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Ok yall …I am officially on the Suggs wagon …you think that dude puts on with all that hyper stuff ??? …so my son made me stay here where the players drive out …I am not kidding when I say as he was walking to his car he was shouting stuff …when he drove out he stopped, rolled down his window and started pumping his fist just like he does in the games …then he started taking pics and signing stuff …the crowd started yelling Jalen ! Jalen ! And he started yelling Jalen with them lol That dude is something else I’m a fan now !!!

Major shoutout to Weltman for the Goga pick up. Dude is balling.

What’s impressed me the most is how fluid our starting 5 has been when running their sets. Everyone knows where they are supposed to be and guys are making the extra pass looking for the best shot available. Franz game is carrying over from his World Cup play and the confidence is evident especially his 3 point shooting. Paolo is passing very well and is looking to get others involved early. Suggs continues to be a pest on defense and last night his 3 point shot looked much improved, you can tell he’s been working on that all summer. Anthony is also looking sharp off the bench and not forcing shots like in previous years. JI’s offense is still a bit rusty but his defense is still game changing, I feel like his offense will come along with the more in game reps he gets. Joe Ingles will be a good player for us he’s a legitimate 3 point threat, is a willing passer, and he also brings that fire on the court ala Mo Wagner. Fultz continues to get to the basket at will and his 3 point shot is looking much more fluid and improved. Wendell Carter looks automatic from everywhere on the court he is shooting with confidence and continues being aggressive on the defensive and offensive boards. Anthony Black is another pest on defense but his offense and play making so far leave a lot to be desired. Mo keeps doing Mo like things which is always bringing physicality and energy to that 2nd unit. The biggest disappointments to me so far have been G Harris and Chuma Okeke don’t really see them in the rotation this year unless injuries force them into the lineup. Those are some of my takeaways from the first 2 games that we’ve played.

I'm getting downvotes for my reply in reference to Ball Junkie's post about what Suggs did leaving the Arena after the Magic beat the Nuggets last night. First of all, I am very, very happy with the TEAM'S performance in beating the Nuggets, who are the reigning 2023 NBA champions. I am happy for Suggs. He was outstanding in helping the Magic win the game. I mentioned Jordan Poole because what Suggs did after the game reminded me of Poole, who helped the Warriors win the NBA National Championship in 2022. Jordon played an outstanding game, shooting and scoring lots of 3's. Andrew Wiggins played well also. At the end of the championship game, Poole said to Wiggins, "We want the bag" (meaning we want a big contract). During the 2022-2023 preseason, Poole turned his teammates off during practices with his cockiness, yelling out to his teammates what they were not doing as if he was an assistant coach.There was another incident between him and Draymond Green. Poole didn't play well during the 2022-2023 regular season. He missed alot of 3 pt. shots, was very bad on defense and turned the ball over alot. So the Coach had enough and Poole was traded to the Wizards. All I was saying about Suggs is that what he did (leaving the Arena)) was too soon. It just reminded me of the Jordon Poole effect. We haven't won the 2024 NBA Championship. We have only played 15 games and have a long ways to go before the playoffs. Anything can happen between now and the playoffs. It's okay for our players to be confident when talking to the press but not act out in other ways when they have a long ways to go to the finish line. I'm sorry if it offended those who have become huge fans of Suggs. (See--below--parts of Ball Junkie's post about what Suggs did after the game) "…he (Suggs) was walking to his car he was shouting stuff …when he drove out he stopped, rolled down his window and started pumping his fist just like he does in the games …then he starting taking pics and signing stuff…the crowd started yelling Jalen ! Jalen ! And he started yelling Jalen with them lol " "Forgot to add when he rolled down his windows there was a woman in the passenger side and like 6 kids on the back" If I am wrong about all of this, I apologize. GO MAGIC!

I consider the Cavs starting 5 to be a pretty good team and we handled them pretty easily. Their announcers kept commenting about how BIG we are. 2 game preseason observations. Franz is even better. I'd like to see him rebound more. Paolo is even better. His D seems a bit better too. Suggs is everywhere on defense, he's fast and he's relentless. Fultz can get to the hole any time he wants to and his D looks good. We still need Suggs, Fultz, and Paolo to get better on 3s. Carter looks great and seems ready to shoot from anywhere. Isaac on the floor totally changes the 2nd unit. With more games under his belt AB will be just fine. His defensive effort is excellent! Admiral still plays very hard. Chuma is still a ? Jingles was a great addition. He and Mo will get under a lot of players skin. Howard seems a litle lost at times but IMO he will be a great player once he gets up to speed. Harris should only get spot minutes when we need some 3s and are willing to run plays for him. He just doesn't seem like he can be fully involved in the game. Mo is Mo, love him! Queen looks pretty good and will probably beat out Kevon for a spot. McClung looks very good out there and could be a steal. Cole seems improved, better effort on D, and seems willing to play less hero ball. MCW will be a good mentor for the young ones. Caleb is still a big ? Overall if we can stay healthy we have a good shot at beating anybody we play. Here's to a great season!

