<div class="quote_poster">Quoting :</div><div class="quote_post">Steven Hunter still believes he has a future in the NBA, but it just won't be in Orlando. "I'm fine. I'm going to be in this league a long time," Hunter said Friday after he didn't play again in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks. "I'm puzzled by this -- it's an injustice if you ask me -- but I just need to be somewhere where I can develop. Maybe that's somewhere else." "I'm definitely going to look around as a free agent. I have to now," he said. "I thought in our situation here, with a record like we have, this would be a perfect chance for a 22-year-old big man like me to play and just learn from his mistakes. But I guess I'm wrong."</div> Orlando Sentinel
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting sportsrock37:</div><div class="quote_post">I agree with him. He will be added to the long list of players that turn good after leaving Orlando.</div> Yep. Couldn't of said it better.
Honestly... I am ready to give up.. Hunter wont resign even if we attempt it.. This proves it.. And Good.. Go out somewhere else and get better.. You deserve it after the Garbage you've been fed here..
I'd be shocked if Hunter is nothing more than a back-up center. But if does well elsewhere, that wouldn't surprise me either.
I'm surprised his playtime remains so low even though the Magic realized they had nothing left to lose a long time ago.
Too bad. I believe that the magic could use him much better... Or at least give him a bigger chance this season to see if he is worthed.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting crazytown:</div><div class="quote_post">I'd be shocked if Hunter is nothing more than a back-up center. But if does well elsewhere, that wouldn't surprise me either.</div> Why would you say that? We've all seen what he is capable of doing. Only real shot blocker in our team.. I'll make a prediction , Portland. Theo is a good friend of Steven and Theo will be out soon ..Steven has what it takes to be a good Center on this league and with a teacher like Theo? I think is a good choice by Portland.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ANiMuS:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm surprised his playtime remains so low even though the Magic realized they had nothing left to lose a long time ago.</div> 1 player is the reason why he's not playing. Andrew Declerq. Somehow he gets more time than Hunter and Zaza. I mean why would the Magic want a 7 foot shot blocking center that would improve our defense and athleticism when we have a 6 foot 11 white guy with no skills. (sarcasm)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TMac_OwNz:</div><div class="quote_post">Why would you say that? We've all seen what he is capable of doing. Only real shot blocker in our team.. I'll make a prediction , Portland. Theo is a good friend of Steven and Theo will be out soon ..Steven has what it takes to be a good Center on this league and with a teacher like Theo? I think is a good choice by Portland.</div> Being the only shot blocker on our team isn't really saying much. Especially since he can't even get any any minutes with that fact. I don't see why he would go to Portland. He's already complaining about playing time here, just wait if he ends up in Por where he'll have zero chance of starting. Blazers have to many PF/C already anyways. What happened to Abdur-Rahim? I'd be shocked if Hunter is a starting center next year. I know he's young but he just makes too many bone-headed plays.
Lets talk LESS about Hunter's future and his comments, and MORE about he's production this season. Hunter complains about his lack of minutes, but it seems to me like his destiny laid in his own hands. Here is the statistics from a game this season in which Steven Hunter played a career high in minutes: Celtics 117, Magic 96 3/1/2004 FleetCenter, Boston, MA Steven Hunter: 34 minutes, 6 points, 6 rebounds Mark Blount: 38 minutes, 28 points, 21 rebounds (career highs) Can you say, liability on defense? How do you let Mark Blount post career highs in both rebounds and points and than complain about minutes? MARK BLOUNT! You want more minutes and your getting 20-20 games dropped on you by a virtually unknown player. Here's a few other quick statistics that contribute to Hunter's lack of playing time: Once again, the word LIABILITY comes to mind. Case and point, This season Steven Hunter is JUST a 34% FREE THROW SHOOTER!!! Another interesting statistic, This season Steven Hunter has played 17 games where he received 20 or more minutes of playing time. What's Orlando's record during those 17 games? How about 1-16, that's right just 1 win in 17 games where Hunter has played 20 or more minutes. I think it's safe to reward Hunter with a new nickname, Steven "The Liability" Hunter. Rewarding him with a new contract or starting minutes, that's simply absurd!
Mark Blount has been doing very good this season, so I don't think it was just Hunter, but the 21 rebounds is a little suspect.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">Mark Blount has been doing very good this season, so I don't think it was just Hunter, but the 21 rebounds is a little suspect.</div> Hunter was the starting center that game, I infact watched it on fox sports net and he was matched up with Blount for the majority of his career high 34 minutes. You don't believe in the numbers? Are you stunned at Hunter's lack of defensive ability? Sure, he can block shots but his overall defensive needs drastic improvement. Anyhow, here's the link to the box score for that game so you can see for yourself.... http://www.nba.com/games/20040301/ORLBOS/b...e.html?nav=page
People have bad games...Pts don't really matter but look at this: 30 Mins - 6 Pts - 8 Rebs - 5 Blocks - 1 Steal. All We need from a center is Rebs and Blocks.
