Denton: Southeast Division Much Tougher
By John Denton
November 25, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – Fresh off a run to the NBA Finals last spring, the Orlando Magic are locked in a championship-or-bust mentality this season.
But along the way in that pursuit of a title that just eluded the franchise, the Magic want to be sure and enjoy the journey. Each of the past two seasons, the path to the playoffs has included Southeast Division crowns that represent baby steps in the franchise’s growth into a powerhouse.
Orlando won the Southeast Division by nine games in 2007-08 and bettered Atlanta in the division by a whopping 12 games last season. That dominance proved to be a tell-tale sign for a Magic team that ultimately wiped out Boston and Cleveland in the playoffs and won the Eastern Conference championship.
But the challenge of winning the Southeast Division could get much tougher this season with three of the four competitors improved this season. The Magic (11-3) will get a glimpse at the challenge they face the next two nights when they host Dwyane Wade and Miami (8-5) on Wednesday and travel to Atlanta (11-3) on Thanksgiving Night.
``The division title is not the ultimate goal, but you want to win everything that you can,’’ Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. ``I sure don’t want anybody else to win the thing.
``I think (winning the division) is important,’’ Van Gundy continued. ``All of those little steps along the way are important. To try and win it again this year as a franchise would be great.’’
The Magic have dominated the in-state rivalry with Miami of late, winning three of four games last season and 12 of the past 13 games. But the Heat are always a dangerous foe because of the fits that Wade gives the Magic. He had a jaw-dropping 50-point effort in Orlando last season and averaged 38 in four games against the Magic.
``The main thing with Dwyane is keeping him off the free throw line and out of the paint where he can create for others,’’ said Magic center Dwight Howard, who was pretty good himself versus Miami last season averaging 22.8 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks a game. ``It will be tough on us because he’s one of the game’s best scorers. It’s a big task.’’
The Wednesday-Thursday games against the Heat and Hawks starts a tough stretch for the Magic. They will play four games in five nights in four different cities. Another back-to-back set of games against Milwaukee and New York follows on Saturday and Sunday.
``(Handling back-to-backs) is the toughest part of the job. We’ll be in four cities in five nights. It’ll be challenging,’’ said Magic guard J.J. Redick, who scored 19 points in Sunday’s win in Toronto. ``The important thing is getting your NBA nap in – as goofy as that sounds. A lot of times you get into the hotel at 2 or 3 in the morning and I’m usually pretty amped after games. The cool-down time for me is in the afternoon.’’
Atlanta, who will have four days of rest before it plays the Magic, has been one of the surprise teams of the NBA this season and has hovered near the top of the East since Opening Night. Unlike the injury-riddled Magic, the Hawks have had their starting five together much of the season and they have gotten a lift from Jamal Crawford’s scoring punch off the bench.
Washington has improved with the return of Gilbert Arenas and the offseason additions of Mike Miller and Randy Foye. Clearly, the Magic are heavy favorites to win the Southeast Division once again, but the likely won’t breeze as easily as they have the past two seasons.
````I think it would be silly for us to just assume that we’re going to win our division,’’ Redick said. ``We have four really good teams in our division. Washington beat Cleveland and Atlanta beat Boston, so I think we have a very underrated division.’’
Howard remembers the Magic’s 2008 Southeast Division title being significant because before that it had been years since the Magic had tasted championship success of any kind. Now, after winning the past two division titles and getting to the NBA Finals, the Magic expect the kind of success built the past two seasons.
``Winning the division was a big step, but our goal is to win the championship,’’ he said. ``In order to get to the Finals you have to win (division and conference) championships. Every day that we come in here in the gym we’re trying to get better as a team. We’ve really been picking it up on defense and guys are learning the rotations.
``Really, we can’t worry about anybody else now; we just have to worry about what we do as a team. We want to become a better team every day.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonNovember 25, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – Fresh off a run to the NBA Finals last spring, the Orlando Magic are locked in a championship-or-bust mentality this season.
But along the way in that pursuit of a title that just eluded the franchise, the Magic want to be sure and enjoy the journey. Each of the past two seasons, the path to the playoffs has included Southeast Division crowns that represent baby steps in the franchise’s growth into a powerhouse.
Orlando won the Southeast Division by nine games in 2007-08 and bettered Atlanta in the division by a whopping 12 games last season. That dominance proved to be a tell-tale sign for a Magic team that ultimately wiped out Boston and Cleveland in the playoffs and won the Eastern Conference championship.
But the challenge of winning the Southeast Division could get much tougher this season with three of the four competitors improved this season. The Magic (11-3) will get a glimpse at the challenge they face the next two nights when they host Dwyane Wade and Miami (8-5) on Wednesday and travel to Atlanta (11-3) on Thanksgiving Night.
``The division title is not the ultimate goal, but you want to win everything that you can,’’ Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. ``I sure don’t want anybody else to win the thing.
``I think (winning the division) is important,’’ Van Gundy continued. ``All of those little steps along the way are important. To try and win it again this year as a franchise would be great.’’
The Magic have dominated the in-state rivalry with Miami of late, winning three of four games last season and 12 of the past 13 games. But the Heat are always a dangerous foe because of the fits that Wade gives the Magic. He had a jaw-dropping 50-point effort in Orlando last season and averaged 38 in four games against the Magic.
``The main thing with Dwyane is keeping him off the free throw line and out of the paint where he can create for others,’’ said Magic center Dwight Howard, who was pretty good himself versus Miami last season averaging 22.8 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks a game. ``It will be tough on us because he’s one of the game’s best scorers. It’s a big task.’’
The Wednesday-Thursday games against the Heat and Hawks starts a tough stretch for the Magic. They will play four games in five nights in four different cities. Another back-to-back set of games against Milwaukee and New York follows on Saturday and Sunday.
``(Handling back-to-backs) is the toughest part of the job. We’ll be in four cities in five nights. It’ll be challenging,’’ said Magic guard J.J. Redick, who scored 19 points in Sunday’s win in Toronto. ``The important thing is getting your NBA nap in – as goofy as that sounds. A lot of times you get into the hotel at 2 or 3 in the morning and I’m usually pretty amped after games. The cool-down time for me is in the afternoon.’’
Atlanta, who will have four days of rest before it plays the Magic, has been one of the surprise teams of the NBA this season and has hovered near the top of the East since Opening Night. Unlike the injury-riddled Magic, the Hawks have had their starting five together much of the season and they have gotten a lift from Jamal Crawford’s scoring punch off the bench.
Washington has improved with the return of Gilbert Arenas and the offseason additions of Mike Miller and Randy Foye. Clearly, the Magic are heavy favorites to win the Southeast Division once again, but the likely won’t breeze as easily as they have the past two seasons.
````I think it would be silly for us to just assume that we’re going to win our division,’’ Redick said. ``We have four really good teams in our division. Washington beat Cleveland and Atlanta beat Boston, so I think we have a very underrated division.’’
Howard remembers the Magic’s 2008 Southeast Division title being significant because before that it had been years since the Magic had tasted championship success of any kind. Now, after winning the past two division titles and getting to the NBA Finals, the Magic expect the kind of success built the past two seasons.
``Winning the division was a big step, but our goal is to win the championship,’’ he said. ``In order to get to the Finals you have to win (division and conference) championships. Every day that we come in here in the gym we’re trying to get better as a team. We’ve really been picking it up on defense and guys are learning the rotations.
``Really, we can’t worry about anybody else now; we just have to worry about what we do as a team. We want to become a better team every day.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
