2017-2018 Official Season Discussion Thread

[Magicfan1987 266]

1 hour ago, Mauro Pedrosa said:

Winning now would just ensure Vucevic and Fournier are still starters next year and we go through the same hell.

I wouldn't mind winning every game until the end of the season if it was with Isaac, Hezonja and Gordon as the main players

yeah I look at every win under the scope of "did Gordon or Isaac contribute and play well" if that's a yes I have something to be happy about if not it crushes all hopes

[~O~ 565]

umM......ok Magic. You can go back to losing again.  Thanks.  

[Magicfan1987 266]

4 hours ago, ?4thewin said:

Not really.  

And honestly I'm not sure both bridges and Zhaire Smith aren't on the same tier  as Carter, bamba, young, or Bagley.  

I can say in all honesty after watching Smith highlights, his body control for a player as athletic as him is rare. He looks special in that regard right off the bat.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

8 minutes ago, Magicfan1987 said:

I can say in all honesty after watching Smith highlights, his body control for a player as athletic as him is rare. He looks special in that regard right off the bat.

Yup.  I don't really know what his offense becomes.  He's so young and athletic you'd think the sky is the limit but who really knows.  

But his defense? He looks like wade. A 6'5 sg doesn't really do these things.  

[DirtDan2012 201]

5 hours ago, ROCK LEGENDS PHOTOGRAPHERS said:

I think Ayton and Doncic may be a tier above the rest and either could be a game changer very soon.

I agree. I think both of these guys can change a franchise.

[Originalticketholder 133]

7 hours ago, JJZFL said:

The root of all our current problems is this idea of making the team as terrible as possible in order to get that “franchise changing player”. As has been pointed out in numerous posts, this is a huge gamble that rarely works.  Much more often you wind up with a pathetic and demoralized group similar to what we’ve had here these past six long years.  Time to get out of that mindset.

Ironically, playing Birch, which you advocate above and which I agree with, might actually translate into more wins. 

I do not see it like that at all.  I think we have a pretty decent roster, a mid 30 win roster if relatively healthy.  But we have been dealt a bad season due to injuries.  So take advantage of that unique gift, a rare chance at a great draft pick when you have a decent team already.  Wins this year do not get us a better player for next year.  If we were fortunate to be #1 or # 2  or #3 in this year's draft and have a chance at Doncic or Ayton or Young or Bamba  or Bagley or JJJ how much better will we be as a team next year.  Lakers and Philly did it with less talent than we have.  If we can get a great player in the draft added to this roster perhaps it would help us resign Mario.  This is a rare opportunity for a decent team.  I am hoping for a 9 game losing streak as we start our west coast swing, then we play 7 consecutive games against our lottery competition so we do have our fate in our own hands.  Think of all the demoralized fans who would have hope with a high draft pick.  No guarantee on absolute future success but I will take Hope!

[Magicfan1987 266]

so I haven't been able to watch a lot of games lately but Hezonja seems to really of been able to turn it on and turn a corner. I couldn't be happier for him but man is it upsetting that we may lose him. I'll be really bumbed if that happens. 

Young

Hezonja

Isaac

Gordon

That'd be such a great young core :(

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

25 minutes ago, Originalticketholder said:

I do not see it like that at all.  I think we have a pretty decent roster, a mid 30 win roster if relatively healthy.  But we have been dealt a bad season due to injuries.  So take advantage of that unique gift, a rare chance at a great draft pick when you have a decent team already.  Wins this year do not get us a better player for next year.  If we were fortunate to be #1 or # 2  or #3 in this year's draft and have a chance at Doncic or Ayton or Young or Bamba  or Bagley or JJJ how much better will we be as a team next year.  Lakers and Philly did it with less talent than we have.  If we can get a great player in the draft added to this roster perhaps it would help us resign Mario.  This is a rare opportunity for a decent team.  I am hoping for a 9 game losing streak as we start our west coast swing, then we play 7 consecutive games against our lottery competition so we do have our fate in our own hands.  Think of all the demoralized fans who would have hope with a high draft pick.  No guarantee on absolute future success but I will take Hope!

I'm not sure how we're supposed to tank effectively.  Can't sit Gordon in a contract year and risk him demanding a trade. Can't sit vets and play youth because i think we'd all agree it helps us win focusing on isaac, Gordon, Mario, iwundu, birch. Can't out tank Memphis or Atlanta based on roster construction and phoenix and Sacramento have rough schedules going forward while we're entering the easiest stretch of our schedule.  

So rather than manipulate success just try to develop winning habits. It'd be one thing if this was a one off season but some of these guys need something positive

[Odin 137]

Who is everyone hoping to root for in the playoffs?

In the East, I hope the Pacers and Bucks do well, and in the West I would like Davis and the Pelicans to do well, and I hope Denver makes the playoffs.

[JJZFL 618]

1 hour ago, Originalticketholder said:

I do not see it like that at all.  I think we have a pretty decent roster, a mid 30 win roster if relatively healthy.  But we have been dealt a bad season due to injuries.  So take advantage of that unique gift, a rare chance at a great draft pick when you have a decent team already.  Wins this year do not get us a better player for next year.  If we were fortunate to be #1 or # 2  or #3 in this year's draft and have a chance at Doncic or Ayton or Young or Bamba  or Bagley or JJJ how much better will we be as a team next year.  Lakers and Philly did it with less talent than we have.  If we can get a great player in the draft added to this roster perhaps it would help us resign Mario.  This is a rare opportunity for a decent team.  I am hoping for a 9 game losing streak as we start our west coast swing, then we play 7 consecutive games against our lottery competition so we do have our fate in our own hands.  Think of all the demoralized fans who would have hope with a high draft pick.  No guarantee on absolute future success but I will take Hope!

I get it. And we don’t really disagree that much.  I don’t think we have a mid 30’s win roster even without injury but there’s no way to know for certain one way or the other.  If we play hard and wind up losing then it is what it is. But these guys need to improve their defense to get them something to build on for next year and the only way to do that is to play hard.  And as P4TW said, we may well be better with some of the younger players playing, which we all want to see anyway. For the first time in years, I think we could potentially have a decent core going into next year and that would be far more important to me than adding another high pick rookie. Imagine if we had “tanked” super hard and we got Fultz as our pick last year.  We’d be worse than ever. 

[Mauro Pedrosa 1,031]

1 hour ago, Odin said:

Who is everyone hoping to root for in the playoffs?

In the East, I hope the Pacers and Bucks do well, and in the West I would like Davis and the Pelicans to do well, and I hope Denver makes the playoffs.

Would love to see Toronto make the finals. Boston, Milwaukee and Philly are nice to watch.

Golden State, Houston, Pelicans are fun as well

[A Better DJ & Photographer 453]

And reality sets in for the Suns fans.

"Good God, Payton is so terrible on defense. I underestimated how bad he really is on that end. Even on this Suns team full of bad defenders, Payton's awful D really stands out."