Tony Battie is not our saviour at PF

[euromagic]

There..... I said it....
I love battie (no homo). But people on this board overrate him.
He's a great 6th man but he's not starting power forward material....

On the other hand Battie >>>> Foyle...

[Typhoon20]

And to add to that...

We don't need a PF.

We need a SG, one who can pass, defend, rebound and shoot. One who has good ball movement, sees the open man etc.

We have good passers and ballhandlers like Nelson who can dish out and keep the ball moving, we have Hedo...2 players who can do that, maybe very slightly Shard too. If we can snatch a SG with some good passing abliities our ball movement will become more effective and consistant. That's when we're at our best.

[maginno]

There..... I said it....
I love battie (no homo). But people on this board overrate him.
He's a great 6th man but he's not starting power forward material....

Word. I also suspect with a year off at his age he might come back with a whole lot of rust that may never completely be chipped off.

[MitchellUK]

Do people really see him as a saviour?! (Sorry, not read much about him on this board).

I think he is a terrific complementary player, but as Maginno said, after a year off, in his thirties no less, I am not sure he is going to be a huge factor into the future. If he can take the role of backup PF, or even back up Dwight at center next year, whilst Orlando adds another contributing big through the draft or free agency (or even, gulp, bringing Fran across), then I believe he can be an important cog in the machine. But at the end of the day, the Magic frontcourt belongs to Dwight, and he is all the 'saviour' we need. Giving Howard a competent backup center and two solid power forwards - guys who can defend well, rebound and knock down a mid range jumper - will fortify the Orlando frontcourt for the forseeable future.

[cedric76]

not the saviour ,but what we need

with cook+battie+gortat our frontcourt is set

add it fran for a learning yr

we don t need any frontcourt help once they r back

[T-Spot]

with cook+battie+gortat our frontcourt is set

Never thought I'd see that string of words together.

[MitchellUK]

not the saviour ,but what we need

with cook+battie+gortat our frontcourt is set

add it fran for a learning yr

we don t need any frontcourt help once they r back

I can't agree with that!

I like Cook, he is great for instant offense, and he works incredibly hard, running the floor and trying to bang, but really he doesn't bring a great deal other than his shooting. He's got the PF body, but it's just not his natural game.

Battie, as I said before, could be an important cog, a good, defensive minded backup, but a year's worth of rust at his age could be a severe hinderence.

I really like the look of Gortat, and he has shown in very short bursts that he may have a good career in front of him, but I can't accept that a guy who has played a grand total of 82 NBA minutes really locks down our frontcourt for the future. He's undoubtedly got the physical ability, and he has shown some hustle and a few nice moves, but equally there have been times when he looks a bit lost out there.

[mfishy]

Battie will help a bit - maybe get 20 mpg. I assume if we keep hedo we will continue to play "small". I don't think anyone is hoping for him to be our saviour. In fact, I am not sure we need to be saved.

Give me an SG that is at least a low level starter and I would be pleased.

[Magicalltheway]

out of sight, out of mind.

You guys seem to have forgotten Batties heart, husstle and blue color work ethics. He runs after every lose ball, chases after every rebound, very very decent midcourt shooter. wait a minute isnt that what we look for in a PF?
He has had a year off agree with rust issue, but you cant forget he is also rested his body for one year. we have the summer, do you think he is going to rest, no him and Dwight and Jameer are gonna go at it right away. See Battie to have an immidiate impact.

Gortat, I cant say enough about him. The dude has played total of 70-80 mins all together and comes in at the most crutial time of the season and plays very very solid for the minutes he got. I am so looking forward to next year.

[mhectorgato]

Did anyone actually say that he was our saviour?

In fact, I am not sure we need to be saved.

[Driguez]

-= original quote snipped =-

I really like the look of Gortat, and he has shown in very short bursts that he may have a good career in front of him, but I can't accept that a guy who has played a grand total of 82 NBA minutes really locks down our frontcourt for the future. He's undoubtedly got the physical ability, and he has shown some hustle and a few nice moves, but equally there have been times when he looks a bit lost out there.

