Actions speak louder than words and...threats. Especially in the Eastern Conference of the NBA. The Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavs have vowed to make it to the Finals this upcoming 2009-2010 season after a vigorous off season of personnel changes, but that road is long and narrow. The Orlando Magic are still the undisputed Eastern Conference champs and will be at least until next June when a new champion will be crowned or re-crowned.
With the Cavs, everyone feels that Shaq's presence will have huge implications on LeBron's game. While this will be great for the team, nothing's a sure thing until he sets foot on the court and wins them games. As far as Boston is concerned, Rasheed Wallace is the savior, as his veteran leadership and ability to fill Garnett's void should he go down with injury again will both prevent last year's disasters from recurring. What about the Magic though? Let's look at what they have.
PG: Same situation as last year. Jameer Nelson will be healthy entering the year and he's a stronger point guard than Rafer Alston. Alston was a great backup, but Nelson is younger and better, and the Magic are stronger with him.
PF. Rashard Lewis will pick up where he left off (after his suspension, of course), but the position is deeper here than it was last year. Tony Battie has always played hard, but Brandon Bass is simply stronger, younger, faster, and more valuable. Adding to some more depth, Ryan Anderson is a legitimate threat from three point land and should be an interesting complement to Lewis's abilities.
C - No changes. Dwight "Superman" Howard and Marcin "The Polish Hammer" Gortat will be holding their spots down. Enough said.
SG - This is one of the more worrisome positions for Orlando. Instead of Courtney Lee... Orlando will more than likely go with Mikael Pietrus and Matt Barnes backing him up or the opposite. These 2 guys will be the keys to winning games. They both are big SG/SF who can play exceptional defense. They can play SF if needed, and can handle the ball in case of some terrible accident to Jameer Nelson. They will need to produce what Courtney Lee did in points which shouldn't be hard (9 PPG)and avoid needless turnovers. This seems to be a slight upgrade over Lee since he was a rookie and still had some learning pains. Let's not forget about JJ Redick who is still a threat from behind the 3 point line and getting better and not a defensive liability as most thought... Just ask Ray Allen.
SF. Hedo Turkoglu is a great basketball player, there's no doubt about it. Without him, I don't think the Magic would have made the NBA finals last season. Normally, this would be a problem, but the team responded to his loss by bringing Vince Carter on board. An 8-time NBA All-Star, a prolific scorer, and a player at the point in his career where he wants to play for a winning team. This replacement is a very obvious upgrade.
Looking at the Magic, I don't see where they've gotten worse. All they've lost is Hedo Turkoglu and Courtney Lee, but there's now Vince Carter, Matt Barnes, Brandon Bass, and others. A worthy trade off if you ask me. The Celtics and Cavs should stop counting their chickens, and put their focus on figuring out how to beat a dangerous Magic team.
With the Cavs, everyone feels that Shaq's presence will have huge implications on LeBron's game. While this will be great for the team, nothing's a sure thing until he sets foot on the court and wins them games. As far as Boston is concerned, Rasheed Wallace is the savior, as his veteran leadership and ability to fill Garnett's void should he go down with injury again will both prevent last year's disasters from recurring. What about the Magic though? Let's look at what they have.
PG: Same situation as last year. Jameer Nelson will be healthy entering the year and he's a stronger point guard than Rafer Alston. Alston was a great backup, but Nelson is younger and better, and the Magic are stronger with him.
PF. Rashard Lewis will pick up where he left off (after his suspension, of course), but the position is deeper here than it was last year. Tony Battie has always played hard, but Brandon Bass is simply stronger, younger, faster, and more valuable. Adding to some more depth, Ryan Anderson is a legitimate threat from three point land and should be an interesting complement to Lewis's abilities.
C - No changes. Dwight "Superman" Howard and Marcin "The Polish Hammer" Gortat will be holding their spots down. Enough said.
SG - This is one of the more worrisome positions for Orlando. Instead of Courtney Lee... Orlando will more than likely go with Mikael Pietrus and Matt Barnes backing him up or the opposite. These 2 guys will be the keys to winning games. They both are big SG/SF who can play exceptional defense. They can play SF if needed, and can handle the ball in case of some terrible accident to Jameer Nelson. They will need to produce what Courtney Lee did in points which shouldn't be hard (9 PPG)and avoid needless turnovers. This seems to be a slight upgrade over Lee since he was a rookie and still had some learning pains. Let's not forget about JJ Redick who is still a threat from behind the 3 point line and getting better and not a defensive liability as most thought... Just ask Ray Allen.
SF. Hedo Turkoglu is a great basketball player, there's no doubt about it. Without him, I don't think the Magic would have made the NBA finals last season. Normally, this would be a problem, but the team responded to his loss by bringing Vince Carter on board. An 8-time NBA All-Star, a prolific scorer, and a player at the point in his career where he wants to play for a winning team. This replacement is a very obvious upgrade.
Looking at the Magic, I don't see where they've gotten worse. All they've lost is Hedo Turkoglu and Courtney Lee, but there's now Vince Carter, Matt Barnes, Brandon Bass, and others. A worthy trade off if you ask me. The Celtics and Cavs should stop counting their chickens, and put their focus on figuring out how to beat a dangerous Magic team.
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