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NBlue wrote:

pepe1991 wrote:

NBlue wrote:
Its unclear to me whether Pepe is aware that players are responsible for playing both offense and defense. JI has struggled offensively just like most of our squad -- but he has been a standout defensively -- especially in games 2 & 3. He has basically been the sole player who can defend Siakam consistently as without him on the floor Evan or Ross have gotten completely abused.

Plainly, you are welcome to your opinion that JI has been a "disaster". I don't see that. I see a player that has played exceptionally on the defensive end and has struggled to make shots on the offensive end though he has continued to battle. If any of our more skilled offensive weapons were doing anything against the Raptors it might be that your constant shots at JI (and AG as well) may have some viability but JI has -- at worst -- been our second best player on the defensive end of the floor and certainly has played no worse than Evan on the offensive end.

Did you see stats of Siakam and Leonard and you are calling that "steller " defense? They are combining for 50% FG on freaking 58,5 eFG . Leonard actually has skyhigh TS of 63% and 8,2 OBPM. Nobody , Isaac included is doing anything to stop them, matter of fact best defense on them whole playoffs was done by- illnes of Leonard in game 3

Where you can expect Leonard to be great, it's mindblowing that Siakam is averaging 22 ppg and scores at will on everybody, including Isaac.
Given that he is not diference maker on defense, and is terrible on offense ( again, 30% FG on 7,5 ppg ) , that makes him worst starter. I really don't get how is this even debatable ?! Wide open all the time, can't score at all.

This is getting absurd.

Can we look at actual statistics that have some relevance and not whatever it is you are attempting to do here. Siakam went off in game 3. In that game he shot 9-10 when guarded by Magic players not named Jonathan Isaac and 4-10 when guarded by JI. But, yes, feel free to continue to blame JI's D for Siakam scoring against other defenders and for Leonard's shooting despite the fact that JI has not guarded him the entire series (except on a very few occasions).

AG has also been great on Kawhi, but he makes tough shot after tough shot, dude is a superstar for a reason.

Now our guys know what they are getting themselves into and what it takes to make it to that next level. They just have to grasp it now. I still see what this team can be... especially once Fultz and bamba are healthy. But disappointment and "failure" can make a huge difference for players. Some will hit the gym and bust their a$$ cuz they are now hooked to this feeling... and that is really what I hope will happen. If vuc and ross decide to leave... that is their business.... but there is no way that I will want them to leave. Vuc for sure I would like to retain... ross... I love him... when he's on... but when he's it off makes that 2nd unit a little rough. If he gets replaced by a more consistent guard off the bench... I wouldn't be upset at that either.

everyone talks about what we don't have.... but forget that THAT is part of the puzzle. You play... you see your holes and you fill them. Sometimes you can do it with something permanent... other times it's a temporary patch with chewing gum and duck tape. But either way... I'm sure Hammond and weltman will be trying their best to put us in the best position as possible for next season.

OK... not talking bout it like it's over anymore...LOL.... going to cheer our boys on tonight... let's get another win!!!

yoyojw17 wrote:Now our guys know what they are getting themselves into and what it takes to make it to that next level. They just have to grasp it now. I still see what this team can be... especially once Fultz and bamba are healthy. But disappointment and "failure" can make a huge difference for players. Some will hit the gym and bust their a$$ cuz they are now hooked to this feeling... and that is really what I hope will happen. If vuc and ross decide to leave... that is their business.... but there is no way that I will want them to leave. Vuc for sure I would like to retain... ross... I love him... when he's on... but when he's it off makes that 2nd unit a little rough. If he gets replaced by a more consistent guard off the bench... I wouldn't be upset at that either.

everyone talks about what we don't have.... but forget that THAT is part of the puzzle. You play... you see your holes and you fill them. Sometimes you can do it with something permanent... other times it's a temporary patch with chewing gum and duck tape. But either way... I'm sure Hammond and weltman will be trying their best to put us in the best position as possible for next season.

OK... not talking bout it like it's over anymore...LOL.... going to cheer our boys on tonight... let's get another win!!!

This! How quickly everyone goes from loving Vooch, DJ, TRoss to trashing them. Losing has made this fanbase pretty bitter. We can definitely do a better job getting behind the guys who represent the team/city we love. We just had a great run and our young core got some much needed experience. Almost every player had a career year.. we made the payoffs..we found a coach!!!!

Some changes can and will eventually be made but for now lets cheer on our guys and watch them battle to stay alive!

MattOrlando1220 wrote:

yoyojw17 wrote:Now our guys know what they are getting themselves into and what it takes to make it to that next level. They just have to grasp it now. I still see what this team can be... especially once Fultz and bamba are healthy. But disappointment and "failure" can make a huge difference for players. Some will hit the gym and bust their a$$ cuz they are now hooked to this feeling... and that is really what I hope will happen. If vuc and ross decide to leave... that is their business.... but there is no way that I will want them to leave. Vuc for sure I would like to retain... ross... I love him... when he's on... but when he's it off makes that 2nd unit a little rough. If he gets replaced by a more consistent guard off the bench... I wouldn't be upset at that either.

everyone talks about what we don't have.... but forget that THAT is part of the puzzle. You play... you see your holes and you fill them. Sometimes you can do it with something permanent... other times it's a temporary patch with chewing gum and duck tape. But either way... I'm sure Hammond and weltman will be trying their best to put us in the best position as possible for next season.

OK... not talking bout it like it's over anymore...LOL.... going to cheer our boys on tonight... let's get another win!!!

This! How quickly everyone goes from loving Vooch, DJ, TRoss to trashing them. Losing has made this fanbase pretty bitter. We can definitely do a better job getting behind the guys who represent the team/city we love. We just had a great run and our young core got some much needed experience. Almost every player had a career year.. we made the payoffs..we found a coach!!!!

