Let's Talk About Mario

[magicfan217]

It's really a shame in all these years we have been so bad we never played our #5 pick for a prolonged period of time until now.

[fendilim]

There is one thing missing... Eddy's take on curret evolving situation.

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lol. 1st post of a 2009 user. ultimate lurker.

[Furinkazan]

like I have said it seems it was mostly confidence issue and you gain confidence with steady playing time not getting benched and ending up in a doghouse when you make a mistake
again I say he would be near Suns Booker level if he was put is same exact situation

[Furinkazan]

he was captured here on a team that was supposed to compete for playoffs spot instead of tanking...
crossroads this team is always standing at is the main issue here and the culprits are ones from management who cant f decide on the path... so we stand there still and if not for injuries we would have enough wins to be out of top pick hunt and Mario still would be considered as a pooper
sure many blame Mario for not showing much.But I love how some of you actually expected 19-22 yo player to be ready when his number is called and expect he wont make mistakes ... some rare gems Like JJ Redick can develop themselves via training mainly and getting better even with lil pt but some players actually need some stability and develpoment via steady playing time

[pepe1991]

There is one thing missing... Eddy's take on curret evolving situation.

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this team menaged to force 9 yeras silence reader to leave first comment

[Bensational]

If the rumours are true and we're shopping Fournier, apart from getting assets in return, I hope it also means we at least try to clear room for Hezonja and try to convince him to stick around with the promise of a much larger role going forwards.

I don't think I'll ever get over WeHam declining his option. Sure, I'd pretty much given up on Mario myself at that point, but I still would've kept him on the team through the duration of his contract.

[Def Swami]

If the rumours are true and we're shopping Fournier, apart from getting assets in return, I hope it also means we at least try to clear room for Hezonja and try to convince him to stick around with the promise of a much larger role going forwards.

I don't think I'll ever get over WeHam declining his option. Sure, I'd pretty much given up on Mario myself at that point, but I still would've kept him on the team through the duration of his contract.

I wouldn't mind the Magic going this route. Clear Fournier's contract, and let Hezonja get more minutes, tank the rest of the way, and maybe keep him for more than half the price. Giving him the opportunity to earn it the rest of the way would be a show of good faith if the Magic really wanted to keep him.

[Def Swami]

Declining the option may hurt. Hezonja will never live up to the hype. But, I'm genuinely just happy for Mario. I remember going to games and he would look so lifeless and uninvolved with the rest of the roster. He seemed miserable and like an outcast. I'm at least happy that he's getting a 2nd chance find his niche in the NBA. It may not be here, but I'll be rooting for him.

[FFBlitzace]

Taken from this thread, which was about the news that we had declined his option:
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1630847#start_here

I understand that his 4th year salary as a #5 pick isn't a negligible number, but it's always been my belief that teams owe it to themselves to try getting something out of their lottery picks. If they still suck after year 4, then fine, don't give them the qualifying offer and let them go. I know Mario was Rob's pick, and not Weltman's, but this franchise still used a #5 pick on him. The quickest and easiest way to make sure you get nothing from that pick is to decline their option and let them go.

I've always been a Mario apologist, because I liked him and I just really wanted him to be good. But admittedly even I had given up on it. My pro-Mario posts had become strictly humorous in nature. Even so, I stand firm by what I said in that thread. It's just bad business in my opinion to throw away a #5 pick like that, even if you believe he sucks. If you're willing to pay some trash veteran like Shelvin Mack the same amount of money to sit on your bench and occasionally enter games and be terrible, then why not eat one more year of a rookie salary, just in case he surprises everyone and turns things around? You (as a franchise, not an individual) used a #5 pick on that guy. That's huge. That's not some throwaway investment.

[OrlandO]

I'm not sure I blame Weltman for declining Mario at this point. If he breaks out elsewhere and it turns into an oladipo situation then that's obviously going to suck, but if he just goes on to be a decent role player off the bench or something then I'm not going to care much. Vogel didn't do Mario any favors, but it's not like Mario did himself any favors either... he often looked like he just woke up from a coma and the consensus earlier this season was he was still looking like a bust. Making the decision to prematurely cut ties with a struggling young player like him is probably a consequence of overpaying backups like Augustin and Biyombo... two key roster spots and a quarter of our cap gone to a combo that once started for a 7-win team.

