Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus, Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis appreciation thread

[~O~ 565]

Pietrus:

 

I'll miss him for having big games after coming off injuries or long stretches of being out. Remember when Pietrus dunkd on Maxiell and in turn, injured his wrist? Yikes.

 

I'll miss the forced shots and the Kobe/Jordan immitations too. Especially the gifs that were pretty priceless. The guy simply loved being on camera and was friendly to the fans. I'm mostly thankful for his performance in the best morally won series in Magic history against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Lebron James.

 

Peaces Peaches, Air France, MVPeaches,

 

Gortat:

 

May I say butterfingers? Loads of potential but didn't live up to it for the past two seasons. I wish he could have shown us more but it was clear since he became a free agent that he didn't want a role behind Dwight. If he becomes that player that we needed him to be, he'll be in the same boat as Dwight and realize that he was better off here.

 

I loved his performances in the playoffs a couple of years before the disappointment of Vince Carter.

 

Warlock, Polish Hammer

Rashard Lewis:

 

Where do I begin? The weak ass, soft, and open enough to dunk layups that get blown? The soft mentality and the disappearances? His contract....wow

 

He wouldn't never live up to his contract but he surely did have an effect on this organization. He was a Magic all-star and part of the Magic's big three. Lewis was that key player that helped us reach the finals with his cold blooded shots and his effort despite playing out of position for nearly his entire career here. He's improved here but he's not getting any younger and is on a steady decline. I'm not proud of all the things that Lewis didn't bring but the fact that he's helped get this Magic team into the playoffs and past our rivals outweighs his flaws.

 

Rashard Lewis, Rasheed Lewis, Rashedo Turkolewis, Cold Blooded Assassin, Rasharted, Rasoft Loufa, "He's got Ice In His Veins", Al Rasharpton

Vince Carter:

 

I'm not going to mention the nicknames here. I'm only going to mention this.

 

The previous fluke season was obviously to succeed at what people thought he would never achieve. Its still not over for Vince Carter to do this but his career is coming to an end. What a disappointment it was to see Vince revert to something people always said he would be and not prove them wrong. This was the last player I wanted to get traded because he was actually playing well in my opinion and would continue at it too. However, I think the players lost their belief and as well as the many fans we've lost after losing to Boston.

[Ryan the Magic Fan 253]

Gortat: Man your finest moments was that fantastic closeout on the sixers in the playoffs, and that absolute vicious poster on Lamar Odom. May the hammer strike strong in Pheonix.

 

Peaches: I couldn't stand you as a player but you were awesome and funny as a person. The ECF against the Cavs were you beat their bench single handedly was epic.

 

Vince: It's a shame you could not come back home earlier in your career when your knees were still strong. Thanks for your services, you will always be one of the best. I still remember staring in awe in person when you dropped 48 on the Hornets.

 

Lewis: Man this one hurts more then anything. Sweet Lew. The dagger. The assassin. The many game winners you put down will count as some of not only my favorite current memories, but some of my all time fav memories of the Magic for many years. The bane of Cleveland. Good luck in Washington buddy. We will miss you.

[ThisIsTheYear 241]

To be honest, Lewis never came close to living up to his contract here. While I thank him for his hard work, I am not sorry to see him go.

 

Seriously? Him and Stan completely revamped the franchise. If not for Rashard, we wouldn't have come anywhere close to winning 59 games on back-to-back seasons, let alone reaching the finals. His play during the Cavs series (and throughout the entire playoff stretch, honestly) was as memorable as any I've seen as a Magic fan. Vince, MP and Gortat were great guys and I'll miss their personalities more than anything (like Cutestory noted), but I'll genuinely miss Rashard Lewis. Once I read his tweet, I almost shed a tear.

[JRam027 26]

Lewis was huge, HUGE, to these past couple seasons of success. Without him LeBron would've had a legit shot at a ring.

[GhostAnime 50]

Watch Vince sign for the Celtics next year.

[Emory889 353]

I'm going to miss Rashard and Gortat the most. Rashard gave us some of the greatest moments in our postseason history. We don't make the finals if he isn't on our team. He could have shot 0 for the season and I still would have a soft spot in my heart for the guy. I honestly hope he goes to Washinton and lights it up (although I doubt it) playing next to John Wall. I wish him nothing but the best. I'll miss Gortat because I got to see him grow from a player none of us knew about, through the Warlock phase that lead to some of the best times on this forum and an awesome custom made tshirt (but that's another story) to the point where he is going to start for the Phoenix Suns. I know he will do well and knowing that he was likely to be traded today, I picked him up in fantasy in anticipation of his production spike. He will be a solid center for a long time.

 

Pietrus is a great guy and often times made me laugh with his antics but I honestly won't miss the way he plays. For every great play that he made he had at least 2 plays that had me bashing my head against a hard object.

 

Carter was a big disappointment. It's unfortunate that we didn't acquire him 6 years earlier when he still had something left in the tank.

