2020-2021 Regular Season Game 48: Orlando Magic (16-31) at New Orleans Pelicans (21-25)

[MagicStarwipe]

Stinks that half the board is sad that we won.

To those folks I say this: at least there's 50% off your online Papa Johns order tomorrow.

Now let's all be happy.

F*** Papa John.

[Skin]

Our future is looking pretty set now with what we've got. We're not adding a star player in the draft.

Say what? Our future is set? Can you name the 3 current future all-stars on our team please?

I meant that the youth we got now is the best we're getting, now that we F'd up our chances at landing a Top 5 pick.

Only low self esteem suckas would really enjoy these short term meaningless wins.

[RookieStar]

Wonder if the Nuggets will rest players against us tomorrow?

We have a tough schedule but if teams are going to rest players against us, we’re screwed

They are playing the Clippers tonight which is why I am posing the question. You are definitely right though. Our defense has improved dramatically after this trade. We are definitely going to sneak up on teams if they are not going to play their best out there.

Yeah but we don't have a game tom??? I mean unless espn is mistaken.. then we face the Jazz day after tom

[bigdogdylan5]

“RJ played very well” - Cliff that is encouraging for a guy saying he wasn’t going to bull

[Blue_and_Whte]

This won’t end well.

[PrimeThyme]

Man this is really insufferable I mean I feel like these guys would have a point if we didn’t have young guys playing so well. I think this team is just not as bad (we are better defensively) especially when Anthony gets back with Harris. We are going to be picking 6-10 I think. I want to pick high but you can only do so much they players are going to play hard

My issue with it is that people are legitimately surprised that we are winning these games. I've been trying to say for days now that we aren't as bad as our fanbase seems to think. Other teams will sit players down the stretch, && Cliff will squeeze everything out of this team defensively to knock us out of top 5 odds.

The sooner that everyone accepts that we aren't going to finish with top 5 odds, && instead pray for lottery luck, the easier wins like this will be to stomach.

[Knightro]

By work itself out your mean we pick 10th, miss another Doncic and then have to blow the team up again in 3 years? LOL!

We deserve never being good again.

It's a lottery.

The Magic could have finished 0-28 over their last 28 and still not landed Cunningham or Suggs or Green, ya know?

The amount of hand wringing in these threads is just brutal now.

[ChosenSavior]

We have a tough schedule but if teams are going to rest players against us, we’re screwed

They are playing the Clippers tonight which is why I am posing the question. You are definitely right though. Our defense has improved dramatically after this trade. We are definitely going to sneak up on teams if they are not going to play their best out there.

Yeah but we don't have a game tom??? I mean unless espn is mistaken.. then we face the Jazz day after tom

Good catch. My bad on that lol. We don't play the Nuggets until Sunday. I am pretty we will lose to both Utah and Denver so the tank will get back on track.

[The Effect]

I mean I think no one would be mad if we won against a fully-strengthed CLips or LBJ/AD Lakers or Zion/BI/Ball led Pelicans.. but won or almost won agaisnt the team without their stars. That can't be a good barometer for our team.

We need a star more than winning against an injury-depleted team that is probably load managing against us.

Yea but we can’t control that.

BUT.............We can

[Rick Rolled]

The draft is too far away from an exact science for me to lose too much sleep over wins. Sure I want better odds, I think we all do, but all that it takes is a quick look on Wikipedia at past drafts to see how far from an exact science the draft is. Look at how many “once in a generation“ guys don’t live up to their promise.

Look at how many top 10 guys become nothing more than marginal role players, if that.

On the flip side you can look at the Doncic draft as a counter argument to anti-tanking sentiment. I completely understand anyone who is getting extremely frustrated with these wins.

In a perfect world, we start losing these games and stop riding veteran role players to surprise wins. There’s just no guarantee, even with a top 3 pick, that you’re going to find a franchise cornerstone. So I’m not going to sweat these wins. I like seeing the young guys play well. This is just my way of looking at things, not trying to convince anyone to see things the same way.

[MagicStarwipe]

Our future is looking pretty set now with what we've got. We're not adding a star player in the draft.

Say what? Our future is set? Can you name the 3 current future all-stars on our team please?

I meant that the youth we got now is the best we're getting, now that we F'd up our chances at landing a Top 5 pick.

Only low self esteem suckas would really enjoy these short term meaningless wins.

Got ya.

I think it's way too early to panic. Our roster is scrappy but still lacking in top end talent. We've beat a tired Clippers and a resting Pelicans. There will be plenty of losses to come.

[Audi]

Look - I get it. Be upset at the win.

But there’s an underlying insinuation in some of the griping going on that blames our players for winning. Wtf is that about? You wanna be mad about winning tonight? Blame NAW for missing a freaking YMCA layup, not WCJ for hitting free throws. Blame the Pels for sitting players and turning the ball over an ungodly amount of times, not at our young guys for playing good D and making smart choices.

[SOUL]

BUT.............We can

Not realistically. Like Knightro said, RJ, Bamba, WCJ, Okeke are all getting solid minutes each game. You know Clifford isn't going to play Karim Mane 48 mins.

