As long as his team was still scratching and clawing its way up the NBA food chain, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy had no problems motivating the players.
His methods, however family unfriendly they might have been, were always effective on a team starving for attention and success. And despite the Magic's arrival at the doorstep of that attention and success -- the defending Southeast Division champions joined Boston and Detroit as the only East teams to win at least 50 games last season -- Van Gundy isn't worried about altering his strategy.
"We've still got a long way to go," Van Gundy said. "We only made the second round of the playoffs. And, quite frankly, our aspirations are higher than that. And we can see the people behind us coming up."
Without any other team in the division making splashy, All-Star moves during the offseason, the Magic remain in the driver's seat for the top spot.
Washington will deal with a rash of injuries for the second consecutive season and will struggle to maintain its position. Atlanta moonwalked into the playoffs last season, with huge assists from struggling Eastern Conference teams down the stretch, but lost as much as it gained during a tumultuous offseason.
Charlotte has a new Hall of Fame coach in Larry Brown, but still has an expansion roster. And Miami's Hall of Fame coach, Pat Riley, stepped aside for a novice, Erik Spoelstra, who has perhaps the toughest job of any coach in the league -- trying to resuscitate a franchise that has been reeling since winning the 2006 NBA title.
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| M. Pietrus (Getty Images) |
Orlando Magic
As long as Superman keeps wearing his uniform, the Magic will be hard to knock from the top spot. And Dwight Howard seems to be getting stronger and adding more wrinkles to his game by the year.
 The Big B: The Southeast Division will be one of the most competitive divisions in the NBA this year. It may not be the best, but it should be a battle, with no team able to dominate the pack. Most of the teams have improved this offseason, and look to do some damage in the playoffs this year.
The Magic, led by Dwight Howard, will try to make it even deeper in the playoffs this time. The Heat have Dwyane Wade back and healthy again, along with new teammate Shawn Marion and second overall pick Michael Beasley. The Wizards, meanwhile, are again without Gilbert Arenas until December, but their star players, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, should keep them in the postseason race. Last year's surprise team, the Hawks, will try to prove that taking the defending champion Celtics to seven games wasn't a fluke. The Bobcats, led by new coach Larry Brown, could finally have a good season in their fifth year as an expansion team. It should be a good race in the division this year, and here is how I see things turning out: Read more |
Howard is at the epicenter of the Magic's steady climb from afterthought to Eastern Conference contender. There is not another big man in the conference who could be considered his individual rival.
Hedo Turkoglu's emergence as a quality second option obscured what was a solid season by Rashard Lewis, who was slated for that spot when the Magic paid him a king's ransom to join the party.
Howard, Turkoglu and Lewis would constitute the Magic's answer to Boston's Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen (minus the hardware, of course). It's the supporting cast that has yet to be defined. Point guard Jameer Nelson still has his doubters, but unlike in years past when Carlos Arroyo and Keyon Dooling were there to spell him, veteran journeyman Anthony Johnson is the primary backup. Mickael Pietrus replaces Maurice Evans in the starting lineup at shooting guard.
The bench is a mix of the old (Tony Battie, Adonal Foyle, Marcin Gortat, J.J. Redick) and the new (rookie Courtney Lee and Dwayne Jones), but no one who will excite the fan base if something was to happen to one of their starters.
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| Maurice Evans (Getty Images) |
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks batted .500 in their two biggest offseason moves, matching a $58 million offer sheet from Memphis to keep Josh Smith and whiffing on their attempt to keep Josh Childress, who bolted for Greece and a three-year, $20 million deal from Olympiakos. Beyond that, the same team that pushed Boston to the brink in a first-round playoff series last year returns largely intact.
All-Star Joe Johnson returns for his fourth season, joining veteran point guard Mike Bibby to form one of the most dangerous backcourt combinations in the league when they're firing on all cylinders. Al Horford begins his second pro season as one of the league's most promising young big men, and the dynamic Smith returns at power forward to stuff the stat sheet on a nightly basis.
