Ringer Article: Into the Dark, A Recap of the 2017-2018 Orlando Magic

[SOUL]

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/4/12/17226238/orlando-magic-pain-suffering

Thought you might enjoy some Magic content as we begin our offseason.

"The remarkable thing about this current crop of Magic players is that nearly every combination or possibility has ended in doom. One Magic lineup combination—D.J. Augustin, Aaron Gordon, Mario Hezonja, Wesley Iwundu, and Nikola Vucevic—was, among lineups that have played more than 90 minutes together, dead last in offensive rating, third-worst in the NBA in offensive rebounding percentage, second-to-last in effective field goal percentage, and last in true shooting percentage. Now, the 91 minutes they played together isn’t statistically significant."

Sums up our season.

[CalOrl11]

Just reading through it now, but this made me laugh

"I recently described to a friend that the Orlando Magic are the most painful part of my existence. The friend reminded me I’ve been hit by two cars at near-full speed in the past 18 months. My answer stood."

[MagicFan4Lyfe]

I read it this morning and spent all morning crying and in depression. The truth hurts seeing it in ink.

[I Rasharted]

The writer posted a handy video summary of the article:

Watch on YouTube

[WeAreVenom]

Just reading through it now, but this made me laugh

"I recently described to a friend that the Orlando Magic are the most painful part of my existence. The friend reminded me I’ve been hit by two cars at near-full speed in the past 18 months. My answer stood."

I'm sorry if this sounds callous, but how does this happen?

[j-ragg]

Kevin Clark writing about how much the Magic stink again... enlightening stuff.

[rcklsscognition]

There are some classic quotes in this article.

You probably didn’t watch much of the Magic this season. You didn’t miss anything.

You have likely never seen a team decrease its win total in the final two seasons of its six-season rebuild.

Biyombo is two years away from his first Magic contribution: as an expiring $17 million contract in a trade.

Funny read but brings up a serious question. When do we get over this thing called defense? This enigma of pre-draft hype that has seemingly overtaken our organization. How long is this guy? How much can he disrupt the lanes? Who cares? Can he drain 3s and score out of the ISO? Can he run the pick and roll? The modern NBA is about scoring. Defense is something that specialists do. I fear a Stackhouse hire because he is a defense first coach from what I read. I worry that a defense-first coach, someone like Vogel, will have say in shaping the roster, and thus cheating to make his job easier. Like Vogel, it was easier to demand defensive players so the defense would be good vs teaching offensive players and motivating them to play good team defense. We need a coach that can motivate offensively talented players to play defense by teaching them a good system and holding them accountable. We don't need DPOY at 3 of the 5 slots to do so.

We have to say enough is enough. JI is going to have to be our defensive piece and we need to move on from there. Stack the team with offensive weapons and use his defense to motivate and inspire the rest of the lackluster defenders on the team. We've got Simmons too, who, prior to coming to Orlando, was the highest rated wing defender in the NBA. We have to go full on offense.

[OrlandO]

Kevin Clark... I just can't get over the fact that he's supposedly a "magic fan" and still pronounces Vucevic's name as "vookavek" after six years. Vookavek? What? Come on man... his nickname is Vooch, not Vook.

[PennytoShaq]

Yeah this guy has the same negative schtick over and over. He is probably a poster here.lol.

The one thing that is interesting - the Magic finish bottom 3 in the league in 3's. And this year we set the team record for most made 3's in a season, which was even better than the Rashard/Hedo finals team. Just shows how quickly the league has changed and how the Magic will have to adapt as well.

[EasternMagic]

Read this article and felt like I wrote it.

[npiper17]

Ah yes Kevin ‘honestly I’m a Magic fan’ Clark.

I don’t disagree with some of what he says but he (like a lot of content coming out of The Ringer) is pretty repetitive. Thank goodness they have JJ Redick’s podcast.

And this is probably an appropriate thread in which to repeat the question I’ve asked a few times: what is it that everyone sees in Bill Simmons?

[EasternMagic]

Ah yes Kevin ‘honestly I’m a Magic fan’ Clark.

I don’t disagree with some of what he says but he (like a lot of content coming out of The Ringer) is pretty repetitive. Thank goodness they have JJ Redick’s podcast.

And this is probably an appropriate thread in which to repeat the question I’ve asked a few times: what is it that everyone sees in Bill Simmons?

