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Game 2 of the 2009 NBA Finals is hard to watch for many reasons. It was a loss, for one thing. But far more painful is the memory of a confident, exciting group of guys who did a lot of things right. I would not go so far as to call the Magic in 2009 a team of destiny, but I would certainly say that my excitement after 2009 was through the roof thinking about the potential the Magic had of stringing together multiple championship seasons.

Now, after a couple of years, we can only look back fondly (even at the losses) in 2009 and wonder where that team of destiny went.

Dwight was not quite ready 
He did so many things right. He attracted the double-team, got to the foul line (sometimes), passed the ball with precision (for the most part), and rebounded like it was going out of style. What was missing for me was that takeover hunger that Kobe Bryant had throughout the entire game and series. Yes, Dwight demanded the ball, but he did not command the paint. At times he struggled to make good decisions like going left instead of right, or spinning for the lob instead of trying to back Gasol down. You can’t point the finger at Dwight, but you can safely say that he was not ready to win a championship. This was not Shaq, nor was it Tim Duncan. He needed another year or two to develop (which he did). The sad thing is that 2009 team did not stay a 2009 team with him. They dwindled as his game got progressively better. It is one of the more painful memories Magic fans have. Dwight was great, he was even terrific, but he was not ready in 2009 to win a championship.

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The rise and fall of the Orlando Magic as an elite team and championship contender will be examined by Magic Basketball in a two-part series — here’s Part II.

As the Magic continue to face their uncertain near-future, I’m thinking about something I imagine a lot of us are: John Milton. Specifically, I’m thinking about Paradise Lost, his account of Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden. It seems to me that Magic nation probably feels how Adam and Eve did shortly after God exposed the whole apple/fig leaf-clothing fiasco: “We had it all, and we blew it somehow, and now we need to figure out who to blame. Also, I hate snakes.” Yeah, verily, fellow Magic watchers, we have dined on the ambrosia of celestial basketball, have stared lovingly into the pond at our reflections as Eve did, contemplating how nice it was to be a perennial contender. And now we must make our way into the less hospitable basketball wilderness, to try and figure out how to reclaim that divinity.

There is a strain of criticism in Paradise Lost readers that says that Adam and Eve did us all a solid by getting kicked out of Eden–their screw-up, basically, gave us life as we know it. It’s a pleasant take on the notion of original sin, usually called the fortunate fall. By sinning their way out of Eden,  Adam and Eve became people, and exposed the rest of the race to all the goods and bads that come with the territory. For the Magic, our fortunate fall was Rashard Lewis.

You remember that sign-and-trade. The Magic were getting a 27-year-old inside/outside player, the Sonics’ career leader in three-pointers, a player who had scored more than 20 points per game for three straight seasons and was coming of a career high in that department. Of the trade, Stan Van Gundy said, ”It really makes our roster very, very good.  And even more than that, what this says to me and what our organization has done with Rashard shows me and should show everyone out there how committed this organization is to winning and winning a championship.”

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You can take the Magic’s Game 1 loss to the Hawks in a number of ways.

You could be enraged–the Magic’s two most important players played one of the best games of their career, and the team still wasn’t competitive. You could despair–it sure looked like the loss exposed a lack of defensive flexibility on the wings and the extent to which the Magic rely on Hedo to create in the offense. I have to confess, though, that I’m not pulling my hair out or drowning my sorrows just yet. It strikes me that Game 1 was almost so logical as to be baffling, as each team basically played to an extreme version of what we already knew about them: the Hawks shot jump shots and hit them, while the Magic have frustratingly few options when Turk doesn’t seem up to being the creator he can be.

