Time To Step Up

The Orlando Magic have entered a very critical period that will determine whether or not they are contenders for the foreseeable future. As long as they have Dwight Howard at the center position they’re going to have a chance to beat anyone in the league, but he’s only under contract through next season and rumors that he’s set to make his departure just won’t go away.

To Dwight’s credit, he’s done absolutely everything in his power to keep all talk focused on this season and not what he’s going to do 15 months from now. However, the questions are going to continue to come until he’s locked up to a long-term extension. Until then Dwight will hear his name associated with teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets and just about every other team because who wouldn’t want to add the most dominant center in the game today?

Speculation will only continue to run rampant as long as his teammates fail to come through like they did on Saturday night against the Atlanta Hawks. Dwight was incredible, going off for 46 points, which ties his career-high, while also grabbing 19 rebounds. He was even decent from the free throw line, making 14 of 22.

Magic point guard Jameer Nelson was solid himself with 27 points and six dimes, but nobody else could muster more than six points as the Magic fell 103-93 and lost homecourt advantage in the process. Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson and Gilbert Arenas, the Magic’s big midseason acquisitions, combined to shoot 6-22 from the field while having issues that were equally as troubling on the defense end.

On the other hand, the Hawks had five players score double figures. They were led by the 25 points of Joe Johnson and also got 23 off of the bench from Jamal Crawford.

That’s the kind of offensive fire power that Howard is yearning to be surrounded by right now. Magic General Manager Otis Smith obviously thought that’s what he was giving him when he traded away Rashard Lewis, Vince Carter, Mikeal Pietrus and Marcin Gortat, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday.

There are a lot of different factors that are going to come into play when Dwight makes his decision regarding free agency. The biggest one is arguably his surrounding cast. As a true competitor he wants to win and play with guys who he knows he can win a championship with. Any team with him will be competitive, but with six years of experience under his belt Dwight knows he can’t get it done himself. Putting up 46 points and 19 rebounds in a losing effort only cements that belief.

With the landscape changed in the Eastern Conference by superstars teaming up together in Miami and New York, temptation is going to be great. New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul is also set to be a free agent next summer and there will be no shortage of suitors trying to lure them away. It’s up to their respective teams to prove to them that the grass won’t be greener on the other side.

While the Boston Celtics’, who really sparked the revolution we’re seeing in the East three years ago when they added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo, championship window is closing the Chicago Bulls’, Knicks’ and HEAT’s are just being opened. They’re going to be good for quite some time. If the Magic continue to have serious trouble with the Hawks, how can Dwight have any confidence in his ability to top teams that feature some of the league’s best players in Derrick Rose, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony who all have other stars by their sides as well?

It’s important not to read into one loss too much. The Magic have plenty of time to turn things around against the Hawks and keep their season alive. More than anything, though, it shed light on what their biggest problem is and what could eventually be their undoing. Dwight’s supporting cast has to be better, otherwise two years from now they’ll be faced with the task of trying to  slow him down instead of being the benefactors from his dominance.

Manu Looking Like A Go

All indications right now point to San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Manu Ginobili being active for Game 1 of the Spurs’ seven-game series against the Memphis Grizzlies. Ginobili injured his right elbow in the first half of the last game of the regular season against the Phoenix Suns and did not return. Ginobili postseason injuries have played a big role in the Spurs’ four-year championship drought and there was a concern that history could be repeating itself. Fortunately for Ginobili and the Spurs as a whole, an MRI revealed that he had only suffered a sprain that is not considered serious.

In a perfect world Ginobili would be able to have a little bit more time to rest his elbow, which he will likely wear a brace to protect from being injured any further. This is the playoffs, though, and the Spurs are not making the mistake of taking the Grizzlies lightly. They don’t want to play games with them and most importantly they want to try to form some rhythm as they look for 16 more wins and an NBA championship.

{AUTHOR_BOX}There have been times in the past where Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich used Ginobili in a reserve role, but lately he’s been a fixture in the starting lineup. The chances of that changing during the playoffs are slim, although certainly possible. Because of that the Popovich would likely prefer to keep guys in the roles they’re going to play from here on out rather than switching things up just to give Ginobili rest when he’d rather be playing.

It will be interesting to see just how effective Ginobili is going to be able to be. He’s played with injuries before and there’s no better remedy for something minor like this than the adrenaline that will be pumping through his veins with the playoffs getting underway.

He’ll be facing a very tough defender for most of the series in Memphis Grizzlies guard Tony Allen. When Allen sits he’ll likely be going up against explosive reserve guard O.J. Mayo, meaning there will be no breaks in this series for Manu.

This Is What Happens When You Depend on Shaq

The Boston Celtics are going into their first-round matchup against the very formidable New York Knicks shorthanded because they made the mistake of putting too much faith into former All-Star center Shaquille O’Neal.

Shaq was signed this summer for depth purposes after the Celtics saw a championship taken from their grasp by the Los Angeles Lakers when starting center Kendrick Perkins went down in Game 6 with a torn ACL. It was a great signing by Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge because even at the age of 39 O’Neal is still capable of contributing in a small role.

When on the court Shaq has been decent, the problem is that he’s spent far more time on the bench in street clothes than in the lineup. He played just 37 games during the regular season and has been ruled out indefinitely after failing the Celtics’ conditioning test by not even being able to run.

Throughout Shaq’s career there have been many times where his work ethic has come into question. This isn’t one of those instances. This is just a matter of his body that has played 18 years in the league breaking down on him. It’s happened to every great big man before him; his body eventually giving up on him has always been inevitable.

The Celtics should have seen this coming, though. He wasn’t exactly injury-free before they shipped off Perkins and since then he has only scored six points and grabbed one rebound in five minutes of action total. They did receive center Nenad Krstic in that trade, but he’s a much better fit offensively than defensively. They were expecting O’Neal to replace Perkins’ defensive presence that they need and have to have in order to win a championship.

The Knicks are a very dangerous team that has the firepower to pull off the upset. They greatly could have used O’Neal in this series and not having him could prove to be quite costly.

Yannis Koutroupis is a senior NCAA and NBA analyst for HOOPSWORLD. You can follow him on twitter.