Hey guys, I thought we might be able to pass some boring off-season time by posting some key important things our Magic team will need to do to grab that first championship this upcoming season. Here's some of mine, and in order of priority:

1. Defense. Team Defense.

SVG stated that his priority will be getting the re-shaped team into a total defensive focus. SVG and the camaraderie of the Magic has made a seemingly average defensive team on paper turn into the first rated defensive team last season (Oh, and that one dude.. Dwight helped alittle :P ). SVG says it will take time with Lewis out 10 games, and the offensive chemistry needing to mesh just perfectly that the defense is what will win games early on and the defensive focus should/will be there all season long.

It doesn't have to be the first rated defense again, but it has to remain among the tops of the league for the Magic to grab a championship.

Grabbing Barnes, Bass and retaining Gortat really makes the frontcourt stronger defensively.

But will MPietrus, Vince, and Williams* be as consistent defensively as Lee, and AJ* was.

We can take solace in the fact that Pietrus and Carter rise up to the occasion in the playoffs tho. Pietrus was the 3rd or 4th best overall Magic playoff performer and the best wing defender for the playoffs. Carter is underrated defensively, I'm pretty sure Vince is a better defender than Hedo too.

Watching your own teammates giving it all on D is also a great motivator for chemistry, team defense, and even playing unselfish offense as SVG made a point of also in his recent Williams press conference. This will remain the biggest priority always really, a great defense is an always consistent force and getting stops are huge.

2. Meshing the new players in. Vince Carter, Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes, Jason Williams, Ryan Anderson.

Jameer, Lewis*, Dwight are the only remaining starters left. JJ and CLee saw alot of starts in the playoffs despite Pietrus getting a majority of the minutes at the spot.

SVG gushes that this team has seriously improved passing-wise, alluding to Vince, Barnes, and Williams mainly I think, and thus should help them all mesh in with the team easier.

I suspect the main starting lineup will be Nelson, Carter, Barnes*, Lewis and Dwight. With Pietrus* and Bass getting near starter level minutes as the lead bench players.

If Nelson and Lewis/Dwight keep playing the Pick and Rolls as unselfishly and effectively as they did last season, the truly dynamic Vince Carter will easily take in Hedo's position as the other main PR'er (Jameer and Vince) and play it more effectively.

Barne's has a good 3pt shot and can drive and dish like a point forward too.

Bass statistically has one of the league's top % midrange J's for big men, taking Battie's role and excelling at it in every facet (and probably getting more PT for it too).

Williams has already said it, he is not a threat on the floor when Dwight and Vince are on the floor commanding attention. Williams will take advantage of that with great passing, 3pt shooting, and some drives.

Anderson may be the man out of rotation luck, but meshing in as a rebounder and excellent 3pt shooter is the two biggest things needed from that spot, and that's what the 21yr old brings already.

It may take some time for the Magic to mesh in offensively, especially with Lewis out 10, but there's too much weapons, team chemistry (yes, already), great coaching, and time (training camp, preseason, 82 games) before the real stuff starts. Magic will be the most dangerous offensive team.

3. The returning player's play/improvements. In order of importance: Dwight, Jameer, Lewis, Pietrus, Gortat, JJ, AJ.

Dwight already dominates games in defensive fashion (I mean.. 9 blocks in one Finals game?!), and his offensive repertoire is getting hacked for being worse than it really is.

But it still needs alot of work. At some point, you just got to kind of accept Dwight may always have Shaq-like FT skills, but you dont see Dwight giving it up yet (still shoots hundreds of FT's a day). Improving FT's would be so huge. First off, improved FT shooting would probably up Dwight's PPG to like 24PPG or more. And more importantly, a late game playoff situation cannot be Hacked-a-Dwight'ed anymore. It would be rendered useless as Dwight would hopefully be a decent FT shooter by then.

