Justin Jaudon

I can't resist the opportunity to use a C.S. Lewis quote to make a point. "We can, perhaps, conceive of a world in which God corrected the results of [the] abuse of free will by His creatures at every moment: so that a wooden beam became soft as grass when it was used as a weapon, and the air refused to obey me if I attempted to set up in it the sound waves that carry lies or insults. But such a world would be one in which wrong actions were impossible, and in which, therefore, freedom of the will would be void; nay, if the principle were carried out to its logical conclusion, evil thoughts would be impossible, for the cerebral matter which we use in thinking would refuse its task when we attempted to frame them. All matter in the neighbourhood of a wicked man would be liable to undergo unpredictable alterations. That God can and does, on occasions, modify the behaviour of matter and produce what we call miracles, is part of Christian faith; but the very conception of a common, and therefore stable, world, demands that these occasions should be extremely rare. In a game of chess you can make certain arbitrary concessions to your opponent, which stand to the ordinary rules of the game as miracles stand to the laws of nature. You can deprive yourself of a castle, or allow the other man sometimes to take back a move made inadvertently. But if you conceded everthing that at any moment happened to suit him- if all his moves were revocable and if all your pieces disappeared whenever their position on the board was not to his liking- then you could not have a game at all. So it is with the life of souls in a world: fixed laws, consequences unfolding by causal necessity, the whole natural order, are at once limits within which their common life is confined and also the sole condition under which any life is possible. Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself."

Just to clear up, if I thought I had some great insider scoop about this I would be calling ESPN or something. I clearly didn't talk to D12, and neither did I talk to Justin Harper. I just felt, so long as you believe that what I'm saying is true, it is worth discussion. Discussion perhaps being: do the offhand comments of a rookie who has not actually spoken to Dwight mean anything at all? Or is it at least somewhat discomforting that, according to Harper, the players are all assuming D12 won't be there? He hasn't had a ton of access to the team, but he has had more personal contact with the players than I or probably anyone on this board has had. This was not meant to be some big breaking news. It is a topic on a discussion forum. I don't mind people criticizing the source, or the source's access; but I don't see how anyone could criticize me for posting it in the first place. If I talk to Harp myself (which is certainly possible, as he is still in Richmond, and all his family lives here), I will probably post again whatever that conversation brings. We are in a lockout, and access to players (even second-hand access in this case) is about as interesting a thing as I can find to talk about.

I'm sorry, but I think I've seen Harper more and am better equipped to comment on his D than some "draft analyst" who probably watched a few highlights. I never said he was a great shot-blocker, only that he is a lot better than Bass or Anderson. And yes, as a starter his sophomore and junior seasons, he was known to be out of position occasionally on D. But as I said, Mooney runs a complicated defense. I went to almost every home game this season at U of R, and this guy has learned to play smart D. Every player who plays for Chris Mooney struggles to pick up his system at first, but the ones who have figured it out have turned into great defenders. Harper is very smart (for those of you who don't know, U of R is one of the most difficult schools outside of the Ivy League to get into, and they don't lower their standards for athletes). I'm not giving false praise because I happen to disagree with some guy whose entire knowledge of Justin Harper was gained in a couple of hours.

Just to clarify for everyone, Harper is already the best defensive PF Orlando has. And that isn't even his strength. Unlike Bass and Anderson, Harper knows how to rotate on D. Anyone who knows anything about U of R coach Chris Mooney knows that he runs one of the most impressive defenses in the nation. Harper may not be a spectacular interior defender, but he will not spend half the game out of position like Bass and Anderson. And he can block shots, something neither of the current guys can do.

There is no reason to be negative about this pick. I've seen this guy play like 50 times, and he has incredible talent. He's a hard worker ( my brother-in-law has coached him at camps at U of R and tells me he just really starting to take the game seriously his junior year. Since then, he's improved so much it's crazy. This guy has all the up-side in the world, he just didn't have the confidence in his game until his senior year. The reason for that might be that he grew like 6 inches his senior year of high school. He hadn't really been that focused on the game to that point. So he didn't really start developing strength until his junior year of college. He's actually pretty strong now, he just needs to learn to battle a little more underneath. He's one of the better shooters I've ever seen at that size, though. Considering Orlando only gave up a couple of second round picks, Harper is a fantastic pick, as even if he doesn't pan out he didn't cost much. I love this though. You gotta love it when a guy you watched play high school ball and who you rented out movies to on a regular basis goes to the NBA.

