Has SVG failed the Magic? OR Management? OR players?

[Ryan the Magic Fan 253]

I really do love this. The constant finger pointing from the fans who think the blame should squarely rest on the shoulders of one person. It's literally exactly like were back in May of last year after the Celtics series. Everyone wanted to blame Vince for an organization wide failure.

 

Now fast forward 9 months and the main fall guy is SVG again for an Organization wide failure. Everyone wants to pin the blame on the coach cause he is the easiest figure to attack. And sure SVG has his share of the blame as well, hell he admits his faults and what he has done wrong.

 

But does anyone want to look at some of the other people who share the blame? Like I don't know... Say.... THE PLAYERS? Let's just take a quick look at all these guys.

 

Jameer Nelson-

The co-captain of the team has been as inconsistent as anyone on the team, in the last 7 games his scoring has been 8, 22, 9, 10, 17, 12, and 7. His assists totals? 4, 6, 11, 3, 1, 3, and 5.

 

Jason Richardson-

This is supposed to be Vince's replacement? Say what you want about Vince but he averaged a good 15 points on 48% shooting for us while taking more shots. And he actually did occasionally take it inside here and there. Rich on the other hand is averaging about 14 points on 42% shooting. He's also taking more 3 point shots and shooting a far worse percentage from there then Vince was, who was having a very efficient season.

 

Hedo-

Honeymoon's over folks. What the heck has he done for us since the 9 game winning streak. You can practically put all the blame for last nights loss on his shoulders after those two horrid turnovers in the final minutes. He's only had more then 5 assists twice in the last 7 games and has been nothing on the scoring or defensive side. Injury or no injury, he is getting nothing done.

 

PF Rotation-

This is the one group I actually have no complaints with right now. From Bass to Anderson and now finally Clark coming on strong. There fighting down there hard trying to give Dwight some help in the paint. Anderson may be shooting to many 3's but he seems to be the only one who can make them recently and his fight on the boards make up for them. Not having Bass' toughness the past week and a half has hurt more then anyone wants to admit.

 

Arenas-

I mean are you kidding me!? If he's hurt then sit him the hell on the bench for a whole month so he's ready for the playoffs instead of playing him in the last minutes of a blow out loss. If he's not hurt then hell I say put Duhon the freak in. At least Duhon attempts to play defense on people. Our offense really cant get any worse and Arenas is providing nothing for the Magic right now currently.

 

JJ-

The only other player I have no complaint for sides the PF's. I'm all aboard the start JJ bandwagon. He can't play any worse then JRich right now and at least he is shooting better and taking it inside more, which is sad when considered his physical limitations in comparison to Richardson. His defense is no worse and the team has looked over all better when he has been in the game. In the past 7 games he has only failed to score more then 10 points 3 times, one of which is because he did not play. And all of those double digit games he shot over 40% from the field.

 

and Finally:

Dwight-

I'm sure you all will get your panties in a bunch over this one, especially with Dwight's recent offensive explosion, and SVG's mistake of not getting him the ball last night, but Dwight shares as much of the blame as everyone else. He has not owned the defensive end at all in recent games, averaging barely over one block in the last 7 games. If you asked me who the DPOY was right now, I would not even have Dwight in the top 5. He has truly become afraid of getting fouls and has lost all aggressiveness on that side of the ball.

 

And his free thows continue to be the biggest thorn in the side of the Magic this season. I'm sorry Magic fans, but the excuses have just run thin for this. Had Dwight shot, hell not even a good percentage, just an average one in the last month from the line, the Magic probably would be on a very long winning streak right now, despite all there problems in other areas. Everyone loves to say, his shoulders and arms are to big for him to shoot well, he never can get any better, etc etc. Bull. Bass arms and shoulders are just as massive as Dwight's and he has no problems from the line. And if Tyson FREAKING Chandler can turn himself from a 50% free throw shooter into a 77% shooter then Dwight can do the same damn thing.

