The problem is they built that entire team around Dwight. When there is no good low post presence the 3 shooters have a really hard time getting open. With no Dwight no easy shots, and add the fact here is not 1 above average defender in the entire starting lineup.
I can't wait for someone to throw a max deal at Harden. OKC can't keep him with two max deals on the books already. If Ibaka continues to develop he'll be hard to retain as well. Good luck getting FA (that you can afford) to agree to live in OKC, Bennett.
None of those players outside of MAYBE Anderson are anywhere near as you described them THIS year, and Anderson has struggled since Dwight has been out (Davis has done surprisingly well though). You really think Richardson is worth anything? Most Magic fans think Nelson is garbage, and Davis had a PER of 13 all year. I won't even start on Hedo's corpse. The team is just not that good, and SVG did a great job of making it work around Dwight, and honestly making Dwight look great in a system that's perfect for him. He got the most out of these guys during the year, but as you mentioned, you take an MVP-level player out of the equation, and of course they're going to suck. That team would barely win 30 games in an 82 game season.
SVG didn't do a "great" job of making things work around Howard. Howard made SVG look somewhat decent, just as Shaq and Wade made him look decent. He's in over his head, and both Shaq and Howard have called him out on it. If I was a great player, I'd be tired of being held back by a coach who panics in the clutch, too.
Philly fans suck. So many empty seats in the 100 level that we snuck down at halftime and no one even saw us. WTF. I paid $30 for 2 seats in the upper bowl, but was able to watch a full half from $100 seats.
Atlanta and New Jersey fans are notorious for this too. You'd think these markets would thrive in the playoffs.
Pretty big reach there. Those guys outside of Anderson are has-beens. Davis is a 6'6" power forward career backup.
People can afford to be fickle when they have NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college all right there. Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2
Their great coach should be able to put them over the top. Two players with a PER > 21 (Howard/Anderson). Van Gundy just is a terrible coach without an MVP-type player (pretty much like every other coach in the league).
If you was a great message board poster, you'd be tired of the best coaches stealing thunder from your favorite McMillan.
The compact schedule has been brutal: *Rose - Torn ACL *Shumpert - Torn ACL *B.Davis - Dislocated patella
Yeah but I don't remember this many knee injuries during the playoffs. All of these non-contact knee injuries have been within a week of each other.
