General Lee

[orlandomike]

God I wish he was a point. What a great nickname.

Anyway, other than the no brainer pick of Howard, you realize he is the only actual pick we have made that is turning out to be an exceptional one. Dwight should be as he went #1 and his skills were obvious. Lee was picked down the line and is proving to be better than most ahead of him. Everyone else this team has picked in several years has busted, been marginal or was sent off to other teams where they became good players.

This has bearing on absolutely nothing other than crossing fingers that somehow we have upped our skill at talent evaluation.

[NEM]

dwight was by no means a no brainer. in fact, okafor seemed like more of a no brainer than dwight. he was still raw. not much of an offensive skillset. we knew he could jump and had potential. dwight is making it seem like he was a no brainer but at the time he was far from that.

getting back to the original post, i wholeheartedly agree with you about c lee. i like the fact that he's not scared and he's proving that coming from a smaller school and spending 4 years in school pays off. i like picking late in the first round. seems like those guys play with a bigger chip on their shoulder than the guys picked between 13 and 19 (ie lee, jameer)

[TheRevTy]

If you think about it, it would seem to be much easier to get a late gem from a small school. Think about it, Courtney was the man on his team, and skilled enough to lead his team to a good March Madness run. Compare him to a guy like Corey Brewer, who played for a big school, showed skill, was successful, but turns out to be little more than a good role player.

[cwas2882]

The trade/pick of Nelson is close enough that you could call him a draft pick

[Diehardmagicfan]

lee is awesome. He looks really good and I am glad we picked him. He is better than most of the people picked ahead of him.

[ivDT]

God I wish he was a point. What a great nickname.

yeah, very fitting...

[TheRevTy]

Little Country.

He's a quiet guy, has a thick southern accent, and I misspelled his name on draft night.

[magicman123]

Little Country.

He's a quiet guy, has a thick southern accent, and I misspelled his name on draft night.

he is the brother of big country

[UCFJayBird]

while i agree, i would add Jameer to that list. Yes, technically Denver drafted him, but he might as well have been picked by us. Jameer dropped to what, 20? And he's an all-star now. Exceptional pick (even though at times his first four years he looked like a solid starter at best).

And while JJ isn't doing great, he's not doing so bad anymore. He's actually playing pretty well this year. The Magic's drafting has actually been pretty good since 2004, minus the Fran Vazquez fiasco.

[Duradero]

Anytime you get a starter, even if you're in the lottery, that's a win.

[TheRevTy]

For what it is worth, ol' Franny has been tearing up his league.

This was posted by some Spanish bloke at O-zone:

Hi guys, I´m new here. I´m from Spain and entered looking for information about Magic fans feelings about Fran. I know, a lot of you will say, What a waste of 11th pick, and you´re right, but maybe is still in time to be a good pick. He is playing very well this season, he was 3 times MVP of the week in the ACB and is showing why he was selected so high in the draft years ago.

http://acbtv.acb.com/search?ch...z&type=some&x=0&y=0# Those are some highlights

http://acbtv.acb.com/search?ch...z&type=some&x=0&y=0#
MVP week 26

http://acbtv.acb.com/search?ch...z&type=some&x=0&y=0#
MVP week 25

http://acbtv.acb.com/search?ch...z&type=some&x=0&y=0#

Dunking over Ibaka, if you talk about Serge, he´s a good player but don´t have the physical gifts of Fran, I mean, no way.

http://euroleague2008.infronta.../popup.php?TPid=2829

This happened a few hours ago, QF of euroleague, Fran made a perfect with 6/6 FG 14 pt 10 Rb and 2 Blocks, is a 5 games series and they are tied 1-1.

I understand people is mad at those years waiting but I think you talk like he is a bust and he´s not.

Cheers.

P.D. I hope my first post is not a mess and the links are working.

Edit: It´s a mess, really sorry but this flash players are a bit confusing. All the ACB links are the same, is the search for Fran´s videos in acb, so you have more than I posted, hope you enjoy.

[lovehoops01]

while i agree, i would add Jameer to that list. Yes, technically Denver drafted him, but he might as well have been picked by us. Jameer dropped to what, 20? And he's an all-star now. Exceptional pick (even though at times his first four years he looked like a solid starter at best).

And while JJ isn't doing great, he's not doing so bad anymore. He's actually playing pretty well this year. The Magic's drafting has actually been pretty good since 2004, minus the Fran Vazquez fiasco.

Yeah, and if the Magic had gone with Otis' choice instead of the "draft team's'' overall decision, the Magic would have taken Danny Granger instead of Vazquez. I remember Otis saying on the radio on the day after the draft that his top choice was Granger but that they made the decision on who to draft as a team. Hopefully, that taught the "draft team" that it should pay attention to Otis' scouting. I remember that he was the guy who really liked Courtney in this past draft. And he had a very strong voice in urging the Magic to take Dwight over Okafor. I think Otis has a pretty good eye for talent. Everyone is going to screw up sometimes, but overall, I think he's been pretty good.

[Magic.City.23.]

We could use some depth down low. I like Battie, but lets admit it he's not that great. If Fran plays like that right there in those videos then I like what I see and he can really help us out.... A good rebounder, active shotblocker, athletic, & can shoot. He would really give us a diverse repetoir of big men that no other team could rival......

[orl1724]

Yea I love the Lee pick. Now we have 3 solid starters for the future in Howard, Lee, and Nelson. Question is what or who will fill the other two holes after Lewis and Hedo are gone. Hedo might leave this season so hopefully Otis can do something smart maybe trade for a pick and pull another solid starter in the early 20s haha.

[GabrielKills]

Maybe we already have the answer he is just in Spain right now. Trouble is that it has been so long that most of us dont even believe he will ever come over here. If Hedo does end up leaving, it would be clutch to add Fran at the 4 and slide Rashard back to SF. Not much ball handling in that lineup but our D would be improved. I hate getting my hopes up about this kid, tho cause he has done nothing but disappoint us all so far.

[magicfan4life05]

Great article in the sentinel about Lee


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/o ... 4406.story

Poised Orlando Magic guard Courtney Lee tears off rookie label


For the most part, all the joking has ceased around Courtney Lee.

It's all started to subside: the constant hazing, endless pranks and having to run errands for teammates.

It will still be a few more months before the Magic shooting guard can officially tear off the rookie label.

But as he prepares to start his 19th straight game tonight against Milwaukee, it's clear that his role on one of the league's best teams is clearly far beyond baby steps.

[magicfanatic23]

Anytime you get a starter, even if you're in the lottery, that's a win.

Absolutely. He will be the starting SG for years to come for the Magic.