Mr Charisma

quote: Originally posted by Drain-O:I think the current system is here to stay and maybe if anything just increase the odds for the worst team because in most cases the worst team does need the best player. First of all, let me say that I'm not really disagreeing with you, but simply playing Devil's Advocate. By the way, why do we say that like it's a good thing....? Anyway, the argument back would be that teams like the Warriors, the Clippers, the Celtics, the Bucks, and the Grizzlies consistently get lottery picks every year, but seemingly improve very little. So what has benefited them in getting the high draft picks? Good management beats bad management in the long run.

First of all, no one is offended. It's simply a discussion of opinions. Really the only thing I was calling into question was the fact that you insisted that no changes be made at all, suggesting same coach, same players, same everything for next year. And maybe that is what you meant. I do agree with you that we tend to over-react to the inconsistent play of our young players, which I sense is really the point you are trying to drive home.

I've heard the suggestion proposed that the draft be based completely on a lottery that includes all teams. Some suggest that every team be given an equal chance, while others suggest a certain degree of weighted opportunity proportional to their regular season record. This would likley diminish the problem of 'tanking', but put teams at risk at simply being 'unlucky' if they get low draft picks for several years in a row. Anyone want to share their opinion? Honestly, I'm not sold on it, yet it might have some merit. Actually, what would be cool is if they did it AND waited until the draft to select draft position. All teams would then have to be prepared for potentially being anywhere in the draft. Probably the result of this type of change would be that the draft would be de-valued because of it's uncertainty, and trades and free agency would gain in popularity. Could probably open this discussion in a separate thread, but since we are talking about 'tanking' here anyway, just thought I'd add it to the discussion.

quote: Originally posted by quarantin:i'm not deducing anything from the last game versus bucks, but it is a strange coincidence, when hedo plays well, the team win. he has his ups and downs. there are some strong hedo-bashers here, so let us be objective. he knows the ball game. bad or good, he is indispensable to team. You cannot be considered indispensable if you have more bad games than good games. Yes, his play does often seem to be the 'swing vote' in whether the Magic win or lose. But if he plays as many bad games as good games, then he is affecting us such that we have a .500 team. How is that indispensable? That's similar logic to those that praise Jameer because he has a few big games and game-winning shots. If he fails more often than he succeeds, how valuable is he really? In case you're wondering, I like both of these players, but their moments of success do not dictate ignoring their many moments of failure. Indispensable? Not even close.

quote: Originally posted by LetsGoMagic:so we beat the pistions and then lose to Philly and Boston... you know its going to happen. Its ok to admit it. LOL. Geez, and I thought I was cynical !! You may very well be right about Philly, but not about Boston. They are intentionally losing games, so even this team can't stop a team from losing that really wants to. And we know that Boston has the perfect coach to lose games in large bunches.

Another motivation the Pistons have is that they can impact who they meet in the 1st round. Understandably so, the Pistons do NOT want to face NJ in the 1st round. VC, Kidd and Jefferson are just too dangerous, if they happen to get on a roll. They would rather face us or Indiana. Beating the Magic tomorrow night would go a long way in securing that scenario for them. I do think that it will be a very competitive game. If we can continue with the effective ball movement, good things will happen.

quote: Originally posted by royce59:there is no need for any changes I see your point. Why change anything when we already have a sub-.500 team that will be eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs? What more could we ask for? What was that definition of insanity? Oh yeah: "Doing the same things over and over, and expecting a different result". Change? Who needs it !!!

quote: Originally posted by Magic31:If we win all of the remaining games, and the Heat and the Wizards lose all there games (which is unlikely, buy possible). And if the Nets lose like 2 games (which is very possible), we could get the 5th seed. Which means we play Chicago, and if I remember correctly, we won every game we played against them . Just a though. Probably should of posted this in another thread. Anyways, can't wait to see how Darko does in his old arena. Hopefully it won't be anything like the last time. It is mathematically impossible to catch the Heat. They are 6 games ahead of us, with 5 to play for both teams.

quote: Originally posted by emory889:My friend could average more rebounds than that. DOH !!! uh, or is it: DOUGH !!

Interesting quote from Brian Schmitz article: "Hill said he's made mistakes this season, but believes the slumping Magic will improve once they mature." I've been a Magic fan from the day Pat Williams made the announcement we were awarded a franchise, and this is the first time I have ever heard that Brian Hill has acknowledged having made mistakes. I still think he should be fired, but I at least want to be fair in sharing this, as this has always been one of my greatest criticisms of his style.

Must every thread turn into an Arroyo/Nelson debate?

quote: Originally posted by lavell12:The question maybe is how Danny Ange is keeping his job. Maybe Tree Rollins is his boss, and he's afraid Danny will bite him again if he fires him.....

quote: Originally posted by rdeezy:not his fault Pierce went down. They are 30 games under .500. Paul Pierce is a great player, but he's not THAT good....

bhnole, are you suggesting that Doc is a mediocre coach? Well if that's the case, I've gotta go with SoulBro in the comparison between Doc and Hill. 'Mediocre' would be a grand step up for Napoleon.

LOL Debating who is a better (or worse) coach, Doc or Brian, is like our threads discussing which PG is better (or worse). If they are all bad, who cares? Seriously, I don't understand that kind of extension for Doc either, unless this is Ainge's way of acknowledging that he has not given Doc enough talent to work with, so to fire him for not producing would not be fair, given he hasn't been given the tools to succeed. That's the only viable explanation that I can come up with. If it's accurate, then a certain amount of kudos to Ainge (who I despise greatly; I hate all things Celtics) for having the intestinal fortitude to 'own it'.

