Boycotting Next Season

[SHAQ32]

Thanks Hilltop.

Yeah I know it seems odd, but im just a passionate Magic fan.

[tiderulz]

10th in the league in block %

But his defense has progressively gotten worse since 2012.

Speaking of benchings this guy got benched in favor of Kanter and Adams during the playoffs.

And we just traded our most valuable trade asset for a guy him.

except for the fact that OKC went small with him at center to turn their series around vs GS.

[tiderulz]

Its so funny that people like the idea of trading for Serge and they want to give up only Napier, Nicholson, Marble + 11th pick. You guys are really funny!

Put this in perspective, this is basically a swap Oladipo for Ibaka. Oladipo is 24 and Ibaka is 26. Vic is fast, Serge is big and strong. Vic has no experience in playoff, Serge has a lot. So what are we losing???

All the Raps were offering for Ibaka was the 9th pick, Patrick Patterson, and Bruno. Not to say that was our only competition in the "Ibaka Sweepstakes", but we really went above and beyond. Would've much rather tried to sell them on Mario, Sabonis, and Ilysasova, than Vic....but what's done is done. Now we just have to find someone to actually create these open shots for Ibaka to shoot. Time to stop crying about this trade and see what the next move is.

is not Payton our PG and Evan who people have to cover on the perimeter people that can help create looks?

[basketballRob]

I think it's safe to say Ibaka was the best player involved in the deal. 3 time first team all NBA, 10th all time in blocks per game with 2.5 blocks.

Look at other big men who played with two stars and how they sacrificed their own stats. Love with the Cavs the last two years, KG when he went to Boston, Bosh when he went to Miami.

Look how Harden exploded when he left OKC.

Ibaka could very well have a breakout season and be the perfect compliment to Vucevic. I've advocated getting rid of Vuc but now I'd like to wait and see.

[JAY DASH]

Its so funny that people like the idea of trading for Serge and they want to give up only Napier, Nicholson, Marble + 11th pick. You guys are really funny!

Put this in perspective, this is basically a swap Oladipo for Ibaka. Oladipo is 24 and Ibaka is 26. Vic is fast, Serge is big and strong. Vic has no experience in playoff, Serge has a lot. So what are we losing???

All the Raps were offering for Ibaka was the 9th pick, Patrick Patterson, and Bruno. Not to say that was our only competition in the "Ibaka Sweepstakes", but we really went above and beyond. Would've much rather tried to sell them on Mario, Sabonis, and Ilysasova, than Vic....but what's done is done. Now we just have to find someone to actually create these open shots for Ibaka to shoot. Time to stop crying about this trade and see what the next move is.

is not Payton our PG and Evan who people have to cover on the perimeter people that can help create looks?

No I mean...really create looks. Ibaka benefited from teams having to help on and stay attached to Russ and KD. We had Channing Frye (a vastly superior shooter to Serge with a quicker release) and he basically served no purpose on our team. Went to Cleveland and made an immediate impact.

Evan's not really thinking pass when he gets the ball in his hands, as his 2 assists per game indicates. Elf can create but I'd love to upgrade at PG if it's possible. We have a unique opportunity to have 4 shooters on the court at once without sacrificing too much on the defensive end now that we have Ibaka. I say let's go all the way in for this season because Ibaka's probably not re-signing if we don't add at least one more bonafide proven player to this roster.

[JAY DASH]

I think it's safe to say Ibaka was the best player involved in the deal. 3 time first team all NBA, 10th all time in blocks per game with 2.5 blocks.

Look at other big men who played with two stars and how they sacrificed their own stats. Love with the Cavs the last two years, KG when he went to Boston, Bosh when he went to Miami.

Look how Harden exploded when he left OKC.

Ibaka could very well have a breakout season and be the perfect compliment to Vucevic. I've advocated getting rid of Vuc but now I'd like to wait and see.

The only flaw in that comparison is that Ibaka's always played with Russ and KD so there's no real explanation for the dropoff. Nobody's really concerned about his scoring dropoff, it's the regression in rebounding and shot blocking that just doesn't make sense to anyone. He blocked less shots per game than John Henson last season. Still a good shot blocker but he was elite 2-3 years ago. I believe Vogel will put him in position to get those numbers back up.

