<div class="quote_poster">Quoting :</div><div class="quote_post">Off-season personnel decisions backfired. Eight new players, including four rookies, were brought in before the season.. But the drastic makeover resulted in a lab experiment gone terribly wrong, revealed little depth and cost Doc Rivers his job. Unable to recover from a 1-19 start and injuries to Pat Garrity and Gordan Giricek, the Magic find themselves 81/2 games out of the No. 8 playoff spot. This is not how they envisioned celebrating the franchise's 15-year anniversary. "We have to apply lessons learned to the second half," said Coach Johnny Davis, who took over the team after Rivers was fired after 11 games. "We lost 19 straight and had a coaching change. That's enough to traumatize a team of seasoned veterans. Couple that with having a young team, and there was some indecision on how to get out of it. "We had no reference point of winning. We had to spend time rebuilding their confidence."</div> Full Story
Forget about this season. They shouldn't even try to get that 8th playoff spot. Get rid of bad contracts and just pray that they get Emeka next year.
You guys are real optimistic about your teams future. the magic are in the east so they wont be eliminated from the playoffs until about May
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CANT STOP ME:</div><div class="quote_post">You guys are real optimistic about your teams future. the magic are in the east so they wont be eliminated from the playoffs until about May</div> Umm..........The playoffs start in April.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CANT STOP ME:</div><div class="quote_post">You guys are real optimistic about your teams future. the magic are in the east so they wont be eliminated from the playoffs until about May</div> *April* Anyways, the Magic will not be eliminated mathimatically until the seedings are finalized. Logically, they look done. This season was supposed to be the turnaround for the Magic. During the offseason they added 8 new players, 4 of them being rookies. That plan backfired and very fast. Juwan Howard slowed down McGrady's game and the rookies have been mediocre. (Bogans and Zaza) The reason they won't make the playoffs is because they cannot finish out games. They have no real leader on their roster as well. McGrady is a leader by example but he runs his mouth too much. Darrell was the heart and soul of the Magic. Now that is all gone.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting sportsrock37:</div><div class="quote_post">Yep. Exactly. Hopefully Bogans and Zaza get more time now.</div> Got's to agree
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Air Canada:</div><div class="quote_post">Emeka who ? .. do Jonny and Gabriel realize that LeBron has already been drafted ?</div> Your kidding right? Lebron and McGrady on the same team? Yeah that would go well with McGrady alright.. First of all.. Emeka who ? Lebron is in cleveland.. he fits well there.. thats his team, it will be his team.. And this is a new year.... Emeka is a top prospect this year.. You make no point in saying "Do Johnny and Gabriel realize that LeBron has already been drafter?" Who cares! LeBron is on the Cavs.. The Magic are heading to be the number one pick this year.. I dont understand your reasoning for saying that at all..
You don't even understand what did I mean ! .. I'll give you time to figure it out ! .. But from what I understand from your comments .. you wouldn't like to have T-Mac and Bron on the same team ?? .. Are You Kidding me ?
according to NBADraft.net, they think that you guys will take Dwight Howard, but that changes, i think you guys will take Luol Deng, or maybe Okafor.
We're gonna take Paval Podzolkine or whatever his name is. Gabriel is high on him, since he's so tall. He's not saying that he doesn't want Lebron, he's saying that we will have to deal with what comes to us. There's no point speculating about Lebron and Tmac, because it's not gonna happen.
Exactly.. I said nothing about not wanting Lebron and Tracy on the same team.. But you have to wonder if that will damage McGrady's ego.. Not only that.. Hes the future of the cavs, and being backshadowed would be crazy.. I perfectly understand what you are saying.. I just don't think you understand what you are saying.. You are poking at the fact that the magic have a losing year.. Then your saying... "Wow They are Dumb.. LeBrons been drafted" That makes no sense to my mind... For instance.. Dwight Howard could be taken by the Magic first overall.. He could turn out to be amazing.. Then next year the Bulls have a terrible record... And I got out and say.. "Haha, The Bulls are too little too late.. Dwight Howard isnt there to be drafted" So I perfectly understand what you said.. I just don't think you do yourself.. Gabriel can't take Pavel if hes fired
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ZeroToOne50182:</div><div class="quote_post"> Gabriel can't take Pavel if hes fired </div> Hopefully that's the case. I'd much rather see Howard or Okafor in a Magic uni then Paval.
I like okefor, but I think he is to small to play center. I know we're in the east and all but I just think he would be better at pf. I would draft ben gordan before pavel. But we need a big man most.
