I've been watching a lot about Jeremy Lin, and if you follow the NBA, so have you. The last guy on the bench becomes unbelievable. Sustainable? I think so. He's been through quite a bit-yes Harvard can be pretty cut-throat, and he was cut by TWO teams in December. It's got me thinking: might the Magic have a guy like this around? How do we know? How does SVG know? How can anybody know?

Recall:

Dick Vermeil was crying like a baby, "This team will rally around Kurt Warner," after Trent Green went down with a blown knee. Kurt Warner is probably Hall of Fame (HoF) material.

Bledsoe goes down and some 5th or 6th rounder (Tom Brady) is left to try and keep things in Beantown respectable. Definite HoF.

Wally Pip has a headache, and Lou Gehrig plays for about 14 years w/o a break. All Universe team.

Lagerette Blount at Tampa Bay Bucs, "Take Okefor" before Dwight Howard. Ryan Leaf-can't miss. Kevin Love. Darko. Terry Bradshaw. Madonna, U2, ...

My point is: you never really know what you've got until you've given it a chance. Everybody should get a chance.

The way I see it in my eternally optimistic mind is, things are falling into place very nicely for the Magic, and we're once again one of those overlooked teams that if things do shake out right, we could very well find ourselves playing for the trophy. Let me break it down the way I see it and then I'd like to get your input.

Can we do it? Do we even have a chance?

First the negatives: 1) Jameer and JJ are a bit banged up. Not good. But it does force guys like Arenas and Q (and even Duhon a bit) to play more, and I think this will make them sharper for the playoffs. 2) Dwight's technicals and the resulting bad reputation. Since his one game hiatus he's been playing more under control and seems to have earned the respect of the officials a bit more (ask Brook Lopez's face).

The positives: 1) Dwight is playing the best basketball of his career. He's shown more consistency at the line late in games.  2) Turk is back! Our high screen in roll is impossible to defend when Turk's making shots. 3) The defense has been holding some pretty solid offensive teams to below their average. 4) Ryan Anderson is playing well, giving us another weapon. 5) The 1 in 4 out offensive set is still tough to defend. 6) Our schedule. Charlotte twice, Indiana, Toronto, Milwaukee. Difficult games against Philly and Chicago. Atlanta and NY are struggling. A great chance to go 7-2, with our present 5 game win streak 12-2 over the last 14 games. Jameer and JJ back in 10-14 days, max. And if we beat Chicago at the end of the year...

A first round match-up against Atlanta (hopefully) or Philly (this team scares me). Either way, we won't have to play the Heat and Boston and Chicago. I think one of those teams loses to Philly. I expect New York to right the ship soon. Magic's road might be the smoothest, at least in my it never rains on parades, three and a half hour golf rounds, no traffic, world.

Ive been reading ad nauseam about possible trades, trade assets, trade scenarios, etc. And I do believe that if it is at all possible, then it is news and therefore fair game. But here's my problem: It's difficult to continue to cheer for the jersey when the heads attached to them continue to change. It's hard to feel connected to the players when they are changing like the seasons (or Hollywood romances).

When the Tampa Bay Bucs won there one and only title, there was a core, a nucleus of guys who'd built it up from nothing. We won it with defense and the names we'll never forget: Lynch, Brooks, Sapp, Barber. Dunn was part of the build up, and Mike Alstott. Karl Williams returning kicks. Who can forget Martin Gramatica? A few pick ups leading to our run: Keyshawn, Bubba McFarlane (draft), Shelton Quarles. And then Gruden was the "trade" that gave us the little nudge on offense we needed. But it still felt a bit "off" (a small bit mind you!) because Dungy wasn't there.

So when we trade long time players we mostly developed, Gortat, or others that have done so much for the community, MP or Lewis, or others that are one of our favorite son's, Carter, it's a bit trying to simply like all the change of names and numbers. I've got to learn their strengths and weaknesses, their demeanor, heck even their face. And then we might just trade them away too...

I know it's a business. I understand they want to give us a parade. I want one too. But I don't want just any ol collection of hired guns. I like to see the team gel and grow. San Antonio run. Detroit in the day. Lakers and Sixers and Bulls and Celtics (earlier) built up great fan support by winning, of course, and keeping their cores. I've never cheered for the Yankees (and now the BoSox too) because they have always shelled out the most cash. Give me home-grown talent like the Rays, Marlins or Braves.

Am I alone on this?

