Nba Tickets - Orlando At Boston

The Orlando Magic seemed to surprise everybody but the team itself in 2008-09

. There are still critics who don't think the Magic have what it takes to win it all this season. The same thing happened to the Cleveland Cavaliers two years ago, when skeptics predicted that the Cavaliers did not have enough "oomph" to win an NBA title, and they were right. Will they be right about the Magic? Boston's Paul Pierce stated that Orlando "looked like poodles against the Lakers" in last year's playoff matchup between the two contenders. The poodles improved their lineup this season with the addition of a few dogs to their pack. According to Celticsblog, a survey of fans said the Magic are a bigger threat to the Celtics than the Cavaliers are.

What were the significant moves made during the offseason to improve Orlando's offense? The Magic showed the door to Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and Hedo Turkoglu. Magic fans are probably scratching their heads wondering why Orlando got rid of three-fifths of the starting lineup. Orlando needed to make room for Vince Carter and Brandon Bass, the team's most significant short-term additions. Get NBA tickets and see Carter hit a three-pointer.

Magic fans appeared to be split on the team's decision to essentially swap Turkoglu, their go-to scorer in the clutch and secondary playmaker, for Carter. The latter has not enjoyed much playoff success in recent years, which makes the swap a bitter pill to swallow for some Magic fans. Although Carter was one of the biggest offseason moves for Orlando, we should not overlook the other additions.

Bass, an undersized and powerful frontcourt player, does everything Tony Battie did, but better. The 24-year-old has not reached his peak and could be a valuable asset for the Magic in the future. Some basketball observers have stated that Matt Barnes' reputation as a defender is overrated. There's no way Barnes is as talented as Mickael Pietrus, but he's above average and can contribute on offense.

NBA commentators gave high ratings to Orlando on both sides of the ball, even though it's hard to point at anything too specific with the team this early in the season. Magic detractors claim that Carter will disrupt the chemistry on the team, or that the new additions in Boston and Cleveland will trump Orlando's in the playoffs. Another perceived weakness (some say farfetched notion) is that the Magic's best player (Dwight Howard) is not a proven leader.

But let's look at the hard facts. With four recent All-Stars and two of the league's best frontcourt reserves, depth is Orlando's forte. Last year's team was just three wins away from a championship. Now envision that team with a healthy Nelson replacing Alston, the more efficient Carter using Turkoglu's possessions and the more dynamic Bass filling in for Battie. A well balanced team, right? Orlando might just have a top-five offense with a top-five defense. However, other NBA elite teams can make the same claim, as teams like Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles and San Antonio can play on both ends of the court. We are in for quite the season, aren't we?

by: Brent Warnken

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