j.wilder

ha, you guys are already making fun of me? wow, i knew a message board might be a risk, but i really enjoy talking about nba/magic, so i thought id try.

You think our problem is defense, so you put Lewis at the 3 in your proposed line-up? Lewis/Bass/Dwight is worse then what we had last year defensively, that is unless Bass magically becomes good on team defense. i said it can be anyone at 4. i think bass did a great job last year at offensive rebounding and at putbacks, and that takes a ton of pressure off of dwight and gotrat to have someone like that underneath the boards. hopefully either orton or robinson....maybe even anderson, might be able to do that too, but rebounding and defending is never going to be lewis's game so putting him at 4 is just wasting the postion. use him as a shooter and worry about defense for the 4 postion.

what does it being "locked" mean?

i just honestly think that our biggest improvement has to be our defense. we broke a 3 point record last year, we can shoot people under the table, but right now, our defense is "oh, well we have dwight howard". we need more than that, and if its bass, or orton, or gortat, or anderson, or robinson i dont care, but its not going to be lewis, hes an amazing shooter, but terrible on defense. we need to adjust to that and worry about our 4 spot, and thats something i think stan doesnt get, i think he relys too much on dwight to do all of our defensive work.

if you really think stan is one of the better coaches in the league, name me one thing he did last year? what play did he run? the jameer run the basket and then throw it out to someone, the pass it to dwight, the hope vince is still good? name me one literal thing that stan van gundy did last year that was impressive?

so im new, just found this message board, and dont mean to start on a negative, but i was wondering what everyone thought about coach stan van gundy? personally he worries me a lot. he shouts generic advice all game long (a lot of times the players arent even looking at him or paying attention) and then when it gets close and we need him to inspire the team is the only time he shuts up. usually just looks scared and many times last year runs a terrible play to the wrong person. a good example from last year was the game i was at in the regular season against the boston celtics where rashard lewis made the game winning shot. the play was set up to go to vince, but vince was having a terrible night that night, so much so that people booed when he was put back in late in the game. i think they booed just because they knew it was not vince's night and they didnt want van gudny to run a play to him, and then van gundy did. it got foiled by the celtics defense then rashard saved it, but after that night i cant stop thinking "what is van gundy doing out there?". also his misuse of brandon bass last year was incredibly frustrating to me. it took him all the way till the last series of the year to realize lewis at 3 and bass at 4 is the only way to have the tough defense we need against big man teams like the celtics. starting with the first game of that series we should have moved lewis to three and played either bass or gortat or anderson at the 4 every time. also, more importantly what do you think stan van gundy needs to do differently next year with the team? what do you think the starting line up should be? what needs to change from the coaching staff next year to make us finally be that strong team that can win it all? i mean we have talent, but sometimes its knowing how to use your weapons right that can make you the best team. for example last years playoffs where the suns used zone/their bench to win games. my dream starting lineup: 1. jameer nelson 2. jj redick 3. rashard lewis 4. brandon bass 5. dwight howard the four could swap out through out the year, but i think lewis does much better at 3, his defense is weak, and he plays more comfortably at 3.

yeah, its the one in the center. something funny on the back is it says "in one of the most spectacular starts to a rookie season ever, shaq has changed the orlando team from the door mat of the nba to legitimate contenders." hey! when were we EVER the door mat of the nba? ha. but that makes me think it was a rookie card, and also the one i have says "prototype #1", which makes me wonder if it was the first made, or if thats what they all say.

thats an amazing collection! can i ask you a question about one of the cards. i just found a shaq card at a thrift shop it was made by "collectors quaterly", the one where hes pulling the championship trophy out of a magic hat. you have it pictured in your set. i was just wondering if you knew if that one was worthy anything. also what prototype number does it say on the back of yours?