TreyMachine

Burke, Noel, McLemore, and Oladipo are still better than (or at least even with) late lottery picks for next season. There's no reason to trade them unless we're sure a team will be in the upper half of the lottery.

:panicworker: EVERYONE ON THE BURKE TRAIIIIINNNNNN :panicworker: :svgsad:

I don't know. Did you see Vuc in the Rookie/Sophomore game go 2/3 from 3-point range? Wouldn't be surprised if he begins to incorporate that into his game if called upon.

1. We don't mention him here. 2. To compare Mike Miller and JJ Redick is a slap in the face to JJ Redick.

Nevermind. Found it on Eddy Rivera's youtube:

Agreed. Most of the decisions are unfortunately based on win totals. However, should we have a quick turnaround this year or 2 years from now, he will easily be in high contention for the award, especially in light of the Lakers no doubtedly beginning to plummet from the rankings with Kobe's retirement and no one else wanting to play with Dwight.

I didn't get to see the game last night and do not have DVR. ESPN does not have the highlights posted. Anyone has any links to wear I might watch some highlights and at the very least the imfamous dunk by Tobias?

Lamb finally looked comfortable. I hope this is the game that gets the monkey off of his back. JV I'm sure has been pouring into him to just be himself. SVG would have never gone for such tactics, giving him ample time to prove himself on the court even when he was playing terribly.

On another note, does anyone think the Magic are at all considering bringing back DeQuan Jones?

See, I think Tobias has a ridiculously high ceiling and Moe could become a great player, but will become only a great team cog. Tobias has the natural knack for becoming a go-to-scorer in this league. Couple that with his athleticism, motor, and improved defense and he's a guy who could wreak havoc on both ends of the floor. Moe to me does not have the natural shot mechanics that Tobias does. While he has the athleticism to be an elite scorer, I don't see him smoothly making a cross over and pulling up for a 20 fter naturally. I think he'll end up being a better version of Trevor Ariza. We were all hoping Ariza would become the next T-Mac, but he just wasn't the natural scorer that TMac was despite all the incredible athleticism. Ariza has clearly carved himself a nitch in the NBA as a supplement scorer/slasher and lock-down defender, and I see Moe becoming the same.

I agree. I don't want to pay any player more than $4 or $5 mil this year simply because I want to be able to pay Vuc, Harris, and Moe when their contracts come off the books in 2015. The whole model we run now is a sustainability model, which involves not giving anyone more than their worth (Otis). If anything though, should we sign a big-time free agent in 2014, we'll end up trading away Vuc, Moe, or Harris (I hope not Harris) for a 1st round pick plus to never fully "lose" an asset.

Sounds like someone else we know. :svgsad:

I don't know if we were watching the same player? In his last year, JJ was one of the best at keeping the turnovers low and the ball moving. He's not a star, but he's EXACTLY what you want in a role player. Good decisions. Hard defense. Finds the open man and makes open shots. He clearly isn't joining us next year, but I wouldn't mind him coming back on as a 1st or 2nd guy off the bench after his deal is up in 3 to 4 years. Knowing his conditioning and motor, he'll still be in a great shape for 20-30+ minutes at the age of 33.

Tobias has the offense to be a go-to scorer already. His defense and IQ are also getting a good jolt. Give him 3 years of experience and he'll be an All-Star.

5-6 from the field is extremely efficient. I will agree with you that he should have shot more. My question is whether he has the same mentality that plagued LeBron when he originally came into the league - a guy who could be dominant but tended to trust his teammates more than he should. There is a guy I know who has elite athleticism when playing basketball, but doesn't want to be seen as a ball hog and instead emphasizes getting good shots, even if not from him. Sometimes it feels like he needs to be given the green light from teammates to take over. I wonder if that is the same with Oladipo?