With Arenas and Butler down, what impact should we see this have on the playoff race? With 39 victories, WASH is 3 games ahead of NJ and 4 ahead of us. Like NJ and IND, they have the tiebreaker on us, even if we beat them in game 81. Anyone think they might actually drop down to 7 or 8, giving NJ and ourselves the opportunity to move up? Looking at their schedule, they could very well lose the rest of their games, with the easiest remaining game being a road game at Atlanta later this week. This would require the Magic to win 5 out of the last 6 to pass them. Anyone consider this a possibility? And would you want to move up to 6, where the Raptors are the likely opponent? I still think that the 7 slot is the ideal slot for the Magic.

DOM, I don't think he was trying to plagiarize. He's a new poster, and I'm guessing he is trying to get used to how the HTML tags are used in the REPLYs. I have to admit that I struggled with them when I started, but don't tell anybody... DOH !!!!!!

quote: Originally posted by barnettej:Here is the thing about boycotting games: Orlando has one major sport and thats the Magic, we tried to have football with the Orlando Thunder, but that went away. And since we only have one Major Team, it wont matter if everyone on this forum boycotts every game until the day they die. Because there will always be someone else to take your spot, especially when we make the playoffs. So go ahead and boycott, it will prove nothing. Fascinating argument. Has no merit, but it's fascinating. How can you say that there is always someone there to take your place when the Magic, more often than not, play their home games in a partially filled arena? Just where are these people that are supposedly taking others places? Why aren't season ticket sales max'd out every year with all those waiting in line to take someone else spot? There ARE already spots to be filled, but I don't see anyone filling them.

Emory, JD picked the Skiles assist #1, and NateDizzy picked it 3rd. Until Paul Westhead is dead, there is no assurance that the record cannot be broken.

OsoTommy, I don't disagree with anything you are saying, and your scenario may very well be accurate. I was simply offering a different possible scenario, not necessarily convinced that it is the correct one. The handling of Bogans puzzles me too. Your guess is as good as mine !!!

Indiana's conference record is 24-22, ours is 21-25.

quote: Originally posted by Skywise316: quote: Originally posted by Mr Charisma: quote: Originally posted by FENDI: quote: ORLANDO - "It was tough leaving and I was skeptical, but I had to play the free-agent game," Atkins said. "(Former Magic coach) Doc (Rivers) let me do the things he knew I could do. It was a great situation and I didn't want to leave. Leaving came back to bite me. I got paid in Detroit, but the coach there (Rick Carlisle) wanted me to do stuff I wasn't comfortable doing and I struggled That is a huge red flag. How many of us have discussed to the nth degree how that our biggest problem with our PGs is that the coach is not using them correctly? Well here we have a guy admitting that for him to be effective, he needs to be used a particular way. What makes anyone think that Brian Hill (or the next head coach) would bother trying to figure out the perfect offense for a PG who has basically been a back-up all his career? Chucky is a great guy, and I'm not saying I don't want him on this team. I'm saying that he is likely not the answer to our PG problems. You're overblowing what he's saying here. In another interview I saw, both Damon Stoudamire and Chucky Atkins would prefer to stay in Memphis and not ask for a buy-out. What that tells me is Atkins would rather go up and down the floor Phoenix-style than play nothing but half-court basketball. Not everyone's a malcontent like Carlos, ya know. ;+) LOL. I wasn't criticizing him. He was just being honest. And you mention the style that best suits him. Well, guess what?! We don't have a coach that runs that type of offense. I can make a strong argument that Carlos, Jameer and Denier are ALL best suited for the Phoenix-style offense. Which is why I maintain that getting rid of the coach AND our PGs really makes litte sense. If you get rid of the coach, and bring in a coach that runs a more wide-open offense, we may find that the PGs we have are just fine for that style. It is a very tough decision going into the off-season relevant to our PGs. B Hill needs to go, so I'm not convinced jettisoning our PGs at the same time makes much sense. For example, if we brought in an up-tempo coach and, at the same time, dump all our PGs and sign Billups, would that really be very smart? Billups is older and may simply not be able to run an uptempo offense like that over an 82 game season. Conversely, if management decides to give the coach another year (just shoot me...), then Billups would be the perfect PG to run his offensive offense.

I voted for Battie, but in reality I think what hurt us the most was that Battie and Ariza were out at the same time. When we had to go game after game with Bo as the 3rd big, it hurt us desperately. If Ariza had been healthy at the time, he would have been the 3rd big. That would have made a huge difference.

It may not have been Brian's choice. He may have received direct orders from above to start playing JJ as the backup SG so that they can evaluate him going into the off-season. The Magic know that during the wheeling-and-dealing of this upcoming off-season that JJs name will come up in a lot of discussions. They need to know his value, and how important he is to the future of this team (or if he needs to be a 'chip' to play in a trade situation). Keith Bogans is who he is. They know exactly what skills he possesses. What they don't know is what they truly have in JJ.

quote: Originally posted by FENDI: quote: ORLANDO - "It was tough leaving and I was skeptical, but I had to play the free-agent game," Atkins said. "(Former Magic coach) Doc (Rivers) let me do the things he knew I could do. It was a great situation and I didn't want to leave. Leaving came back to bite me. I got paid in Detroit, but the coach there (Rick Carlisle) wanted me to do stuff I wasn't comfortable doing and I struggled That is a huge red flag. How many of us have discussed to the nth degree how that our biggest problem with our PGs is that the coach is not using them correctly? Well here we have a guy admitting that for him to be effective, he needs to be used a particular way. What makes anyone think that Brian Hill (or the next head coach) would bother trying to figure out the perfect offense for a PG who has basically been a back-up all his career? Chucky is a great guy, and I'm not saying I don't want him on this team. I'm saying that he is likely not the answer to our PG problems.