Dear Dwight: Rhino ain't bad! 

The common thought is that the Orlando Magic don’t have the championship pieces in place to keep Dwight Howard in a Magic uniform past this season.

Well, if that is true, then Dwight may want to mull that over a little bit more.

Some would say that Ryan Anderson is playing out of his mind right now—but if you ask Stan Van Gundy, the kid is barley scratching the surface.

“I’m not trying to be too hard on him---but Ryan’s going to score, but he’s capable of a lot more,” said SVG last week.

“I think the sky’s the limit for him, and so I’m saying it as a positive. I think he’s a helluva player. But he can do more at the defensive end. He can do more on the boards, and he’s got to make that he challenges himself to do that.”

To know Stan Van Gundy--even this new, calm, cooler more relaxed 2.0 version of Stan this year--is to know that the man does not dole out praise haphazardly.

Translation—this kid is a star in the making, but he needs to keep doing the little things for us to be successful.

Through the first four games of the early season, Ryan Anderson leads the NBA in three-point field goals made with 22.
Ryan is the Magic’s leading scorer right now at 19.2 points per game, good enough for 16th in the NBA.

He is shooting at a clip of 48.8% from the field---and 44% from the arc.

Impressive numbers, wouldn’t ya say? But, as his coach says, Ryan can do more. I don’t think that is a criticism. I believe that is a compliment of the highest order.

Keep in mind, after playing just 2 seasons at Cal, Ryan Anderson is just 23 years old. He’s got a long way to go—but the kid is well on his way.

Ryan is extremely coachable. He’s got a high basketball IQ. His shooting range begins when he gets off the team bus. He’s got an innate gift to rebound on the offensive glass.

I read an article recently that called Ryan Dirk Nowitzki Lite. I don’t know about that. But you Magic fans remember how valuable Rashard Lewis was to this team not too long ago. I would say that Ryan has the ability to become a Rashard Lewis-type player for this team, only Ryan has the ability to rebound the ball much better than Rashard ever did.

He’s young and he’s still learning. He’s got a long way to go in his progression as an NBA player.

But, if Dwight Howard believes that the Magic don’t have enough pieces to keep him in True Blue for the rest of his career, I say, look no further than the guy starting beside you in the frontcourt.