NBA Power Rankings

NBA POWER RANKINGS

First power rankings of the season, based off of last year's accomplishments, off-season movement, and pre-season play.

1. Boston Celtics: The Defending Champs stay there until they screw up bad enough to lose it.
2. Los Angeles Lakers: The return of Andrew Bynum will make the Lake-Show even tougher.
3. Houston Rockets: Adding Ron Artest... either going to be amazing or terrible. Lets see how he gets along with Houston fans and T-Mac. Over-under; people Artest will punch this year- 3.
4. New Orleans Hornets: Chris Paul will challenge for league MVP again. He and Chandler have amazing chemistry.
5. Detroit Pistons: Window of opportunity closing fast for this veteran team. Stucky seems to be the only flash they have coming in after the geriatrics leave. Still not sold on Maxiell.
6. Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron is eyeing real estate elsewhere if the Cavs cant win. NOW.
7. Utah Jazz: Big hole at 2-guard prevents this team from moving forward.
8. San Antonio Spurs: Trio of Duncan, Ginobli and Parker still scary good, but aging as well.
9. Orlando Magic: Much deeper than last year, More playmakers added. Great cast in Mickey's backyard.
10. Phoenix Suns: May be last hurrah for Steve Nash, Shaquille O'Neal.
11. Dallas Mavericks: Can Rick Carlisle put this team over the top?
12. Toronto Raptors: Perhaps best frontcourt in East with (healthy) Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Bosh.
13. Philadelphia 76ers: Signing of Elton Brand makes them much better.
14. Portland Trailblazers: Should round out West playoffs with (healthy) Greg Oden, and a young, tough team.
15. Washington Wizards: Agent Zero and Antawn Jamison should have jumped ship. They'll pay for staying, but they'll GET paid for staying as well. it's all about the Benjamins, baby.
16. Indiana Pacers: Rebuilding for the Pacers, they could sneak into the playoffs with solid performances.
17. Atlanta Hawks: They linger, but should be better for as young as they are.
18. Denver Nuggets: Can the Nuggets score 130 a game again this year and still lose?
19. Golden State Warriors: Losing Baron Davis was a big blow.
20. Los Angeles Clippers: Losing Elton Brand was a bigger blow.
21. Chicago Bulls: I have no clue what they're doing in Chicago. It must be nice to just not really care. Get rid of Gordon.
22. Miami Heat: Wade couldn't do it without Shaq, but he has Beasley and Marion now.
23. Minnesota Timberwolves: Kevin Love will be a draft bust as soon as everyone sees the wuss he is, and Ol' Al will be fending for himself again.
24. Sacramento Kings: They will be scary in two or three years. They're going nowhere this year.
25. Charlotte Bobcats: Lots of cap space screams LeBron bid in 2010 - go go gadget Michael Jordan!
26. New Jersey Nets: Trading Jefferson? Ouch. I want to say Yi is overrated, but he isn't. Just isn't that good yet...
27. Milwaukee Bucks: Michael Redd and R. Jeff are scoring machines. A little more help makes these guys real good.
28. Oklahoma City Thunder: They may look nice, and have a new home, but life is going to be tough for Durant and crew.
29. Memphis Grizzlies: These guys are going to get laughed at in the West.
30. New York Knicks: How about a season without one of the following: Sexual harassment charges, locker room drama, and 50 plus losses.

Boys in Blue are back in action

The Orlando Magic begin their new season this month, and already expectations are high. The players all know that new jerseys will not be enough to carry the team where they all believe they deserve to be, the NBA Finals.

Last year, GM Otis Smith was quoted as saying, "We're Kurt Thomas away from a championship," speaking of the power forward acquired by San Antonio before their playoff run. With the failure to court Thomas during the season, Smith didn't even focus on him in free agency in the off-season. Instead, Otis bolstered the defenses by bringing in free agent Mikael Pietrus from Golden State, a stingy defender that plays well in the Magic theme of hitting jump shots and three pointers, and puts yet another body in front of J.J. Redick. Also joining the new-look Magic this season, journeyman point guard Anthony Johnson, who will provide a solid veteran backup to improving Jameer Nelson, and filling the hole left from the departure of Keyon Dooling. Johnson will, ideally, help Jameer develop even more into one of the leagues' top point guards, which he proved he could be in the finals this past year. In the draft, the Magic acquired guard Courtney Lee out of Western Kentucky with the 22nd pick, and the team believes he can contribute right off the bat, and has looked stellar in the off-season workouts and the Summer leagues.

Last season, the Magic won the Southeast Division comfortably by 9 games, posting a 52-30 record en route to a second round loss to the Detroit Pistons, also known as the "Orlando Magic Playoff Run Killers." This year, expectations have grown, and so have the young players the franchise has built around. Dwight Howard is coming off an amazing season and off-season, and the organization is only expecting him to pick up his game even more after seeing Olympic competition and bringing home the gold. "We want to compete for a championship," Said Howard, and the NBA Finals are not out of reach for the blossoming team. Last season's biggest free agent pickup Rashard Lewis has had a full year in Coach Stan Van Gundy's system, and should be a much larger contributer now that he has started to build some chemistry in the team. Often shaky at times, Jameer Nelson keeps bettering his game and when he is on the ball, is one of the best in the league.

A power center, arguably the best in the league, the best outside shooting in the league statistically, more time together and the addition of a few key veterans makes this Magic team much like the team that challenged for the title back in 1995 with the Rockets.
These things, coupled with the return of Tony Battie from injury to help Howard get some break time, and the emergence in the playoffs of Polish-born Marcin Gortat, who displayed amazing heart and hustle, help round out a team whose depth was questioned last year.
Only time will tell if the Magic are ready to compete in the big games this season, but from what has been seen this off-season, the fans in Orlando have much to be happy about.

