Tough Break There 96 Report post Posted February 10, 2009 quote: We are close.... Otis has brought us this far so lets give him the benefit of the doubt. We can use the MLE and draft next year to add a few more pieces to our championship puzzle. Plus Brian Cooks Expiring contract will have more value Next year when it becomes an expiring. And it's not like our championship window is closing. This is just a hitch in the road. I think it was a long shot for us to win it all this year anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Emory889 353 Report post Posted February 10, 2009 quote: Originally posted by Tough Break There: quote: We are close.... Otis has brought us this far so lets give him the benefit of the doubt. We can use the MLE and draft next year to add a few more pieces to our championship puzzle. Plus Brian Cooks Expiring contract will have more value Next year when it becomes an expiring. And it's not like our championship window is closing. This is just a hitch in the road. I think it was a long shot for us to win it all this year anyway. I agree. I don't think we were better than Boston this year. Now after losing Jameer we dropped from being arguably the second best team in the East to clearly being the third best team. That will get us another ticket to the second round and if we are playing Cleveland it should be a highly competitive series. The injury really sucks because I definitely thought the Magic would beat the Cavs in a 7 game series. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
God hates Magic fans 0 Report post Posted February 10, 2009 quote: Originally posted by Soul Bro:Barring no more moves, mark this down. Not trading for Earl Watson, or another half-way decent pg, will mean our team will be toast come playoff time. Two third string point guards are not gonna lead us anywhere. Watson is a solid pg on a rebuilding team. The man is a good passer and defender. He is still young (29). Acquiring him probably would have only cost us Bogans and Cook, as well carrying some additional salary (a couple million) next year. This trade would have given us a shot, at least a shot, at a championship this year. Plus, it would have solidified the pg position for next year. Is that worth the extra green? Obviously not. Boo to management and possibly ownership for not taking this small risk. Edit: I am guessing there are other pgs that could have been had, too, instead of Lue. I just chose Watson b/c he seemed the most obvious fit for our team. Watson is trash with a contract that's way to big...we should've been hard after Sessions or Conley when they were available. make no mistake with our PG situation we are NOT a contender to win the east, it's ridiculously subpar. We have two number 3 guys that'll be playing a lot of the minutes Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tough Break There 96 Report post Posted February 11, 2009 quote: I agree. I don't think we were better than Boston this year. Now after losing Jameer we dropped from being arguably the second best team in the East to clearly being the third best team. That will get us another ticket to the second round and if we are playing Cleveland it should be a highly competitive series. The injury really sucks because I definitely thought the Magic would beat the Cavs in a 7 game series. Completely agree. Even as well as LA has been playing the past few weeks, I don't see anyone beating Boston. And I think even with out Meer, we'd have a very good chance against the Cavs. We match up fantastically with them. Although, the refs may have something to say about that come June. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bro 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2009 quote: Originally posted by Tough Break There: quote: I agree. I don't think we were better than Boston this year. Now after losing Jameer we dropped from being arguably the second best team in the East to clearly being the third best team. That will get us another ticket to the second round and if we are playing Cleveland it should be a highly competitive series. The injury really sucks because I definitely thought the Magic would beat the Cavs in a 7 game series. Completely agree. Even as well as LA has been playing the past few weeks, I don't see anyone beating Boston. And I think even with out Meer, we'd have a very good chance against the Cavs. We match up fantastically with them. Although, the refs may have something to say about that come June. Yeah,me too.(completely agree) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KillingInTheNameOf 63 Report post Posted February 11, 2009 Soul, I'll revisit a previous claim of yours and admit Turiaf probably would be a great addition to this team before saying Otis' failure to properly address the backup PG position in 09' is a direct result of his woeful attempts to address the PF position in 07' (Battie) & 08' (Cook). It's difficult to escape the reality we have 28 million tied up in the position and 10 million tied up in Battie & Cook. In fairness to Otis his hands are tied by management and the luxury tax. To be honest however, he tied them himself. He's been aware of his spending limitations since he took the job. Jameer out for the season isn't something a GM can plan for. But, Jameer missing 12 games is as automatic as Dems raising taxes, and SVG limited his minutes while he was healthy. I'm not going to blast Otis for failing to pull off a replacement deal when Jameer goes down. But, this is why I've questioned his failure to address this position since last off season. It was an obvious need to everybody except Otis who has no regrets about his failure to launch. Otis' roster management style is like watching somebody widdle a tooth pick from a pine tree. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ball junkie 277 Report post Posted February 11, 2009 Here's what Professor Hollinger says about Watson: quote: Scouting report: Watson is a good athlete who defends his position well. Though his on-court vs. off-court differential was nothing to write home about last season, his numbers in previous seasons have been huge. Last season was notable also by a greatly reduced tendency to gamble, as can be seen in his much lower rates of steals and blocks. As a point guard, Watson can frustrate with his iffy decision-making, though last season he seemed to make slightly better choices. He's quick enough to get to the basket but has shot erratically for much of his career, especially from outside; last season's switch to more 2s and fewer 3s seemed to help in this area, but it could be a one-year blip. Watson has been a hugely right-handed player each of the past few seasons, annually taking about twice as many 2-point shots from the right side of the floor as the left. He's that way in transition, too, as he likes to come in from the right, pull the ball over the top of the defender's arms and shoot a runner with his right hand. I like the thought process Soul...just not sure Earl has the skills that Stan would want...we all know how he is about having shooters on the floor. Again, I don't know much about the business or cap stuff(nor do I care too - just read about it on this site)...it just seems at this point of the season and the level this team was at we could do better than having to 3rd string pg's running our team that have PER's that hover around 10 and in A.J.'s case it hovers around 8 most of the season. As KITNO said, maybe Otis should have adressed this back last summer when he said he wanted too. Lastly, when Jameer got hurt Otis said he was gonna try and fill his spot with a guy that would fill the spot for next year too...I highly doubt he will carry 2 3rd string point guards as back-ups next season...Lue is actually better than A.J. but A.J. is already under contract for next season and he ain't going nowhere. Lue is 3-month rental... What a waste of a great season... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soul Bro 1,421 Report post Posted February 11, 2009 Good posts. It seems my view point is a minority opinion, which is fine. Yes, I am fairly high on Watson compared to Lue and AJ. And, yes, I wish Otis had done better in addressing the pg deficit. Jameer has proven in his young career that he is injury prone. Hopefully, next year Otis will do a much better job of strengthening the position. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Magicalfan4ever 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2009 Maybe Otis is waiting for Stephon Marbery to get bought out and then he'll he'll sign him for veteran minimum. He's definetly worth the gamble! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jareth Cutestory 678 Report post Posted February 11, 2009 Trading for Lue gave us the flexibility of being able to see how he mesh's with our team, without giving up any key pieces or ruining our cap next year with a big contract. If Tinsley isn't traded and bought out, or Marbury, we still have the option to sign them. Or anyone that is bought out for that matter. I think people need to pay more attention to Emory's post. You don't replace your starting PG with someone who is of equal talent for junk. And nobody we could have gotten was going to take us to the promised land. If we get there now, it will be because of Dwight/Lewis/Turk. You'd think the people bashing the Lue move would realize that. Even Tinsley or Marbury don't guarantee us a title run. They haven't even played all season. And sure, if we got Sessions for Bogans/1st, JJ/1st, Cook/1st, we give up a key asset that we need due to our cap. There is also no guarantee Sessions signs with us next year. And why does everyone think Sessions could lead us to the promised land? Did we really need another thread about this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Hi-Top 791 Report post Posted February 11, 2009 I don't think you can fault Otis for not getting a marquee player to replace Jameer after his injury. The Magic are at the beginning of their long term run at the title, and it would be silly to make a move for short term gain that is detrimental to that long term picture. As far as the knock on Otis that he should have found a third PG for the team sooner, rather than later, particularly in KITN's case, since he has been saying that for months, sure. That's a legit complaint, but let me ask you this, if Otis had traded Bogans for Leu even a month ago to provide a little depth at the PG position, would that have changed how you feel now? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KillingInTheNameOf 63 Report post Posted February 11, 2009 quote: Originally posted by echo4papa:I don't think you can fault Otis for not getting a marquee player to replace Jameer after his injury. The Magic are at the beginning of their long term run at the title, and it would be silly to make a move for short term gain that is detrimental to that long term picture. As far as the knock on Otis that he should have found a third PG for the team sooner, rather than later, particularly in KITN's case, since he has been saying that for months, sure. That's a legit complaint, but let me ask you this, if Otis had traded Bogans for Leu even a month ago to provide a little depth at the PG position, would that have changed how you feel now? If he made that specific trade a month ago, not really. While Lue would be better prepared today, I still believe the goal should have been to either upgrade the backup PG, or acquire a 3rd PG with at least the potential to be an upgrade over AJ. Ie a younger player. While I would love to see the organization take bold steps to acquire a suitable replacement as a starter, I realize Devos isn't Paul Allen, & has this team on a short leash. But, the reason for having young players deep on your bench is so they have an opportunity to develop, and step up when a starter goes down. For example, if we had acquired J Crit, this would be a golden opportunity for him, and there's always the chance a young player emerges during a situation like this and you don't lose as much. Lastly, the reason for the O in Kitno is because it matched TGOJG...I'm cleva like dat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