I love Bill Simmons. The content the ringer produces is smart, honest, and fun. That's what people like about it. It's not smoke and mirrors and BS like ESPN is. Their NBA writers are intelligent and relatable.

[npiper17]

Ah yes Kevin ‘honestly I’m a Magic fan’ Clark.

I don’t disagree with some of what he says but he (like a lot of content coming out of The Ringer) is pretty repetitive. Thank goodness they have JJ Redick’s podcast.

And this is probably an appropriate thread in which to repeat the question I’ve asked a few times: what is it that everyone sees in Bill Simmons?

I love Bill Simmons. The content the ringer produces is smart, honest, and fun. That's what people like about it. It's not smoke and mirrors and BS like ESPN is. Their NBA writers are intelligent and relatable.

That’s one opinion. Another is that Bill Simmons tries his hardest to relate everything he says or does back to the Celtics or Red Sox. He is not funny because he tries so hard not to be but then thinks he is (if that makes sense).

I don’t mind some of what The Ringer does but other than JJ it’s nowhere near other outlets in terms of quality of podcasts. Some of their articles are good but you’re doing ESPN a disservice if you read what Zach Lowe writes.

[EasternMagic]

Ah yes Kevin ‘honestly I’m a Magic fan’ Clark.

I don’t disagree with some of what he says but he (like a lot of content coming out of The Ringer) is pretty repetitive. Thank goodness they have JJ Redick’s podcast.

And this is probably an appropriate thread in which to repeat the question I’ve asked a few times: what is it that everyone sees in Bill Simmons?

I love Bill Simmons. The content the ringer produces is smart, honest, and fun. That's what people like about it. It's not smoke and mirrors and BS like ESPN is. Their NBA writers are intelligent and relatable.

That’s one opinion. Another is that Bill Simmons tries his hardest to relate everything he says or does back to the Celtics or Red Sox. He is not funny because he tries so hard not to be but then thinks he is (if that makes sense).

I don’t mind some of what The Ringer does but other than JJ it’s nowhere near other outlets in terms of quality of podcasts. Some of their articles are good but you’re doing ESPN a disservice if you read what Zach Lowe writes.

This is also, "one opinion."

[npiper17]

I love Bill Simmons. The content the ringer produces is smart, honest, and fun. That's what people like about it. It's not smoke and mirrors and BS like ESPN is. Their NBA writers are intelligent and relatable.

That’s one opinion. Another is that Bill Simmons tries his hardest to relate everything he says or does back to the Celtics or Red Sox. He is not funny because he tries so hard not to be but then thinks he is (if that makes sense).

I don’t mind some of what The Ringer does but other than JJ it’s nowhere near other outlets in terms of quality of podcasts. Some of their articles are good but you’re doing ESPN a disservice if you read what Zach Lowe writes.

This is also, "one opinion."

Indeed.

[j-ragg]

I don't mind a lot of the Simmons' guys, especially KOC but Clark seems like a casual fan when I hear him talk on pods. I know he does football too, maybe he's more of a football guy? I understand he's trying to be funny a lot of the time, but he still seems pretty out of touch for such a big Magic fan.

[EasternMagic]

I don't mind a lot of the Simmons' guys, especially KOC but Clark seems like a casual fan when I hear him talk on pods. I know he does football too, maybe he's more of a football guy? I understand he's trying to be funny a lot of the time, but he still seems pretty out of touch for such a big Magic fan.

KOC is definitely my favorite there. He does his homework. Like Simmons, he loves his Celtics, but he's not overtly biased. The Ringer crew is just a fun group, too. Their content is always well put together.

[j-ragg]

I don't mind a lot of the Simmons' guys, especially KOC but Clark seems like a casual fan when I hear him talk on pods. I know he does football too, maybe he's more of a football guy? I understand he's trying to be funny a lot of the time, but he still seems pretty out of touch for such a big Magic fan.

KOC is definitely my favorite there. He does his homework. Like Simmons, he loves his Celtics, but he's not overtly biased. The Ringer crew is just a fun group, too. Their content is always well put together.

Agreed. Him, Danny Chau, Jonathan Tjarks, they seem to know their stuff. Don't care for Clark and the guy who's handle is @netw3rk or whatever. Just laughs the whole time like a hyena at everything Simmons says before Bill even finishes saying it, kind of annoying imo.

[EasternMagic]

Bill Simmons is dying right now though

[npiper17]

I rest my case!

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