 

Management gets there share too (meaning Otis Smith). I will not back down off my stance that both midseason trades were a mistake unless the Magic end up making it to the finals, and right now it's looking I get to be the one that says "Damnit I hate it when I'm right." Right now it looks like the best player we got in that trade was Earl freaking Clark. Hedo has reverted back to his poor form. J-Rich has been a non factor. And Arenas has been down right awful. Midseason trades are impossible to make work under the best circumstances, and the Magic didn't even upgrade in talent on this one. The Magic downgraded in every aspect after this trade, loosing its best perimeter shooter, it's only player that can take it inside, and the best wing defender on the team.

 

I wont even bother bringing up SVG, like I said, he admits all his mistakes, the most refreshing thin about him as a coach. I'll only remind everyone here that he never had this problem with his last two teams, so maybe it's not the coaching, and has more to do with the players.

 

But of course this is Truebluenation. Where it has to be all one person's fault. It used to be Vince or Rashard. Well there gone now, so lets put all the blame on Otis or SVG. It's never the whole teams fault. Take a look of the title of the thread. Maybe instead of that "OR" it should be an "AND".

 

God I miss OMMB.

[Franchero MVP 391]

And what would that adjustment be anyway?

 

Give him the ball in the second half. Stop making 3's our first option when they clearly aren't falling.

 

Done. Next?

[MP_20 2]

Dwight-

I'm sure you all will get your panties in a bunch over this one, especially with Dwight's recent offensive explosion, and SVG's mistake of not getting him the ball last night, but Dwight shares as much of the blame as everyone else. He has not owned the defensive end at all in recent games, averaging barely over one block in the last 7 games. If you asked me who the DPOY was right now, I would not even have Dwight in the top 5. He has truly become afraid of getting fouls and has lost all aggressiveness on that side of the ball.

 

 

This actually makes a lot of sense. Dwight has worked on his post moves and now demands the ball more. Fair enough. To his credit, this is a different Dwight than when this team was built a couple years ago when he was just a more athletic Chandler. In response, the cast has been changed to accommodate him, but why to a more offensive-minded crew? imho, most offensive minded players sacrifice aggression and energy on the defensive end. They want to stay on the court and that means pulling back on defense. Also Dwight understands there is no Gortat to back him up.......and so does the opposition.

 

I really think the philosophy of this team has changed without the appropriate changes in personnel. That's why you have the exact same complaints with a different crew of people.

[GhostAnime 50]

Give him the ball in the second half. Stop making 3's our first option when they clearly aren't falling.

 

Done. Next?

I mean an adjustment to fouling Dwight, obviously.

 

And technically, that isn't an adjustment because that's what happened in the first half.

 

You make no sense.

[KillingInTheNameOf 63]

PF Rotation-

This is the one group I actually have no complaints with right now.

 

I think you could make a pretty sound argument no position is a bigger liability on the defensive end for the Magic and that's saying a mouthful. The consistent need to double opposing 4's completely compromises the integrity of the Magic's D and it only goes downhill from there.

[NittanyBuc 757]

I really do love this. The constant finger pointing from the fans who think the blame should squarely rest on the shoulders of one person. It's literally exactly like were back in May of last year after the Celtics series. Everyone wanted to blame Vince for an organization wide failure.

 

Now fast forward 9 months and the main fall guy is SVG again for an Organization wide failure. Everyone wants to pin the blame on the coach cause he is the easiest figure to attack. And sure SVG has his share of the blame as well, hell he admits his faults and what he has done wrong.

 

But does anyone want to look at some of the other people who share the blame? Like I don't know... Say.... THE PLAYERS? Let's just take a quick look at all these guys.

 

Jameer Nelson-

The co-captain of the team has been as inconsistent as anyone on the team, in the last 7 games his scoring has been 8, 22, 9, 10, 17, 12, and 7. His assists totals? 4, 6, 11, 3, 1, 3, and 5.

 

Jason Richardson-

This is supposed to be Vince's replacement? Say what you want about Vince but he averaged a good 15 points on 48% shooting for us while taking more shots. And he actually did occasionally take it inside here and there. Rich on the other hand is averaging about 14 points on 42% shooting. He's also taking more 3 point shots and shooting a far worse percentage from there then Vince was, who was having a very efficient season.

 

Hedo-

Honeymoon's over folks. What the heck has he done for us since the 9 game winning streak. You can practically put all the blame for last nights loss on his shoulders after those two horrid turnovers in the final minutes. He's only had more then 5 assists twice in the last 7 games and has been nothing on the scoring or defensive side. Injury or no injury, he is getting nothing done.

