Do Magic's Big Deals Improve Their Team?

[howard is a beast 80]

after watching last nights game i still am worried about this team even with the trades. if howard does not learn to pass or make free throws then the team wii struggle. plus nelson is trying hard but killing the team when he is not shooting well. why was howard taking long jump shots when he can not even make a ft. he just might be part of the problem. he may be overating himself!!!!!!!!!

i agree. when players publicly denounce their teammates, the new teammates wonder what will happen, if they go through a period of struggling. i think dwight[best center hands down] is somewhat struggling this year too. not in fg, but in being the defensive stopper, that he is known for being. players are not afraid of him this year. i cant say that i like this trade yettttttttttttttt, time will tell. how does nelson feel??? im sure howard is happy, but where does this leave jj. i was looking at a boston forum, and they seem to think that we got weaker. lets hope not.

[COLOMBIANO 118]

IMO this trade makes us better. We have 2 good passers and could see 3 players with good passing skills at the same time on the court. Arenas and Richardson can still drive to the basket....thing we didn't have before. I am happy and excited.

 

If we lose our next 2 or 3 games, remember they need some time together!

[AcuWill 45]

Are these the same experts that unanimously picked Cleveland to destroy us in the playoffs two years ago?

 

Lol.

[Magicman28 295]

A lack of disrespect is a good thing.

 

That post was littered with typos. Whew. Typing on phones is rough.

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

 

HungryHedo, on 19 December 2010 - 01:08 AM, said:

Wow,, I was wrong for doubting that roster??? Otis agreed with me.

 

 

HungryHedo, on 19 December 2010 - 12:49 AM, said:

Haters gonna hate... this team has always been doubted... just add to the list.

 

 

]HungryHedo, on 19 December 2010 - 01:12 AM, said:

haha... I see what you did there... but only problem... not talking about those "good" teams that were doubted... twisting my words BMP. This years team deserved to be doubted and blown up.

 

 

LMAO

 

There is no word twisting there. You said this team always has doubters and complained about them with your silly "haters gonna hate", when just a couple of days ago, you were doubting this team. Only difference is, the people who still had faith in this team weren't brushing off your concerns in such immature fashion. Hypocrite.

[MP_20 2]

People forget that both MP and Lewis has shown a lack of disrespect to Stan during games. Lewis basically saying heck no to stan when he told him to go back into the game and Pietrus literally saying F YOU to him after mentioning his poor defense. Of course it was squashed but that never leaves ones mind and to add the total lack of will to compete, there were signs of distrust and issues that were growing.

 

 

Aside from the Spurs, no team can mask their player/coach tussles. It's a couple a week that are reported. If you still want to go down that road, remember who was acquired.

[UBBALLER8 248]

Damnit we lost the Vince fanboys and have gained Hedu fanboys. I can't wait to see which is more annoying.

 

Vince fans are more annoying because they still thought he was Jordan-esque.

 

Vince sucks balls on the court. So glad he's gone.

[UBBALLER8 248]

i agree. when players publicly denounce their teammates, the new teammates wonder what will happen, if they go through a period of struggling. i think dwight[best center hands down] is somewhat struggling this year too. not in fg, but in being the defensive stopper, that he is known for being. players are not afraid of him this year. i cant say that i like this trade yettttttttttttttt, time will tell. how does nelson feel??? im sure howard is happy, but where does this leave jj. i was looking at a boston forum, and they seem to think that we got weaker. lets hope not.

 

Boston is scared if their fans are honestly posting that they think we're weaker.

 

VC and Shard were the softest players on our team. Getting rid of them will be addition by subtraction.

[VCplusD12 91]

Boston is scared if their fans are honestly posting that they think we're weaker.

 

VC and Shard were the softest players on our team. Getting rid of them will be addition by subtraction.

 

I understand your feelings but getting rid of Lewis and VC won't suddenly make us a better offensive team.

 

The only player I liked we got was J-Rich who is nowadays better than VC, but Hedo is just awful and the reasoning people are using is the same that they used when VC got here (2 years ago he was blah, blah)

 

AND

 

Losing Gortat and Pietrus is a HUGE blow for our defense.

 

I'm sorry, but if we didn't have a chance at the 'ship' with our former roster it surely isn't better now.

 

But we'll still get Melo right?