Some changes can and will eventually be made but for now lets cheer on our guys and watch them battle to stay alive!

Exactly. If we were an older and healthy team which has shown no change and squeaked into the playoffs... i would be more suspect. But we are a young team... had health problems with some key player.... a new coach ... who 3 month ago everyone waws wondering how Zion williamson was gonna fit on our team.... and instead now we are in the playoffs. Yeah... imma be hopeful and happy.

Our team did their best, not enough to beat Raptors, but it's OK, their D is too good for our limited offense. Hope they learn with this defeat and Fultz plays like a #1 pick next season.

yoyojw17 wrote:

MattOrlando1220 wrote:

yoyojw17 wrote:Now our guys know what they are getting themselves into and what it takes to make it to that next level. They just have to grasp it now. I still see what this team can be... especially once Fultz and bamba are healthy. But disappointment and "failure" can make a huge difference for players. Some will hit the gym and bust their a$$ cuz they are now hooked to this feeling... and that is really what I hope will happen. If vuc and ross decide to leave... that is their business.... but there is no way that I will want them to leave. Vuc for sure I would like to retain... ross... I love him... when he's on... but when he's it off makes that 2nd unit a little rough. If he gets replaced by a more consistent guard off the bench... I wouldn't be upset at that either.

everyone talks about what we don't have.... but forget that THAT is part of the puzzle. You play... you see your holes and you fill them. Sometimes you can do it with something permanent... other times it's a temporary patch with chewing gum and duck tape. But either way... I'm sure Hammond and weltman will be trying their best to put us in the best position as possible for next season.

OK... not talking bout it like it's over anymore...LOL.... going to cheer our boys on tonight... let's get another win!!!

This! How quickly everyone goes from loving Vooch, DJ, TRoss to trashing them. Losing has made this fanbase pretty bitter. We can definitely do a better job getting behind the guys who represent the team/city we love. We just had a great run and our young core got some much needed experience. Almost every player had a career year.. we made the payoffs..we found a coach!!!!

Some changes can and will eventually be made but for now lets cheer on our guys and watch them battle to stay alive!

Exactly. If we were an older and healthy team which has shown no change and squeaked into the playoffs... i would be more suspect. But we are a young team... had health problems with some key player.... a new coach ... who 3 month ago everyone waws wondering how Zion williamson was gonna fit on our team.... and instead now we are in the playoffs. Yeah... imma be hopeful and happy.

Even if the Magic tanked this season, there was no way in hell they were gonna get Zion.

BadMofoPimp wrote:

yoyojw17 wrote:

MattOrlando1220 wrote:
This! How quickly everyone goes from loving Vooch, DJ, TRoss to trashing them. Losing has made this fanbase pretty bitter. We can definitely do a better job getting behind the guys who represent the team/city we love. We just had a great run and our young core got some much needed experience. Almost every player had a career year.. we made the payoffs..we found a coach!!!!

Some changes can and will eventually be made but for now lets cheer on our guys and watch them battle to stay alive!

Exactly. If we were an older and healthy team which has shown no change and squeaked into the playoffs... i would be more suspect. But we are a young team... had health problems with some key player.... a new coach ... who 3 month ago everyone waws wondering how Zion williamson was gonna fit on our team.... and instead now we are in the playoffs. Yeah... imma be hopeful and happy.

Even if the Magic tanked this season, there was no way in hell they were gonna get Zion.

sorry ... that should have been in green. but the point still stands.... they wanted us to tank cuz we were "out of playoff contention" at the time.

But yeah.... live.... learn..... PRACTICE YOUR A$$ OFF.... and we will see you'll next season. Thank you Magic for a great end of season push... now let's build on this year!

Proud of these guys for making the playoffs after so many years in the gutter.

yoyojw17 wrote:

BadMofoPimp wrote:

yoyojw17 wrote:Exactly. If we were an older and healthy team which has shown no change and squeaked into the playoffs... i would be more suspect. But we are a young team... had health problems with some key player.... a new coach ... who 3 month ago everyone waws wondering how Zion williamson was gonna fit on our team.... and instead now we are in the playoffs. Yeah... imma be hopeful and happy.

Even if the Magic tanked this season, there was no way in hell they were gonna get Zion.

sorry ... that should have been in green. but the point still stands.... they wanted us to tank cuz we were "out of playoff contention" at the time.

But yeah.... live.... learn..... PRACTICE YOUR A$$ OFF.... and we will see you'll next season. Thank you Magic for a great end of season push... now let's build on this year!

The only way they would have had a 14% chance of getting Zion is if they traded AG, Vooch, Ross and Isaac away before the season started.

If you really want to understand why we lost, read this.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26589475/raptors-dominant-defense-full-display-series-clincher




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NavalAviator94 wrote:If you really want to understand why we lost, read this.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26589475/raptors-dominant-defense-full-display-series-clincher




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Their defensive intensity was absolutely stifling. Tip my hat off to them... it was one of the better defensive showings I have seen in a long time. Sucks to bow out of the playoff but I hope the magic players see what it takes for them to raise the bar.

Some time has passed and the feeling I get from this year is that I'm really proud of what the team achieved. The guys were never expected to reach the playoffs, Cliff made me eat crow (I thought he wouldn't last more than one season and now I'm a big fan of him).
Tough decisions this summer but the growth of Isaac, the health of Fultz and the question marks around Bamba will shape our future more than anything else.

Really proud of the guys, and to be honest, specially of DJ who almost everyone keeps refering to as a journeyman when he's been with us already for 4 years. He's solid, reliable, dependable. He might not be the best passer nor the best at everything else, but he's solid and a real pro. Hats off to him, hope we keep him for a long time, either starting if we need him to, either backing up someone else (Fultz/pick/trade).