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How are you taking this season?

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How are you taking this season? 

Post#1 » by Skin » Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:16 pm

Last offseason was a wild and memorable whirlwind for all of us Magic fans with the whole Dwightmare situation, the firing of Stan Van Gundy, the resigning of Otis Smith and the Ryan Anderson S&T. New blood came on board in the form of mainly Rob Hennigan, Jacque Vaughn, Arron Afflalo, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless and Andrew Nicholson. A major topic of discussion was based on the Magic's expectations for this season. Some wanted the team to attempt to remain competitive (ie. trading for Bynum or Iggy instead of our prospects). Some wanted to rebuild from scratch through the acquisition of young players and playing for draft position(aka "Tanking"). Some wanted to rebuild and fight for the playoffs simultaneously. Let's not undermine how passionate the discussions were in the beginning of the season. Team sales, season ticket holders, the need for the team to try to win in order to sustain fandom was severely in question.

....
...
..
.

So now with the direction of our season clearly pointing to the direction of a complete rebuild through the acquisition of young players, continuing to create cap space (even at the expense of long time fan favorites), and jockeying for draft position, my question is for those who were against this direction, how has the season gone for you? Are you still upset about it? Have you changed your mind at all? Has it been more bearable than you imagined? Or do you still maintain we should've gone another direction... whether it be Bynum, Iggy or another route?

For me, this season has been full of thrill despite the losses. I've gained new promise in the youngsters that we've acquired. Watching the development of Vucevic has been a pure joy. Nicholson and Harkless have shown me flashes that have made this season exciting. They are on their way to making it in this league. To what degree... that is yet to be told, but I treasure their promise and potential. Hennigan has earned a great deal of trust through his methodical approach. Vaughn has a rare combination of class and character that everyone can respect which is something Van Gundy's loose lips and pouty attitude sorely lacked. I love everything about the direction this team is going and I fully understand that in this league it takes taking 2-3 steps back before you can make it to the top. Mediocrity is the real pit you need to get out of. Being at the bottom or the top (of course) is where you can be pleased with your team's status.

That said... ARE YOU READY FOR A REPEAT IN 2013-14?
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Anthony Black, Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs, Joe Ingles, Chuma Okeke, Mo Wagner, Goga Bitadze LESSSGOOO!!!
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#2 » by NickAnderson » Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:24 pm

Cheap tickets!!!!

Really though I've actually been excited to see the young talent develop and can not wait to see who we draft. I have tons of confidence in henny and the staff already and love what they have done in such a short time. One thing I really want is a fuggin dominate wing we haven't had one in so long!!!
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#3 » by OrlDave » Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:24 pm

At this point I'm watching more for individual success. So for example, it pissed me off no end when JV didn't play Vuc much at all in the 2nd half of the blow out game ruining his string of 9+ rebound games. The joy for me is watching Vuc getting 15-20 rebounds or Hark slashing his way to 20. As long as I see progress from the young guys I'll be fine.

Side note, does anyone else think that Henny traded away Ayon and McBob to force JV to play AN and KOQ more consistently? Because he really has no choice now.
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#4 » by Flannerz » Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:36 pm

I knew this season would be tough but being in England helps as I can't go to games so I'm not really 'watching' us lose. Due to work and the time difference its difficult to watch games. I'm starting to get used to checking the result first thing in the morning and seeing that we've lost.

What I find difficult is knowing we need to lose to get better as I don't want us to lose games even though I know it helps us. Being a 'football' fan (I don't like the word soccer! :D ) we don't have a draft system, so if you're team is having a bad season you could get relegated to the division below. Getting my head around losing being a good thing has been difficult.
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#5 » by MagicHolland » Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:52 pm

Flannerz wrote:I knew this season would be tough but being in England helps as I can't go to games so I'm not really 'watching' us lose. Due to work and the time difference its difficult to watch games. I'm starting to get used to checking the result first thing in the morning and seeing that we've lost.

What I find difficult is knowing we need to lose to get better as I don't want us to lose games even though I know it helps us. Being a 'football' fan (I don't like the word soccer! :D ) we don't have a draft system, so if you're team is having a bad season you could get relegated to the division below. Getting my head around losing being a good thing has been difficult.


You should really consider a subscription to International League Pass. I have to avoid FB, Twitter and any basketball related websites until I have watched the games, but nothing is more annoying than finding out the results before I have seen the game..