I am really happy right now. I live in Richmond, and I've actually met Justin Harper a few times. He went to high school down here, four year player who used to come into the store I worked at all the time his junior year at U of R. I've said for two years that I hoped Orlando would land this kid, and now they traded for him. He's a stretch four, really, and he's an amazing shooter, and he has a lot of moves around the basket as well. The best thing about him though is that he is a fantastic passer. The Princeton system he's been playing him really translates to Orlando's style of using PFs. He has a LOT of upside. What he gives Orlando is a guy who can give everything that Bass does, but stretch the D out a little more. Remember that Shard was a second round pick. I'm not saying Harper will be that good, but he has that kind of talent.

Magic- One of two thing need to happen with personelle: one, is that either Arenas needs to learn to play 2G over the off-season, allowing he and Jameer to play together, or Orlando needs to trade Jameer with bass or Anderson for a solid starting PF. There will be no trading of Arenas unless Otis can find someone dumber than himself, so he pretty much has to contribute in a big way, be it good or bad. Two is that Orlando trade everyone and anyone they can to get expiring contracts. All of this rests on Arenas getting healthy to some degree. No one will trade for Arenas without him improving drastically. We could find a taker for him if he were a decent starter-quality PG, but no one will pay that kind of money for a guy who can't contribute on any real level. If he came back as a staring PG and averaged something like 18-20 and 5-6' there really wouldn't be a need to trade him, as long as he played half-decent D. If he came back doing that as a 2, Orlando would still have trouble guarding PGs, but at least they could score. Hedo finding his man-parts again would help, too. In terms of phylosophy, I agree with many here who have said that Orlando needs to get to the rim, rather than just jack up bad threes. The great thing about the finals team a couple of years ago was that they weren't just a jump-shooting team. Hedo used to take the ball to the basket. Even with Vince, he would take it to the rim when he could find the enthusiasm. The reason Atlanta found it so easy to shut Orlando down from 3 was that they had no fear of anyone but Dwight getting near the rim. This team needs to get a slasher who can still hit the 3, or Hedo needs to man up. Defensively, Orlando needs to man up in general. Everyone on this roster who isn't Dwight is soft, either by choice or by physical limitation. Changes must be made in the overall philosophy of Orlando's D. In the League, the refs need to be made accountable for their calls, either by making them do press conferences, or by having the league review and evaluate their calls each game. And if Dwight, or anyone else, gets hit in the face without a call, much less a flagrant or a tech, the ref should be fined. Face-shots are uncalled-for, and Dwight takes multiple per game.

Trade Turk, Ryno, and Orton for Iggy, maybe. Then trade Jameer, JJ, and Bass to Portland for Camby and Andre Miller. Then get Prince with MLE. Leaving you with a lineup of: Miller/ Arenas/ Duhon Iggy/Q/Arenas Prince/Q/Clark Camby/Clark/Allen D12/Camby/Allen Does that win a title? Probably not, but it has a better shot than the roster Orlando has right now, and the financial situation is better as Camby and Miller are expiring. Then again, all that is just kinda off the top of my head, and I'm not sure it would really be that great.

So, I understand to some degree why both teams would want to make this trade if it were the only thing Philly could get for Iggy, but I can't imagine that being the case. Why wouldn't they trade him for al Jefferson, instead? He would certainly be useful to Utah, more so than AJ at this point, anyway. So maybe we're thinking Orlando will take Brand's contract. I don't see how Orlando could pull that off without trading Jameer with Turk and still they'd have to throw in JJ. Now, I'm not sure that trade still isn't a good one for Orlando, but how is it good for Philly? Philly gets a point guard they don't need and a SF they don't need and a SG they don't need for arguably their best two players last year. how does that work? I understand wanting to get younger, but there is only so much I am willing to believe. Or maybe they want Gil, so he can teach Williams and Holiday the true art of the shoot first PG.

