JJZ

Well, it must be summer as the optimism level is very very high. Time will tell how realistic this might be. IMO, the biggest upgrade by far last year was the coach. Since he's not changing, it's going to be harder to have further improvement without an improved roster. So is our roster improved enough? SG is improved, although our SG's weren't that awful last year. PG is still a big question mark. From the big man perspective, despite the optimism here, there are a lot of questions. First of all, how OLD is Battie, who hasn't played in a whole year? Won't he be 33 this season? With bad knees in addition to his shoulder injury? Guys, he wasn't all that great 2 years ago when he was younger and healthier; doesn't everyone remember all the controversy about playing him over Darko? Let's not expect him to be a lock down defender, a major physical presence, or anything else of the sort. Gortat, for all the optimism, is basically a rookie in the NBA since he barely played last year. The reason he didn't play is that SVG, an obviously astute coach, didn't think he was good enough to play. And that's with the anemic front line we had last year! I'm not convinced Gortat is going to be anything more than average at best. Let's not get carried away with optimism here. Cook hit some 3's last year but otherwise didn't contribute all that much on the boards or defensively. That's kind of been the hallmark of his career so far; let's see some evidence for change before we get carried away. Just like last year, the PG and big man represent our problem areas. And if there's any falloff from either Lewis or Turk, both of whom are 30 (or will be this season), things could go downhill fast.

quote: Originally posted by love#12:Thats what i have been saying..pepole said our problem was leting darko walk..no it was tony going down that hurt us..If tony does not go down we dont have a problem at pf and things would be better i belive. GO MAGIC!!!! I can't believe what short memories people have. Battie was pretty bad last year. Don't you recall all the threads here last year begging Hill to start Darko instead of Battie? Some people felt that our PF play last year was one of the reasons we did so poorly after our fast start. Battie was at best mediocre last year, and isn't getting any better with age.

quote: Originally posted by JonBoy418:There are some good complimnetary players out there to be gotten with the MLE. Jamison will command much more than the MLE. Iggy and Josh SMith aren't going any where. Not each FA signing has to be with a star in the making. I posted in another thread: With the MLE, Carlos Delfino (don't know how big Toronto is into Delfino) and Smush Parker (very public feud with Riley makes him cheap). Next year: Jameer / Smush Delfino / Bogans / JJ Shard / Hedo Battie / Augustine / Fran (if he comes over) Howard / Foyle That's a pretty well balanced, and young squad. JonBoy418 is the only poster in this thread whose numbers with regards to the salary cap have made sense. The only area where we disagree is with the PF position above. I don't think Battie/Augustine gets us anywhere, and I think you have to forget about Fran. A PF should be our first priority at this point. Our PG position is obviously also a problem but no one is going to take Jameer off our hands now for whatever ridiculous salary he's promised for the next five years.

What is that old saying: "Absence makes the heart grow fonder", or something like that? Battie was mediocre last year, and wouldn't have been any better this year. The idea that he's some kind of "missing link" is preposterous. We were short on big men last year; whenever one of the three couldn't play, Garrity started to get big minutes. Thanks to Otis we're even shorter in that department this year. Battie wouldn't have made all that much difference. It's not like we're talking about an all-star here.

We ain't winning 50 games. The way we're playing the past month I'll be happy if we get to 41-41.

quote: Originally posted by Soul Bro:Are you kidding? After only 1/3 of the season with a new key player, a new coach, and still holding a 23-15 record, you already know Otis is wrong and that we can't compete over the next few years? Please. 23-16. 7-12 since the big start. I don't think we can compete for a championship now, with this roster, no. If you do, I respectfully disagree. Even when we were 16-4 we didn't beat the elite teams, and now we're struggling against everyone. Salary cap considerations will make it very difficult to "build for the future" and upgrade in key areas, because of the contracts we've taken on. That was my main point.

