Skywise316

healthy Watson > Brooks > Napier Just pretty glad Frye and his contract is gone. 8 mil for the virtual nothingness we were getting for him made it feel like we were paying 15-20 mil for him.

Scumbbag Stan? What's that all about?? Lovin' the new sig.

I guess my point is that, especially with young players, lot of people make the mistake of thinking that they are what they are, and they can't get better. Maybe that was mostly true back in the day when all but the most special of players would stay in college all four years, and be 24 or 25 year old rookies. In this era of 20 year old NBA players, the most successful franchises are the patient ones. The arrow is definitely pointing up, and despite what people are saying there's no reason to believe that most of these guys aren't going to continue to improve, that they're just going to plateau off. In short, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Or at least don't be in a rush to fix it. P.S. I'm not saying people shouldn't talk about whatever they want to talk about. I'm just saying people shouldn't get upset at the Magic if they are quiet on the trade front for a decent while.

I don't get why as soon as the team is doing well, and just about every player is playing well, suddenly we want to trade? For what purpose?? I understand its always fun to speculate. With that said, sometimes the best trade you can make is none at all, at least for now. Keep doing what you're doing while trying to keep work on your weaknesses, and lets see how far this group can go. At least until the trade deadline. The way the bench guys are playing may give Henny a bit more confidence to pull the trigger on a deal with someone like Frye or Fournier, but that doesn't mean they should actively search for the first thing that comes along. Mario is J.J. Redick 2.0, just as far as circumstances go. Clearly this year and maybe next, much like J.J., he's going to struggle for heavy minutes due to the established guys in front of him. It may take time but he'll be just fine. His defense is already far better than J.J.'s was when J.J. was a rookie. He's taller and more athletic, not to mention still only 20 years old. I see him thinking out there a lot, he just needs more time in Skiles' system and he'll be good to go. I think Magic fans should enjoy the winning and remember just how young our youngest guys are, their time will come. It's hard for all the players to get the minutes they deserve when a. everyone is playing decent-to-great and b. everyone is healthy.

Only here and there on Twitter.

Wow.. this thread may be this forum at its worst. A few posts, that shall go unnamed, have literally made me miss negative voting. A lot of overreaction, particularly in a solid win. Just saying. How can someone not just enjoy THIS game if they watched it?? The Magic played stellar defense and Victor Oladipo should find a tape of this game, take it home, and STUDY IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN. He should play this way for the rest of his career. Back to basics. Defense first, and attack the rim with reckless abandon with every chance he gets if he even has half a crease in the defense to do so. Refs be damned, opponents be damned, everything be damned. Now just imagine if the Magic can actually get Evan Fournier AND Dipo to actually attack the basket hard *gasp* in the same game?? They just might get somewhere offensively. I've always thought starting was incredibly overrated, by players and fans alike. What matters is: 1. How many minutes did you play? 2. How much did you play in the 4th quarter? I mean, would you rather be Fournier and start, but not finish? Or would you rather be Dipo, and not start, but finish? I think if Dipo can play night after night like this, and especially if the Magic win games, I don't see where the problem lies. I think as long as he gets minutes and finishes games, he'll be fine. I don't mind if Dipo wants to basically invent a chip on his shoulder and take it out on his opponents. Most of the great ones do just that! I have to say it bothers me that Mario isn't getting any run, especially with how respectable his defense has been early in the season.. but this is also a marathon, not a sprint. I will be rooting for Frye hard in the short term, maybe he can get his trade value up from "non-existent." In conclusion, just think we should find our chill. At least just a bit.

So today's thing is a bunch of people acting like Fournier was suddenly so much better playing at the 2 after one game, as opposed to the last EIGHT games (not so great on opening night) at the 3??? Please just stop the pain, just stop. :svgsad: P.S. Besides, if any of our swing guys should be coming off the bench, it's certainly Harris before Dipo or Fournier. Or Frye before all of them, quite frankly.