[tooler]

I wish he played like this his rookie year.

[KillMonger]

Got to admit I'm genuinely surprised he's playing so consistently well. Elf could learn a thing or two from Mario about consistency.... Jk, I'm happy for him..... Maybe this will open up the door to him sticking around?

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[Hoyti Von Totiy]

..... Maybe this will open up the door to him sticking around?

Not a chance in hell. I think he´d rather go back to Europe than stay here.
He need´s a fresh start with a new team.

[SOUL]

I wish he played like this his rookie year.

2nd year I think for me. Rookie year was semi-promising.

[pepe1991]

I wish he played like this his rookie year.

2nd year I think for me. Rookie year was semi-promising.

for all ***t we as fans ( me included ) said about him, Winslow and Johnson even in their third season still didn't outplayed his rookie year

[croat25]

I hope he leave for his own sake. Those minutes he's getting now are just a way to get literally anything for him otherwise he'd be DNP or getting garbage time. Hope he's aware of that after all this time rotting on the bench. He lost 2-3 years on a team that didn't trust him and didn't develop him. I blame team staff first, but also himself for being too arrogant and cocky which only brought a huge expectations that he couldn't bear with. Also this team is the most selfish team I ever watched. Everyone is playing for themselves, contracts, zero chemistry, zero plays, just hero balls. The results are terrible. I am afraid it's not coincidence that every player who left Magic became better player and I wish the same for Mario.

[fendilim]

I hope he leave for his own sake. Those minutes he's getting now are just a way to get literally anything for him otherwise he'd be DNP or getting garbage time. Hope he's aware of that after all this time rotting on the bench. He lost 2-3 years on a team that didn't trust him and didn't develop him. I blame team staff first, but also himself for being too arrogant and cocky which only brought a huge expectations that he couldn't bear with. Also this team is the most selfish team I ever watched. Everyone is playing for themselves, contracts, zero chemistry, zero plays, just hero balls. The results are terrible. I am afraid it's not coincidence that every player who left Magic became better player and I wish the same for Mario.

meh, I really think its more of the staffs fault on this.

Mario, during his rookie year, has already shown flashes he can succeed in this role. But Vogel simply didn't know how to use him, like Skiles did.

[Instincts]

There is some truth to both.

Could the situation have been handled better by the team? Yes
Was Mario more "raw" with his decision making than we expected? Yes
Could Mario have handle the situation better? Yes
Will Mario be better off in the long run for having learned "to play the right way"? Probably Yes

As with AG we knew they both were young and raw when drafted. It should not be a surprise that in year 3 and 4 these guys are breaking out. It is called a learning curve. Unfortunately this relates back to not bottoming out completely. We drafted in the 4-6 range, and because of that we correctly drafted high upside unfinished players. Then as we know, we rushed the rebuild and tried to win to early, and rushed the learning curve with the young players. Nothing should have been expected from Mario until year 3 or 4.

A lot comes down to a disconnect between Hennigans draft picks and the expectations and strategy of upper management/ ownership. Looking back, did Hennigan make any extremely poor picks. Not particularly.

Mario had some bad habits, if he was enabled to continue those habits without consequence then he may have continued those habits for the remainder of his career.

I do wish management had given him more time.

I hope he leave for his own sake. Those minutes he's getting now are just a way to get literally anything for him otherwise he'd be DNP or getting garbage time. Hope he's aware of that after all this time rotting on the bench. He lost 2-3 years on a team that didn't trust him and didn't develop him. I blame team staff first, but also himself for being too arrogant and cocky which only brought a huge expectations that he couldn't bear with. Also this team is the most selfish team I ever watched. Everyone is playing for themselves, contracts, zero chemistry, zero plays, just hero balls. The results are terrible. I am afraid it's not coincidence that every player who left Magic became better player and I wish the same for Mario.

meh, I really think its more of the staffs fault on this.