Improving his post game should be tied first with FT improvements. Keeping the ball up, adding some more post moves, playing face up more (which I liked alot, saw alot of potential there to get better and be unstoppable there), and improving his hooks could drastically cut Dwight's high TO rate and make him somehow a bigger post threat than before.

A last thing is adding a decent midrange shot would do wonders for Dwight. If he can make them at a fair clip by playoffs time, he will become an even bigger face-up threat (I consider his face-up attack the best way to go, particularly with more offensive skills), because he is quicker than every other big man and would be able to strike with the shot or with the quickness and post moves. He shouldn't try to take more than 3-6 midrange J's a game, his post moves are more valuable, but the other teams finding out that the "universal keep Dwight from getting deep post position" rule is now much less effective will make Dwight an unstoppable force on both ends now, not just the defensive end.

Jameer played tremendous before the midseason shoulder injury. His TS% and shooting %'s were among the very, very top of the league. He was the clutchest player and a perfectly in-sync floor general with the rest of the Magic. The perfect West coast trip, a momentary Top #1 NBA seed status, and simple observation would show that Nelson was really the driving force to the Magic. The subsequent injury later on, and the days until Rafer arrived, showed how bad it was without Nelson. Rafer led the Magic to the rest of the season in a lower team win % than Nelson.

So it goes to say, Jameer needs to come back with a vengeance and at a consistent and high level to lead the Magic to the championship. He doesn't have to shoot mind blowing %'s again, but they should be above average or near those levels again. Nelson has really been playing near that All Star level since about the last few months of 2 seasons ago. SVG has turned Jameer into a great PG from then and onward. He may take some time to get back into game rhythm, but Nelson will be in tip top form and the driving force of the Magic again.

I was going to start worrying about Lewis' age, 30, and health. But the 10 games out effectively ends that concern. He'll be fresh and healthy for the whole season I suspect. He is the most consistent Magic player and an underrated defensive force. He just needs to keep doing what he does, keep the 3pt shots and %'s high. I also really liked his drives and post game he showed alot of in the Philly series. He is an excellent all around talent that can strike in anyway. Just keep being consistent is all Lewis needs to do.

Mickael Pietrus was the best wing defender in the playoffs for the Magic, and his 3pt % and offense also rose in the playoffs. He was clutch and an elite tight defender who would tire out the more amazing opposing wing players (LBJ) and make them less effective. He was everything Otis signed him for last summer and more.

But where was it consistently in the regular season? He had some nagging injuries going in and out of the injured list and he is inconsistent sometimes, but atleast we know he will not feel pressure and rise to the occasion in the playoffs. And still, having MP healthy and consistent in the regular season also would be a big help in acquiring the best seed and the huge homecourt advantage for throughout the playoffs.

I'm already on the JJ bandwagon, well almost.. He really improved his defense and he's become somewhat of a PG in terms of passing ability and facilitating atleast. He's become quite a duo with Marcin Gortat in PR's and passing too. Continued improvement in defense and other areas would be good, but the real thing nagging at me, is if JJ can get to shooting more and at better %'s than last season. Everyone's key to stay on the floor and get PT is if they keep playing good defense or not, but for the most bizarre reasons ever, I think his key is actually if he can just shoot more, and better. Especially when used situationally like this, JJ can be huge for the Magic.

I question AJ's aging and how much slower he may get. And he's not keeping up with the quicker PGs out there, but he is a great defender. His shooting %'s are good too, so if he can keep the defense and shooting solid again, he should be fine. He is a solid backup PG.

Gortat staying steady. I don't think he should be playing PF too much. He is a C and Bass is a good defender. He just needs to keep being a great rebounder and doing all the right things and being in the right spots like he's been doing. Just stay consistent again.

I'm essentially thinking all we need is the returning players to simply play as good as last season. But I think JJ, Jameer, Pietrus, and Dwight can easily all improve from last season. Dwight will be the biggest player by far to want to see that improvement from, and I think we will see that.

So those are my top 3 Keys to the Title for the Magic. What do yall think will be Key(s) to getting the Title for the Magic this season?