Who are you rooting for in football?
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#6 » by InFlames » Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:54 pm

Maybe I'm crazy, but I've enjoyed watching this season way more than last season, the whole Dwight fiasco just destroyed my soul. I've really enjoyed watching our young guys this year as well as knowing that we have a bright future.

I also forgot what it was like to be excited about the draft, so I have been following college ball a lot closer than usual, it also seems that we have a great young gm who we can all be confident in - completely different than when we had Otis.

And to OrlDave, yes I completely think at least part of the reason to trade Goose and McBob was to free up minutes for Drew and Kyle.
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#7 » by OrlandO » Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:55 pm

Despite the disparity in wins/losses, I'm actually enjoying this season more than last season. Henny's calculated moves in his first 8 months have me optimistic about the future, which is something I never felt with Otis in control. Having all this youth and potential on the roster is exciting as well. We also have two years of top lotto picks to look forward to and we'll have money to spend on free agents. We're going to have a really good shot at putting together a nice team over the next couple seasons. All that makes losing really easy to handle.
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#8 » by Tayswagzzz » Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:58 pm

It's funny because an informed Magic fan can take this season easier knowing we've got a bright future ahead of us, and tanking a season is all part of a greater plan. An uninformed Magic fan thinks we are the laughing stock of the NBA, worst team in the NBA, and have no future, and a couple Magic fans I know say they are done being a Magic fan. It's all part of the process.
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#9 » by mhectorgato » Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:05 pm

Quite frankly, since the D12 drama I've been disconnected. I've yet to re-hookup up fully. I started to reconnect when started the season off good (considering that we traded away a superstar). But since the tanking started in earnest, I watch games occasionally ... but only partially. I still browse the forum, though not nearly as much.

Work life has been crazy which only compounds the issue for me.

I know that we'll soon be ok. Henny seems to have a plan and is doing well. But I can't get going with the team as it is right now.
NEM wrote: However, I'm a fan of my team winning so, keep the winning coming. All the "tank" fans can take their crap to another board. We are here to win.
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#10 » by BadMofoPimp » Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:06 pm

Lets see. I probably only missed 4 games a year for many years. I either went to them or watched on TV.

This year. I have watched maybe half all the way through til the end. Last month I usually start cooking and going to the park and just start watching the 2nd half to see where the Magic are at. I then watch until they start getting blown out in the 4th and I get too disgusted to watch anymore. Same with Hector above, Work has been insanely busy so my interest has waned as my focus is elsewhere.

But, I like some of the youth and am excited to see how they do in their sophomore season after an offseason of training and Summer Leagues!!!
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#11 » by JBSouthpaw » Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:11 pm

I'm a glass is half full kind of guy.
so, I see the positives in Nicholson and Vuc.
the Potential in Harkless.
Next year's high draft pick.
FAs and TPEs

I wonder if Nelson will still do his off season team building week in Philly this year?
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#12 » by OrlChamps2030 » Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:12 pm

The beginning of the season playing competitive ball was nice and even afterwards seeing the young guys begin to play was nice. But man these blowouts lately are hard to watch..It's all for the tank though. I follow the forums and occasionally watch the games but my game-by-game interest level isn't nearly as high as it used to be. That is to be expected with a tanking season though. I just hope by this time next year one of our young key guys (Harkless, Nicholson, Harris, O'Quinn?) makes a Vucevic level step next year to make this thing a little more bearable and give us a bench mark of where we're at.
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#13 » by rcklsscognition » Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:20 pm

I am really enjoying the season. It doesn't feel like we are the worst team in the league to me, because I have been a fan for over 20 years. I just see this as a reset, and know we will be back in the hunt in 3 years. It is fun to watch the new guys develop, that's always been my favorite part of the game anyway, watching summer league, training camp, and progression. At least now these guys get on the court and I don't have to complain about them being on the bench all the time. It's cool we're also going to be in the lottery once or twice. I see a lot of promise in Vucevic, and really think Harkless could be something. I'm excited to find the franchise's next starting PG too.
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#14 » by trebone » Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:32 pm

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...
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#15 » by BadMofoPimp » Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:52 pm

trebone wrote: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.
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#16 » by thelead » Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:57 pm

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.
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#17 » by MagicHolland » Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:58 pm

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 8-)

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.
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#18 » by FFBlitzace » Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:26 pm

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.
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#19 » by Viper1500 » Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:29 pm

BadMofoPimp wrote:
trebone wrote: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.
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Re: How are you taking this season? 

Post#20 » by Neato » Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:44 pm

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.

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