A few of my thoughts on the upcoming draft: -I would love Emeka Okafur, if he measured in at 6'10'' or above at the pre-draft workouts. I definitely want to avoid taking another power forward, thinking he can be our solution at Center. -Just say no to Pavel Podkolzine. This guy has "stiff" and "bust" written all over him. He's a project, and that's not what the Magic need. They need someone to come in and have a positive impact that will make T-Mac wanna stay in Orlando and not opt out after next year. -As of right now, I think I'd take Luol Deng ideally for the Magic. SF isn't their biggest need, but no Center really stands out to me and says, draft me I'm going to be a star. Not to mention we have Zaza, who looks like he could be very good in the near future. Point guard would be our next option, but once again, I don't think Ben Gordan or Raymond Felton are really what we'd need to be taking right now, especially if we're picking in the top half of the lottery. This leave's us with SG(Obviously we have McGrady), Power Forward(Gooden, might still have Juwan) and Small Forward which is currently vacated by Keith Bogans/Gordan Giricek. Gordy is a free agent, and Keith is a great hustle player who I feel can be utilized coming off the bench as a backup 2/3, still getting a good chunk of playing time. Luol Deng is a can't miss kinda player in my opinion, and a younger Grant Hill in the eyes of many(since the real one isn't exactly a reliable option for Orlando right now). Deng can do it all, he can score in many ways, a nice jumper, good penetration to the hoop, good passing, great court awareness and vision, good speed and athleticism, good ball-handling for a guy his size, and great defense as well. This guy is NBA ready, and has plenty of room to improve as well. He has a very high ceiling, and playing with McGrady will certainly help enhance the ability for him to reach it. Ideally, drafting Luol Deng will help the franchise in many ways that will still have them reaping the rewards for years to come. Not only would they be drafting a possible franchise player, but a guy that could possibly be a difference maker in whether their current franchise player, and NBA Superstar Tracy McGrady stays with the Magic for more than another year or not. Verdict: Draft Luol Deng, F Duke University
Very well said. I liked the part about Deng. I think he will be good, but I think I would take the high schooler Dwight Howard over Deng.(I'm pretty sure Howard could play SF and PF) That gives us more versatility and Howard has more potential(since he's in hs, deng still has a bunch of potential) I would love to have Deng in a Magic uniform though. Just think a guy named Luol and a guy named Zaza in the starting lineup. What team has names that cool? lol.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting sportsrock37:</div><div class="quote_post">Very well said. I liked the part about Deng. I think he will be good, but I think I would take the high schooler Dwight Howard over Deng.(I'm pretty sure Howard could play SF and PF) That gives us more versatility and Howard has more potential(since he's in hs, deng still has a bunch of potential) I would love to have Deng in a Magic uniform though. Just think a guy named Luol and a guy named Zaza in the starting lineup. What team has names that cool? lol.</div> I need to see Dwight play, and make sure he can effectively play SF, because the last thing we need is another PF named Howard taking minutes away from Gooden. Wow, Luol, Zaza...what's next? I got it! 1) First sign Wang Zhi-Zhi 2) Sign Olumide Oyedeji 3) Trade Tracy McGrady and Drew Gooden for Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and DeSagana Diop(Yes, it works salary-wise) Our New Starting Lineup: PG: Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje SG: Luol Deng SF: Olumide Oyedeji PF: Zaza Pachulia C: Wang Zhi-Zhi WHAT A TEAM!
Haha.. I sat back and looked at Loul Deng... Then said.. I am not getting off the Bogans Bandwagon.. Sure Luol Looks promising, but as Sportsrock said.. Id rather take Dwight Howard.. The man is 6'8-6'9.. But.. He has a history of playing Shooting and Small Forward, the reason his perimiter shot is so good.. Howard would fit well in the SF Spot because hes so versitile that he can shoot, or take it in since his hight and experiance in both postions.. God I hope we get him.. I am gonna shoot myself if we take Pavel.. God... Nice post St8 Ballin, it makes alot of sense.. There is no Center up in the top three-four besides Pavel, who isnt that good as they all make him out to be..
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ZeroToOne50182:</div><div class="quote_post">Haha.. I sat back and looked at Loul Deng... Then said.. I am not getting off the Bogans Bandwagon.. Sure Luol Looks promising, but as Sportsrock said.. Id rather take Dwight Howard.. The man is 6'8-6'9.. But.. He has a history of playing Shooting and Small Forward, the reason his perimiter shot is so good.. Howard would fit well in the SF Spot because hes so versitile that he can shoot, or take it in since his hight and experiance in both postions.. God I hope we get him.. I am gonna shoot myself if we take Pavel.. God... Nice post St8 Ballin, it makes alot of sense.. There is no Center up in the top three-four besides Pavel, who isnt that good as they all make him out to be..</div> Yeah, I agree that taking Dwight would be a good pick if he can adequately fill our need at SF. I think we need to pick carefully, and make sure we draft someone that can come in and make an immediate impact. Like I said, we need a spark in the organization to make T-Mac want to stay in Orlando. Oh man, if we drafted Pavel I think I'd shoot John Gabriel first, then myself. Pavel "I'm gonna be a bust, I have "stiff" written all over me" Podkolzine has the potential to be one of the worst draft picks ever. Then again, I may be wrong, you never know, but as of right now, all signs point to him having an unsuccessful NBA career.
