How are you taking this season?

[thelead]

Watching is tough but its what real fans do regardless of the roster (especially with a plan in place). I'm ecstatic that our front office values the draft and isn't interested in merely making the playoffs (which could have easily been done by just retaining JJ + Ryan + the a more today-focused Dwight trade). I share the same view as our new leadership so I'm cool with our direction even though the product on the floor isn't pretty right now. Having Vuc has also helped stomach some of the poor play. No one will be complaining around here in about a year and a half if we have max cap space plus young pieces like:

Vuc
AN
Moe
Harris
Top 3 2013 pick (hoepfully the #2 guy)
Top 3 2014 pick (the game changer)

+ a ton of cap space

So to recap, it's ugly now but if everything goes according to plan, we should be sitting pretty in a 2 years. I'm cool with that over being the Atlanta Hawks.

[MagicHolland]

I'll have to chime in on this since I think this is a quality thread and I don't want you guys to miss out on my highly important opinion

Let me start of by saying that despite a winning season last year it most likely was the least enjoyable season of Magic basketball. The whole Dwight drama (probably not all his fault) was like a dark cloud hanging over the team and it showed on the court. Trading Dwight was inevitable, and at the time I was torn on a full rebuild or replacing Dwight with Bynum+filler. Either way I would've been satisfied with a fresh start.

After all I think it's safe to say that we dodged a bullet by not going the Bynum route, and on top of that we got two players that I love watching in Harkless and Vucevic. I really don't mind all the losing as long as I see potential for a good rebuild, and so far that has been the case.

Right now besides still watching every single game I try to catch up with possible high draft picks that could come our way and I think there's alot of opportunity out there to have a good team as soon as 2014.

Our team looks like this now:

Nelson/Udrih/Moore
Afflalo/Lamb/Jones
Harkless/Harris/Turkoglu
Nicholson/Harrington/Davis
Vucevic/O'Quinn

With Turkoglu and Davis being 3rd string since their out pretty much the rest of the season.

This upcoming summer we will most likely say goodbye to Turkoglu and Udrih. Harrington could be cut, but I wouldn't be suprised to see him traded if he can somehow show that he can still play these last 30 games.

That leaves us with

Nelson/Moore
Afflalo/Lamb/Jones
Harkless/Harris
Davis/Nicholson
Vucevic/O'Quinn

What we lack right there is ouside shooting, a creator, a defensive big and a PG to grow behind Jameer. We then have 2 high draft picks that could take care of that and capspace in 2014 (remember it's not only FA's but also a possibility to take on an existing contract)

I'm really looking forward to the draft this year to see what holes we're going to fill.. PG Smart or outside shooter McLemore or defensive big Noel.. Or does Henny have another surpise up his sleeve? Use the TPE?

I see a bright future with Henny calling the shots.

[FFBlitzace]

I still love watching games. I miss some sometimes when I work, but otherwise I'm watching and posting in game threads like always.

It's not like it was a lifetime ago when we went 21-61 followed by several more losing seasons. Maybe if you're fairly new to the scene of being a hardcore fan that watches every game and posts on forums, then perhaps the losing might be something of a shock. But if you've been around for a long time, I don't see why this year would be the year that turns you away. I like us better now than I did the last time we were awful. At least this time we're not dicking around and actually building towards something.

[Viper1500]

Very Badly, I can deal with some of the losing but when you are losing and the young guys are not playing consistent minutes either it really frustrates. If we are going to lose anyway throw them in the deep end and see if they can swim, JV is mainly the most frustrating thing for me, he seems like he is already a lame duck coach...

Vaughn is the patsy here and was brought in just to coach the young guys obviously. He is hard on none of the players who only coddles and praises effort. With little discipline, I find it hard for the team to really go all out in games to win anymore with the Vets out.

I don't see Vaughn being this teams coach in 2 years.

[Neato]

i'm ok right now. i like the young guys. but this is just year 1 of losing badly. i won't pretend to know that things will work out. i hope it does, as our future will depend in large part on luck in addition to henny's competence.

[MagicStarwipe]

JV gonna prove y'all incorrect!

[Skin]

Very Badly, I can deal with some of the losing but when you are losing and the young guys are not playing consistent minutes either it really frustrates. If we are going to lose anyway throw them in the deep end and see if they can swim, JV is mainly the most frustrating thing for me, he seems like he is already a lame duck coach...

There is wisdom in not forcing the young guys into situations that will hurt them. It's not a mere science that more playing time equals getting better. A lot of guys are forced into situations they aren't ready for and it kills their careers. So to gripe about JV monitoring their minutes is falsely based.

[Rick Rolled]

Well, for the first time in years, it seems like our front office has a plan.

I'm enjoying watching the young guys grow, and I expect them to get all the playing time they can handle to finish up the season.

Losing sucks, but it's a necessary evil right now.

I'm very optimistic about our future, and am willing to suffer through the losing for another season, if it nets us some good draft pieces and big time cap room.

