The moment I realized we are FOR REAL

[mattdelray1220]

Been a fan for 25 years. I now live in South Florida. 3 hours from Amway. For the last decade I have been coming up for 5-8 games a season. Every season I pick the Wizards game, the hornets, rockets, pistons etc.. I want the greatest chance to see a win. Even this year so far I did the opener, Mexico city, Pistons. I AM DONE! At that Pistons game I turned to my dad and I told him NO MORE! I want to see them play the Thunder, Twolves, Sixers, Bucks! I now have faith we are back and hopefully will be for a very long time.

Go Magic!

[ORLMagicGirl15]

I hope they live up to your expectations.

[CZ Eddie]

It's still weird to see the Thunder and Twolves mentioned in the same sentence as Sixers & Bucks.

[fendilim]

Its too early to say we are for real.

This is a good sign but we are not yet contenders, until we see how we fare in the playoffs.

Right now our guys are showing they are great players, but playoffs is another ball game.

I do believe Paolo and Franz will struggle their first year in the playoffs. Right now they are getting a lot of free throws, but the playoffs is a more physical game and teams are basically adjusting during the regular season and ramp everything up in the playoffs.

[pepe1991]

You don't become contender in regular season.

If you older than 25-ish, you probably remember Nuggets 2013 roster that won 57 games to get smashed in playoffs. In retrospective nobody will care that Nuggets missed their probably second most important player, Galinari but hey...


Today we have some shift in power at least in terms of regular seson, Wolves, us, Pacers, OKC seems to be poised for high standings. We don't know how that will translate into playoffs.
Wolves lost to Nuggets in not very competitive fashion, with same roster, half of a year ago.
Memphis roster had meteoric rise for past two years, just to nosedive into abyss without Morant now, i don't even know what to make out of them.

Yet, when i look at betting odds for a title, those young teams are nowhere to be found. Today, Wolves still have less chance for a title than Warriors who aren't even in playin slot.

So my takeaway from it is that we can expect lot of young teams to make playoffs but, at the end of a day, like it was case with in season tournament, your new title winner will again be some of : Nuggets, Celtics, Heat, Lakers, Bucks bunch. Maybe Suns.

[Optimus_Steel]

You don't become contender in regular season.

If you older than 25-ish, you probably remember Nuggets 2013 roster that won 57 games to get smashed in playoffs. In retrospective nobody will care that Nuggets missed their probably second most important player, Galinari but hey...


Today we have some shift in power at least in terms of regular seson, Wolves, us, Pacers, OKC seems to be poised for high standings. We don't know how that will translate into playoffs.
Wolves lost to Nuggets in not very competitive fashion, with same roster, half of a year ago.
Memphis roster had meteoric rise for past two years, just to nosedive into abyss without Morant now, i don't even know what to make out of them.

Yet, when i look at betting odds for a title, those young teams are nowhere to be found. Today, Wolves still have less chance for a title than Warriors who aren't even in playin slot.

So my takeaway from it is that we can expect lot of young teams to make playoffs but, at the end of a day, like it was case with in season tournament, your new title winner will again be some of : Nuggets, Celtics, Heat, Lakers, Bucks bunch. Maybe Suns.

I will say this about Indy, they are going to get demolished in the playoffs. No size and no defense, once the defense becomes intense they will struggle.

[Knightro]

I will say this about Indy, they are going to get demolished in the playoffs. No size and no defense, once the defense becomes intense they will struggle.

I tend to agree.

The games also inevitably get slower paced as teams become more locked in to each individual possession too which negates another one of their current regular season advantages.

[fendilim]

I will say this about Indy, they are going to get demolished in the playoffs. No size and no defense, once the defense becomes intense they will struggle.

I tend to agree.

The games also inevitably get slower paced as teams become more locked in to each individual possession too which negates another one of their current regular season advantages.

I agree. Playoff games are also based on matchup hunting because most teams just do switch defense.

Indy doesnt have those players. Even hali is pnr dependent

[bigdogdylan5]

All we need to do is get to the playoffs hopefully as a top 6 seed. We are ahead of schedule and if we can get Paolo at 21 and Franz at 22 playoff experience man that is a huge win for this franchise. Get the experience to learn and get the growing pains out now. It’s early experience on what it takes so they keep being hungry and in 2 years we will be ready to set expectations as possible eastern conference champions.

[jonbob17]

Does for real have to equate to championship caliber? This team looks like one of the better teams in the league. We've got a pretty tough schedule through the end of January, and then it lets up a bit. The thing is we are a pretty tough out for the teams we consider tough too. If we could just manage to play .500 from here on out, that would put us at about 46 wins which should be good enough for a top 6 seed.

Who knows what happens in the playofgs, I'd guess its going to be a struggle offensively....at the same time I'd hate to go up against our team in a defensive slugfest.

This team is absolutely for real, and they just getting started. Barring injury, this team is going to be really good in a couple years.