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The Baseline Sees All: Orlando Magic
SportingNews
Elsewhere in our web of basketball knowledge, you'll find comprehensive team previews by experts intimately acquainted with what makes these NBA teams tick, where they've been, and what might be next for them. So why another set of previews? Because sometimes, it's worth listening to your crazy uncle about that broken leg before you take a second trip to the doctor's office.
It was more powerful than a locomotive, more contagious than Peruvian hiccups, as righteous as the wind. It was Turkoglu Fever, and boy did it bite us hard. He was most totally and obviously the man. After all, how often do you get to watch an exotic, aging, borderline All-Star play point shooting forward and then cap it off with massive feats of clutch? No less than two teams made signing Hedo their primary off-season objective, with the Raptors coming out on top. The Magic just had to lick their wounds and content themselves with getting Vince Carter in a trade. However can they go on as a team?
Look, I've enjoyed watching Turkoglu come into his own as much as the next guy. For too long, he was the tantalizing could-be that somehow attracted no rancor, but still made us all wish. He was great with the Magic, especially when Jameer Nelson went down.
But it's starting to annoy me how much his departure has blinded folks to what Orlando has on their roster. Try reigning Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard in the middle; Jameer Nelson, a healthy All-Star PG; Rashard Lewis, great rainer of treys; and Vince Carter, who has left the fog of hype and can now be clearly seen as one of the league's most well-rounded SGs.
They kept Marcin Gortat, an unexpected source of production throughout the postseason, and signed athletic young big Brandon Bass. Maybe they had to part with promising rookie Courtney Lee to land Vince, but they got inside-outside threat Ryan Anderson as a throw-in. Plus, will Lee ever be that much better than Mickael Pietrus, who is bigger and, more importantly, still on the Magic? Rafer Alston, a valuable vet in the playoffs who felt weird about taking a backseat to Nelson, is gone. Enter Jason Williams, back for one more round.
If this sounds like I'm teaching a four year-old how to count to two, I am.
An aging Shaq? Sheed off the bench? Only the Lakers, who grabbed Artest and will have Bynum back healthy, can really claim to have made anywhere near the upgrades the Magic did. Just sit and look at their roster for a second. They're totally underrated when, if anything, the Magic should have us so frothed up we've got them overrated. Oh, and lest we forget, their coach, one Stan Van Gundy, was a legit candidate for Coach of the Year last season and can get even Rashard Lewis to commit to defense.
What am I missing here? Is Vince Carter still so loathed or resented that he must taint any team he comes to? Is everyone still worried about their offense, specifically Howard's role in it, when they'll have their second-best player back healthy and have added an elite scorer? This team should win a championship and it's absurd that anyone's lukewarm or less than bullish about them. We should be falling at their feet and wondering how even the Lakers can match their depth.
Most Likely Breakout: Gortat is probably regarded a little too highly, given the small sample size his supposedly starter-caliber prowess is based on. Bass, whom the Mavs parted with to try and secure Gortat, has been getting better every year, just under the radar, and will have some big nights in the trenches. That's the other thing with this team: pretty much everyone but these two guys is who they are. Even Morris Almond, if he makes the team, can be counted on as just another shooter. Seriously, where are the question marks, even the good ones?
Most Likely Letdown: That the chemistry, rotation or system just doesn't click. Maybe Carter doesn't fit in. Howard still isn't being used as effectively as he might. If the Magic have a banner year despite dealing with these sorts of imperfections, it could destroy basketball. Like when the Cavs were really good in the East with no one but LeBron and Mike Brown's defensive know-how.
Blog superstar: I'm not pointing at J.J. Red specifically, but someone on this team has it in him to organize an a cappella group. Do you doubt for a second that the talent's there?
Signature game: The Magic will slump at some point. If the bench or lesser starters can rally and carry them out of it, that's when everyone has to recognize that this team works as more than a fantasy basketball-like experiment. A smart fantasy team, not one with 10 All-Stars that leads the roto league in turnovers.
Why else you should care: So you can email me and call me a blathering idiot when Orlando never once takes the lead in the East.
