Poll: The Orlando Magic's Window Of Opportunity

And it’s true Dwight had an excellent series against Boston. A few games, he absolutely destroyed Perkins.

but it will have little to do with Artest, and more to do with getting contributions from Bynum & Farmar. Ariza was about as efficient as Artest in the regular season, but much more so in the playoffs (particularly from 3). At this stage in their respective careers, Ariza is also the better defender since Artest has lost a lot of the lateral quickness that made him such a terror on defense (he’s now best used defensively as a 4 in small ball lineups). And Artest has never been one to play well within a system when hes a lower option on the totem poll, so I’d imagine it’ll be fireworks if/when Artest breaks up the highly structured passing-and-spacing of the triangle and starts wildly driving towards the rim without a plan. Moreover, its highly likely that at 24 and with a developing game, Ariza will improve next season, while Artest, who turns 30 in November, will not.

Oh, and Ariza’s not crazy. To wit: only one of those players ruined the fortunes of a 60 win team that was a legitimate title contender, which is why it baffles me that you would consider any chemistry issues regarding Artest ‘irrelevant.’

Shaq, by the way, is like a gazelle compared to Ilgauskus, but thats not what somewhat mitigates the Dwight advantage this time around. Its Shaq’s strength. He can force Dwight to fling those wild hook shots from 5 feet outside his comfort zone, a la Perkins. No one on the Cavs last year, not Ilgauskus, Varejao, Wallace or Hickson, could do that. And lets not gloss over the 20+ point deficits we racked up on our way to some of those wins, not to mention the defensive abilities of both Parker and Moon, who would seriously reduce the efficiency of VC & Lewis.

And as far as Dwight’s series against the Celtics, lets be honest here—he played more minutes than in the regular season, averaged far fewer points with a lower shooting percentage, and grabbed a lot of rebounds against a Celtics frontline that featured Perkins (shoulder injury), Big Baby Davis, Miki Moore & that pudgy redhead—he should absolutely have destroyed that frontline and he didn’t. Next season he’ll likely face Perkins, Garnett, Wallace & Davis. Do you think his efficiency is going up against that lineup?

I’m all in favor of optimism, but stating that there is a 50% or more chance of the Magic winning the title in the next two years requires a willful suspension of all reason. If we had brushed aside Boston & Cleveland 4-1 and pushed the finals to 6 or 7, I would be more hopeful.