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Elfrid Payton (elbow) will not play tonight. C.J. Watson, the man with one facial expression, will start in Payton's place.

It will be Watson's first start with the Magic.

Payton injured his right elbow as he attempted to go through a screen early in the first quarter of the Magic's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. Team officials are calling Payton's injury a sprain.

"I felt a little bit of pain," Payton said. "I kept playing through it."

Asked if he'd make any changes to the rest of the lineup tonight, Scott Skiles answered, "I might."

Nikola Vucevic is expected to miss his third straight game with a strained groin.

Sacramento Kings All-Star DeMarcus Cousins was suspended for Friday’s game against the Orlando Magic for “conduct detrimental to the team.” Cousins was suspended for yelling at coach George Karl during a timeout in a 120-111 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, sources told Yahoo Sports.

Good thread. Looking forward to the comments in this thread.

Just show some fight out there is all I ask at this point.

Just lose baby!

ChosenSavior wrote:Good thread. Looking forward to the comments in this thread.

Just show some fight out there is all I ask at this point.

I look forward to the comments in every game thread. Lol

Oh Good some balance and consistency at the starting PG spot....



wait for it.

Cousins out and I bet we still lose.


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just let mario and ag have a bigger role already. look at what Phoenix did with booker

Very interested to see the lineup and rotations tonight.

Oh boy. This is going to be fun.

Anti Chalmers wrote:just let mario and ag have a bigger role already. look at what Phoenix did with booker

Exactly. Booker took 52 field goal attempts in the span of 24 hours. Made 50% of them, but only 30% of 3 pointers. Had 8 turnovers total to only 6 assists. And he was torched on the defensive end by the likes of Sasha Vujevic and Mudiay. But the talk around the league is he will be a great star. Opportunity is everything, even when you are a bit too shot happy, play bad D, and have a suspect handle.

Now imagine Booker with Skiles as the coach. It would never happen.

eddy33 wrote:

Anti Chalmers wrote:just let mario and ag have a bigger role already. look at what Phoenix did with booker

Exactly. Booker took 52 field goal attempts in the span of 24 hours. Made 50% of them, but only 30% of 3 pointers. Had 8 turnovers total to only 6 assists. And he was torched on the defensive end by the likes of Sasha Vujevic and Mudiay. But the talk around the league is he will be a great star. Opportunity is everything, even when you are a bit too shot happy, play bad D, and have a suspect handle.

Now imagine Booker with Skiles as the coach. It would never happen.

It wouldn't happen with Skiles or any other coach ! The only reason booker got the opportunity is because all the players in front of him for injured ! Before the injuries booker wasn't not getting the oppurtunities he has now !

Im sensing a W tonight. Magic 112 Kings 106

Mc-o wrote:

eddy33 wrote:

Anti Chalmers wrote:just let mario and ag have a bigger role already. look at what Phoenix did with booker

Exactly. Booker took 52 field goal attempts in the span of 24 hours. Made 50% of them, but only 30% of 3 pointers. Had 8 turnovers total to only 6 assists. And he was torched on the defensive end by the likes of Sasha Vujevic and Mudiay. But the talk around the league is he will be a great star. Opportunity is everything, even when you are a bit too shot happy, play bad D, and have a suspect handle.

Now imagine Booker with Skiles as the coach. It would never happen.

It wouldn't happen with Skiles or any other coach ! The only reason booker got the opportunity is because all the players in front of him for injured ! Before the injuries booker wasn't not getting the oppurtunities he has now !

Skiles pulled Hezonja during the Dallas game which he started because of an injury too. And why was he pulled when this should have been a golden opportunity? According to Skiles Hezonja "was too shot happy" when Hezonja took 2 quick shots in the third quarter. See the difference?

PHX is actually riding Booker at the expense of more experienced players by design. They see his potential and give him the green light as a strategy and not a fallback. Also it should be noted he had the worst plus minus (-41) in the two games but he played the most minutes.

Last night's game in minutes for all available PHX guards:
Booker - 44 min
Price - 38
Knight - 24
Goodwin - 19
Pressey - 1
Jenkins - DNP

I don't get why so many on this board refuse to admit that other teams actually have a different strategy for their high draft picks than the Magic do. IMO the way Skiles has handled Hezonja and AG has hurt their stock and wasted an opportunity too build the Magic brand. This in turn could have lasting negative effects, not least of which could result in the failure to lure quality FA's.

Playoffs are gone so why not run plays that get Hezonja 20+ shots and run plays for Gordon too? Imagine if Hezonja goes for 40 and Gordon shows his versatility on the offensive end. How different the Magic future would look.....

eddy33 wrote:Playoffs are gone so why not run plays that get Hezonja 20+ shots and run plays for Gordon too? Imagine if Hezonja goes for 40 and Gordon shows his versatility on the offensive end. How different the Magic future would look.....

I wonder at what point the Magic will throw in the towel and switch to giving Mario/Aaron more touches. I'm not so sure Skiles is eager to make that transition... will we have to wait until we're mathematically eliminated from the playoffs?