I've never liked the idea of Arenas starting at point guard, but I do understand that he probably will unless Orlando really doesn't want to trade Nelson. I've always been an advocate of of Jameer's, but I just don't know what to expect from him anymore. I'm not sure it hurts your team any more to have a point guard who takes bad shots than to have a point guard who is a poor perimeter defender and sometimes won't take good shots when they're there. I do think that Arenas is a possible step down at point guard, but he is also a possible step forward. If nothing else, he won't be dominated by taller point guards as Nelson often has been. The reason I think it is inevitable is that Arenas makes too much money not to be given a shot at the starting job; and we all know that he will never have a shot with Stan until Jameer Nelson is gone. I know it sounds crazy to base such a thing on a player's salary, but everything in this franchise is really hitched to Arenas' wagon. Orlando can't move him; there is not a player in the league with less trade value. So if you're going to pay a guy $20,000,000.00/year to play basketball (and I put all those zeros in to illustrate the point), you have to play him. Unless anyone thinks he can learn to play the 2 on a consistent basis, we should resign ourselves to the idea of starting Arenas at the Point. Trading J.J. seems to be a good idea, but only if you think someone won't realize how much they'd be paying him. $7,500,000.00/year is a lot for a guy who's never been much but a decent reserve player. Nelson is really the only guy with any real trade value. He doesn't make too much for a solid Point Guard, and there are some teams whose strategies he would fit quite nicely. He would do well in Portland off the bench and maybe a starter if they lose Miller; or in Sacramento he could start for sure; Houston could surely use him as either a starter or instant offense off the bench; the Lakers would probably love him; Utah could use him for sure, especially if Devin Harris leaves; I doubt Orlando would want to trade inside the division, but Miami would salivate over him. So there are plenty of teams that would take him, and I think for some decent pieces. We might be able to get Rudy Fernandez from Portland; or Samuel Dalembert from the Kings; Houston would probably part with Courtney Lee; or maybe Ron Artest from the Lakers if we throw in Bass or Ryan Anderson; Utah would move Mehmet Okur; and if the Heat want him I think they would actually give up Udonis Haslem. I don't know how much trade value Bass or Anderson have, as I think everyone knows they are absurdly one-dimensional. The point is that Orlando needs to do 2 things next season: let Arenas have his shot as a starter, and trade everyone else that they can for whatever expiring crap they can get hoping they can get a solid Power Forward in there somewhere.

I say we trade Stuff for one of the dragons eggs from HBO's Game of Thrones. We get younger, and we drop some salary. And I hear might even be able to get two of them for Stuff. They have loads of upside!

Orlando needs to trade and restructure as much as possible. get as many expiring contracts as they can no matter what crappy talent that brings in. next year is screwed unless the current players decide to play like they care. so tear the team apart and give D12 some reason to hope for 2012. if Orlando can CP3, DWill, or any other major free agent in 2012 then Dwight will stay. that is the teams only real fix. maybe we can just get Michael Corleone to take out Arenas and Hedo Godfather style, then their contracts don't matter.

At this point, I don't blame Dwight if he wants to leave. I've had a job where I was the only one working hard every day, and it was one of the most frustrating things I've ever dealt with in my life. I can't imagine how it would have felt if those lazy people were getting paid millions of dollars. Don't get me wrong, I love Dwight and I will go through a dark period if he leaves; but if he wants out I can't blame him. Maybe we could trade him to ATL and get Horford and either J Johnson or J Smith. Dwight is from ATL, if I remember right. Or maybe I'm just panicking because Orlando just plays with no heart. I don't know.

