<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">As much as we love Hedo Turkoglu, it's time the Magic give Trevor Ariza a chance to start at small forward. Turk's shot has left him (again), and Ariza is showing some outside range, nailing jumpers Sunday against the T-Wolves. He's not as offensively skilled or as big as Turk, but good things happen when Ariza is on the floor. He is a better defender, rebounder and has a nose for the ball. Coach Brian Hill won't want to change during a playoff chase, but maybe it's time.</div> Source I definitely agree. Turkgolu has been horrible and we're so much better when Trevor is in.
The starting move we should make is Darko starting for Battie. I guess it would probably be the right decision, since there's no reason to spread the floor anymore since we don't give Dwight the ball at all.
Ariza should have been starting in place of Turk 3 games ago, so hopefully they make that adjustment ASAP, but seeing as how Hill doesn't have a clue of what is going on, he will probably stick to his guns... Gators, you are right... Battie is providing NO offense and he should more of a spark off the bench if anything... Darko is the guy that we need in rhythm before playoffs start, we know what we can get out of Battie, but we need to give Darko more minutes to build confidence before the playoffs, he should know that we are behind him and that he needs to keep playing better... he's played much more aggressively in the past couple games and I like what he is doing on BOTH ends of the floor. PLEASE START DARKO!!
So much for that. Turkey Glue just lit up the Raps for 37 while Trevor went 0-2 from the field to go with 6 fouls and 2 turnovers. Probably just the off-chance that Hedo had a nice game and Trevor blew monkey nuts, so I'd also like to see Trevor get more playing time and develop his offensive game.
Hedo was shooting the lights out last night but I still think Ariza should start over him. Hedo was repeatedly beat on defense and while he looked good in the box score, he didn't help the team when he wasn't scoring. Trevor does all of the little things. He plays great defense, gets offensive rebounds, hustles whenever he is on the court, and brings energy and excitement to the team. Hedo is a good scorer but he is very one dimensional. Trevor brings a variety of talents and he can guard almost everyone. One night he could be covering Vince Carter and the next he is in the paint guarding Chris Bosh (he was matched up with Bosh since our big men let him score 23 in the first half. Ariza held him to 7 points in the final two quarters).
<div class="quote_poster">Swish Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Hedo was shooting the lights out last night but I still think Ariza should start over him. Hedo was repeatedly beat on defense and while he looked good in the box score, he didn't help the team when he wasn't scoring. Trevor does all of the little things. He plays great defense, gets offensive rebounds, hustles whenever he is on the court, and brings energy and excitement to the team. Hedo is a good scorer but he is very one dimensional. Trevor brings a variety of talents and he can guard almost everyone. One night he could be covering Vince Carter and the next he is in the paint guarding Chris Bosh (he was matched up with Bosh since our big men let him score 23 in the first half. Ariza held him to 7 points in the final two quarters).</div> I completely disagree with your statement. Turkoglu is a very underrated defender. Remember Turkoglu was playing very good defense on Paul Pierce when we lost to them and forced him to take some bad shots. He also seems to hustle all the time. He lays it all on the line every night. He doesn't have the defensive or hustling impact of Ariza, but for the most part he is a better offensive weapon and his ability to spread the floor will make Dwight better.
<div class="quote_poster">GatorsowntheNCAA Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I completely disagree with your statement. Turkoglu is a very underrated defender. Remember Turkoglu was playing very good defense on Paul Pierce when we lost to them and forced him to take some bad shots. He also seems to hustle all the time. He lays it all on the line every night. He doesn't have the defensive or hustling impact of Ariza, but for the most part he is a better offensive weapon and his ability to spread the floor will make Dwight better.</div> Turkoglu may be underrated but he is still below average defensively. For someone his size, he gets pushed around a lot of the defensive end. Ariza on the other hand can guard anyone. Also, Hedo cannot spread the floor if his shots are not falling which has unfortunately been the case for most of this season. He is extremely streaking and he has a tendency to hesitate when he is wide open which causes him to miss (which makes him lose confidence and negatively effects him). And Trevor also makes Dwight better because everytime he gets and offensive rebound, he usually feeds the ball inside to Howard for an easy slam. I would much rather have Turkoglu coming off of the bench so he could provide our second unit with some offense. I just feel Trevor needs to be starting so he can continue to develop. He is already exceeding expectations so imagine what he could with more minutes.
