Dwight Howard 23 39.2 20.3 15.3 1.9 0.9 2.6 2.9 Rashard Lewis 24 41.1 19.0 6.4 2.9 1.0 0.5 2.1 Hedo Turkoglu 24 38.9 15.8 4.5 4.8 0.8 0.2 2.7 Rafer Alston 23 32.2 12.2 2.4 4.1 1.4 0.2 1.7 Mickael Pietrus 24 25.7 10.5 2.6 0.6 0.8 0.5 0.9 Courtney Lee 21 26.2 8.0 1.9 1.3 0.9 0.1 1.0 J.J. Redick 16 20.4 6.0 1.2 1.9 0.5 0.1 0.4 Tyronn Lue 1 3.9 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Anthony Johnson 19 14.7 4.3 1.4 2.1 0.6 0.0 0.6 Jameer Nelson 5 18.0 3.8 1.4 2.8 0.2 0.0 1.4 Marcin Gortat 24 11.3 3.2 3.2 0.1 0.4 0.6 0.5 Tony Battie 21 6.1 2.1 1.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1 Adonal Foyle 2 1.9 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 Jeremy Richardson 1 2.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 This was their playoffs roster and stats. Comparing them to the Rocket's current roster as it stands, our team appears to have a better supporting cast. Harden> Rashard ( by miles) Parsons can be potentially just as good or better than Hedo Rafter and Lin can be a wash even though he still has a lot of room to improve( lets try not to start a debate on this) Gortat was not that good during that time and Asik has a big edge on him Pietrus has not shown anything in his career that would make him standout against any of our current players Dmo or Tj can offer a lot more than Tony Battie Reddick was not shooting the ball well that year I will take Beverley over Tyron lue Cortney lee was just a rookie back then and Garcia should have a bigger impact If D12 was able to take this roster to the finals, we have every reason to be excited. Not only is our supporting cast much better as it stands, our other ace in the pocket - Morey can significantly make it even better. Maybe the most important factor is that we have a better version of D12, simply because of his added experience and maturity. NEW AGE !!!!!
they also didnt have teams like the thunder, spurs, clippers, warriors, and grizzlies in their conference to go through....
don't get me wrong..i agree with your post..we are, for sure, a better team than his magic team..but we also have stiffer competition..and i really think we still need another bonafide star if we want to actually win the ring.
I see a Howard, bunch of 3pt shooters, a energy guy in Pietrus and a good backup center. We have a lot more then they do, but were missing the 3pt shooting they had.
The NBA has gotten better since then. The emergence of superstars teaming up will not allow for sub-par rosters to get to the finals.
Orlando had a ridiculously easy path to the Finals that year. Probably one of the easiest in NBA history: They played in a conference where only 5 teams were above .500. In the first round of the playoffs, it took Orlando six games to defeat a 41-41 Philadelphia 76ers team. In the second round, they played Boston without Kevin Garnett. KG missed the entire series due to injury, and the Celtics still took the Magic to 7 games. In the conference finals, the Orlando Magic played the Cavs. LeBron's supporting cast was even worse than Dwight's. Much worse. Besides LeBron, the Cavs who logged the most minutes that season were: Delonte West, Mo Williams, Varejao, and Ilgauskas. Nobody else logged more than 17 minutes per game. The entire Eastern Conference was atrociously bad. None of those teams would've made it past the 2nd round of the Western Conference.
During the Magic's run, they beat a 66 win Cavs team and a 62 win Celtics team to get there. I wouldn't say their road to the finals was an easy one.
I agree that our conference is much tougher. Other rosters in the west might look better but most of them can only play one way (San Antonio or healthy Lakers might be the exception). We can play with a high pace or just pound it down low. In addition, our roster should be good enough to get past the first round. Once we get there, anything can happen.
they won so many games beacuse the east was crap. that finals run by orlando wasnt any espectacular at all.
You mean the same OKC team that was just one call away(Perkins) from being down 3-1 to a dwightless rockets team? The same Rocketes team that only had one year experience playing with each other? We dont even know if westbrook is going to come back as the same player he was. Common fellas, we should be very excited about the team that we have.
The whole league has gotten better since then. Many teams have improved this off-season. The surprise factor of the Rockets is now gone. We'd better be prepared, very prepared.
You guys are under rating that magic team. Hedo was an all star that year and was an amazing playmaker. Prime Hedo was better than Parsons and is comparable to current Harden. Lewis was a knockdown shooter who could play the 4. Parsons needs to reach that level for this team to take the next step. That Magic team was deep with amazing shooters and playmakers on the perimeter. Hedo, Lewis, Nelson, and Lee. I could've sworn Jason Richardson was on the team too
Couple iffy comparisons there - Anthony Johnson was the backup. Thats more comparable to Patrick Beverley Tyronn Lue was NOT their backup. That'd be like saying Aaron Brooks was Rockets backup last year. - Rafer was their late season starter. He did surprisingly well, thats a wash with Lin agree. Though Jameer Nelson WAS GREAT that year, Steph Curry level shooting. Then he got injured. If Nelson was healthy for the playoffs, they might have won it all. That added, Magic point guards > Rockets point guards - Courtney Lee was basically their starter. Thats more than Garcia. JJ Redick and Pietrus are closer examples to Garcia. Will call that a wash. - Gortat's always been solid. Its not his fault Dwight's an iron man. But will go ahead and give Asik a SLIGHT edge. Because thats when Gortat was a "backup only" and Asik gets edge as "starter-turned-backup" and figures more into the plans as of now Decent comparisons otherwise. Rockets have edge in Harden+Parsons over Rashard+Turkoglu. Rockets have some "upside" frontcourt players off the bench. Magic had beastly healthy Howard, Rockets have older banged-up Howard Magic had big edge in point guard with healthy Nelson. Since they DIDNT, its almost equal with Rockets point guards.