 

PF Rotation-

This is the one group I actually have no complaints with right now. From Bass to Anderson and now finally Clark coming on strong. There fighting down there hard trying to give Dwight some help in the paint. Anderson may be shooting to many 3's but he seems to be the only one who can make them recently and his fight on the boards make up for them. Not having Bass' toughness the past week and a half has hurt more then anyone wants to admit.

 

Arenas-

I mean are you kidding me!? If he's hurt then sit him the hell on the bench for a whole month so he's ready for the playoffs instead of playing him in the last minutes of a blow out loss. If he's not hurt then hell I say put Duhon the freak in. At least Duhon attempts to play defense on people. Our offense really cant get any worse and Arenas is providing nothing for the Magic right now currently.

 

JJ-

The only other player I have no complaint for sides the PF's. I'm all aboard the start JJ bandwagon. He can't play any worse then JRich right now and at least he is shooting better and taking it inside more, which is sad when considered his physical limitations in comparison to Richardson. His defense is no worse and the team has looked over all better when he has been in the game. In the past 7 games he has only failed to score more then 10 points 3 times, one of which is because he did not play. And all of those double digit games he shot over 40% from the field.

 

and Finally:

Dwight-

I'm sure you all will get your panties in a bunch over this one, especially with Dwight's recent offensive explosion, and SVG's mistake of not getting him the ball last night, but Dwight shares as much of the blame as everyone else. He has not owned the defensive end at all in recent games, averaging barely over one block in the last 7 games. If you asked me who the DPOY was right now, I would not even have Dwight in the top 5. He has truly become afraid of getting fouls and has lost all aggressiveness on that side of the ball.

 

And his free thows continue to be the biggest thorn in the side of the Magic this season. I'm sorry Magic fans, but the excuses have just run thin for this. Had Dwight shot, hell not even a good percentage, just an average one in the last month from the line, the Magic probably would be on a very long winning streak right now, despite all there problems in other areas. Everyone loves to say, his shoulders and arms are to big for him to shoot well, he never can get any better, etc etc. Bull. Bass arms and shoulders are just as massive as Dwight's and he has no problems from the line. And if Tyson FREAKING Chandler can turn himself from a 50% free throw shooter into a 77% shooter then Dwight can do the same damn thing.

 

Management gets there share too (meaning Otis Smith). I will not back down off my stance that both midseason trades were a mistake unless the Magic end up making it to the finals, and right now it's looking I get to be the one that says "Damnit I hate it when I'm right." Right now it looks like the best player we got in that trade was Earl freaking Clark. Hedo has reverted back to his poor form. J-Rich has been a non factor. And Arenas has been down right awful. Midseason trades are impossible to make work under the best circumstances, and the Magic didn't even upgrade in talent on this one. The Magic downgraded in every aspect after this trade, loosing its best perimeter shooter, it's only player that can take it inside, and the best wing defender on the team.

 

I wont even bother bringing up SVG, like I said, he admits all his mistakes, the most refreshing thin about him as a coach. I'll only remind everyone here that he never had this problem with his last two teams, so maybe it's not the coaching, and has more to do with the players.

 

But of course this is Truebluenation. Where it has to be all one person's fault. It used to be Vince or Rashard. Well there gone now, so lets put all the blame on Otis or SVG. It's never the whole teams fault. Take a look of the title of the thread. Maybe instead of that "OR" it should be an "AND".

 

God I miss OMMB.

I agree with you. I try my best to not put the blame on an individual and I'm not sure if I have as of late. My biggest rip is the perimeter defense, which lies on the shoulders of SVG, the personnel, specifically J Rich, Arenas, and Hedo, and Otis for bringing in this personnel.

 

We have honestly become a complete contradiction to our philosophies when we went to the Finals. Our biggest strength was our team defense- one of, if not, the best in the league. Now we've become another team built to score points and have our offense become a bigger priority than defense. To me, we're no different than the Knicks right now. We've got a dominant big man and shooters around him- that's it. No defenders, no slashers, etc. And like Ryan the Magic Fan said in his post, we completely gutted our wings, with the exception of JJ and Hedo who are average defenders at best. Our defense at the point are just a bad as the wings now too. Jameer, though he works the hardest so I give him credit, is too small and gets abused by bigger PGs, Arenas is just god awful, and Duhon was the worst acquisition of the offseason and to think he's getting paid $3.5M....