The Team rarely makes these nice schedules anymore so i made this one following the style they used to use in years past. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Uxovk7MbdKBX7K7XtHeQHTkb8BnAFcJ/view?usp=sharing http://<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Uxovk7MbdKBX7K7XtHeQHTkb8BnAFcJ/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe> <iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Uxovk7MbdKBX7K7XtHeQHTkb8BnAFcJ/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe> cant figure out how to get it to preview from GDrive... MagicCalendar-01 by Natesroom, on Flickr

I’m still looking to trade. Being healthy has been our issue for almost a decade. It’s been the usual suspects as well. You just can’t rely on them. Im good with keeping Carter but I still believe we need to get a starting PG who will spread the floor. The defense is very important but if playoffs and beyond is the goal you have to get a PG who isn’t shy with the outside shot.

We can agree to disagree and that’s ok. Goga is also a good passer, a better shot blocker, and he grabs offensive boards. Don’t get me wrong I like WCJ’s game he’s just too perimeter oriented when we don’t necessarily need that from the 5 position. Sure it’s a luxury to have but I prefer my bigs playing closer to the basket because that’s how you get those second chance points which is what this team thrives on. To be fair most guys get abused by Randle especially in the last 15 games where he’s been averaging like 27 a game. Plus that’s not even Goga’s assignment on defense so if anything it was Paolo who was getting abused by Randle. Adding on to my first point WCJ tends to hold the ball on offense longer than Goga does. Since he’s a better offensive player he tends to try and do more things on that end. Goga on the other hand keeps the ball moving and our offense is more fluid. WCJ is also another mouth to feed on offense which can be great when his shot is falling but will also hurt you when it’s not since he doesn’t play nearly as much as Goga near the basket. It also takes shots away from Franz, Paolo, and Suggs in the starting 5. The only reason I’d even consider trading WCJ is because he’s on a very team friendly contract, we have too many forwards/centers, and we could get a good player for him who can space the floor and plays a different position while getting additional assets as well. Again it’s not that I don’t like WCJ I just think Goga fits better with our starters and brings more value on the defensive end for cheap. Which would allow us to upgrade our roster and address the glaring need for 3 point shooting/floor spacing.

He didn’t go to Kentucky

There’s nothing I want more for the Magic than for Fultz to pop, regain his shot, and lead us into the playoffs.

condolences to the Van Gundy family

I’m with Jon. Two issues with Kelle: 1. He’s limited in his availability… by being hurt a lot, 2. He’s limited in his ability… by not having an outside shot. If we can upgrade, I believe it’s a must.

He only played ten minutes. He would have helped a lot. Can he really not go more than that?

On top of last nights frustration, we seem to just be waving the white flag tonight. Carter, Fultz, Harris, Ingles, Franz all ruled out. Isaac supposedly will be back but I’m not holding my breath. We have 4 players that are either hurt or working their way back from injury ALL THE TIME… and have been for YEARS… all 4 need to go. I’m tired of talking about make believe of what could be if this roster was healthy because it’s not possible for Fultz, Carter, Isaac or Harris. Make trades now before January lets the season get away from us. Don’t wait til the deadline

Great W!! - Overcame the terrible refs AGAIN. We need to send a tape to the league with all the soft touch fouls called, while getting manhandled by the other team. The amount of soft And 1 calls was crazy. We need to ask the league for 5 coaches challenges, just to make it fair. Also never seen such lengthy explanations after a review in my life, in any sport like tonight. Crazy. - That hitch is back. Told y’all. Fultz is my favorite player. I’d resign him for sure. But at this point only for a really cheap contract and a role of the bench. He can run an offense, is explosive, get anywhere. But he’s basically become useless when trying to shoot the ball. It hurts me, because Fultz is just a great person and ball player. Why does nobody from the media ever ask him why his hitch is back? He was a nice free throw shooter before, was good in the midrange, all without the hitch. He just had a funky 3 point shot. So yeah, i’d go for Tyus, because he’s a nice fit with the starters.

Yeah, but Fultz and Isaac miss so many games that we can hardly count it as an excuse anymore. We either commit to them and accept being an average to below average for the guaranteed at least half season they’ll each miss, or we move on and replace them with players that actually play in games.

Shoutout p5 easy to tell the game has slowed down for him, making perfect read most of the time and taking advantage with his size second year crazy

That's the shot KD had him working on in those videos over the summer.

Easy solution. All the teams that don't make the playoffs get the same lottery odds. Problem solved. Also if you win the lottery one year, you get the 1st pick after all the non playoff teams the next year.

Paolo had been terrible in every game his rookie year against LeBron and didn't look great in our first game against him. I'm hopeful that this continues to drive that confidence in Paolo and he can look back on this moment. Tonight he was who we need him to be to one day make a deep playoff run. Also, I love that he continues to naturally highlight other guys in his interviews at every turn. It's the sign of a good, humble leader and will continue to make other guys want to play with him.

Really impressed by Paulo’s selflessness tonight.

This team could be special! This second unit in particular is going to cause so many teams problems.

TMF'S GAME THREAD RETIREMENT (OPEN LETTER TO TRUE BLUE NATION)

Listening to the announcers actually discussing the game and analyzing each play illustrates how much we’re missing with our announcing crew, especially Turner who goes off on tangents constantly

Let’s say it’s 75-25 or 80-20. Pick your number. Whatever it is, you’re still potentially alienating a substantial fraction of your fans for no benefit. Strictly from a business standpoint, it doesn’t make sense to me.