pick in the 2006 Draft. Fortunately, an injury to Courtney Lee in the opening round against Philadelphia opened up a spot for Redick and he responded well, thanks to his surprising defense against Ray Allen in the next round. Given the fact that Lee was traded for next season, expect more from Redick as he assumes the shooter role off the bench.

Last, Dwight Howard was suspended for Game 6 of the opening round because of an elbow to Samuel Dalembert. Having your best player miss a game at one of the more crucial stages of the season could spell disaster for any team. But little did the league know that Orlando did have a wild card in Marcin Gortat. Now, those who think that a 3-point 4-rebound player could make people forget about Dwight may be crazy, Gortat showed that he was a capable center whose game featured a jump shot, which is something that Dwight still does not have in his game. As a result, Philadelphia lost the series with the help of a double-double from Gortat. Too bad he’ll leave the team and play for Dallas next season.

What’s even a bigger loss is Hedo Turkoglu, but that’s another story. Tune in next week for more Magic, in particular the loss of Turk and the arrival of Vinsanity (or at least what’s left of it).