Stan Van Gundy has not failed the magic. He has made some mistakes, but who hasn't. Overall, SVG has been a great coach who has taken Orlando to the NBA Finals and to the Eastern Conference Finals the last two years respectively. He got beat by a Lakers team two years ago that had one of the best players in NBA history playing with probably the best overall PF in the game then and now. And despite what people outside of Orlando think, that series could have easily gone Orlando's way. If Lee hits that layup Orlando goes into game 3 tied with home court advantage. And trying to blame game 4 on Nelson for not jumping up in the air to guard a guy taking a 30 running shot is just stupid (and by extension, blaming SVG is equally as stupid; he had nelson in the game because he was a veteran who Stan trusted not to leave his man to double team Kobe, which he didn't). Any NBA player stupid enough to leave his feet defending a running jump shooter at the end of a game should be shot. You learn that the first day of practice in middle school. Against the Celtics last year Boston simply had more talent. Go ahead, yell and scream and call me an idiot, but they had Orlando beat at every position except Center. There's not much Stan can do with Vince Carter to make him not a complete choke-artist. And unless Stan doubled for Sean Connery in 'The Medicine Man', he couldn't cure Lewis' viral disease. So what should he have done? Put in Bass who hadn't played significant minutes all year and who hadn't really played at all in the playoffs against Kevin Garnett. The guy still didn't really know the defense (Still doesn't, really). Eventually, out of desperation, he did insert Bass, and yes the guy played better than expected, but that was a shock at the time. There was no reason to do it until desperation time. Otis Smith and the team management has not failed the team. This management group drafted Dwight, drafted Nelson, signed Hedo and Lewis and Pietrus (who were three HUGE parts of the championship run). They didn't throw huge money at Hedo, instead they took a chance on Carter (a move nearly every analyst in the NBA loved). And before anyone complains that they then traded for Hedo later, remember that the last year of the contract he signed in Toronto was voided, so the money isn't as bad as it would have been to keep him in Orlando, and they got rid of another contract albatross named Gortat in that trade. The only big mistake I see so far is the Lewis for Arenas trade, and that hasn't really been decided yet. The players on the team now are not to blame for the previous losses in the Finals and Con. Finals. The players who underperformed against Boston last year are gone. The Lakers series was a (mostly) hard-fought series that Orlando lost in poor fashion at home, but for the most part they just didn't have the juice to beat L.A. that year. This year is still in progress, and though I haven't been enthused by their effort defensively, I think they still have a team whose pieces can still get it done, depending on how well they get the defense playing by year's end.

OK, here goes. I'm going to try and post here without getting angry and rambling. Who is most to blame for Orlando not winning a championship the last three years: 08-09 season: LA Lakers. 09-10 season: Boston Celtics 10-11 season: IT'S NOT OVER YET!!!!!!!!! Oops, I got mad again.

Ok the Jameer being the reason for defensive struggles is getting silly. I don't think anyone considers him a great defensive point guard, but a poor one is just silly. Yes, he gets lit up by guys like Derren Williams and Russel Westbrook. So does every other player in the league. That's why these guys average 20+ a game; because night in and night out no one can stop them. The reasons for that have already been mentioned: THIS IS A GUARD'S LEAGUE! If you so much as breath on a player under 6'10", it is a foul (as long as we're talking about a defensive player breathing on an offensive guy; any star under said height can get away with an offensive foul all day). So why is Jameer so disrespected? It's a numbers thing. The guy averages 1 Steal per game for his career; if he averaged 1.5, we wouldn't be having this conversation. So this guy is essentially being labeled a bad defender by some people because he doesn't get one more steal every other game. Hell, even Derrick Fisher is considered a solid defender, and his career average is 1.1 SPG. Maybe 0.1 steals plus 1 inch of height is the difference between a bad defender Orlando could never win with and one with four championships (as a starter!). Here is a list of players between 5'11" and 6'1" who are generally considered good (and in some cases great) defenders in this league: Rajon Rondo Chris Paul Darren Collison Brandon Jennings Raymond Felton Derrick Fisher Aaron Brooks Kyle Lowry John Stockton (for good measure) And I'm sure there are more, that's just off the top of my head. If Miami wants to force Nelson to guard Wade, then Wade will have to shoot over him more than usual and get to the basket less; because as fast as Wade is, he's still generally guarded by 2's, and Nelson may not be super fast for a PG but he's a lot faster than almost any 2. If they want him to guard Miller, the guy shoots from the hip, and doesn't pull up well out of pick and rolls. So as long as Nelson stays on him when he's camped outside (not a difficult task as he's not overly fast, even for a 2) and keeps a hand up Miller won't put an abnormal amount of points. Where's the problem? So in review, Wade would shoot more jump shots (+ for Orlando) and miller would be less likely to get free shots outside (+ for Orlando). Honestly, I really hope the Heat try this.

