Otis Smith admits he might have made a mistake

[iddelen 7]

"'Hedo Turkoglu should have never left'

 

He said it.

 

I swear he did.

 

Otis Smith said he might have made a mistake.

 

In perhaps the first documented case in professional sports history of a general manager or coach perhaps admitting he made a personnel blunder, Magic GM Otis Smith told me the other day that the organization might have erred when it let Hedo Turkoglu leave two years ago.

 

Now that Turk is back and meshing marvelously — just like he did two years ago when he was the second-most important player on a Magic team that went to the NBA Finals — Smith actually said these words: "Yes, I was wrong."

 

But, of course, he added a qualifier..."

 

Here is the full article by Mike Bianchi who had written right the opposite in his blog two years ago.

 

I was quite pissed at Otis, when he let him go then. But I am happy he took him back and Hedo is even in a better shape now. Somehow it seems the universe is balanced again.

[KandiKane 136]

I disagree!

 

I doubt Hedo, would be playing at the level he is now, with out the wake up call that no other team has a system like the Magic do that allow him to be an effective player. Otis was right not to give turk an over the top offer as he got from both Portland and Toronto.

 

The fact that Hedo is playing so well now, must come down to the journey he went through over the last 18months. It allowed him to realise how lucky he was here. Now he doesn't want to lose this again and is performing much higher than all of us thought he could/would.

 

I did not like Hedo when he was here last time, but, this new and improved Hedo I have a love for.

[Norman 49]

I disagree!

 

I doubt Hedo, would be playing at the level he is now, with out the wake up call that no other team has a system like the Magic do that allow him to be an effective player.

So does this mean we are getting Shard back in couple years? I hope not!

[KandiKane 136]

So does this mean we are getting Shard back in couple years? I hope not!

 

I actually started to think about that.... then went.... nah, what a stupid thought.

 

Hedo fills a much needed need. Play maker and Dwight distributor.

 

There is no need for what Lewis brings.

[ball junkie 277]

GO MAGIC !!!

 

Ha-Ha-Ha.....

 

Naw.....I read this last night....Good job Otis !!!

[AddiFB 429]

I disagree!

 

I doubt Hedo, would be playing at the level he is now, with out the wake up call that no other team has a system like the Magic do that allow him to be an effective player. Otis was right not to give turk an over the top offer as he got from both Portland and Toronto.

 

The fact that Hedo is playing so well now, must come down to the journey he went through over the last 18months. It allowed him to realise how lucky he was here. Now he doesn't want to lose this again and is performing much higher than all of us thought he could/would.

 

I did not like Hedo when he was here last time, but, this new and improved Hedo I have a love for.

 

This is what I was thinking.

 

Hedo left for the money in Portland, which then ended up being Toronto. He quickly realized that team was NOWHERE near the talent of the Magic and their style of playing did not suit him. Besides, they didn't utilize him correctly. Spot up shooter? No.

 

He wanted out of there, he became lazy, uninterested and just became a laughingstock on every message board out there. He was then shipped to Phoenix where he was... a power forward?! What? Phoenix fans didn't like him. It wasn't his fault, in both these cases he was playing with ball-dominant point guards and therefor he wasn't used as a point forward, which we here in Orlando know is his best position.

 

Like KandiKane says, I think these past 18 months have been a learning curve for Hedo. He realized Orlando was the perfect system for him, Stan was the perfect coach who knew what buttons to push and how to use him, that having Dwight to PnR with and great shooters all around is what he needed. He missed it, and now that he's back, he knows not to take it for granted.

 

And I think that really goes for the Magic too. They realized they missed him too, but if he had stayed, he might not have been the same Hedo. The "Trial and Error - Reboot" version we are seeing now might be a product of hitting bottom and getting a second chance. That goes for both parties. Both might have gained something out of this.

[A BETTER DJ 12]

 

smudgebasher

Quote> So does this mean we are getting Shard back in couple years? I hope not!/Quote)

 

RA is a poor man's Shard and is currently playing better than what we were getting from Shard. Throw in Bass's production and we are waaaay better off at the 4.

 

I would love to find a way to turn QRich, Duhon, JWill, and Allen into Battie, CLee, and Peaches, then we would have almost all of our '09 team back together plus Gil and Clark

 

Meer/Gil/JJ

CLee/JJ/Gil

Turk/Peaches/Clark

Bass/Anderson/Clark

Dwight/Battie/Orton

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

He didn't.

 

It's pretty well documented that Hedo got in shape because he expected the Suns to run more this year, and he wanted to fit their offense. Had we just paid him, he'd likely have showed up to camp out of shape again, like he did in Toronto and in his last two years here.

 

More than likely, if we'd resigned Hedo two years ago, we'd be overpaying a worse version of the Hedo Toronto had last year.

[BALLclub 26]

Alpha D; Your assumptions are ridiculous.

Hedo was given the fact very successful in Toronto.

It wasnt easy to play with PG's like Calderon and Jarret Jack. They gave the ball to him at the very last second so his shooting percentage dropped.

Triano isnt or better to say shouldnt be a basketball coach. I dont know if you watched a toronto game but, let me sum it up for you. He made changes not once but several times, for no reason at all, in 45 seconds. when the team needed R's, he went for the small line up.

At first everybody thought they could make the play offs, but then (my assumptions here) Bosh got a talk with LeBron and everything started to go down the drain.