[GhostAnime 50]

Let's see..

 

In my opinion, they get better in:

 

• Making the opposing team work. One of the biggest problems last year and this year is the inability of the perimeter players to make the other backcourt work. Vince Carter does not make ANYBODY work and will easily get out-produced by LeBron, Wade, Pierce, Kobe, or even Ray Allen. Pietrus was the same as well. He just chucks shots and almost never attacks the basket. He isn't a good passer or ball mover, too.
  
• Speaking of passing, with increased height and ball-handling, the Magic obviously get better at passing.
  

 

What they get worse in is..

 

• Backcourt defense. Pietrus was the best defender in terms of overall size, athleticism, and lateral movement. Losing Vince Carter is somewhat of a plus considering.. well, I thought he was the worst wing defender conceivable. If Turkoglu or Richardson are worse, then the defense will only get even more terrible than I expect it to get terrible originally. Did that make sense? Well, the numbers didn't lie. Magic became a worse 3 point defending team after getting Carter and losing Turkoglu and Lee. Getting rid of Vince is arguably addition by subtraction.
  
• Frontcourt depth. No matter how you look at it, LA and Boston's frontline is going to rip this team apart and wear Howard down. I assume a second trade will be made in order to address this. Duhon/Jason Williams/Q (I really like Q defensively, but offensively he is so limited) are probably trade pieces.
  

 

Overall... I'm in wait-and-see mode, but as far as making the move itself in December, I'm cool. It's not like the Magic were going to win with the current roster (regardless of what your opinion was, if we're speaking in terms of likelihood of winning a championship, if it's not higher than 50%, you barely hit the "contender status" with me).

 

Then you have to consider the fact that much work was put "in the summer". Yet, they only went back statistically. Both offense and defense. The only thing that got better was Howard's offense and even that wasn't enough to keep something from dropping. You'd think a group that's been together for a year and worked over the summer would at least stay the same. Whatever excuse you have for this whether it's flu, injury, or whatever: the Magic were simply out of them.

[Arielle 138]

Let's see..

 

In my opinion, they get better in:

 

• Making the opposing team work. One of the biggest problems last year and this year is the inability of the perimeter players to make the other backcourt work. Vince Carter does not make ANYBODY work and will easily get out-produced by LeBron, Wade, Pierce, Kobe, or even Ray Allen. Pietrus was the same as well. He just chucks shots and almost never attacks the basket. He isn't a good passer or ball mover, too.
  
• Speaking of passing, with increased height and ball-handling, the Magic obviously get better at passing.
  

 

What they get worse in is..

 

• Backcourt defense. Pietrus was the best defender in terms of overall size, athleticism, and lateral movement. Losing Vince Carter is somewhat of a plus considering.. well, I thought he was the worst wing defender conceivable. If Turkoglu or Richardson are worse, then the defense will only get even more terrible than I expect it to get terrible originally. Did that make sense? Well, the numbers didn't lie. Magic became a worse 3 point defending team after getting Carter and losing Turkoglu and Lee. Getting rid of Vince is arguably addition by subtraction.
  
• Frontcourt depth. No matter how you look at it, LA and Boston's frontline is going to rip this team apart and wear Howard down. I assume a second trade will be made in order to address this. Duhon/Jason Williams/Q (I really like Q defensively, but offensively he is so limited) are probably trade pieces.
  

 

Overall... I'm in wait-and-see mode, but as far as making the move itself in December, I'm cool. It's not like the Magic were going to win with the current roster (regardless of what your opinion was, if we're speaking in terms of likelihood of winning a championship, if it's not higher than 50%, you barely hit the "contender status" with me).

 

Then you have to consider the fact that much work was put "in the summer". Yet, they only went back statistically. Both offense and defense. The only thing that got better was Howard's offense and even that wasn't enough to keep something from dropping. You'd think a group that's been together for a year and worked over the summer would at least stay the same. Whatever excuse you have for this whether it's flu, injury, or whatever: the Magic were simply out of them.

 

Good post.

[Miller4Prez66 545]

One of the nice things from the trade is this likely means wev'e seen the last of that awful bench lineup SVG liked to run. You're pretty much guranteed to have either Jameer, Arenas, J-Rich, or Hedo out there at any time now. I don't see Stan running it with Malik Allen as the backup center either.