Muraviov Writes Orlando Magic
Not since the days of Shaquille O’ Neal, Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, and Nick Anderson has an Orlando Magic team advanced from the 1st round of the playoffs. Nearly 12 years had passed, and fans of the team were wondering if they were destined to be “mediocre” at best. Then, on April 28th, 2008, everything changed. With his 3rd 20/20 game of the series against the Toronto Raptors, Dwight Howard and the Magic had broken the curse of seasons past, and are set to play the Detroit Pistons in what looks to be a fantastic 7 game series. But what exactly has changed from seasons past? Why is this team so special? I think the real question we have to ask ourselves is, where to begin?
Before the 07-08 season started, many questions were left unanswered. How will the players respond to new coach Stan Van Gundy’s no nonsense work ethic? Would Rashard Lewis be able to play the power forward position for the injured Tony Battie, even though he had been a natural small forward all of his career? Would the departure of Darko Milicic and Grant Hill hurt this team? All these questions were answered over the course of the season, with a few surprises along the way.
To understand the improvement of this team, you have to start with the man in the middle. Starting the season at just 22 years young, Dwight Howard became a man amongst boys. Not only did he average more points and rebounds a game, he also became a leader. When Stan Van Gundy called Dwight Howard out after he seemed to had given up on defense in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers , Dwight responded with a monster 23 point, 24 rebound game against the Denver Nuggets. After that game, we saw a different Dwight Howard. We saw a man possessed. A player who wanted to prove to his coach that he was ready to become “the man”. Since then, Dwight has continued to put up big stats, but more importantly, alter the flow of games. His mere presence down low has teams second guessing their offensive strategies, and resorting to throwing up bad shots that are easily rebounded by the leading rebounder of the league. Many fans call for Dwight to be the MVP of the league, and while they may not get that this year, it is almost certain they will soon enough.
Another major factor in this seasons improvement, is the play of fan favorite Hedo Turkoglu. Turkoglu had taken a backseat to Grant Hill for most of his career with the Orlando Magic, but once Hill departed to the now eliminated Phoenix Suns, Turkoglu seized his opportunity. Turkoglu became the starting small forward for the Magic, and improved in nearly every major statistical category. His 19.5 PPG, 5.7 PRG, and 5.0 APG were all career highs for the 8 year veteran, and earned him the “Most Improved Player” of the year award for 2008. But besides all that, his most honored title has been “Mr. 4th Quarter” after hitting game winning shots against the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics, and being in the top 10 for most points scored in the 4th quarter. Most Magic fans did not expect this kind of showing from Hedo in the beginning of the season, and were pleasantly surprised by how he stepped up and flourished with his new role.
When former coach Brian Hill was fired after his failed 2nd stint as head coach of the Magic, a big name coach was hired to take over the reigns of the team. Someone who was at the top of his game, and was a media darling after his previous success with his teams. No, not present coach Stan Van Gundy, but rather the back to back NCAA National Championship coach for the Florida Gators, Billy Donovan. However, after getting cold feet, he decided to go back to the college ranks and leave the Magic high and dry. Was this a blessing in disguise? It sure was. Soon after, former Miami Heat coach Stan Van Gundy was hired, and the rest is history. A no nonsense type of guy, “SVG” has always had a knack for maximizing the talent on his rosters. While most users on the official Orlando Magic message boards predicted roughly 40-42 wins, along with some not so optimistic predictions by the so called “experts”, SVG surpassed all expectations and lead this team to it’s first 50 win season since 95-96. While preaching defense, he told his players to always take the shot available to you. It didn’t matter if you had missed the last 10, take that 11th and hope it goes in. And so the Magic did, and along the way, broke the team record for most 3 pointers in a season. The most important thing SVG did though, was he taught his players never to give up. If the team was down by 20 in the 4th quarter, you better believe he was still pushing them to play as if they were down by only 2. Even when the team had 20 point leads going into the 4th quarter, SVG would not allow them to lose focus, and made sure they continued to play hard.
The last major piece of the puzzle was the free agent singing of former Sonics small forward Rashard Lewis. While most people were put off by his contract, which is roughly about 21 million a season, Rashard has proved he was ready to be paid superstar type money. Not only did he average 18 PPG, about 5 RPG, and only about 1 TO, he opened up the floor and made opposing teams pay when double teaming Dwight Howard. He also took a backseat to Hedo Turkoglu as the go to scorer, and accepted playing the power forward position, to which he wasn’t accustomed to. The characteristic I like the most about Rashard is that he is a team player. He does everything in his power to improve the team, and he sees the bigger picture, which is trying to bring the Magic their first NBA championship.
Many other factors played into this seasons success. Jameer Nelson improved as a floor general. The trade of fan favorite Trevor Ariza brought in a surprising starting shooting guard in Maurice Evans, who had been a career journeyman and backup up until that point, and also a legit 3pt threat in power forward Brian Cook. Reserve guards Keith Bogans and Keyon Dooling both brought their defensive tenacity to games, and defended the opposing teams superstar with great success when called upon. Besides all of that, the team came together and brought forth total team effort. They won big together. They lost heartbreaking games together. If you ask me, if the team continues to play up to this level, the city of Orlando may be celebrating their NBA teams first championship in the very near future. This season cannot be defined by just one factor, but by many. And that my friends is very exciting.