See, while their numbers may be similar, I think Westbrook and Smart are COMPLETELY different players. One is an explosive, head-strong ball-hog. The other is a slower power player with unselfish intangibles. While I love Smart, he's no Westbrook. I've even seen comparisons to James Harden (link). The reason Westbrook and Harden dominate is because they're both very explosive, Westbrook more than Harden. I don't see that explosiveness at all in Smart. Smart has a high basketball IQ and has a great motor & leadership intangibles. He works harder than anyone else apparently. Nonetheless, dominant PG's in the NBA have to be extremely athletic these days (Wall, Rose, Rondo, Westbrook, Paul, etc). The closest comparison I'm giving him is Deron Williams right now, but even then he seems to be a step below Deron in athleticism (though not as much of a head case). Marcus Smart will be a great player, and maybe even a fringe All-Star who can orchestrate a very efficient offense - but mark my words, I am really sold that Victor Oladipo will be something special in this league. The guy is ultra-athletic and makes leaps and bounds each year with how much better he gets, equally the gym-rat that Marcus Smart is. While I won't endorse the comparisons to Wade or MJ, if you watch video tape of both, you'll see that both were great finishers and incredible defenders who adequate jump shots while in College. No one saw MJ or Wade becoming as good as they were in the pros, but their motor made it so. Oladipo and Smart both have that motor, but Oladipo has the athleticism to become something really special.

God the refs are going to again give the game to the Heat. I've never hated a team so much.

On an unrelated note, did anyone feel like JJ was being underused in this game? He hardly touched the ball in the second half. I just don't see him being happy and staying in this situation.

I clearly don't think we can chalk this one up to intentional losing. It's not every day a player goes 8 for 8 and 4 for 4 from 3 point land in the 4th quarter for 25 points. Guys get in that zone and it sucks.

Monta Ellis with the dagger. Dang. You can't stop a guy when he scores like that in the 4th quarter. 25 points and 34 total.

I think if we had won, or if Dwight had played terribly, or had had a poor attitude, it wouldn't have been closure. That being said, for all the flubs of Dwight, I think he actually did really well for himself with this game, embracing both the media and the environment. Sure he was probably slight hurt on the inside, but his jovial attitude in booing with the crowd has he came out signified that he was going to take everything in stride. While I still think that he is ultimately out for himself and sold us out, I think he has grown up a bit, and I can say with our bright future ahead (and hopefully we don't get stuck in mediocrity), that I think I can lay this one to rest. On another note, does anyone have any guesses on what the heck Dwight and Jameer said to each other after the game?

Things that will happen: - Dwight will shoot 20+ Free Throws via hack-a-howard, and will make less than 40%. - Kobe will score 25+ but on < 40% shooting b/c of Moe Harkless's D. - Jameer will score 25+ points with 8+ Assists and a monster 4th quarter if the magic win. - Dwight will run into the locker room at some point before the game nonchalantly (during warmups), because he needs to take a breather, hit a few things, and shed a tear because he's being boo'ed so hard and can't take it. - Dwight's Hand shake - won't shake anyone's hands before the game; Lose - will walk out without speaking to anyone; Win - will try to come over and shake hands but will only get Vuc and JV at best. - Moe/Tobias at some point will posterize Dwight. - Jameer at some point will drive to the basket and get hammered by Dwight. Someone (Afflalo my guess) will come to Jameer's defense and get in Dwight's face or nothing will come of it and the crowd will immediately intensify the hatred for Dwight. - Dwight won't answer media questions if they lose. Overall, Magic win or Lakers win by a blowout.

I (and others on this board) will be attending the game on Tuesday. I'm normally a fan of creating posters for these types of homecomings. As a kid, I had one for Shaq's return to Orlando and as a teenager, I got my picture in the Sentinel for my TMac poster. With that being said, I would love nothing more than to create a memorable/harassing poster for D12's return. Shoot out any and all poster ideas, choice words to be yelled, or in your imagination, just something you'd like to feasibly see happen at the game. Let's have some fun with this.

I'll give you an update from an insider. Talked to one of the guys who works for the Magic in sales, and they aren't allowed to sell anymore because they know they will be able to sell last minute for top dollar, especially the people who are driving an hour or more away to see this game. You can definitely attempt to get tickets this way, but if not, I would suggest finding a good bar landing pad to watch the game as a good back-up plan at this point.