[Eilly JamParticipant]

is it fair to say he should easily lead la to a championship with nash, kobe, gasol and artest backing him up?

[bobbybParticipant]

yes , but i wouldnt call them " backing him up"

[omphalosParticipant]

 Okay, just to clear up a few things about the Orlando team that made it to the Finals, Turkoglu was far from a scrub that season, Rashard Lewis was lighting it up as the perfect complement to Dwight, Courtney Lee was playing great D, shooting the outside shot well and was the perfect role player for that team, and Alston was playing very well during that stretch. So for starters, that team wasn’t really full of "scrubs".

Secondly, the path they took to the Finals wasn’t particularly difficult, they barely beat a Celtics team without Kevin Garnett, they beat one of Lebron’s one-man teams with nobody on board who could really bother Dwight (hence his 25ppg on 65% shooting) and while Lebron did average ridiculous numbers for that series, he also took huge amount of shots to do so, the Magic’s two key series wins weren’t particularly impressive, with one coming from a player injury and another being an advantageous matchup.

To say that Dwight "carried" these teams is misleading, the fact of the matter is that those Orlando teams were vastly underrated as a team and while Dwight was the linchpin he certainly wasn’t the all-conquering force people make him out to be. When you consider that he’ll be facing off against Perkins (whose biggest asset is his ability to contain Dwight) and the Thunder in the WCF, Dwight isn’t going to be as devastatingly effective in the post-season as people seem to imagine he’ll be. 

So to say that he’ll "easily lead them to a championship" is ludicrous in that it won’t be easy by any means, and he won’t be leading them.

[BenchWarmerParticipant]

There goes my need to post anything. But LBJ did average 49% fg for 38.5 points He did take lots of shots but I’d say he did fine 😉

[Toronto16Participant]

 That Magic team would have never made the finals if Garnett was healthy, or if Lebron has a team mate better than a guy named Boobie.

[joecheck88Participant]

 I think the point is that Dwight is on a much better team than that finals team. We all knew that already. I think a lot of people are down on Dwight because of the drama he caused. The guy is a defensive difference maker. He is a dominant defender that makes any team he is on leaps and bounds better. The fact that he could carry a team with players like Turk, Lewis, Alston and a rookie in Lee, no matter how well they were playing, is a testament to how dominant he is. It isn’t guaranteed that this team will win a championship or anything like that. They should be cemented as a top 3 team in the west and should push the WCF to a long series at worst. 

[JoeWolf1]

 I’m kind of with omphalos.  Rashard Lewis was an All-Star that year and made more 3’s than anyone in the entire league, at a 40% clip.  You have a guy like that with Howard and a wing facilitator like Turk, that year, and you’re going to win a lot of games.

Unlike teams that have been put with Dwight, in the past, that 08-09 squad was ridiculous from downtown.  You pair that with the best center in the game and you’re going to have one hell of an inside/outside game and that causes problems for just about any defense in the league, no matter who is healthy.

In the playoffs you had 4 guys, playing over 20 minutes per game and hitting at least .385% of their 3 point attemtps. You had that, the best defensive center in the game, that kind of ball movement, and that is a team that can make a run.

[corneggParticipant]

is not a scrub. It was only his rookie year

[SubZeroParticipant]

^^ Everything that omphalos said

[BigChamp12Participant]

 I agree with Omphalos SOMEWHAT… BUT What’s up with the "IFs"? Everyone is always saying if this person wasn’t hurt, if this player had gotten hot, so what! It will always be IF’s… You can’t talk about if KG was healthy, the Magic would’ve lost or the other if’s being thrown out there. Why? What;s the purpose. it can easily be said that if Bosh wasn’t hurt for most of the playoffs, the heat would’ve ran through it easily. It can be said that if the Knicks didn’t have injuries they would’ve been a higher seed. It’s pointless to use "IF" all of the time. IMO its not fair, Im just saying… And whether Dwight Howard, had good shooters around him or not it still doesn’t change the fact that he was the leader and he led that team to the finals. Kobe’s always been given credit for carrying the lakers, but last time I checked, he has always had superstar big men around him, alongside other guys that contributed at a very efficient rate. Same thing. Right? Another thing, Perkins? yes, Perk can guard DH better than any other guy in the league, but he still gets his number aginst him. I dont understand your reason in saying he wont be as devastatingly effective in the playoffs. What will cause him not to be effective?  

[bangbangwaynee]

Howard gits hiss 1st mvp. U herd it here 1st. Mark it down

[bangbangwaynee]

Howard gits hiss 1st mvp. U herd it here 1st. Mark it down

[bangbangwaynee]

Howard gits hiss 1st mvp. U herd it here 1st. Mark it down

[aamir543Participant]

You seem to forget stuff rather quickly, Rashard Lewis and Hedo were lights out shooters who combined for 35 ppg together that season, they would spread the floor and create mathup problems because of their length. And remember, Hedo was the one who initiated their offense back then while Jameer was out. Jameer was great that season until he got hurt but even when he did Rafer Alston was far from a scrub, still putting up 12 and 5 in under 30 mins per. And Pietrus, Courtney Lee, and Reddick were their role players and all 3 were very good three point shooters, combining for 23 points per game that season.

That team may not have been special, but they were pretty damn good, and they were not full of scrubs.

[bangbangwaynee]

But the east wuz pretty waek dat year.

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