By now, you’ve heard the story about the game. The Hawks let Dwight get his and shut everybody else down. Well, except Jameer Nelson, for a quarter. But essentially, that was the ploy, and it worked. As I’m sure you’ve heard, the Magic scored 20 non-Dwight-or-Jameer points. Why, exactly did that happen? One number jumps off the page: 18 turnovers, which on the other end led to 21 points for the ATLiens. Some of this can be pinned on Dwight, as he had eight of those, but I think the biggest offenders, within the flow of the game, were Turkoglu and Arenas, both of whom displayed a maddening propensity to passively dribble into difficult situations while also seemingly refusing to put the pedal to the metal in scoring opportunities. Turkoglu, in particular, needs to step up for the rest of the series, because his passivity simply will not stand on offense or defense. It’s not a shock that Josh Smith took advantage of him, but it is a shock how little he imposed his will on the game. After Dwight, this team relies on positional flexibility with ball-handling spots, and that means Turkoglu has to be the engine a lot of the time.

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• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “It wouldn’t be shocking at all if the New York Knicks — the Magic’s opponent tonight — make a play for Dwight Howard next season, perhaps offering either Amar’e Stoudemire or Carmelo Anthony at trade deadline for the all-star center. Howard can become a free agent after next season, and the Magic will be nervously waiting for the NBA’s most dominant big man to make a decision. If they don’t want to wait and risk losing him without compensation, the Magic could listen to trade offers for Howard next season. It’s when they have some leverage. Teams in the NBA will be falling all over themselves in attempts to pry Howard away from Orlando — at the trade deadline and, obviously. next summer if, or when, he’s free. The Knicks are desperate for a center. You don’t think they’d part with either Anthony or Stoudemire for Howard? Stoudemire has had to play the role of the Knicks’ big man this season, and it has worn him down.”
• Head coach Stan Van Gundy is complimentary of a fellow coach.
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “The Orlando Magic are a wacky collection of characters and off-center personalities as evidenced by their recent vow to not shave their facial hair until after their playoff run is complete (hopefully in the NBA Finals, of course). But head coach Stan Van Gundy pointed out something recently about a couple of the Magic players that is a true rarity in NBA locker rooms. According to Van Gundy, Ryan Anderson is much better than even the power forward thinks he is and the coach is constantly harping on him use his talent to attack. Then, there’s the case of reserve point guard Chris Duhon, who has taken care of the ball and defended the way the Magic have hoped, but for whatever reason he’s shown a reluctance to shoot the ball. It’s gotten so bad at times that it’s been like the Magic are playing four on five offensively because of Duhon’s unwillingness to pull the trigger on shots. Begging a player to shoot more and not less? Again, a true rarity in the sometimes egomaniacal NBA world.”
• Players for the Orlando Magic state their individual goals.
• Vince Carter is not the same player that he was with the Magic. Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post explains: “While it unfolds, the whole scene is surreal to me as I watch from the comfort of my couch. Less than two years ago, the Magic acquired Carter and Ryan Anderson for next to nothing (the expiring contracts of Rafer Alston and Tony Battie, plus the youthful Courtney Lee) in a critically acclaimed move designed to put them over the top in the championship hunt. Now, following a midseason trade and a rocky adjustment period, he’s coming off the bench for a lottery team, and even then only to loiter on the weak side and wait for a kickout.”
• Marc Stein of ESPN.com: “This probably speaks more to the ongoing Boston funk and Miami’s recent 5-6 stretch against .500-or-better teams, but Orlando actually has the East’s second-best record since the All-Star break … at a modest 11-5.”
• M. Haubs of The Painted Area argues that Dwight Howard does more to help the Magic win games than Derrick Rose does for the Chicago Bulls: “Derrick Rose is a great player who has had an outstanding season. He is the best player on the best team in the Eastern Conference. He has been the driving offensive force in pulling out wins in the fourth quarter on several occasions. The Bulls offense as a whole has been excellent when he’s been on the floor. But Derrick Rose has been one of several key factors – defense (and the coaching behind it), Rose, rebounding, bench – in the Bulls’ surprising success this season. He has not been the single primary factor. [...] I was fully ready to swing to the Rose MVP camp following his performance late in the game on Saturday. However, after digging into the evidence, I feel more strongly than ever that Derrick Rose does not deserve to be the 2010-11 NBA MVP, though I have little doubt at this point that he will win the award. I’m going to withhold judgment on my mythical ballot as a whole for another couple weeks.”
• Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “Five straight wins and the best center in the game, solid four seed, but nobody mentions them among the contenders in the East. You’ll see more Gilbert Arenas this week, which may not be best for then Magic.”

• Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Orlando Magic know they got a steal when they acquired Ryan Anderson from the New Jersey Nets in the Vince Carter trade back in 2009. Incorrectly labeled a throw-in as part of that deal, Anderson has blossomed into a reliable player for the Magic and the most relevant person involved in the trade (Carter’s wasting away in Phoenix, Lee’s a reserve on a mediocre Houston team, Alston’s out of the league, Battie barely plays in Philadelphia). But just how good is Ryan Anderson? And how good can he be? Some metrics show him as one of the better — or at least most efficient — offensive power forwards in the NBA. A more proficient scorer, at least in his role, than Chris Bosh. A better rebounder than Amar’e Stoudemire. A better jump-shooter than Pau Gasol and Kevin Love. Anderson, 22, is certainly making the most of his minutes, which have at times been sparse. He’s obviously not as good as some of the players he’s compared to below, but his potential and efficiency are apparent.”
• Dwight Howard will try to avoid technical fouls from now on.
• Jason Richardson is sick, but will play against the Sacramento Kings.
• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Kings have been fighting the local politicos to get a new arena built for years — and no dice. Commissioner David Stern couldn’t even use his mighty clout to make it happen. Sound familiar? Orlando and Magic fans could have been in the same sinking boat that Kings fans are in. But they pushed through a deal to give birth to the Amway Center just in time, weeks before a recession would have likely derailed the plans again. And who knows what would have happened next.”
• Gilbert Arenas can’t feel his face at times.
• Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk likes Howard as the MVP right now: “What do I look for in my MVP? A player who efficiently pushes himself to a new level and pulls his team to new heights with him. Howard has been very efficient this season and has pushed himself to new levels. I’ll also argue he is pulling the most out of this Magic roster (a roster that is likely to let him down in the playoffs, but that’s another topic). The Magic may be a disappointment, but that is not on Howard. His offensive usage percentage is at his career high but his shooting percentages have not seriously dipped. To me, right now, this is the guy.”
• Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports: “For Howard, there has been just one fleeting benefit to his technical issues: He’s been subjected to fewer questions about whether he’ll leave the Magic when he has the opportunity to become a free agent in the summer of 2012. For a franchise that was scarred for years by Shaq’s decision to leave Orlando for the Los Angeles Lakers, Howard’s future will remain a topic of concern until he either signs a contract extension with the Magic after the league negotiates a new labor agreement – or he leaves.”
• Howard is a legitimate MVP candidate.

Photo by Fernando Medina

If I pay a whole lot of attention to what’s been said and written recently, joining the MBN community right now is sort of like moving into a mansion that was just built on an active fault line. That is, the features are fantastic–there’s an MVP candidate playing out of his mind, a perennial fifty-win team still coached by one of the league’s best, nightly entertaining performances by Gilbert and the Stretch Fours–but everybody is treading lightly, anxious about the disaster that might be on its way. Everything happening right now is in the shadow of Dwight’s free agency, the latest addition to a litany of plagues that will descend upon us all and end the world in 2012. The sky will rain blood, locusts will descend upon fields, and ESPN will run constant speculative pieces punning on Superman. Every time Gilbert bricks a pull-up or Otis Smith says something short-sighted, the summer of 2012 looms as the unspoken consequence, that time when the franchise will be called upon to pay the price for its mistakes or reap its successes. And it’s still fifteen months away.

