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Although some folks around here would love to ship one of the "Big Three" out of Orlando I think these 3 players will return and have a great season next year...

Dwight will have a 24 ppg 15 reb season to dominate at another level.
Rashard will get his game going with a 22 ppg 5 rpg performance & Hedo will turn into the leader of this team(I think even now he turned into the floor leader of SVG) with 20ppg 7 rpg & 6apg.

All in all next year will a season to remember... hopefully

People always seem to think that improvement means better numbers. I expect to see Dwight's scoring up a little but his rebounds will be lower due to additional rebounding help at the PF spot. Shard will remain the same, Hedo likely a little down in the scoring area. The improvement will come with the other players...and that is what we need to become a true contender.

This is all assuming that we do not add another scorer like Maggette.

parso15 wrote:Although some folks around here would love to ship one of the "Big Three" out of Orlando I think these 3 players will return and have a great season next year...

Dwight will have a 24 ppg 15 reb season to dominate at another level.
Rashard will get his game going with a 22 ppg 5 rpg performance & Hedo will turn into the leader of this team(I think even now he turned into the floor leader of SVG) with 20ppg 7 rpg & 6apg.

All in all next year will a season to remember... hopefully

I don't know about you, but 20 games over .500 at this point in the season, for me, makes this a season to remember.

mhectorgato wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



I don't know about you, but 20 games over .500 at this point in the season, for me, makes this a season to remember.

Actually my point wasn't about individual performances but players getting used to each other & the team getting used to a system. This will result in production increase .... of course not only to the 3 players.

If you look at the situation right now I see no reason this team won't be a real contender next year... Dwight gets 1 more year of experience, Hedo has the confidence of his career & Rashard is not feeling the pressure of the contract.
I my opnion next year will be even better than this year...

I just hope Dwight develops some more moves in the post and can get his ft % up to 70% that alone will help his point totals tremendously and make him that much harder to defend

It will be really hard for Hedo to put up those #'s you want even tho he is only a rebound and an assist shy of that now, those are Lebron like #'s and is not very easy to get at this level

we also don't know what the offseason holds, if we add another score like a maggette or jamison (which I highly doubt anyway) that will put a hamper on everyones pt totals

laVal03 wrote:I just hope Dwight develops some more moves in the post and can get his ft % up to 70% that alone will help his point totals tremendously and make him that much harder to defend

It will be really hard for Hedo to put up those #'s you want even tho he is only a rebound and an assist shy of that now, those are Lebron like #'s and is not very easy to get at this level

we also don't know what the offseason holds, if we add another score like a maggette or jamison (which I highly doubt anyway) that will put a hamper on everyones pt totals

When such an addition is made we will have to rename this thread "Big Four" I guess... won't we?


I truely think Hedo has it in him... its not such a stretch from the numbers he is averaging right now.

Dwight needs to develop his bank shot I think... he was using it at the beginning of the season more often. This would open things up for his drives to the hoop... right now he either bullies his way in & gets a dunk or puts up a forced shot. This off season will be crucial in his development.

parso15 wrote:Actually my point wasn't about individual performances but players getting used to each other & the team getting used to a system. This will result in production increase .... of course not only to the 3 players.

If you look at the situation right now I see no reason this team won't be a real contender next year... Dwight gets 1 more year of experience, Hedo has the confidence of his career & Rashard is not feeling the pressure of the contract.
I my opnion next year will be even better than this year...

I understand your point. But:

1. I'd like to cherish this season until it ends, because it's been the best in decades.
2. Any type of "projection" is directly related to our off-season moves which at this point is an unknown.

mhectorgato wrote:-= original quote snipped =-




I understand your point. But:

1. I'd like to cherish this season until it ends, because it's been the best in decades.
2. Any type of "projection" is directly related to our off-season moves which at this point is an unknown.

You pulled a Whocares on me!!!

1. Good point.
2. Thanks for killing my thread

i just hope Dwight grows the hell up and gets his head out of his back door...he kills this club when he's in a mood...


edited - forgot to put the kids name in there

parso15 wrote:Although some folks around here would love to ship one of the "Big Three" out of Orlando I think these 3 players will return and have a great season next year...

Dwight will have a 24 ppg 15 reb season to dominate at another level.
Rashard will get his game going with a 22 ppg 5 rpg performance & Hedo will turn into the leader of this team(I think even now he turned into the floor leader of SVG) with 20ppg 7 rpg & 6apg.

All in all next year will a season to remember... hopefully

It's very doubtful that all 3 would improve statistically. Howard probably does increase his scoring average a notch, but his rebounding average would likely fall some.

Hedo is likely maxed out right now production wise, but if Howard increases his touches, then Hedo's scoring average probably falls a couple of points. If the Magic acquire a PF, then his average drops plenty.

Lewis may show some increase if he plays the 3 next year. If the lineup remains basically as it is now, then his scoring average doesn't change much in either direction.

JMO.

theTHIEF wrote:i just hope grows the hell up and gets his head out of his back door...he kills this club when he's in a mood...

who?

mhectorgato wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



I don't know about you, but 20 games over .500 at this point in the season, for me, makes this a season to remember.

Hell yea!

The only way Shard's numbers go up is if he is allowed to move back to SG. The reason he was a max player in Seattle was that half his offense came from posting up. He's proven this season he can't do it against power forwards.

huge4 wrote:The only way Shard's numbers go up is if he is allowed to move back to SG. The reason he was a max player in Seattle was that half his offense came from posting up. He's proven this season he can't do it against power forwards.

you mean SF right?

i think Shard is doing a very good job for us...he is reliable for offense, when his game finds him and he sees the opening he does a very good job at scoring and scoring fast...most of the leagues power forwards have just as much time trying to keep up with him on offense as he might have muscling down on them while on defense...

it's a give and take, and as long as you give better than you get, you'll be doing all right...and we havent done that awful bad really...he has stepped up his defense in a pretty big way, especially for some of these guys he's guarding...

2008/09 will be really exciting, Shard will have more experience and we'll have either Battie and Fran or some other capable big for us...

d12fan wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



who?

fixed...

if another scorer is added at sg i doubt anyone averages more than 18 besides Dwight.

theTHIEF wrote:fixed...

After last night's game, I thought it was self-evident.

me too, but i fixed it, just in case...

Right, I meant SF...

I by no means think Shard has done a bad job this season at PF. He has certainly surprised me with his ability to flourish at the position. Before the season started I predicted it would be a disaster.

However, having lived in Seattle for the last 12 years and watching Shard all his career, he is not currently the player he was for the Sonics. He was an allstar in Seattle and I don't see that ever happening if he can't use all his tools.

As a SF he is a much tougher cover since he can drop the three ball on the bigger SFs and post up the smaller ones. We haven't seen it in Orlando, but Shard is our most skilled post player.

Back to the topic of the thread, if we get Battie back in the starting lineup, I can see Rashard being our leading scorer. It's also going to give our defense a huge shot since we won't have to cover for shard getting abused in the post.

parso15 wrote:Although some folks around here would love to ship one of the "Big Three" out of Orlando I think these 3 players will return and have a great season next year...

Dwight will have a 24 ppg 15 reb season to dominate at another level.
Rashard will get his game going with a 22 ppg 5 rpg performance & Hedo will turn into the leader of this team(I think even now he turned into the floor leader of SVG) with 20ppg 7 rpg & 6apg.

All in all next year will a season to remember... hopefully

No offense, but our record and our performance in the playoffs are much more important than individual stats. Just look at the consistant success of San Antonio, Detroit and I'll even throw in Phoenix. Just my opinion.