 

If this team has any chance of winning big this season and next, we HAVE to make a move before the deadline. Going into the playoffs wih the current roster will be the next Boston Massacre

[Franchero MVP 391]

I mean an adjustment to fouling Dwight, obviously.

 

And technically, that isn't an adjustment because that's what happened in the first half.

 

You make no sense.

 

Our shots weren't falling in the second half. The adjustment should have been to give the ball more to Dwight after he went away from him.

 

Done. Next?

[GhostAnime 50]

Our shots weren't falling in the second half. The adjustment should have been to give the ball more to Dwight after he went away from him.

 

Done. Next?

And thus have him miss more free throws?

 

Not saying that you're right or wrong, but you make it sound like it's so easy. It's not that easy.

[Ryan the Magic Fan 253]

I think you could make a pretty sound argument no position is a bigger liability on the defensive end for the Magic and that's saying a mouthful. The consistent need to double opposing 4's completely compromises the integrity of the Magic's D and it only goes downhill from there.

 

I think you need to get your eyes checked big time. Here are the last 7 games production by opponents starting 4's, and then their normal production.

 

Zach Randolph- 10 pts 9 rbs on 36% FG. He averages: 20 pts 13 rbs on 48% Shooting.

 

Chris Bosh- 13 pts 6 rbs on 25% FG. He averages: 18 pts 8 rbs on 49% shooting.

 

Rashard Lewis- 14 pts 8 rbs on 60% FG. He averages 12 pts 5 rbs on 44% shooting.

 

Kevin Garnett- 16 pts 9 rbs on 62% FG. He averages 15 pts 9 rbs on 52% shooting.

 

Blake Griffin- 10 pts 12 rbs on 33% FG. He averages 22 pts 12 rbs on 51% shooting.

 

Elton Brand- 12 pts 5 rbs on 38% FG. He averages 15 pts 9 rbs on 52% shooting.

 

David West- 17 pts 17 rbs on 46% FG. He averages 19 pts 8 rbs on 50% shooting.

 

Now lets also remember that everyone on that list is either a former or current all star, and all but two of them are still putting up all star capable numbers (3 if you count KG but he is a current all star as well). With the exception of a good game by Rashard, none of them out performed their season average. Only shard and kg were able too actually shoot better from the field then there average, and only Shard and West beat there rebounding average.

 

Lets also keep in mind that Brandon Bass, the starting power forward and best individual defender the Magic have at that position was gone for 6 out of 7 of those games and was hurt for most of the one he did play in.

 

Long story short? The 4 position is just fine and dandy.

[Emory889 353]

I think you could make a pretty sound argument no position is a bigger liability on the defensive end for the Magic and that's saying a mouthful. The consistent need to double opposing 4's completely compromises the integrity of the Magic's D and it only goes downhill from there.

 

I agree completely when Bass was in the rotation. I've actually though Ryan and Earl have done a pretty solid job.

[Magicman28 295]

I really do love this. The constant finger pointing from the fans who think the blame should squarely rest on the shoulders of one person. It's literally exactly like were back in May of last year after the Celtics series. Everyone wanted to blame Vince for an organization wide failure.

 

Now fast forward 9 months and the main fall guy is SVG again for an Organization wide failure. Everyone wants to pin the blame on the coach cause he is the easiest figure to attack. And sure SVG has his share of the blame as well, hell he admits his faults and what he has done wrong.

 

But does anyone want to look at some of the other people who share the blame? Like I don't know... Say.... THE PLAYERS? Let's just take a quick look at all these guys.

 

Jameer Nelson-

The co-captain of the team has been as inconsistent as anyone on the team, in the last 7 games his scoring has been 8, 22, 9, 10, 17, 12, and 7. His assists totals? 4, 6, 11, 3, 1, 3, and 5.