Orlando Magic 20th Anniversary and Jersey Unveiling

MAGICAL NEW UNIFORMS
By Alex Barrett


ORLANDO, Fla. – Fans of all ages gathered at the historic Cheyenne Saloon in downtown Orlando to be part of the Orlando Magic’s new jersey unveiling and 20th anniversary season. The Magic celebrated jerseys and memories of the past by having a fashion show runway-type presentation of the uniforms of their past, as Community Ambassadors Nick Anderson, and Bo Outlaw, Along with All-Star center Dwight Howard, sported the history of the Orlando Magic jerseys at the same location that the Magic unveiled their original duds back in 1989.

“With this being our 20th anniversary season, the uniform change allows us to pay tribute to our history with the return to pinstripes, as well as look forward to our future with a modern approach,” Orlando Magic COO Alex Martins said. This is the fourth uniform change the Magic have made since entering the league before the 1989-90 season.

The adidas design team, along with input from the community and players alike, designed a new, reflective yet still modern looking jersey, bringing back the pinstripes that the fans loved so much, which now flare at the shoulders to accentuate the design, adding a new modernized letter and number font, and placing a secondary logo on the center back of the jersey by the neck, the first time this has been done in franchise history; the sides of the jersey have also been accentuated with contrasting mesh inserts. The new jerseys will lead the Magic into a new season full of expectations on the court, and into a new era in which they will also receive a new stadium, the Orlando Events Center, due to be ready for the 2010-2011 season.

Community Ambassador Nick Anderson, a former All-Star with the team and the Orlando Magic’s first draft pick on the franchise, said the jerseys have a good combination of all concepts on previous jerseys, from the first one on down the line. “I really wish they would have had these when I played…” and he added, “These jerseys bring a new excitement to our team, which was already exciting before. We have high expectations, and if everyone knows their roles and stays healthy this season, there’s no reason we can’t reach the NBA Finals this year.” When asked about the preseason pickups of Mikael Pietrus and veteran guard Anthony Johnson, Anderson added, “Otis [Smith] really hit a home run here. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he shored up our defense and played to our abilities to hit jumpers and three pointers, as well as giving us a seasoned veteran to back up Jameer Nelson. And don’t forget first round pick Courtney Lee, either; he could be the best addition of all of them.”

After the unveiling, gold-medal winning Dwight Howard was all smiles, as always. He received a standing ovation, but more importantly, a key to the city from Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. Dyer also proclaimed September 23rd as “Dwight Howard Day” in Orlando, and Howard interviewed after the presentation; “We just saw these before you guys did, and I am so glad we got some new jerseys. I love the team chemistry at this point, even with our new players, and I know it’s just a shirt, but this helps bring us together as a team and as fans as well.” Dwight also noted the depressing post-season loss to the Pistons as something they have worked on this offseason, and the turnout today shows the fans care. Howard gave the jersey design an “A++” and has hopes for it to be “the only jersey to be seen at our games.”

The fan and community reaction was just as powerful as the players, and the reaction to the new jersey was nothing short of ecstatic. UCF students Rachel Scott and Alex Rivera, whom are long time Magic fans and were one of the first in line when the doors opened at the Saloon, loved the new look. “The pinstripes are my favorite, I’m glad they brought them back,” said Scott, a senior legal studies major. Rivera, a sophomore at the school thinks the Magic can take it to the playoffs this year, and noted; “We can win it all.”

Orlando Magic Fanatic Jerome Wilt was in attendance for the festivities as well, and was thrilled about the new look for the Magic. “It has a new-school style, but keeps the old-school appeal.” He went on to add “The 20th anniversary patch was a perfect addition to the jersey as well. I can’t wait to see those on the court. It’s just a jersey; but this is our year.”

OKC Thunder

Oklahoma City is “Thunderstruck”
At least their team is now. After spending much of this offseason without a formal name on their jerseys, the newly-acquired franchise has a tag.
With the deal to allow the movement of the team, the old franchise, the Seattle Supersonics, and their color scheme of green and gold were not allowed to follow the team; they had to stay in Washington. Because of this, Oklahoma was able to concoct a brand new identity looking forward to next season in their new home.
This new name really wasn’t that large of a surprise, however, as potential names were leaked as early as six weeks ago, and the website of the Orlando Magic had already listed games on their schedule for next year as playing the “Oklahoma City Thunder.” It took a little longer to leak the colors, but even they didn’t last until the announcement. The Thunder will be sporting blue, orange, and yellow, combining such colors having meaning to the residents of OKC, as well as the cross between colors of current Oklahoma teams, such as the Sooners.
Thunder is a fitting team name for the new franchise, as the Tornado Alley resides in Oklahoma. Thunderbirds are a nickname for a city based infantry division, and even that draws from the state’s American Indian past. “The Thunder Rolls” was a Garth Brooks hit many years ago on the country music charts; Brooks is also an Oklahoma native.
Oklahoma didn’t get the franchise quietly; however, they were mandated to shell out $75 million in lawsuit charges during a point in time where the team wasn’t even sure if it was moving until the legal proceedings were concluded. Team chairman Clay Bennett had mentioned that the team name had been decided “quite some time ago,” but the names that Oklahoma City passed on included trademarks on five other possibilities outside of Thunder: the Wind, Bison, Marshalls, Energy, and Barons.
The Thunder revealed the new logo, colors and name while blaring AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” over the loudspeakers, and new teammates Damien Wilkins and Desmond Mason, a former Oklahoma State University forward, along with some children unveiled the new designs at a packed Leadership Square in Oklahoma City in the early evening of September 4th.
Coach P.J. Carlesimo was even quoted as saying; “The guys in the jerseys, if they play, the jerseys are going to look real good.”