Elf is out and CJ starts

Does this mean we dont have to deal with the Protectors of Elf tonight?

Anti Chalmers wrote:just let mario and ag have a bigger role already. look at what Phoenix did with booker

ALL I want is for my 3 keepers, Dipo, AG and Mario to get significant minutes. Will finally get a chance to watch a game.

eddy33 wrote:

Mc-o wrote:

eddy33 wrote:
Exactly. Booker took 52 field goal attempts in the span of 24 hours. Made 50% of them, but only 30% of 3 pointers. Had 8 turnovers total to only 6 assists. And he was torched on the defensive end by the likes of Sasha Vujevic and Mudiay. But the talk around the league is he will be a great star. Opportunity is everything, even when you are a bit too shot happy, play bad D, and have a suspect handle.

Now imagine Booker with Skiles as the coach. It would never happen.

It wouldn't happen with Skiles or any other coach ! The only reason booker got the opportunity is because all the players in front of him for injured ! Before the injuries booker wasn't not getting the oppurtunities he has now !

Skiles pulled Hezonja during the Dallas game which he started because of an injury too. And why was he pulled when this should have been a golden opportunity? According to Skiles Hezonja "was too shot happy" when Hezonja took 2 quick shots in the third quarter. See the difference?

PHX is actually riding Booker at the expense of more experienced players by design. They see his potential and give him the green light as a strategy and not a fallback. Also it should be noted he had the worst plus minus (-41) in the two games but he played the most minutes.

Last night's game in minutes for all available PHX guards:
Booker - 44 min
Price - 38
Knight - 24
Goodwin - 19
Pressey - 1
Jenkins - DNP

I don't get why so many on this board refuse to admit that other teams actually have a different strategy for their high draft picks than the Magic do. IMO the way Skiles has handled Hezonja and AG has hurt their stock and wasted an opportunity too build the Magic brand. This in turn could have lasting negative effects, not least of which could result in the failure to lure quality FA's.

Playoffs are gone so why not run plays that get Hezonja 20+ shots and run plays for Gordon too? Imagine if Hezonja goes for 40 and Gordon shows his versatility on the offensive end. How different the Magic future would look.....

Phoenix has been out of the playoff picture since before the all-star break...that comparison is absolutely ridiculous

That Dallas game you speak of, the Magic were 3 games out of the 8th seed with 23 games to go - the goal was to win the game....and Dallas was punishing Mario going right at him + he was having a terrible shooting game.

...and its comical that you are using the Phoenix franchise as the model for player development

Can't say I'm surprised Skiles went with Watson over Jennings.

eddy33 wrote:

Mc-o wrote:

eddy33 wrote:
Exactly. Booker took 52 field goal attempts in the span of 24 hours. Made 50% of them, but only 30% of 3 pointers. Had 8 turnovers total to only 6 assists. And he was torched on the defensive end by the likes of Sasha Vujevic and Mudiay. But the talk around the league is he will be a great star. Opportunity is everything, even when you are a bit too shot happy, play bad D, and have a suspect handle.

Now imagine Booker with Skiles as the coach. It would never happen.

It wouldn't happen with Skiles or any other coach ! The only reason booker got the opportunity is because all the players in front of him for injured ! Before the injuries booker wasn't not getting the oppurtunities he has now !

Skiles pulled Hezonja during the Dallas game which he started because of an injury too. And why was he pulled when this should have been a golden opportunity? According to Skiles Hezonja "was too shot happy" when Hezonja took 2 quick shots in the third quarter. See the difference?

PHX is actually riding Booker at the expense of more experienced players by design. They see his potential and give him the green light as a strategy and not a fallback. Also it should be noted he had the worst plus minus (-41) in the two games but he played the most minutes.

Last night's game in minutes for all available PHX guards:
Booker - 44 min
Price - 38
Knight - 24
Goodwin - 19
Pressey - 1
Jenkins - DNP

I don't get why so many on this board refuse to admit that other teams actually have a different strategy for their high draft picks than the Magic do. IMO the way Skiles has handled Hezonja and AG has hurt their stock and wasted an opportunity too build the Magic brand. This in turn could have lasting negative effects, not least of which could result in the failure to lure quality FA's.

Playoffs are gone so why not run plays that get Hezonja 20+ shots and run plays for Gordon too? Imagine if Hezonja goes for 40 and Gordon shows his versatility on the offensive end. How different the Magic future would look.....

I just don't get how ur comparing the booker situation to Mario or even AG. First off AG is a starter, and to think we should try to force him to be an offensive player when he is not that yet just makes me think you are being irrational. And as for Mario Skiles is just holding him accountable on defense and on his decision making , he is a rookie so I'm ok with that . You can act like your some genius basketball guru but in reality you are no more than an armchair coach like the rest of us ! Skiles has his faults but our problems as a team are much bigger than him . The biggest problem is we have an inexperienced team ! You constantly try to talk down Skiles decisions because he doesn't use a 20 year old rookie the way you think is right , when he is making multiple mistakes !!!! Just shows me that you really don't know how much as you think and just our a fan of our young players and are incapable of making an unbiased opinion