 

Jason Richardson-

This is supposed to be Vince's replacement? Say what you want about Vince but he averaged a good 15 points on 48% shooting for us while taking more shots. And he actually did occasionally take it inside here and there. Rich on the other hand is averaging about 14 points on 42% shooting. He's also taking more 3 point shots and shooting a far worse percentage from there then Vince was, who was having a very efficient season.

 

Hedo-

Honeymoon's over folks. What the heck has he done for us since the 9 game winning streak. You can practically put all the blame for last nights loss on his shoulders after those two horrid turnovers in the final minutes. He's only had more then 5 assists twice in the last 7 games and has been nothing on the scoring or defensive side. Injury or no injury, he is getting nothing done.

 

PF Rotation-

This is the one group I actually have no complaints with right now. From Bass to Anderson and now finally Clark coming on strong. There fighting down there hard trying to give Dwight some help in the paint. Anderson may be shooting to many 3's but he seems to be the only one who can make them recently and his fight on the boards make up for them. Not having Bass' toughness the past week and a half has hurt more then anyone wants to admit.

 

Arenas-

I mean are you kidding me!? If he's hurt then sit him the hell on the bench for a whole month so he's ready for the playoffs instead of playing him in the last minutes of a blow out loss. If he's not hurt then hell I say put Duhon the freak in. At least Duhon attempts to play defense on people. Our offense really cant get any worse and Arenas is providing nothing for the Magic right now currently.

 

JJ-

The only other player I have no complaint for sides the PF's. I'm all aboard the start JJ bandwagon. He can't play any worse then JRich right now and at least he is shooting better and taking it inside more, which is sad when considered his physical limitations in comparison to Richardson. His defense is no worse and the team has looked over all better when he has been in the game. In the past 7 games he has only failed to score more then 10 points 3 times, one of which is because he did not play. And all of those double digit games he shot over 40% from the field.

 

and Finally:

Dwight-

I'm sure you all will get your panties in a bunch over this one, especially with Dwight's recent offensive explosion, and SVG's mistake of not getting him the ball last night, but Dwight shares as much of the blame as everyone else. He has not owned the defensive end at all in recent games, averaging barely over one block in the last 7 games. If you asked me who the DPOY was right now, I would not even have Dwight in the top 5. He has truly become afraid of getting fouls and has lost all aggressiveness on that side of the ball.

 

And his free thows continue to be the biggest thorn in the side of the Magic this season. I'm sorry Magic fans, but the excuses have just run thin for this. Had Dwight shot, hell not even a good percentage, just an average one in the last month from the line, the Magic probably would be on a very long winning streak right now, despite all there problems in other areas. Everyone loves to say, his shoulders and arms are to big for him to shoot well, he never can get any better, etc etc. Bull. Bass arms and shoulders are just as massive as Dwight's and he has no problems from the line. And if Tyson FREAKING Chandler can turn himself from a 50% free throw shooter into a 77% shooter then Dwight can do the same damn thing.

 

Management gets there share too (meaning Otis Smith). I will not back down off my stance that both midseason trades were a mistake unless the Magic end up making it to the finals, and right now it's looking I get to be the one that says "Damnit I hate it when I'm right." Right now it looks like the best player we got in that trade was Earl freaking Clark. Hedo has reverted back to his poor form. J-Rich has been a non factor. And Arenas has been down right awful. Midseason trades are impossible to make work under the best circumstances, and the Magic didn't even upgrade in talent on this one. The Magic downgraded in every aspect after this trade, loosing its best perimeter shooter, it's only player that can take it inside, and the best wing defender on the team.

 

I wont even bother bringing up SVG, like I said, he admits all his mistakes, the most refreshing thin about him as a coach. I'll only remind everyone here that he never had this problem with his last two teams, so maybe it's not the coaching, and has more to do with the players.

 

But of course this is Truebluenation. Where it has to be all one person's fault. It used to be Vince or Rashard. Well there gone now, so lets put all the blame on Otis or SVG. It's never the whole teams fault. Take a look of the title of the thread. Maybe instead of that "OR" it should be an "AND".

 

God I miss OMMB.

 

I agree with everything. I do not know who your referring to with this post but I think the blame should be put on everyones shoulders. Stan the least.

[GhostAnime 50]

I think J Rich should be given more credit. He's so much faster than Carter in transition and does so much more. Both suck defensively equally.