Cliff is already unironically helping the tank by playing Bacon and Birch and Randle so many minutes. You simply just can't tell players to suck or not play hard.

[EasternMagic]

Wonder if the Nuggets will rest players against us tomorrow?

We have a tough schedule but if teams are going to rest players against us, we’re screwed

They are playing the Clippers tonight which is why I am posing the question. You are definitely right though. Our defense has improved dramatically after this trade. We are definitely going to sneak up on teams if they are not going to play their best out there.

Important things to remember:
1. We beat LA when they were playing their 5th game in 7 nights
2. We BARELY beat a NOLA team when they sat their three best players.
3. Not every team is going to rest their best guys against us while the standings are so tight
4. In the past 16 years, the team with the highest odds has received the number 1 pick in the draft 3 times

[Knightro]

My issue with it is that people are legitimately surprised that we are winning these games. I've been trying to say for days now that we aren't as bad as our fanbase seems to think. Other teams will sit players down the stretch, && Cliff will squeeze everything out of this team defensively to knock us out of top 5 odds.

The sooner that everyone accepts that we aren't going to finish with top 5 odds, && instead pray for lottery luck, the easier wins like this will be to stomach.

This is one area where we disagree. I really think the Magic really are terrible offensively right now and have just gotten some incredible fortune that every team they've played has had at least one all-star and multiple starters out with injuries.

Blazers were without Lillard.
Lakers were without LeBron and Davis.
Clippers were without George, Morris, Rondo, Ibaka and Beverley.
Pelicans were without Zion, Ingram and Lonzo.

They've played with absolutely maniacal effort, which IMO isn't sustainable, and have just barely scraped by two teams trotting out JV squads.

[The Effect]

Stinks that half the board is sad that we won.

To those folks I say this: at least there's 50% off your online Papa Johns order tomorrow.

Now let's all be happy.

I live in San Diego....No 50% off for me
Not that i would order papa johns aways, but still, another reason it sucks to be an orlando fan in SoCal

[KillMonger]

Man this is really insufferable I mean I feel like these guys would have a point if we didn’t have young guys playing so well. I think this team is just not as bad (we are better defensively) especially when Anthony gets back with Harris. We are going to be picking 6-10 I think. I want to pick high but you can only do so much they players are going to play hard

My issue with it is that people are legitimately surprised that we are winning these games. I've been trying to say for days now that we aren't as bad as our fanbase seems to think. Other teams will sit players down the stretch, && Cliff will squeeze everything out of this team defensively to knock us out of top 5 odds.

The sooner that everyone accepts that we aren't going to finish with top 5 odds, && instead pray for lottery luck, the easier wins like this will be to stomach.

i think i'm getting to this point, it sucks being frustrated like this and i don't even like tanking but even i see this is a rare opportunity for us if we took it seriously.....it just sucks that other teams that hit in their draft are ahead of us in the pursuit of a championship, they have their stars to build around while we're still looking....i'm tired of being a treadmill team that flames out in the first round

[SOUL]

I'm also 100% for the tank, but if you're gonna be for the tank, you have to accept the volatility that comes with embracing it, ESPECIALLY for a team like the Magic, and especially when you know you have Clifford coaching the team who isn't going to just willingly let that happen. It is what it is.

The same thing applies for everybody freaking out over the protections of the Bulls pick. If people are so worried that will be top 4 (and it's a lower pick than we have now), why wouldn't the same logic apply to our own pick besides being superstitious?

If RJ/Bamba/Okeke/WCJ weren't playing and we were winning, I would be burning this place down but I can't really just assume these guys want to lose.

[iTs JusT zo]

Why not be happy now? Why are you waiting on the future to be happy. Celebrate the win now/today/in the moment you weirdos. Time is passing you by.

[The Effect]

My issue with it is that people are legitimately surprised that we are winning these games. I've been trying to say for days now that we aren't as bad as our fanbase seems to think. Other teams will sit players down the stretch, && Cliff will squeeze everything out of this team defensively to knock us out of top 5 odds.

The sooner that everyone accepts that we aren't going to finish with top 5 odds, && instead pray for lottery luck, the easier wins like this will be to stomach.

This is one area where we disagree. I really think the Magic really are terrible offensively right now and have just gotten some incredible fortune that every team they've played has had multiple starters out with injuries.

Blazers were without Lillard.
Lakers were without LeBron and Davis.
Clippers were without George, Morris, Rondo, Ibaka and Beverley.
Pelicans were without Zion, Ingram and Lonzo.

They've played with absolutely maniacal effort, which IMO isn't sustainable, and have just barely scraped by two teams trotting out JV squads.

I dont think thats "bad luck" or anything

Good teams see orlandos roster as a joke and decided to use it as a load management day to give their stars a rest down the stretch.....unfortunately our scrubs are playing harder than their scrubs

Thats why i full expect Jokic to come down with stomach discomfort, Murray to get his toe stepped on in practice, MPjr to have "back spasms" and all miss the game against us and expect AG to beat up on his old team

Ill be shocked if both mitchell and gorbert play against us