[BadMofoPimp]

Vaughn is the patsy here and was brought in just to coach the young guys obviously. He is hard on none of the players who only coddles and praises effort. With little discipline, I find it hard for the team to really go all out in games to win anymore with the Vets out.

I don't see Vaughn being this teams coach in 2 years.

I like Vaughn tho. Nothing personal.

But, I could really see SVG coming back in two years after taking it easy and getting paid not to coach by the Magic.

[Skin]

HAHAHAHA.. SVG AIN'T EVER COMIN' BACK.

[Bensational]

i'm bored. i like that we've got prospects, but i'm not interested in watching them try to figure it out on court. i really just want to walk away and come back in a couple years when this team looks like it's serious to compete. the trades and draft are what keep me interested enough to continue posting on the board, for now.

[dsg2003mach1]

last year definitely started the downward spiral...before you believed the team could go out and beat any team on any night to knowing they werent capable of competing for a championship to not able to compete at all on most nights. It sucks to be in this position AGAIN. As I recall we all praised Otis as a genius until all the wheels came off the train at once and here we go again with Henny as the second coming. We've heard this all before and we won't really know if theres the slightest sliver of truth to it for several years. At this point Im skeptical at best and will probably continue checking the score from the comfort of my couch where I can go ahead and change it back to something else

Weve got season tickets and I dont think we've gone to a game since before thanksgiving, hell we cant even give them away most of the time

[MagicMadness]

If our team had been healthy all season, we'd probably be figting for the 8th seed right now, which would have been fine...but really I prefer the position we're in now, instead.

I like the direction the team is headed in, and I don't care at all if it means losing badly in the short term. I like that we don't have one of those GMs that make short-sighted moves to try to make a team decently competitive now while destroying the future. I think its safe to say most of us want to see the Magic competing for titles, not 8th-seed fodder. I really like some of these moves Hennigan has made, and I'm excited about our young talent and up-coming lottery pick.

[silent1900]

I'm fine so far...enjoying it more than the last couple of Dwight years, actually. It started to drag leading up to the trade deadline, but now we have a couple more young kids to watch closely so my interest will pick back up.

Like most, I care not whether we win or lose this year, just that I see flashes.

[JF5]

I'm taking it pretty well

Just looking at Player/Coaching development. Most everyone is looking good so far.

Its been a pretty successful season in my opinion

[Def Swami]

It has been a lot better than last year. Last year was stressful as a fan. Between the Dwight fiasco and the team being a fringe contender, making every game important, there was much more to think about. I've enjoyed this season. Every game is a win for me. If we win, awesome. If we lose, also awesome. Rack up some more ping pong balls. I'm good with that. And I enjoy the college game, so I've been more inclined to watch more of it to see where we set our sights in the draft. And I have seen a lot of bright spots in our young players which gives me hope for our future.

However...I think next year is going to be rough. I can take a year of losing. But, I think at this time next year, I could see myself getting restless. Even now, with the trade deadline over, I just want to fast forward to the draft. It'll all payoff in the end. I think we're on the right path. If we're not in the hunt for a playoff spot after 2 years, that's when I'll start being disappointed.

[arsenal6106]

I hate losing like everybody here, but overall I'm content. Most of our games have been competitive and the young guys are showing flashes of hope. I really hope Vucevic and AN work on their defense during the off-season.


We've got Harkless, AN,Quinn,Vucevic(kind of), JOnes, and Harris. One of them has to stick!

[sportsrock37]

I'm with most of you. This year has been a lot more fun to watch games then last year. Last year was by far the worst year of Orlando Magic basketball for me. It was fun to watch the team win some games early in the year, but with that the young guys didn't get too much playing time(other than Vucevic obviously). While we are losing, the change in confidence of Harkless now the last 2-3 weeks has been unbelievable to see. The development and confidence level in Vucevic has been great to see as well. Watching Nicholson, O'Quinn and Moore get minutes has also been great. I'm living in Illinois now so it's been hard to watch a lot of the games on computer, but I make sure to check on my phone and the box score every game. I am definitely planning on watching tonights game to see the new guys.

The way I look at it is if 2-3 out of Harkless, Nicholson, Vucevic, Harris, O'Quinn and Lamb pan out to be NBA starter level players then we are in good shape. Vucevic is well on his way to being 1 of the players. If we are able to nail 1 of the next 2 years likely Top 5 draft picks that will be 3-4 starter quality players then you couple that with the cap space this team could be a good team in as soon as 2 years. I don't mention Moore because I don't see much improvement, but he will be a solid combo guard-Keyon Dooling off the bench type. With playing time for them to try to develop I think 3-4 of the guys I mentioned can be solid role players at worst when we are good, it's just a matter of 2 of them developing more than just role players.

[craig01]

This season is going about as I had expected.

The team plays hard, but how long will that last as we head into the dog days of the season?

The real pain/apathy probably will set in next year when this will still be a 20-win team.

[Cigamodnalro]

Hope + Development >> A sinking ship

Taking this season so much better than I took last season. I'd rather see Harkless overperform with a 19/9 game rather than Dwight underperform at those same numbers any day of the week.