Last week’s trade deadline, of course, is a huge reason for the anxiety. As the story goes, this is the time of year where Dwight gets to watch other A-list talents shape their own futures while he’s wondering aloud whether he should be tweeting about his teammates’ hustle. For the most part, free agency for the past year has been an arms race in the East, and the thinking is that Howard must look around and see Carlos Boozer getting open looks from Derrick Rose drives, or hear that Amar’e loves New York’s “1, 1A punch,” all while wondering if there is going to be anybody left to help form his own Justice League in Orlando. To a large extent, this is totally understandable. Gone are the diluted early 00s where Allen Iverson could drag a team to the Finals. Ours is an era flush with real talent, where great teams have multiple weapons and more than one A-list player. Eddy demonstrated this just a few days ago here at MBN, illustrating the extent to which the rest of the East elite has real star production at multiple and complementary positions. Of course, it can’t be said that the Magic can match their competition in marquee names, and it seems like management may be losing its grip on ever changing that.

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It was January 9.

The Orlando Magic just got done beating the Dallas Mavericks the night before to extend their winning streak to nine games — tying a franchise record. The Magic’s record was 25-12, third in the Eastern Conference, and they were within striking distance of the Miami Heat (trailed by 3.5 games) for the No. 2 seed. It looked like general manager Otis Smith struck gold with two blockbuster trades that brought Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu, and Jason Richardson into the fray.

All was well.

The playmaking that was needed? Turkoglu took care of that.

The offensive firepower on the perimeter that was lacking? Arenas, Turkoglu, and Richardson brought the ammunition.

Unfortunately for Orlando, their nine-game winning streak — looking back on it now — was fool’s gold. That 22-point win over the San Antonio Spurs? The Spurs were playing on a back-to-back and head coach Gregg Popovich waved the white flag early in the third quarter, knowing the outcome was decided. That eight-point win over the Boston Celtics? Rajon Rondo, someone that has given the Magic plenty of problems in the past, didn’t play due to sprained left ankle (Kendrick Perkins was out, as well). That 10-point win over the Mavericks? Dirk Nowitzki sat out of the game with a sprained right knee. Orlando’s lone other win against a winning team in that timeframe came against the New York Knicks, a squad that is merely average and capable of beating beaten on any given night. Especially by the Magic.

Granted, Orlando has had some close losses too.

Losing by three to the New Orleans Hornets in overtime. Losing by a point to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Losing by three to the Celtics. Losing by nine points to the Chicago Bulls. Losing by four points to the Miami Heat. These aren’t bad losses, per se, but they’re not wins either.

For the Magic, close enough isn’t good enough. Not for a franchise that’s been considered part of the elite in the NBA since 2009 when they made their run to the Finals. And since Orlando’s winning streak, they’re 9-8 in their last 17 games and looking less like a championship contender.

It’s spurred writers from around the blogosphere to ask if the Magic are done?

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AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Via Fran Blinebury of NBA.com:

After [Hedo] Turkoglu was the second-best player on the Magic team that lost in the 2009 NBA Finals to the Lakers, there was every reason to saddle up the old gang and let them take another shot again last season. But there were $53 million worth of reasons why it didn’t happen, the size of the free agent five-year contract that Orlando wasn’t willing to offer and Turkoglu got in Toronto. [...]

Of course, a bigger version of the same accusation could have been made of the Magic, who blew up the best team in the history of their franchise in the name of fiscal restraint and managing the budget down the line when they were maybe standing on the doorstep of their first championship.

General manager Otis Smith has since admitted his mistake, albeit with a mountain of caveats. Though what really matters now is that Turkoglu returned to Orlando on Dec. 18, the day Jason Richardson and Gilbert Arenas also arrived in a declaration that shouted the future is now and the Magic have gone 13-6 (.684) since.

“I was disappointed and hurt when our Finals team traded away Hedo and Courtney Lee,” said center Dwight Howard. “I thought that was an awesome team that deserved another chance.”

As perhaps the last remaining dominant center in the league, Howard missed not only Turkoglu’s ballhandling skills and make big shots in key situations, but also his ability to make the entry pass into the low post.

“A 6-10 guy who knows right where I like it and can get it there? Yeah, I was glad to see him back,” Howard said.

Dwight Howard’s quotes are telling and reveal, in a way, his feelings about Vince Carter.