Imagine their first option was Bargs. If your first option is Bargs, and if you chose to use Hedo as a spot up guy, there is nowhere to go.

 

It all came down to the final game with the bulls, it was either them or the Canadians. The franchise chose to go for the draft rather than get humiliated in the play Offs.

When bosh was dreaming of playing as LeBrons b..tch, Hedo got up to the plate and grabbed a lot of R's. . Remember the Pacers and the Knicks games. This is not an assumption, they really didnt want to make the play offs.

I really do think Hedo plays better for the Magic than for his national team. This system is his system. He is not a high flyer, then again you have been expecting him to dunk over Stoudamire, pass the ball in between Kobe's legs. This guy is an SF. with a nice shot, and a lot of basketball IQ.

You say he is out of shape. The guy is 6.10. . what do you want, you want him to weigh 135 pounds. The league has Earl B. Try him.

 

Lastly, I do think you know a lot about basketball. Ity is just that you are a bad person, with alterior motives. Dont you want your team to win games. Remember Lakers Magic final. We all went crazy. Dont you want to relive those moments??? surely VC didnt deliver. It was obvious he couldnt. The only reason suns got him was he had an expiring contract. Gilbert (hope not) will fail too. you ll see, he ll never start, he ll never get more than 23 minutes during the regular season, 15 minutes in the play offs. These so called stars can carry small teams, like Washington or the Nets, but not a championship contenders. Jameer will start from now to eternity unless Otis the Brain Smith gets CPaul.

This is the best line up ever. Have fun, enjoy, be proud that you are a Magic fan. I know I am.

18 triple doubles in the history, 3 of them belongs to the guy you bash and bash. where does it end???

[Lethargic Optimist 2]

Imo there will never be an open admittance of Hedo's play by DOM or even Kberto, even if the Magic go all the way.

 

In fact this:

'It's pretty well documented that Hedo got in shape because he expected the Suns to run more this year, and he wanted to fit their offense. Had we just paid him, he'd likely have showed up to camp out of shape again, like he did in Toronto and in his last two years here.'

 

is as close to a praise from DOM on Hedo as you can get I suppose ;)

[Da Blues Man 13]

This is what I was thinking.

 

Hedo left for the money in Portland, which then ended up being Toronto. He quickly realized that team was NOWHERE near the talent of the Magic and their style of playing did not suit him. Besides, they didn't utilize him correctly. Spot up shooter? No.

 

He wanted out of there, he became lazy, uninterested and just became a laughingstock on every message board out there. He was then shipped to Phoenix where he was... a power forward?! What? Phoenix fans didn't like him. It wasn't his fault, in both these cases he was playing with ball-dominant point guards and therefor he wasn't used as a point forward, which we here in Orlando know is his best position.

 

Like KandiKane says, I think these past 18 months have been a learning curve for Hedo. He realized Orlando was the perfect system for him, Stan was the perfect coach who knew what buttons to push and how to use him, that having Dwight to PnR with and great shooters all around is what he needed. He missed it, and now that he's back, he knows not to take it for granted.

 

And I think that really goes for the Magic too. They realized they missed him too, but if he had stayed, he might not have been the same Hedo. The "Trial and Error - Reboot" version we are seeing now might be a product of hitting bottom and getting a second chance. That goes for both parties. Both might have gained something out of this.

All that plus the fact that we are saving 6 million dollars on the final year of his contract (thanks to the negotiations of the Toronto to Phoenix trade), makes this deal even that much sweeter.

[Marc Acres 3:16 418]

He didn't.

 

It's pretty well documented that Hedo got in shape because he expected the Suns to run more this year, and he wanted to fit their offense. Had we just paid him, he'd likely have showed up to camp out of shape again, like he did in Toronto and in his last two years here.

 

More than likely, if we'd resigned Hedo two years ago, we'd be overpaying a worse version of the Hedo Toronto had last year.

 

You and your facts, geez.

 

"Turkoglu, who was also out of shape in Toronto, complained about his role and asked for a trade in an interview on Turkish television last month. "

My link

 

"Through 27 games, Turkoglu’s adjustment to playing for the Raptors has not been swift. When Raptors coach Jay Triano was asked about Turkoglu’s conditioning, he paused and said: “He is not the quickest player in the league but his basketball savvy is one of the tops. He just knows how to play. I’d like him to play 36-38 minutes a game, if not more.

 

“I don’t know if he is finding his legs. He’s getting used to playing more significant minutes. We’re getting used to where he is going to throw the basketball and when. There was miscommunication on some plays.”

My link

 

"It’s looking more and more like the Raptors made a serious mistake by signing Turkoglu to a longterm deal.

 

It’s looking more and more like the Magic made prudent decision by not signing Turkoglu to a longterm deal."

My link

 

It must be nice to be Bianchi and never have to worry about the words he has printed in the past coming back to make him look like a hypocrite, I mean it's not like the Sentinel archieves this stuff or anything.

 

Those are all articles that came up when I searched "Hedo out of shape in Toronto." So since everyone is so smart in hindsight here did Hedo stop working on his game and pick up a case of Ruffles before or after he signed the contract with Toronto? People love to use the phrase "you don't know what you've got till it's gone" well guess what that works both ways. Hedo has obviously improved since leaving Toronto, had Hedo been the player he has been for the past 10 games there would have been no reason to pick up Vince and let him walk, he wasn't but none of that matters because he is playing great for us now.