The biggest question mark for the Hawks remains the evolution of Marvin Williams, whose fourth season has to be his best if he has a long-term future with the team. Newcomers Flip Murray and Maurice Evans lead a revitalized cast of reserves that includes rugged big man Zaza Pachulia, emerging third-year forward Solomon Jones and second-year point guard Acie Law IV. Newcomers Randolph Morris, Othello Hunter and Thomas Gardner all will have their chances to get in that reserve rotation as well.
While other teams in the division have stalled, the Hawks continue their painstakingly steady and slow climb toward the top.
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| Caron Butler (Getty Images) |
Washington Wizards
Fans in the nation's capital fear that their window for competing at the highest level might already have closed. For a second consecutive season the Wizards will be decimated by injuries; both Antawn Jamison (strained knee) and Brendan Haywood (wrist surgery) went down in the preseason. All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas, needing another knee surgery to repair the damage from an injury suffered last season, won't be available when the season starts, either.
Coach Eddie Jordan found a way to get his team through the maze of injuries and into the playoffs last year, but expecting him to work that magic for a second consecutive season without two of his top three players is a bit much, even in the thankless world of NBA coaching.
Jamison made a quick return, crucial because Caron Butler can't possibly handle all the scoring and leadership by himself. Antonio Daniels has always been a capable fill-in for Arenas, and Juan Dixon and DeShawn Stevenson will help, too. But the Wizards will need even more contributions from emerging young talents like guard Nick Young, forward Dominic McGuire and Andray Blatche, center Oleksiy Pecherov and rookie big man JaVale McGee.
If the Wizards can weather the storm until everyone gets healthy, they should be back in the playoff hunt by March.
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| D.J. Augustin (Getty Images) |
Charlotte Bobcats
There was a time when Larry Brown's presence alone guaranteed a team would compete at a playoff level. Not anymore. Not after his disastrous stint in New York. And certainly not with an expansion franchise.
The Bobcats still don't have an identity, but how could they with so much turnover in the coaching and front-office ranks since their inception? Well-respected talents like Jason Richardson, Gerald Wallace and Emeka Okafor are in place. Yet the question marks remain.
Will Sean May ever stay healthy enough to realize his potential? Can Ray Felton get on the same page as Brown and navigate his notorious crash-course routine with point guards? And is Adam Morrison ever going to justify being drafted ahead of Brandon Roy?
Crossing your fingers and hoping the answer to those questions are yes, yes and yes won't make it so. And the Bobcats have to realize that something has to change with Brown on the scene, because wherever he goes either players leave or he does.
The key for the Bobcats this season will be keeping May healthy, and no matter how Felton and Brown's relationship goes, rookie D.J. Augustin will be chasing Felton's minutes all season. Barring a banner year by someone like Morrison or underrated shooter Matt Carroll, the Bobcats will hold down their usual spot near the bottom of the division.
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| M. Beasley (Getty Images) |
Miami Heat
Riley is back in the front office. Dwyane Wade is revitalized and fresh off a triumphant gold-medal run at the Beijing Olympics, a motivated Shawn Marion is in a contract year and there is promising new blood in Michael Beasley. So why is no one sold on the Heat's comeback routine?
Undoubtedly, it has something to do with the new coach prowling the sideline. Spoelstra is well respected in basketball circles and has learned from one of the best in Riley, but throwing him into the mix with so much uncertainty suggests Riley knows something about him that no one else does. Either that, or this is the riskiest leap of faith this side of Chicago (where Vinny Del Negro takes over the Bulls without any reasonable coaching experience).
A healthy Wade does make everything a little bit easier. And no one can deny that in the Olympics he was arguably as good as anyone has seen him. But he had his best years with Shaquille O'Neal by his side. Udonis Haslem and Mark Blount just don't provide the same protection.
Injuries to James Jones and Dorell Wright will make it easier for teams to focus on Wade defensively, and there are no other legitimate scoring threats who will scare teams other than Beasley.
Another rookie, Mario Chalmers, has a chance to make an impact, as do emerging talents Daequan Cook and Yakhouba Diawara.
