Hooped Up

Another van glorious season of NBA basketball is about to begin and Hooped Up does a quick and dirty preview of all 30 clubs.

The Orlando Magic made it to the top of the NBA mountain last season and in the end, they lost to a much better Los Angeles Lakers club. This year, they’ll attempt the same ascent with Vince Carter, but will that be enough for them to get past the vastly improved Celtics and Cavs this time around in the east.

With the kind of talent Vince Carter has, GM’s will always take a chance on VC in hopes he’ll realize his potential and that’s what Magic GM Otis Smith is hoping too. On paper Carter looks like an upgrade from Turkoglu, but if and when Carter makes his injury face, we’ll see if that’s still true. After his suspension is done, Rashard Lewis will be the tall bomber he’s always been and centerpiece Dwight Howard will dominate the middle in both conferences.

Unfortunately, for Orlando the Cleveland and Boston made some really good changes too.

Projected Starters: PG - Jameer Nelson / SG - Vince Carter / SF – Rashard Lewis / PF - Ryan Anderson / C - Dwight Howard

Sixth Man: Mickael Pietrus

Reserves: Jason Williams, J.J. Redick, Linton Johnson III, Anthony Johnson, Marcin Gortat, Adonal Foyle, Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes, Morris Almond

Team Theme Song: Cannibal Ox – Raspberry Fields
If first you don’t succeed in the NBA finals then, try, try again.

Top 10 Dwight Howard Plays of 2009:

A Couple of Magic blogs I dig:
Third Quarter Collapse
The Curse of the Big Aristotle