Stan Van Gundy, Orlando Magic and the NBA Championship: NBA Feature (Part-1)
Under the leadership of Stan Van Gundy in the last four seasons, Orlando Magic have had no problems whatsoever in clinching the play-off berth. The franchise even had its best post season trip back in 2008-2009 when the Magic made
it into the NBA Finals. Unfortunately, the Western Conference giants Los Angeles Lakers were standing in their way and gunned down Orlando Magic in that series to nab yet another NBA title.
In the following two seasons, Orlando’s surge to fulfil the championship dream slowed down as they failed to overshadow the Eastern Conference’s elite teams. It’s not like Orlando Magic don’t have the strength and talent on the
roster to grab an NBA title. In fact the team has one of the most dangerous players, Dwight Howard, in the line-up.
Howard has established himself as the best NBA centre in the last six years and has been the recipient of three consecutive NBA ‘defensive player of the year’ awards. He was in his full flow last season and has got around a host
of decent players, who have the capability to shine on their day. However, they are not as strong and consistent a unit as Magic would have ideally wanted.
What the 53-year-old Stan needs at the moment is to make few tactical adjustments in the team. Whatever decisions are taken by the Orlando front office to make the team better, in actuality, Stan is the one, who will be leading
the squad on the court and making crucial decisions when the players are out there.
However, whatever adjustments Gundy can make come the next free agency or the trade window, will have to very well thought out and inexpensive. Orlando Magic has the second highest payroll in the league behind Los Angeles Lakers.
They have players like Jameer Nelson, Gilbert Arenas – over paid players not in their prime – and Howard, who deservedly earns a huge sum.
After spending such amount of money the expectations are always high, both from the owners and the fans, and the team cannot afford to make early exits from the post season. In the last season, the Magic were thrashed out of the
playoffs by an average Atlanta Hawks team, which did not have the star power that Magic boasted. However, even with Howard in his groove, Magic failed to pull off performances befitting their salaries and lost out 4-2.
A season before that, they had swept the Hawks and the Charlotte Bobcats in the first two rounds, but lost against Boston Celtics in the conference finals.
All this effectively points to the fact that the Magic have what it takes to mount a championship run, all they need is to make some adjustment in their on-court tactics. Here are few things the veteran head coach needs to adjust
to help his team achieve their ultimate goal of becoming the NBA Champions.
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