Wow this is a strange thread. Is this a discussion of whether or not Orlando is a bad defensive team now? I'm going on the assumption that this is what is being debated. So I would say that with Hedo and Bass starting they probably aren't quite as good as they were before, but that is without using any stats at all. The numbers may not show that, and if so whatever. My point is that their defensive numbers were great last year and they LOST to the Celtics. The year before their defensive numbers were good, but not great, yet they got to the Finals. Yes I know, Garnett wasn't there. THERE YOU GO. Trying to say Orlando is a bad defensive team is foolish. The numbers certainly don't show that; before or after the trade. Trying to discuss the merits of a defense 20 games into their time together is foolish. The numbers are inconclusive. Trying to debate whether a team can compete with elite teams defensively come playoff time when its not even the All-Star break yet is foolish. The numbers don't matter at this point. Honestly, at this point Tracy MacGrady could suddenly remember how to play basketball and start tearing it up and the Pistons could win the whole thing. Is that likely? Hell, no, but at this point anything is possible. I know I seem kind of like a troll bashing a whole topic like this, but seriously, what is the point of this thread? If we are talking about numbers, they don't mean anything at this point. If we are 'eye-balling' the D and making observations, those observations will be obsolete by the end of the season. If we are discussing this and just stating opinions and having simple conversation, cool. But reading through that isn't the case. Don't get me wrong, not everyone posting here is guilty of dogmatism on this subject. Those that aren't should just ignore the zealots and discuss the Defense, and how it can be improved or whatever. When we let a few opinionated people chase us into their arena they win. Can't we all just get along?!

Did anyone here ever see Chauncey Billups play before Larry Brown got a hold of him? The guy had a lot of the same issues on D: lack of focus, downright laziness. He also struggled as a point guard on a team that ran plays and made more than one pass per possession. The guy had a lot to learn about being a real point guard, and Larry Brown drove him crazy making him one. But in the end he said he owed all the success in his career to Larry Brown. As other posters have said, Gilbert is a mass of bad habits. He was when he was an superstar, he just made so many good plays you forgot the bad ones. He's not that guy anymore, and he will never be again. And that is OK. If he gets rid of those bad habits and learns to make good shots and good passes and play hard on defense, he might be more valuable to a contending team than he ever would have been then. And there is hope that he can do that. He seems dedicated to making it work in Orlando (as dedicated as one can seem after a only a few weeks), so hopefully he will work hard and improve. If not, Stan just won't play him as much. But we won't know much about whether or not he will work out in Orlando until at least this year's playoffs. Everything with PGs takes time.

I think looking at Dwight's career, from start to finish, his offensive improvement since his first couple of seasons has been astonishing. Coming into that first pick, I honestly thought Orlando should take Emeka Okafor. I had seen too many players like Howard not pan out. He was a 6-10, 240 lb power forward out of high school who said his favorite players were KG and David Robinson. Sounded a lot like Kwame Brown or Tyson Chandler to me; he didn't have the quickness or the outside shot that KG did, but everyone said he was really athletic and talented. I thought Okafor would give us a polished big man who would immediately be one of the best post defenders in the game. For Howard's first couple seasons I thought I had been right. Okafor is a great low post defender, and an underused scorer; Howard just looked like a really good rebounder who was way too aggressive on D. Then all of a sudden, Howard started fighting for post position on offense, and he learned how to control his aggression (to a degree) on D. His offense was so improved. If he got position down low, you had to foul him. He had gained like 20 pounds and was just unstoppable underneath. But then people realized that his size took away his free throw shooting (guy shot closer to 70 % as a rookie), and they just fouled him when he got underneath. I was excited though, because I thought if we could get a real scorer he would be hard to beat as a cleanup guy and a solid second option. And I thought Rashard Lewis would be that guy. But Howard just kept improving and improving. He developed a solid back-to-the-basket game, became a better passer (albeit not a great one), and could even face up and give that little spin move to get to the rim. Now with the added threat of a jump shot and renewed offensive aggression, the guy is one of the most efficient offensive options in the league. All that is hard work on his part. A lot of guys have had access to great centers for mentor-ship over the years, but few have shown the dedication and commitment to get better as Howard has. So give some credit to the teachers, but the student has to do all the real work of learning how to change his game and spend the time to actually put that knowledge into practice.