If I thought we were building towards the future, I'd be happy with where we are. But I don't see it. We have little flexibility for the future given our current set of contracts. In fact, it's going to be very difficult to avoid the luxury tax in upcoming years without DOWNGRADING our bench (yes, I said downgrading). Otis paid big money for Rashard because he felt he was the "missing piece" that would make us competitive for a championship. Otis was wrong.

quote: Originally posted by SauceMoney:Its really starting to seem like when Otis put this team together he wasnt thinking about how they would do on defense. Ok why would you trade Ariza(a defender) for Evans(a defender) and Cook(bench player). So what Ariza couldnt shoot, hes doing very good with the Lakers now. The Lakers using him the same way we shouldve used him. Just for hustling and defense. If he was starting at the 2 for us, i seriously doubt all them 2 guards that had career highs on us, wouldnt have. This organization doesnt know what the hell their doing. Especially for hiring Otis Smith in the first place. So me personally i wouldnt expect that much defense from this team ever until some changes are made soon. Over the summer this was discussed a lot. I was one of the ones concerned about our lack of defense and rebounding the way Otis was structuring the team. Others contended that Gortat was the second coming of Wilt Chamberlain, that SVG would get these guys playing defense despite their historical weakness in that area, etc. All those discussions, and there were many of em, are there to be found in this forum, if one takes the time to go back. Anyway, at this point I think the lack of defense can't be ignored (I agree with your post above). Our roster is just not balanced properly. And changes will be hard to make with some of the contracts we've signed.

quote: Originally posted by MilitaryMagic:Your standards of defense are too high for this team.......... My standards of defense are too high because I'm upset we gave up 119 in regulation? Again, I ask: Then what is an appropriate standard? Should I be ok with our defense as long as we give up less than, say, 125?? I'm sorry but I disagree with your take on this 100%. Giving up huge numbers of points and having to have everything go right offensively in order to win is why we're losing so many games. SVG doesn't like it, either. We won't go far post-season with that approach, if we even make it to the playoffs at all.

quote: Originally posted by MilitaryMagic:This was another not-so-bad loss. Playing good teams close on the road is an improvement for this team right now. We need to continue working hard and doing what we're doing. Rashard's game is opening up and we're seeing more of what he can do when he sees the ball more often. Hopefully Hedo breaks out of his slump soon! Let me get this straight. We give up 119 points in regulation and this is a "not-so-bad" loss? How many points do we need to give up in order to reach the "bad loss" level? 150??

I still think Diener is our best choice for PG.

I don't agree, Skywise316. Most of us who were concerned about the direction the team was going over the summer were concerned about our weakness in the frontcourt. I'd gladly see us pay 6-7M per year for a servicable young big man. Jameer, an undersized point guard who hasn't proven he can lead the team consistently, is a different story. Let's not forget, as Charisma has reminded us, that Darko was a valuable asset. And if he wasn't, then we shouldn't have given up a first round draft choice to get him, a choice that in that particular very deep draft would have gotten us a good player. Any way you look at it, Darko represents the Magic organization giving away value and getting nothing in return.

quote: Originally posted by StufFtheMagicDragon: quote: Originally posted by SmackDaddy:The funny thing is that it is hindsight for most of you. While for a select few, this was all predicted 5-6 months ago (before the season began). This is where I dole out a big fat helping of "I Told You so" pie. you can predict the future and therefore are an asset to this organization Oh, I don't know. Some predictions are much easier to make than others. For example, I can confidently predict that if you jump off the top of the empire state building tomorrow, you won't be posting on this board anymore after that. Easy, isn't it? The point is that the unbalanced nature of the team Otis was creating was evident to some of us over the summer, and the consequences of that followed logically. There was basically a schism on the board; one side was confident that SVG could somehow overcome the roster limitations (team defense, blah blah blah) and that players like Auggie/Gortat would replace or even be better than Darko. Those of us on the other side of that argument didn't share that view. Looks like the chickens are coming home to roost. And they may be roosting a long time, since Otis has put much of our roster in cement with expensive long-term contracts.

quote: Originally posted by DismissOtisSmith:I would be comfortable trading expiring contracts only. But something needs to happen. Think 5 roster slots next year and only the MLE, the future does not look so bright. I would also be willing to dump Jameer or Lewis if the option existed. It's nothing against the players themselves, they are just severly overpaid and limit the teams future success. The problem is the fact that since they are overpaid, they'll be almost impossible to move. I think most other teams also realize that we are overpaying, so they wouldn't rush to take on those contracts.

I wonder how long half the games will be on a station that almost no Magic fans can watch?? It still seems to me that with most of the audience shut out, a lot of money is being lost (advertising, etc). I can't see this situation dragging on for years, for example. Why would FSN even want the Magic games after this contract runs out (not that I'd be sorry to see them go, of course).