Agreed but no one is quite as bad as Houston... I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit. I don't know what was more gross, all those missed lay ups and put backs (my five year old son could have made at least a few of those!!) or the TOTAL lack of weak side rotation on defense. Skiles had every right to be upset, who the hell are WE exactly to try to play down to anyone in this league? The lack of energy for long stretches, at home, is completely inexcusable. Most upset with Payton and Tobias, on both ends of the floor. Yes Tobias made a shot here and there, Payton passed well, but it's a 48 minute game and those guys had their heads in it for 5.. maybe 6 minutes each of it?? Super impressed by Vuc's lack of rust, obviously Napier, and... Frye?? Frye did great on both ends of the floor, hopefully he can keep it up! I like what Fournier's doing if for no other reason than being tenacious at going hard to basket time and again. Too much throwing it around the perimeter and not trying to attack the defense by everyone else, for the most part. Offensively ugly game... but a beautiful finish.

I pictured a hilariously deep British accent when I read this.

LOL thanks man. Blowing two 4th quarter leads is definitely concerning, but we also can't forget two things. It's Oklahoma City, and not the one-star-or-the-other injured version from last year, either. I personally think it'll be GSW & OKC in the Western Conference Finals.. Also, no one can blame the Magic for Westbrook's shot, that's just silliness. Not only was it from FOURTY feet, but Tobias even got a hand up on it. The Magic, 98% of the time, win the game by three! They did enough to get the W, and that's in spite of it being an 8 on 5 handicap match. Also I would go with Gordon instead of Fournier, slide Harris to the 3.

Soo today is kind of my birthday, expected nothing but had my fingers crossed for a big win. Unfortunately, had to run errands all morning and then all evening.. So I'm passing through on Twitter and things like "Victor Oladipo" and "Magic" are trending. I'm like.. uh oh..??! I went for the spoilers.. and DANG! I guess in the end, it's a bit better this way. I'd rather just know the end result in this case, as opposed to the freggin' roller coaster of ups and downs it seemed to be. Will definitely still watch it on DVR, and boy am I happy I taped two hours over! From what I understand of the game, I'm proud of the guys against a superior and currently healthy opponent, and when we stop playing playoff teams every 3 minutes I think we're really going to be more than fine from this in the long and even medium term. :shard:/> Not gonna lie though, that Westbrook three at the end of regulation is hard to stomach... :svgsad:

I just meant I'm concerned from a health stand point, more so than the skills thing. Even if he never develops more than a mid-range shot, Payton could be Rondo without the head case part. Wouldn't be a bad result at all for the 10th pick in the Draft.

Second~!1! I think whether we make the playoffs or not really will come down to injuries. Every game matters!

Getting slightly concerned about Payton.. Haven't seen him play well at all since last season, and now I hope that they're just being cautious with him and that he can play ASAP in the regular season. At least we have Watson and Napier to fall back on. It's such a strange feeling having actual point guard depth!

I'm so glad other people hate Jon Barry as much as I do.

To those who saw the game, how did Ryan Anderson look? I have to remind myself that Mario is just.. 20 years old!? The drafting legend of Henny grows and grows.

1. Aaron Gordon 2. went with Tobias Harris for techs as a shot in the dark (where's the Scott Skiles option??) 3. Oladipo to hang out with. 4. I think 15-20 minutes for Mario early, but likely to earn more PT by the second half. 5. I guessed Payton just b/c she talks about his hair a lot, but I bet she'd legit leave me for Jameer Nelson. :shard: 6. I'll vote 2-4, but I think 3-3 is definitely possible. 7 & 8. I'll try to temper my excitement a bit and go with a calculated 36-40 wins, and just missing the playoffs. 9th or 10th in the East. In my still young Magic heart instead of head, though, I BELIEVE~! (in making the playoffs, but everything has to go right)