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I wasn't at the Magic-Heat game on Feb. 4th, but I did watch it on the computer. A friend of mine in Chicago watched it from his snowed-in living room and commented to/asked me this morning: "Why did the Magic fans begin leaving the game with over five minutes to play? Don't they realize that a lot of things can happen in an NBA game in five minutes? That's at least 10-12 possessions per team! I know they'd shown nothing to that point, but two stops, a turnover and two deuces and a trey for the home team and you've got a 13 point game with just over 3 min. to play. Is there so much traffic, or interesting things to do on a Thursday night that everyone wants to be the first to leave? Stranger things have happened."

And so I began to reflect. And I have to admit that there were many times I recall people coming back to their seats in the last decade or so, confused by the turn of events. Why is this so? Do you think that perhaps we still don't have the same passion/knowledge/experience as a Midwestern team's fans? Or NY? Or Boston?

Another point is the ooohs, aaahs and murmurs you hear in Chicago or Boston when the OPPOSING team makes a great play (except when it's the Lakers!). I remember when we had our first real competitive teams and the Magic lost like 1 or 2 games all season at home; we had a reputation of being a very difficult place to play. I just don't get that feeling anymore. Perhaps the type of fans have changed, I'm just not sure. What do you think?

As I was reading a recent column about Dwight Howard POSSIBLY leaving the Magic, by Brian Schmitz from the Orlando Sentinel http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_magic/2011/01/magic-have-angst-about-dwight-howards-future.html, I tried to think if the same thing happened in the 80's or 90's.

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So we've played about 15% of our season and guess who's in 1st place in the East? Celtics? Heat? Nope and nope. That's right-your Orlando Magic! I've read so many negative comments over the last 2 weeks-and here we are at the top. And we've played up to around 75% of our potential. As Evan and I, and perhaps a small minority of others have tried to say is: It's a very long season and the Magic will be OK, and they will be there at the end competing with the elite teams for a title.

Too often in the 21st Century world of instant this and that many people, especially those who are experience challenged (the youth), have never had to commit to something for more than a few seconds or 140 characters on Twitter. Building a champion takes time. If we stay healthy, hit our peak in May and June, we could very well get our celebration down Orange Ave.

Having said that, what two or three things would you like to see the Magic do more or less, improve, tinker with, without changing their roster? Let's just presume that we have to dance with the girls that we've brought to this dance-I know the others always look better than the one on your arm. But 2-3 things with our current roster. Lineups, PT, rotation, plays, etc...

Perhaps it's too early to judge, but hey, it's 2010 and that's the way it goes-but after reading that the Heat scored only 80 points in their debut against the C's, it's very difficult not to succumb to the urge to say "I told you so". No team is better than the Celtics in exposing the other teams' weaknesses, exploiting said weaknesses and 'slowing the game' down to their grind-it-out pace. The Heat have issues.

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I've watched every game the Magic have played in the last 14 months, and when we are firing on all pistons we are a legitimate title contender. Last year was no fluke. The 1 in 4 out offensive set caught a few teams off guard last year but this year many teams seem to have made adjustments ( i.e.  giving the Magic only open shots in the 10'-23 range.)  Dwight has been unable to carry us consistently in the low post (still not enough variation, poor free-throw shooting), which in turn hasn't given our three-point shooting the necessary distance it needs to be effective. I know that we are in a team shooting slump, and I don't want to abandon the 1 in/4 out set. But, with Jameer, VC, Anderson, Pietrus, Barnes and even JJ, we do have players that CAN put it on the floor and get to the paint/rim. Might it be a good idea to maybe step off the three-point shot pedal, insert Bass at the 4 when we take 'Shard out for a breather, and play traditional pound it Eastern Conference basketball? Not all the time, of course. But sometimes you have to pass to set up the run in the NFL, or the other way around. I know Lewis is a defensive liability at the 3, but right now, our match-ups ain't worrying anybody as they did in the past. Bass might keep other teams off of the glass and Dwight a bit. Would love to hear you all chime in on this.

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I would like to know from our most knowledgeable readers/writers ( Ben and E Rivera especially) of their predictions for our first ten games. With Shard gone, a very important arrow in our team's quiver, we will have to play at an extremely high level to be successful. We can ill-afford and off night or rolled ankle, I know. But looking at our schedule it seems as if an 8-2 or even 9-1 record is well within reach. I am sure that the Cavs and Celts are quite capable of running the table in their first 10, but we might only be 1 or 2 back when Shard comes back. And if by chance, the chance only a smidgen less then our main Eastern Conference rivals running the table, we were to be ahead of them after 10 games, what would that say about our depth, ability to create mismatches, defense, cohesion, etc?

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