By Nick Adams | May 14, 2008

There was a weird feeling at RDV Sportsplex on Wednesday afternoon as the players made their way out of the complex after their team meeting.

"It doesn't feel like it is over yet," Rashard Lewis stated. "It feels like we have just today off and that we will be right back at it tomorrow."

The Magic will be back tomorrow, not for practice, but for end-of-the-season individual meetings as Orlando saw their best season in over a decade come to an end Tuesday night in Detroit.

Less than 24 hours since Orlando's 91-86 loss in Game Five, the pain of losing was still fresh.

"I haven't given anything to much thought yet," commented head coach Stan Van Gundy after he was asked about next season. "I am just still trying to get over last night at this point."

"I want to be in there practicing and getting ready to play the next game," said Dwight Howard, "but the season is over and there is nothing I can do about it now."

"It's painful," added Jameer Nelson.

The team's pain is something in which Van Gundy thinks is a positive.

"A significant thing is that our guys feel a lot of pain and are disappointed in losing. They are thinking like a winning basketball team that has bigger goals."

Orlando felt a similar pain after last season's first round playoff sweep to the Pistons, but because of the team's winning attitude, the current loss to the Pistons hurts much more.

"I definitely feel a lot more pain this year than I did last year," Nelson stated. "We believed in ourselves a lot more this year."

Howard agreed with Nelson, "It does hurt more. We expected so much more but we can only learn from this situation and come back next year ready."

Although the pain was still lingering, the optimism and readiness for next season has already begun.

"We took a big step this year but we can't get comfortable," said Howard. "As a team we have to get better."

"I know the type of players we have on this team and I know that everyone is going to do what they can in the off-season in order for us to get better," added Nelson.

"This is just the start of something that is going to be great for us," Lewis confidently stated. "We are a team on the rise. I don't see us taking any steps backwards."