[sacphil_08Participant]

So the big headlines of the summer as far as contenders go are the heat of course and the additions of lebron, and chris bosh. The additions of shaq, jermaine oneal and delonte to boston. LA adding steve blake, matt barnes and theo ratliff. The bulls and jazz added boozer and jefferson respectively. (although i dont consider either of them contenders) But what about orlando?

Their biggest acquisition would be quentin richardson. They also added chris duhon. Now although they don’t have a bunch of superstars, are they still legitimate enough to represent the East in the finals? They in my opinion are one of the best “teams” in the sense of how they play both offensively and defensively. Offensively, their ball movement is crisp, and they find their shooters and they make a high percentage of their attempts. Dwight howard obviously has his way with just about everyone not named kendrick perkins. They have great depth, and their ability to retain jj redick was great for them. I think that with the chemistry they have developed and not to mention vince carter has a year under his belt with this team, that they are either the 1st or second best team in the east still, along with boston. I dont know that the record at the end of the regular season will indicate such, but they can beat just about anyone in the east and i feel they could give the lakers a run for their money as well. Miami IMO is beatable by orlando (this season) because even with erik dampier, he cant cover howard and i feel that the chemistry orlando has can’t be overlooked. They were beaten by a boston team that may have even more chemistry than orlando and they played spectacular defense throughout that series. I think boston and orlando will be battling out the top spot in the east in the playoffs especially this season….

Thoughts?

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

I actually wrote about this a week ago.

Orlando should not be slept on. Very deep, playoff experience and if Howard can develop 1-3 more post moves, I’m interested to see how they do.

[mgreener_34Participant]

I think as long as they have Howard they will be a contender, but a lot goes into a team not just chemistry. They still have a lot of defects that they have to address. Nelson is never going to be the point guard that they really need, and Carter won’t be that scorer they thought they bought.

[Mr. JewboyParticipant]

I don’t underestimate the Magic, but why are you counting out the Heat?
here’s a very simple game plan for the heat against the magic-either lewis has to guard bosh and they just feed bosh the ball and he dominates, or if they put howard on bosh then that means both wade and lebron get to the hole without much contention at the rim due to the fact that howard has to stay on bosh
another thing is that dwight will get into foul trouble for sure while playing against two of the best slasher in the league and his mentality to block everything

[boxn1Participant]

It’s on Howard. He can dominate this league,but he has to believe he can. Orlando has the pieces,I have some confidence that SVG will put the right line up together(with or without Vince) I don’t think they will have as many wins in the regular season,but just like Boston they will be preparing for the playoffs. Whatever team does happen to make it out the east will deserve it,won’t be any flukes at all

[billykParticipant]

MIA would SMACK the Magic… Orlando would have ZERO chance aganist the Heat, plain and simple…

[llperez]

while not the favorite, the magic can defenitely still come out of the east. Thye have one of the deepest teams and its entirely possible they can see some internal growth simply by using some differnt lineups. Also, they didnt shoot well in the playoffs with barnes and lewis struggling. If quentin can come in and knock down 3’s at a high rate he will be a better additino then many might think. Also bass should play more. I would be dissapointed in dwight if he doesnt show some better post moves and become more of a reliable go to guy down low.

[billykParticipant]

They can come out the East if the can avoid the Heat (which aint gonna happen)…

[OhCanada-Participant]

Bullshit

Dwight Howard was shutdown by Nazi Mohommed and Desegna Diop when Orlando played Charlotte. It was mostly team defense but that was the matchup.He didnt even score 10-ppg.

Yao mashes up Howard.

Bynum would make Howard struggle.

I dont think he can dominate Lopez, Duncan, Gasol, Gasol, Bogut and a number of C’s in this league, let alone Perkins.

With that being said I do to believe Orlando will finish the regular Season #2. But if Lewis or Carter gets injured they are in trouble.

[PurpleMonkeyDishwasherParticipant]

How can Yao “mash up” Howard in only 24 minutes… and no way will Perkins handle him coming off a destoyed knee.

[jdstormParticipant]

Orlando Need a Crunch time go to guy. Who can score and take over a game when it is on the line. and keep the ball out of Howard’s hands.

I think they Should trade for Carmello. in a deal something like this. Vince, JJ, daniel orton and a first round pick or 2. for Melo and JR smith.
Can you see denver getting much better offers then that from a team in the east that Melo would sign an extension with?

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Howard worked out with Hakeem Olajuwon this summer. Olajuwon told him, “You have moves… Don’t be afraid to use them in the game.”

I think Howard will play with more confidence offensively this season.

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