I understand your arguement pretty well KJX3.. But.. We are barely giving the guy a chance to prove himself.. If hes not getting CONSISTANT minutes then how is he going to get the confidence to play..
The problem I have with alot of Magic fans who are standing firmly behind Steven Hunter is that they're being manipulated by fraudulent statistics. They look at the box score and see that Hunter blocked a shot or two in limited minutes and automatically assume he's some amazing defensive player. The fact is that couldn't be further from the truth. Plenty of players in this league can block shots, especially if your 7 foot because that's pretty much expected from you these days. However defense is more than just shot blocking. It's team defense, it's defensive rotation, and it's individual defense. Watching an Orlando game when Steven Hunter gets quality minutes will show you first hand exactly what I'm talking about. He's a good shot blocker, that I'll give him, but he's a poor defensive player. Getting 20-20 dropped on your by MARK BLOUNT is a great example. The fact that Orlando is 1-16 when Hunter gets 20+ minutes is another great example. Not to mention he shoots 34% from the free throw line, which makes him a liability on offense to go along with his lack of OVERALL defensive ability. Yeah, Perhaps he does get a starting postion next season, I heard Dallas is excepting ALL poor defensive player applications.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James X3:</div><div class="quote_post">Hunter was the starting center that game, I infact watched it on fox sports net and he was matched up with Blount for the majority of his career high 34 minutes. You don't believe in the numbers? Are you stunned at Hunter's lack of defensive ability? Sure, he can block shots but his overall defensive needs drastic improvement. Anyhow, here's the link to the box score for that game so you can see for yourself.... http://www.nba.com/games/20040301/ORLBOS/b...e.html?nav=page</div> Oh no I beleived the numbers, but I meant the 21 rebounds are a little suspect on Hunters part, maybe he doesn't know how to box out yet, unless they were all defensive rebounds, but 7 were offensive while Boston shot 49.5% so thats not good. I think Hunter seems to have the determination to become better so we could see him become something good. I hope the Raptors get him for little as our 2nd or 3rd center, and if he improves then he'll move up. I'm not too surprised with the Blount thing though, I mean he got 15 points and 17 rebounds against the Knicks, 17 points and 15 rebounds against the Nuggets, and also his high is 29 points against the Mavericks. He also had 16 points and 15 rebounds against the Nets, these were all in March by the way. The guy is second in the league in FG% and has just been playing good, its not restricted to Hunter, but he's not a bad player just not a smart player.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James X3:</div><div class="quote_post">The problem I have with alot of Magic fans who are standing firmly behind Steven Hunter is that they're being manipulated by fraudulent statistics. They look at the box score and see that Hunter blocked a shot or two in limited minutes and automatically assume he's some amazing defensive player. The fact is that couldn't be further from the truth. Plenty of players in this league can block shots, especially if your 7 foot because that's pretty much expected from you these days. However defense is more than just shot blocking. It's team defense, it's defensive rotation, and it's individual defense. Watching an Orlando game when Steven Hunter gets quality minutes will show you first hand exactly what I'm talking about. He's a good shot blocker, that I'll give him, but he's a poor defensive player. Getting 20-20 dropped on your by MARK BLOUNT is a great example. The fact that Orlando is 1-16 when Hunter gets 20+ minutes is another great example. Not to mention he shoots 34% from the free throw line, which makes him a liability on offense to go along with his lack of OVERALL defensive ability. Yeah, Perhaps he does get a starting postion next season, I heard Dallas is excepting ALL poor defensive player applications.</div> Actually , I try to ignore stats and just watch him play , obviously he needs to work on rotating and stuff like that. Yes I've seen that...how about teaching him in practices and let him try it out in games instead of seating on the bench? <div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm not too surprised with the Blount thing though, I mean he got 15 points and 17 rebounds against the Knicks, 17 points and 15 rebounds against the Nuggets, and also his high is 29 points against the Mavericks. He also had 16 points and 15 rebounds against the Nets, these were all in March by the way. The guy is second in the league in FG% and has just been playing good, its not restricted to Hunter, but he's not a bad player just not a smart player.</div> I know , Blount has worked really hard to be like this during this season , I don't know what KJX3 has against him .
The reason Blount had so many points in rebounds was that the Celtics would continuously drive in to the basket and Hunter would go to help and no one rotated to Blount who had a wide open dunk. That's what happened the whole game. The rebounds probably was Hunter's fault. That's his biggest weakness on the defensive side to me. He is weak at rebounding. Hunter isn't too great of a defender yet, but that's partly coaching. It's hard to play good defense with limited mins and bad coaching. With a good coach, I think Hunter could be a top shot blocker in this league.