I have said before I thought Hedo would eventually move to the bench. I'm not totally convinced, but I will say right now I wouldn't change anything about this lineup.

#1 all-time is Dwight Howard. The guy has put more heart and effort into this franchise than Shaq ever did, and is a dominant center at a time when that's almost illegal in the NBA. Joke Nomination-Tree Rollins. (Because if a back-up center is important enough to even talk about trading Nelson for one, why not?) Actual Nomination- Scott Skiles

I just want to say for the record that I hope the Jameer hate never stops. I honestly believe Jameer Nelson is a HUGE part of the success of the Orlando Magic in the future. There is an intangible greatness in that little guy that seems to lift this team. He just seems to give Orlando what they need when they need it. Against New York he did not need to score. What Orlando needed of their PG was stability and defensive play-making. That is what he gave them. They took care of the ball on offense when he came in, and his defense was actually much better than Gil's; especially that drawn charge late. Big time players make plays in big moments. That is Jameer's MO. So why do I want the hate to continue. Because it makes him better. The guy has had a chip on his shoulder since he came in the league, and that kind of attitude lifts this team. There is a big reason Orlando plays so well when everyone expects them to lose: because Jameer Nelson is the heart of the Orlando Magic. Howard is the star; when he dominates, we usually win. Jameer is the heart and soul; when we are down and Dwight's not getting it done by himself, that little guy just musters the troops. He does that so well because in the back of his mind is the thought that he's going to show all the haters that he's not to small. That he is big enough, no matter how big that has to be. So keep talking about trading Jameer. He's not getting traded, he's getting mad.

Orlando will not trade Jameer Nelson unless he starts playing like garbage. He has not come even close to garbage games yet. In fact, he and Gil looked pretty good on the floor together against the Cavs. I hear a lot of people saying that they can't do this lineup more often, but i don't see why not. We have yet to see how it works against the Heat, but Gil actually matches up better than anyone else on the team right now against Flash. Wade is a smallish SG with outrageous speed. Gil is a smallish SG with very good speed. Not saying Arenas can shut down Wade, but neither can JRich or JJ or anyone else in the league. Gil will do as good a job against Wade as anyone else we have. So how about New York. Well, does anyone think Landry Fields will really take Gil to school? So how about the Hawks (sooo underrated, by the way)? The Hawks play a lot of big lineups against Orlando so far this year, but I'd like to see how the new lineups match up when they have Jamal Crawford back. He has to get minutes, and most will probably be against Gil; and he's not a big guy, more of a quick guy. So how 'bout the Bulls? Who is the bulls starting SG? And if we get to the finals, what about those teams? Lakers? Well, Gil can't guard Kobe; not gonna happen. Gil can't guard any of their 3's for sure. So finally I see a hole. OK lets move on to the Spurs. Gil vs. Manu is actually not so bad, is it; another guy who plays more quick than big. Mavericks? most of their minutes, especially down the stretch come with Jason Terry at SG. Gil is actually bigger, younger, and every bit as fast if not faster. Utah? Two words: Raja Bell. So those two together should be just fine against everyone but the Lakers. I think we can agree to cross that bridge when we get to it. If we get that far I'll be happy, and since no one will shut down Kobe in the playoffs, I think if Orlando plays well elsewhere and picks their rotations well they still have a good shot against them. So one or more of the others will be traded, most likely. Duhon is looking less likely as I don't like just having two injury prone PGs on the roster. JJ would not OK a trade unless he could start for a contender. JWill is going to retire. So Q is the odd man out, sad as it makes me to get rid of the one guy we have tried to convince ourselves is a stopper. Q is a good enough role-player that for the right team a bigman for him is not out of the question.

I owe an apology to Hedo Turkoglu. I made a comment on another post that Paul Pierce had essentially renamed Hedo Toby and sold his kids for more farmhands. Well, Hedo has apparently been emancipated. Hedo- "GIVE US FREE! GIVE US FREE!"

Wow that went to a dark place. Sorry. I blame the depressing content of the thread. I'm gonna go watch hightlights of tonight's game to cheer me up.