Did that answer your question? I feel Gortat will be great for the team once he gets more experience, i mean, he is playing ahead of the great Foyle in the playoffs, where Gortat has no experience at all...

[drsd]

The Magic do not need saviors. They need team guys to fill out a roster. Battie is such a guy.

All-star rosters usually fail. A great team often has two great players, one good player, two OK players: as the starting five. A super sub (a probable starter on another team). And injury depth at all five positions in the mold of combination players. How do the Magic compare to this mold.

One great player in Howard
Two very good players in Turkolgu and Lewis
One OK player in Nelson
One below average player in Evans

The hole there is obviously Evans, and yes, the Magic have a screaming need for an upgrade at SG.

The Magic lack a super sub with Hedo starting, but that might change next year. And Dooling and Battie clearly look to be key bench depth, and both are these injury-replacement types that play multiple positions.

The Magic are one or two players away from being a contender.

[damo[23]]

Ofcourse he's not our savior at the PF spot. But that is not to say it wont be a lift to the squad when he's back.

Right now we lack some "firepower" upfront. We obviously have Dwight, and then Shard playing "out of position" [though he has done an excellent job this year] but after that we have more 1 dimensional players - Cook/Garrity for their "shooting touch", Foyle for his chunkyness [we have Gortat - but we are yet to see really what he can do other than "play hard" - though I think there is something useable there definatly].

Battie coming back, and, touch wood, he is still at a similar level, you have a player that has a bit of both - offense and defense.

While he is only a 5 or 6 point scorer - he is also a guy that we've seen go for 8 or 10 in a quarter quite easily. On defense - you gotta remember that Lebron last year described Battie and Dwight as "two headed monster"; and they did help to anchor one of the better defense's last year.

I dont think he'll be our savior - but certainly he'll be bringing us some stablity.

As for his role - starter / bench. I am undecided - I'd like to see if we get a SG in over the offseason. Right now - or rather looking at the stretch of the entire season - we definatly looked "weak" up front in terms of past our big 3 we kind of "mustered" together a back up front court.

[Typhoon20]

Tony is a near a 50% shooter. That's important, he uses his shot selection wisely, wish more of our guards would take notice. We would be in a much much better situation today.

[MagicStarwipe]

Not our saviour. Just a huge help. We don't even have to change our starting frontcourt. Just bring Tony in as first sub for Hedo or Rashard.

[Happyfoosball]

Tony's not a savior or a sixth man but he will make the team better and isn't that whats important?

[magicmamma]

From SVG's comments, I suspect our starting pf next year will be Rashard. But the return of Battie means that Shard will play a lot more sf. Tony will probably be our "lead" big from the bench, playing pf next to Dwight, c next to Cookie, and either along with Gortat. The year off ought to do him good. He's played through lots of pain.

As for rust, check out this from the O. Sen.

Magic PF Tony Battie, who had season-ending shoulder surgery before the season, went through some extensive work Thursday at RDV Sportsplex. He attempted to make a comeback for the playoffs, but the team ruled him out. "I had my first real live work [Thursday]. I felt good," Battie said. He played one-on-one against PG Carlos Arroyo and joked, "Carlos is really quick or I'm really, really slow." . . .

Tony will be in shape for next season.

[mr2good]

Chants: "Pietrus - Pietrus". Ha, did I spell that wrong?

I agree and disagree. I think Battie being the first off the bench replacing either Shard, Turk or Dwight is going to be huge. But he isn't starter material.

I think our most glaring issue is bringing in a defensive minded SG that can hit an open jumper.

Ship it!

[ORL]

Back up to Howard and that's it. Starting him (or any other "banger") at PF changes the offensive complexion of this team. Battie's range extends out to the elbow, and that's not going to do it. He's an easy gut to double team off of.

[Potterman]

It's not about a savior at PF. It's about simply having a backup.