Bensational wrote:this isn't a 'panic post', based off of one result, but i think what we saw from the team tonight was pretty close to as good as it's going to get. the biggest things we can fix are crashing boards (a Ryno thing), making smarter passes (Jameer/JRich) and making shots (everyone), but even then i'm not sure we're capable of doing it 4 out of 7 games against one of the contenders.
so... i'm ready to scrap this team. do what we can to throw pieces around Dwight that have talent and promise enough to make him stay, and risk him leaving, because the alternative is riding this team into the sunset and then hoping Dwight opts to get back on this tired old horse in the morning. our guys aren't getting any younger (Turk, JRich, Nelson), and i'm not sure our young guys have the potential to do anything spectacular.
i'm not gonna bother suggesting who to go for, but i think Dwight is really seems to be making those final steps to becoming a great player (keeping his cool/passing more/not forcing offence/being a floor leader) , and he deserves a better cast around him. we, the fans, deserve to see that.
I agree. Nelson/JRich/Hedo are at this point solely good role players, and young guys Ryan/JJ have not proven anything but only tantalized. We are looking at two long term options, only one of which our F/O has any control over; freeing up cap space to acquire a star, which means some 'creative financing, or Ryan/JJ developing into solid stars. JJ is a late lottery pick that has a history of being a bench player and Anderson is a 1st rounder with lots of potential getting his first real shot at starting. Both are an outside shot of developing into anything more than a high impact role player, though Anderson is currently putting up star like production. I don't want Otis to be the one to be calling the shots as we move forward.
Edit: of course there is the trade option, which means selling high on some guys and buying low elsewhere. Not sure how realistic that is for us.
Double Edit:
Just a random thought on how we've done in the four factors (4 factors for Offense, and another 4 for defense) relative to the league during the SVG era:
'08 Top 8 in 3/8
'09 Top 8 in 5/8
'10 Top 8 in 5/8
'11 Top 8 in 4/8
'12 Top 8 in 2/8 (not counting tonight's game)
Historical comparison:
'94 Top 8 in 1/8
'95 Top 8 in 5/8
'96 Top 8 in 2/8
Long story short, even last year, which ended in a first round exit to the Hawks (top 8 in 1/8 in case you were wondering), the Magic were an elite team, but clearly on the decline from the previous two years. Now, the trend of decline is continuing, even while Dwight Howard is entering his prime. Still early obviously, but that is the trend line, and I'm interested to see how it continues going forward.
