Main Reason We Have Won 4 of 5

[Soul Bro 1,422]

Brian Cook, plain and simple. He is playing great basketball and has allowed SVG to set a firm rotation. Our wins have come with him being the first forward off the bench and he has produced:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/gamelog?statsId=3727

 

In January, he is averaging 8.6 ppg and 2.8 rpg in 15 mpg while shooting 50% from three and 51.6% from the field. Those are awesome numbers off the bench. In addition, his defense has been above average. Kudos to him for kicking it up a few notches, kudos to Otis for believing in him, and kudos to SVG for riding him hard and demanding more. Here's to his new-found production continuing.

[Soul Bro 1,422]

Brian Cook, plain and simple. He is playing great basketball and has allowed SVG to set a firm rotation. Our wins have come with him being the first forward off the bench and he has produced:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/gamelog?statsId=3727

 

In January, he is averaging 8.6 ppg and 2.8 rpg in 15 mpg while shooting 50% from three and 51.6% from the field. Those are awesome numbers off the bench. In addition, his defense has been above average. Kudos to him for kicking it up a few notches, kudos to Otis for believing in him, and kudos to SVG for riding him hard and demanding more. Here's to his new-found production continuing.

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

Agreed... and Evans is playing fairly well himself. Anyone care to re-evaluate that trade?

[Jareth Cutestory 678]

Amen. I was one of the people that supported this trade from the beginning. Sure, he isn't the bruiser we all REALLY wanted, but he is definitly contributing off the bench and helping this team win. Not too mention his partner in the trade is our starting SG and not doing too shabby himself.

[You're Fat, Pat! 98]

sure beats having Pat come off the bench, like in the beginning of the season...

 

that whole Airiza-for-two deal is lookin great...we even got our starting SG out of it...

 

AND Mo can hit the shots that Airiza cant...yet...i still think he'll be an All-Star...eventually...

[Soul Bro 1,422]

Kudos to Mo, too. I really like how our team is playing right now.

[MilitaryMagic 0]

First off, I think I speak for a lot of us that we had hope in Cookie. Whether it was now, or next month, or the month after, I had a feeling Cook would come around and produce. Statistically, he's always been a solid producer off the bench in years past.

 

What I didn't expect was for him to play as big as he does. He doesn't shy away from contact, he seems to enjoy banging around in the paint. He keeps his defensive assignment out of the paint when he gets posted up. His propensity to get his hands on rebounds, even if he doesn't always come up with them, is something we've been missing from this team at the forward spots.

 

I always had hope that The Monster would pull through on offense and provide excellent spacing, shooting, and passing - but I had no idea SVG could toughen him up and get him to play as big as he is now.

 

Kudos to the Ariza trade - our new pieces are officially fitting in the way we all hoped they would.

[Soul Bro 1,422]

COOKIE MONSTER!!!

[Jareth Cutestory 678]

Cookie has been playing with alot of heart and hustle lately. Kudos to any player like him who's been in the league this long and STILL wants to take the time to improve as well. Alot of guys would just collect their check and ride the bench.

 

The one thing I still laugh about though is sometimes he shys away from contact. For example, last night he was running to try to prevent a fastbreak, and it almost looked like he just tumbled down and braced himself in fear of contact. He's still a cookie monster though.

[You're Fat, Pat! 98]

as much as i didnt like trading Airiza, i liked what we got out of it...so much, in fact, that i wrote this about Cook:

 

quote:

So we trade a guy with remarkable potential for 2 relatively solid guys that give us what we want...

 

lets start with Cook:

 

Brian Cook is a solid PF who has an excellent perimiter game for a 6'9" PF...including the 3 ball...which we all know our team has fallen in love with...we live or die by the 3 now...and Cook can knock those down...he also has a somewhat decent low post game...

 

this vid gives you a pretty good idea of what he gives us on the floor:

 

 

IMO, Cook will become the starting PF within the next month or so...once he learns the system...TheShard will move down to his natural position, SF, and Bogans will remain the starting SG...leaving Turk to be the #1 option in the 2nd unit...

 

i was wrong about which one of the "new guys" would start, but of course, that was before Turk began playing out of his mind...so im not sure he'll start, but either way, he's received PT of late, and has responded well...giving us excellent play...

[fishybashi 0]

Agreed. Lesson for all of us. Patience is key. I was a basher, but I am returning as a believer of this beloved team. Keep up the great work, Orlando Magic!

[Jareth Cutestory 678]

Welcome.