[cpower 13]

Gortat:Will miss him a lot. Dwight will be in foul trouble a lot this post season that you will be missed even more by then.

 

Peaches: Good catch and shoot bench wing player but has not gained any basketball IQ for years. I think the only thing we will miss from him is the lock down defense to an offensive threat like Kobe or Wade

 

Lewis: I hate his contract but as a player he put magic as a contender. As a proven big time clutch shooter, he will probably spend a lot of time at bad teams until the contract expires. Good luck sweet LOU.

 

Vince: It's a shame that Carter never had the courage to fight against all the doubts and curses around him. It's a shame that the so called go-to guy only gets the same amount of shots compared to other players on the team. Carter you should have at least tried to be the go-to guy, instead you played safe and eventually got yourself out of the team. Best of luck, you may get a ring at other places but definitely not as a magic.

[AddiFB 429]

I'm gonna start off with Shard. Like SVG, this trade is one of the hardest I've had to deal with as a Magic fan. He gave us quite a few YES! moments. He's a class act person and did all he could for this team, though he didn't always perform well. That contract was always an asterisk behind his name: Overpaid.

 

But I still like the guy. I loved his threes and I loved his goatee. Off all the players leaving today, I am most sad that Lewis is gone. I was excited to see him play in Orlando next February, when I will see my first ever Magic home game and first Magic game in almost 18 years. But then I realized.. That game is at home against the WIZARDS! So I'll at least see my boy Shard play, though he'll have the wrong uni on. I'll give him a good cheer! His game has just dropped off so much after that suspension and I think he is on a serious decline. Your time with Orlando had some amazing moments, Shard. The ECF, the Pistons winner, the Boston winner.. All-time great Magic player. It's just that contract... But I wish you the best in Washington. We'll give you a loud cheer when you come back to Orlando with the Wiz.

 

MP I'll miss sorely too. Fun-loving character, streaky but sometimes crazy hot shooter. Too bad about the wrist, it almost completely ruined your driving and slashing willingness. Good character. Even had an MJ shoulder shrug. AND A FRO! Can't forget the fro. Sad to see you go, we kinda need your D on the wings now. Wish you well in Phoenix.

 

Marcin, you're finally getting to play some serious ball. Now you can say what Hedo said in Toronto. Ball. I wonder if Otis sent the lifetime supplies of butter with you, because you have some serious issues of grabbing and holding the ball without clutching it to your chest like a gorilla grabbing a rabbit. But that's fine. You did some awesome things here. My fave is probably the final game against the Sixers, when Dwight was suspended, and you had that tomahawk on Sammy Dal. Loved it. Get some minutes in Phoenix and make us proud. We built you!

 

Vince, man... I don't really care. You had some big words when you came here. You had some flashes of greatness and that 48 point NOLA game was awesome. But it's just a thin slive of the whole pizza. A pizza Hedo will now eat. How bad is it that you came in here to replace Hedo, and then get shipped out for Hedo? Athletically, Vince, you are one of the all-time greats. You have so much potential, even though it has gone down the drain, most of it, but I think the main problem, like so many have said, is your lack of heart and winner mentality.

 

I think it said alot when you were asked about the trade and you said you didn't think about it, you have work to do and that is to play basketball. Don't you care if you are in a winning situation or not? You were more concerned about your contract last week Vince. Just play and get paid? Doesn't matter if it's for top seed or not even making the playoffs? Is that why you sometimes just disappear from games? So all the talk about no heart were true? In short, you were a disappointment. Maybe we shouldn't have expected more. You're getting older and it's perfectly normal for players to regress with age, but you had some high promises when you got here, and didn't deliver. Maybe the Suns medical team can help you out. Though I look at your time here as disappointment and frustrating with flashes of ol'VC, I wish you well.

[Sabian Jackson 0]

Lewis hitting those game winners still gives me tingles. Always love him for that. Shame the decline has come pretty rapidly.

 

Gortat was a great backup with some pretty good memories such as the polish hammer on odom.

 

Pietrus was always good fun. Crazy dude.

 

Carter....not great. Had some moments of magic, but too few and far between. Enjoy retirement in phoenix.

[Catman 380]

I'm going to miss Lew a lot. Just a great guy, super cool and he was incredibly gifted. Unfortunately, I believe he has lost a lot in the tank, and would be surprised to see him ever return to form.

 

But getting Lew got us to the finals. It was extremely fun to watch that team. What a year that was to be in the city watching playoff games and then partying in the streets when we went to finals. Thank you rashard!!

[MP_20 2]

I'll miss all those guys. Particularly Lewis, Pietrus and Gortat because they are huge reasons this team made it to the Finals and got far the following year.

[sharp/7/shooter 23]

I was making a Gortat mix too...

 

EDIT: And I have the damnest feeling that they're all going to kill it when they play us.