Hey guys. I run a fantasy football league (0.5 PPR) filled with my friends, mostly a combo of friends from here, my football leagues, and if need be, Twitter. :shard: So we only need one replacement owner, hoping it can be someone I know here. Here's the league: http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/leagueoffice?leagueId=26525&teamId=1&seasonId=2015 So the Draft day is September 6th at 9 PM EST, all that needs to be done beforehand is to select exactly three keepers before late August. The empty team to take over is here: http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/clubhouse?leagueId=26525&teamId=4&seasonId=2015 I want to give you guys first dibs before I ask my fantasy football friends, being here forever and a day and whatnot. :) If interested, please leave me a first and last name as well as working email address. You could do that in the thread, PM me, or email me at Skywise@hot-shot.com. First come first serve in one of those ways. Only a couple of caveats: 1. Activity is required. At minimum, making sure your lineup is set for Sunday and at least a couple of times a week, check the league for polls/trade requests. Being a chatter box in our shoutbox is a HUGE bonus, and my friends talking to each other was the main reason I made the league in the first place. P.S. If you're reading this and you're in the league already? Basically stepping up in talking a bit would be nice in Year 2 from my b-ball buddies. 2. I gotta know who you are and be friendly with you, at least. LOL I'm here a decent amount and the forum has a smaller gathering these days, shouldn't be too hard. (If you're an OG, you're a virtual shoe in)

Magicdoc1 has filled the last league! Six years and running with nothing but Magic fans, thank you! P.S. Mauro that Real GM idea was a good one, will probably try that (as well as TBN) next season if needed..

It's that time once again, a new season of Magic Basketball, and with that comes another season of fantasy basketball. We're going into the 6th year of a keeper league featuring TBN forum members and/or member friends. So if you have any interest in fantasy basketball, this is the league for you. It's a 12 team keeper league and we're keeping three players from last year's team, going forward into this next year. So keep that in mind. Have fun. Behave. Trash talking is allowed but in forementioned fun, gotta respect each other. Gotta keep your lineups set (other than injured players for a short time), whether you're the best team in the league or the worst. Do NOT join this league unless you are literally willing to stick it out all year long as the worst team in the league. Those are the two huge things. No "nasty" fights or arguing where things get personal, and make sure your lineup is consistently managed. Please. Those two things are done, and we have a lot of FUN. That's what fantasy sports are about! So there could be a third team open to this, but HOPEFULLY not. If so, I'll bring it up Tuesday. So for now, here are the two open teams: ---------- EDIT: The league is re-filled, thank you all very much! ----------- The main link for the TBN fantasy b-ball league can be found here: http://games.espn.go.com/fba/leagueoffice?leagueId=48216&seasonId=2016 Our League custom rules can be found here: http://games.espn.go.com/fba/tools/viewmessage?leagueId=48216&typeId=0&topicId=0&messageId=3 First come first serve, pending my (usually easy) approval, of course. The team name, colors, and/or avatar can be changed upon arrival in the "team settings" section of your team page. To sign up, have your first and last name, TBN username (if unavailable), and a valid email address you can check. Then leave them either in this thread, by PMing me here on the forum, OR at my email address, Skywise@hot-shot.com . I will then use your info and send you the invite to the email address you give me. Please accept the invite QUICKLY. If you can't seem to find it, check your spam folder. Thanks, take it easy, and GO MAGIC~!

Darn straight LOL. By the way, I never leave. Always lurking...

Please could use help! I mean, come on... I'm calling out EVERY OG (pre-Dwight leaving) if any of you are left. You suckers owe me for two years of Stock Up/Stock Down, its been years but I'm calling in that favor! :shard:

I was thinking along the same lines.. there is actual hope! And not blind hope with no logic behind it, either!

Is it crazy that I would rather keep those pieces than get Paul George..!? Maybe my brain is still too much in football mode than basketball mode. But I just feel like we'd be selling low on Dipo, in a way. He's still got improvement from here. I mean, I guess I just want to see the roster healthy and with a REAL COACH for a while before evaluating them too definitively.

I totally agree with you in principle on GSW being difficult to replicate, I'm just saying that I think a lot of these sports leagues like the NFL and NBA have copy cat franchises once someone wins a championship in a defined way, especially if that turns into a repeat or threepeat. When I hear Skiles wants team defense (not new) and uptempo offense (okay, that's new)...