Lot of good points in this thread by many of the regular posters. I agree with virtually everything that's been said so far. Jeez....how often do the regulars agree on stuff? This is a little scary.

quote: Originally posted by Drunk on Mystery: quote: Originally posted by Skywise316:Also I don't agree with Reece... this forum has never given Battie enough credit. Does he deserve 5 mil a year? Heck no! But look at this Magic team with him, and look at it without him. That should say enough. You're missing the point. Battie cost us Darko, but more than that he's a vastly overrated career backup PF that we made a starter. He contributes next to nothing on offense, and while his man defense is good, his help defense, especially on pick and rolls, is almost non-existent. So the real difference you're referring to is: "Look at this team with ANY power forward" vs "Look at this team without any power forward" I agree with this 100%. Furthermore, in response to the first post about Battie not getting enough credit, "look at this Magic team with him and look at it without him"......Maybe my memory is failing me but I don't recall us looking all that terrific with Battie on the floor. He was horrible in the playoffs. Our record last year speaks for itself. Many thought we got more out of Darko than Battie. And now he's a year older. What am I missing?

quote: Originally posted by O-dub:(-_-) Exactly how....did Lewis sustain this neck injury? I think the point trying to be made here is one that was discussed at length over the summer. Playing Lewis out of position has a number of drawbacks. One of the bigger ones is that it increases his risk of injury. Banging under the basket with the big boys is not what he's good at. Yes you can force him to do it, maybe not all that well, but when he gets injured it messes up his offense too. Wear and tear on Lewis as a result of being played big minutes in the 4 spot were predicted by some on this forum over the summer.

quote: Originally posted by The Ghost of John Gabriel:But, Battie will struggle with injuries for the rest of his career, and he'll likely never do more than backup Dwight. This is an absolutely key point. I keep seeing posts about how Battie returning next year will be some kind of salvation for us. Last year, when he was healthy, he wasn't all that great by any means. Remember all the threads begging our former coach to start Darko instead? So next year, he comes back two years older, and not having played for a year, and he's expected to be the "missing piece" that makes us a championship contender??? This scenario doesn't make any sense to me. I don't think Battie would have been all that much help this year even if he were healthy.

quote: Originally posted by TheDarkSide:Stan is all talk, he still hasnt done any thing about this line up yet. I guess he knows who the problem is, he talks a big game about the problem, but in the end does nothing about it. So who's he supposed to put in to shake up the lineup? Garrity/Augustine/Gortat/Cook is what we have in terms of big men. Foyle is backing up Howard and obviously doesn't have the endurance to go more than 15-20 mins a game. Otis has given SVG little to work with. That was my concern over the summer, and it's still my concern now. Wish we could have seen what SVG could have done with last year's personnel.

Even when he's open he often doesn't get the ball. This has been discussed before on other threads. My theory is that they don't look for him because he's out there so little that no one really thinks about him. He needs more time on the floor for his teammates to start remembering that he's there. Of course this is a catch-22 because until they do look for him he won't get shots, and so he won't earn playing time.

quote: Originally posted by Skywise316:Wow. I see a couple of FAKE fans in this thread. How about that? The guy probably shouldn't of played in about 3-4 games and this is the thanks he gets? Disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Very Chat Room-esque by the way... those that have been in there know what I'm talking about. Agree with you, the fake injury stuff is uncalled for. Many of us worried over the summer, tho, that playing big minutes at the 4 spot was a recipe for getting Rashard injured. So far, that appears to be the case.

quote: Originally posted by SauceMoney:SVG, please change this offensive strategy and put Lewis at the 3. Were gonna lose more and more games if you dont. Now if only we had a 4. I wonder, if we went to the Wizard of Oz.......

Wish I could be there. Wife and kids leave Monday to go to England for a family function, while I'm staying in town to work, so my going away the last day before they leave probably wouldn't go over too well. Catch ya next time, tho, if I can.

quote: Originally posted by SmackDaddy:Rip me apart for putting Augie & Gortat in the rotation if you want, but at least they may fight and scrap for their minutes. Our entire roster of primadonas needs to be delivered a very forceful message. THEY AREN'T GUARANTEED CRAP! I really like the idea of making people earn their minutes. Not doing so was a key Brian Hill failing last year. On the other hand, I hate the idea of big minutes for Garrity/Augustine/Gortat/Cook. It's sad that SVG is in the position of having to choose between these unpalatable alternatives. Who gave him this bunch of crap in the frontcourt to work with, anyway?? With Foyle, there is an endurance issue. No matter how much we need another big body out there, I seriously doubt he can go more than 20 minutes without having to be taken off the court in a stretcher.