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The season is officially over for 14 teams, but for 16 other ballclubs the season is just beginning. Squads like New Jersey, Memphis and Philly all have hopes or rather, delusions of first round upsets. While Miami, Detroit, and Phoenix aren't planning their fishing trips till the end of June. Also, I don't know about anyone else but I'm getting tired of SO MUCH ANALYSIS. Let the teams play!! We've listened and watched for 82 games already, a span of seven months, what can Tim Legler POSSIBLY tell me that I haven't already heard before? It got so bad for me that I was watching Screamin' A. Smith and Skip Bayless yell at each other on Cold Pizza, and I was actually thinking to myself, "would it be so bad if a chandelier fell from the ceiling right now?" Not injuring them of course, just hitting them hard enough to end the painful segment. I'm not going to analyze these playoff games, and I'm not going to tell you who wi ll win the Championship. We'll talk more about the playoffs next week after the Rockets complete their sweep of Dallas (am I the only one secretly rooting FOR TMac?). As for now we still have to tie up some loose ends from the 2004-05 season.

Am I the only one still wondering why in the hell I watched Jeremy Schaap interview Bobby Fischer in ICELAND? Just curious.

The Orlando Magic finished the season 36-46 (including 2-9 the Month of April) and fell short of the final playoff spot by six games. Ouch!! Now, I can usually find the positives in any situation, but shy of being struck by lightning I really don't know what else could have happened to Magic Head Coach Chris Jent. He lost Hedo Turkoglu, Grant Hill and Pat Garrity for the season after taking over. Andrew DeClercq and Doug Christie were already gone for the year. He had two rookies starting, two 10-day contract players were on the roster and Nelson, Francis and Cato all missed time as well. The equivalent would be handing Vince Carter his "choo-choo" but not the tracks, and telling him to still make it drive around the living room. He couldn't, he doesn't have the pieces.

That being said, you can't make excuses in this league. Look at Rick Carlisle! He actually won games with David Harrison and Jon Edwards in his lineup. The Pacers never hung their heads and Carlisle took THEM to the 6th seed in the East. The Magic had some bad luck down the stretch certainly, but in my mind they had enough pieces to be in the NBA playoffs. To Jent's credit though, he never gave up, he coached to the end and I never heard one excuse come out of his mouth. He resurrected DeShawn Stevenson's career, and down the stretch Jameer and Dwight were as good if not better than they looked all year. Another Coach might have done better, but I'm not convinced of that. I just think Chris will be a victim of the fact the Magic NEED a name patrolling that sideline next season.

Dwight Howard was the Rookie of the Year in the NBA but he will be robbed of that honor because Johnny Davis only got him EIGHT SHOTS A GAME! Dwight finished the season averaging 12 points and 10 rebounds a contest. Emeka finished with 15 and 11, Ben Gordon had 15 points and 3 boards. Dwight shot 52% from the floor, considerably higher than Ben and Emeka but numbers don't lie and Dwight just didn't score enough points to warrant the award. Had he gotten as many shots as the other two he WOULD have been Rookie of the Year, and the Magic would have won more games. But what do I know?

To be completely honest with you, I fully expected Grant Hill to play six games this year. Let's face it, coming into the season he didn't exactly have the perfect bill of health. Instead he played 67 games, STARTED in the All-Star Game, and made idiots of all of us. Do me a favor, from here on out if someone tells you they "knew Grant would be healthy this year" end your relationship with that person immediately because they are not your friend and they can't be trusted. Grant himself couldn't have KNOWN he would play that many games. Having the opportunity to witness his comeback first hand, and to talk with Grant all year was the highlight of my largely mediocre career. Take what you want from this season, be upset if you have to about the Magic missing the playoffs but don't forget what Grant Hill accomplished this year. Unfortunately knuckleheads like Latrell Sprewell, Glenn Robinson, and Darius Miles taint the NBA and we los e sight of the Grant Hills of the league. Don't get me wrong, I love a guy getting tasored at a night club just as much as anyone else, I just think Grant Hill should get all the recognition he deserves for what he's done this year.........and Michael Olowokandi, for that matter, because it takes a lot of you know what to stare down the nose of a stun gun and say, "FOR THE LAST TIME......I"M NOT LEAVING TIKI BOB"S".

Lastly, for those of you here in the Central Florida area, please make plans to attend the "Kids for Coach Graham Celebrity Challenge" on Monday, May 2nd at the Bishop Moore Gymnasium. There will be a basketball game at 7:30 to benefit Bishop Moore Head Basketball Coach Rob Graham, who suffered cardiac arrest during a district championship game. Coach Graham was revived but remained in a comatose state for over a month. He emerged miraculously from his coma but he still faces an extended period of disability with a long road to recovery. I'll be teaming up with other members of the local media, along with Daunte Culpepper, Jeff Turner and Otis Smith as we take on the Bishop Moore Boy's Varsity. Admission is $7 and all event proceeds go to the Rob Graham Family Foundation. For more information check out www.robgrahamfoundation.net.

Dante welcomes your comments, questions and alternative opinions. E-mail him here.

Dante’s Speak is solely the opinion of Dante Marchitelli and does not reflect the views of the Orlando Magic or the NBA. Marchitelli has served as radio producer in the Orlando Magic's Broadcast department for six seasons.