Mario, during his rookie year, has already shown flashes he can succeed in this role. But Vogel simply didn't know how to use him, like Skiles did.

[tiderulz]

There is some truth to both.

Could the situation have been handled better by the team? Yes
Was Mario more "raw" with his decision making than we expected? Yes
Could Mario have handle the situation better? Yes
Will Mario be better off in the long run for having learned "to play the right way"? Probably Yes

As with AG we knew they both were young and raw when drafted. It should not be a surprise that in year 3 and 4 these guys are breaking out. It is called a learning curve. Unfortunately this relates back to not bottoming out completely. We drafted in the 4-6 range, and because of that we correctly drafted high upside unfinished players. Then as we know, we rushed the rebuild and tried to win to early, and rushed the learning curve with the young players. Nothing should have been expected from Mario until year 3 or 4.

A lot comes down to a disconnect between Hennigans draft picks and the expectations and strategy of upper management/ ownership. Looking back, did Hennigan make any extremely poor picks. Not particularly.

Mario had some bad habits, if he was enabled to continue those habits without consequence then he may have continued those habits for the remainder of his career.

I do wish management had given him more time.

except we were constantly told that Mario had been playing professionally since he was like 14, so he should not have been as raw as he was.

[prizm]

There is some truth to both.

Could the situation have been handled better by the team? Yes
Was Mario more "raw" with his decision making than we expected? Yes
Could Mario have handle the situation better? Yes
Will Mario be better off in the long run for having learned "to play the right way"? Probably Yes

As with AG we knew they both were young and raw when drafted. It should not be a surprise that in year 3 and 4 these guys are breaking out. It is called a learning curve. Unfortunately this relates back to not bottoming out completely. We drafted in the 4-6 range, and because of that we correctly drafted high upside unfinished players. Then as we know, we rushed the rebuild and tried to win to early, and rushed the learning curve with the young players. Nothing should have been expected from Mario until year 3 or 4.

A lot comes down to a disconnect between Hennigans draft picks and the expectations and strategy of upper management/ ownership. Looking back, did Hennigan make any extremely poor picks. Not particularly.

Mario had some bad habits, if he was enabled to continue those habits without consequence then he may have continued those habits for the remainder of his career.

I do wish management had given him more time.

I hope he leave for his own sake. Those minutes he's getting now are just a way to get literally anything for him otherwise he'd be DNP or getting garbage time. Hope he's aware of that after all this time rotting on the bench. He lost 2-3 years on a team that didn't trust him and didn't develop him. I blame team staff first, but also himself for being too arrogant and cocky which only brought a huge expectations that he couldn't bear with. Also this team is the most selfish team I ever watched. Everyone is playing for themselves, contracts, zero chemistry, zero plays, just hero balls. The results are terrible. I am afraid it's not coincidence that every player who left Magic became better player and I wish the same for Mario.

meh, I really think its more of the staffs fault on this.

Mario, during his rookie year, has already shown flashes he can succeed in this role. But Vogel simply didn't know how to use him, like Skiles did.

Funny you mention bad habits... because Gordon has developed a habit worse than anything hezonja went through... nobody on the staff seems to be fixing Gordon's ball hog chucking habits and just let him continue on with his nonsense every time he's on the court with no consequences... everything has dropped off, most significantly his defense... and forget about the 4 or 5 assist he has during the past what? 9 or 10 games? This is why I'm afraid of giving Gordon the max... if the staff doesn't tell him to knock off his bs... once he gets the max here this bs habit of his is going to go even beyond what we're seeing this season...

People talk about vooch and Fournier ball hoggin... I'm seeing no difference in Gordon at all... and we'll end up seeing more losses pile up and what else I'm afraid is that Isaac and the upcoming draft pick will get influenced by it...

Thats why this team is such a mess... the head coach seems to be a horrible leader... he seems clueless on a lot of things but the most disappointing seems to be his leadership...