Finally the season is here! What would be a successful season for the Magic this year? Would making the playoffs be considered a success, would the drastic improvement of our young guys be a success, would Grant Hill playing at the end of the year be considered a success? I say as long as Dwight gets better(even if we don't make the playoffs) and the team starts to gel and gives us a lot of hope going into the following year. (maybe end the season off strong, etc). I personally think that we are 1 year away from being a playoff team, so as long as Jameer, Dwight, Turk, Dooling, Stevenson, and Kasun put up decent numbers or at least show improvement from last year then I would say that the season is a success.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm not that excited about our team this year. Whats to look foward to besides the improvements of Dwight Howard? He might even hit the sophomore wall and struggle. We didn't do much this offseason - besides getting Dooling and Bo Outlaw. Those are decent role players, but they aren't going to be the difference between making/missing the playoffs. We still won't make it. Our draft pick was a waste. We completely lack size. Besides Howard and Battie who else do we have thats actually good? Cato gets injured too much, so you can't really count him. Just look at the stat line from our opening game - The Pacers killed us in the paint. Grant Hill is injured once again, and I'm over waiting for him. Seems like I'm always reading about some sort of injury. Hell... he's got screws holding his ankle together, so he was lucky to have even played last season. Dunno, maybe I'm the only one who thinks this, but everything I've said is true. We did nothing over the offseason, and it's going to show this season. But we'll see....
I'm not expecting much from the Magic this season. This way if we flounder, I haven't put too much stock in the team. If we do well, then it will be a nice surprise. The real question is whether or not this team will gel, because there is definitely some talent there
Man I don't know Gators. Like mentioned, what did they do in the offseason? The only thing we have to look forward to is Dwight Howard's growth and how well Brian Hill works this team and how he gets along with Francis.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting On_The_Rim29:</div><div class="quote_post">Man I don't know Gators. Like mentioned, what did they do in the offseason? The only thing we have to look forward to is Dwight Howard's growth and how well Brian Hill works this team and how he gets along with Francis.</div> I think you guys are misunderstanding my post. I was just asking what you guys think would be considered a successful season on the Magic's behalf. Do we have to make the playoffs to be considered a success? I don't think we'll make the playoffs and as long as the young guys continue to develop that it will be a successful season, IMO.
In that case. Be in playoff contention when the season is winding down. Fighting for the 8th seed. Maybe be close to .500. I would think it's successful for the talent we have.
I think we are way better than people give us credit for. I think we have played some great ball already. We are 1-3 but we have played great...until the 3rd quarter where we slip. We were even with the Pacers except for the 10-0 run that they went on in the 3rd quarter. I didnt see the Grizzlies game... We were beating the Wizards in the game by 9 until we allowed them on a 12-0 run. We were even with the rockets the whole game. When Hill and Dooling gets back we should do really well I think. Hill will provide consistent scoring each game. Hill shoots about 50% and that is mainly jumpshots. Why does everyone make a big deal about "we didnt change much during the offseason". WHO CARES? We have changed dramatically each year for the past 2/3 years until this year. Now we are trying to make the smaller changes. Last year we won 36 games and that was through MANY injuries to our starters and many other big issues. I think we have improved since last year. -Better coach (1-3 more wins due to better coaching IMO) -More experience/More chemistry(Due to not changing and not having any rookies playing a large roll. Should give us stronger games) -Better Dwight(Most sophmores increase significantly from their rookie year.) -More Depth(We got rid of some raw meat and loose change in the useless Bradley, Hunter, and Christie and we signed Dooling for more defense and points, Outlaw for more hussle plays. -Better Defense(We have already shown we have had a better defense this year.) My point is. Last year we won 36 games while injured and having many problems. This year I think we are a much improved team even if we didnt make many roster changes. As long as we escape any major injuries (after the Hill affair) and only minor 1-3 games missed injuries then I think we should be good and get anywhere from 40-48 wins. It think making the playoffs would be a success to almost all of the fans here. I would personally like a 6 or 7 seed but if I said that everyone would call me a homer... I think a 6 seed is possible(highest possible unless we have an AMAZING year whcih I am not seeing...) but a 7 is more likely.