[ZeusIsLoose]

First off Oladipo as much as he was a great ambassador for the Magic, he was just eh ok. Unfortunately he doesnt fit with Elfrid. We knew one of them had to go and given the log jam at the 2 plus Rob sticking with Elfrid over Skiles, all signs pointed to Dipo being out. Speaking of Skiles, if he was still here, this deal definitely does not get done. Skiles loved him. But the reality is, is that the Magic were god awful defending the paint and Ibaka helps with that. Ibaka unfortunately was the odd man out in OKC and it was time for him to go. At 26, I can't imagine he's declining. History has shown a player at his age is actually in their prime. Under Billy Ds system, he just wasn't a fit. And I much rather extend Ibaka at 26 than give Horford a full 30 mil a year contract at 30 years old.
I really did enjoy Dipo being here (hell I have his signed jersey framed) but this was a deal the Magic needed to make. Magic are better today than they were on Wednesday. I'm excited for the season and I don't think the Magic are done yet in the offseason.

[shadrock]

Seems this negative response is more an emotional attachment thing than anything. Which i get. Maybe i underestimated that element a bit.

[shadrock]

I think it's safe to say Ibaka was the best player involved in the deal. 3 time first team all NBA, 10th all time in blocks per game with 2.5 blocks.

Look at other big men who played with two stars and how they sacrificed their own stats. Love with the Cavs the last two years, KG when he went to Boston, Bosh when he went to Miami.

Look how Harden exploded when he left OKC.

Ibaka could very well have a breakout season and be the perfect compliment to Vucevic. I've advocated getting rid of Vuc but now I'd like to wait and see.

The only flaw in that comparison is that Ibaka's always played with Russ and KD so there's no real explanation for the dropoff. Nobody's really concerned about his scoring dropoff, it's the regression in rebounding and shot blocking that just doesn't make sense to anyone. He blocked less shots per game than John Henson last season. Still a good shot blocker but he was elite 2-3 years ago. I believe Vogel will put him in position to get those numbers back up.

The drop in rebs and blks was due to him being out near the 3pt line more. Thats pretty obvious imo.

[RookieStar]

So we just tell him to stop going out of the paint?

[tiderulz]

I think it's safe to say Ibaka was the best player involved in the deal. 3 time first team all NBA, 10th all time in blocks per game with 2.5 blocks.

Look at other big men who played with two stars and how they sacrificed their own stats. Love with the Cavs the last two years, KG when he went to Boston, Bosh when he went to Miami.

Look how Harden exploded when he left OKC.

Ibaka could very well have a breakout season and be the perfect compliment to Vucevic. I've advocated getting rid of Vuc but now I'd like to wait and see.

The only flaw in that comparison is that Ibaka's always played with Russ and KD so there's no real explanation for the dropoff. Nobody's really concerned about his scoring dropoff, it's the regression in rebounding and shot blocking that just doesn't make sense to anyone. He blocked less shots per game than John Henson last season. Still a good shot blocker but he was elite 2-3 years ago. I believe Vogel will put him in position to get those numbers back up.

except a new coach, new offensive scheme, new players to share the load, different role.

Just look at Harris, Dipo and Vuc all have a drop off last year with Skiles system.

[Def Swami]

[JAY DASH]

I think it's safe to say Ibaka was the best player involved in the deal. 3 time first team all NBA, 10th all time in blocks per game with 2.5 blocks.

Look at other big men who played with two stars and how they sacrificed their own stats. Love with the Cavs the last two years, KG when he went to Boston, Bosh when he went to Miami.

Look how Harden exploded when he left OKC.

Ibaka could very well have a breakout season and be the perfect compliment to Vucevic. I've advocated getting rid of Vuc but now I'd like to wait and see.

The only flaw in that comparison is that Ibaka's always played with Russ and KD so there's no real explanation for the dropoff. Nobody's really concerned about his scoring dropoff, it's the regression in rebounding and shot blocking that just doesn't make sense to anyone. He blocked less shots per game than John Henson last season. Still a good shot blocker but he was elite 2-3 years ago. I believe Vogel will put him in position to get those numbers back up.

The drop in rebs and blks was due to him being out near the 3pt line more. Thats pretty obvious imo.

It would make sense if the drop off was only on the offensive glass. Why was he out near the 3 point line on defense? He averaged 4.5 boards a game against the Spurs in the playoffs. LA's not at the 3 point line very much. Ibaka just isn't a great rebounder in general. He gets more rebounds in uptempo games against teams like Houston and Golden State than he does against traditional bigs. I'm not being negative, but I'm not giving Serge a pass for his regression. It's not a Billy Donovan thing. If he wants to improve that, he just needs to bring more energy than he did most of last season. I watched a lot of OKC...you'd forget he was on the court at all some nights.

[SHAQ32]

Good posts JAY DASH.