Are The Magic The Most Underrated Team In The NBA?

[J-Mezzy]

Even though I don't think the Magic are a title contender, I seriously believe the Magic get disrespected often by experts and even by RealGM.

When they talk about the East, they say it is a battle of 2(Boston and Detroit) with the Cavs being the only threat.. Hell, even KG said that in a recent interview.

Why is that? If you asked me can the Cavs beat the Magic in a series? Sure. But why are they such a threat and we are not? We have beaten Boston and Detroit twice. We have beaten western conference contenders. We are 17 games above .500, we lead our division by 9.5 games.

The general thought is that there are only 3 good teams in the East, and the Magic are not one of them.


The Magic rarely crack the top ten in any power rankings, Dwight is never mentioned as a top 4 MVP candidate

and the Magic are rarely on National TV. Hell, the Sonics and Blazers have had more nationally televised games than the Magic. That's a slap on the face to both the Magic and Dwight IMO.

So, my question is, is there a more underrated team in the league?

[Painting_Shade]

I love the magic but they need to play better defense... that in mind they could surprise and be in the ECF cause when they are on they are probably one of the best teams offensively, thanks to dwight and all of their shooters.

[GhostsOfGil]

i duno if they are THE MOST underrated but yes they are definitely an underrated team in the league; possible because of the terrible previous seasons they have had in the past few years.

[TheKingOfVa360]

I saw that comment from KG too. As a Magic fan I like being under the radar but you can't dismiss a team that has one of the best big men in the NBA. The Magic would match up well with the Cavs, Raptors, Wizards, and whoever gets the 8th seed but the Pistons would take us out quick. The C's on the other hand would have their hands full for 7 games.


Another two teams under the radar The Wizards (when healthy) and Raptors. I honestly think either of those teams can take out the Cavs.

[tranjSAIC]

I'm a HUGE Magic fan who lives here in Orlando and loves to watch them, but I still don't think we are an elite level team yet. Sure we are winning, but it's just the east. How good would we be if we were in the west?

[Kosar86]

Even though I don't think the Magic are a title contender, I seriously believe the Magic get disrespected often by experts and even by RealGM.

When they talk about the East, they say it is a battle of 2(Boston and Detroit) with the Cavs being the only threat.. Hell, even KG said that in a recent interview.

Why is that? If you asked me can the Cavs beat the Magic in a series? Sure. But why are they such a threat and we are not? We have beaten Boston and Detroit twice. We have beaten western conference contenders. We are 17 games above .500, we lead our division by 9.5 games.

The general thought is that there are only 3 good teams in the East, and the Magic are not one of them.


The Magic rarely crack the top ten in any power rankings, Dwight is never mentioned as a top 4 MVP candidate

and the Magic are rarely on National TV. Hell, the Sonics and Blazers have had more nationally televised games than the Magic. That's a slap on the face to both the Magic and Dwight IMO.

So, my question is, is there a more underrated team in the league?

Well, has anyone on their team, outside of Hedo, ever won a playoff series?

Also, 3 things win in the playoffs: 1) a superstar, 2) Defense & 3) rebounding.

The magic are average on the last 2, and while howard is a beast, he hasnt shown the ability to take over a game on the offensive end like kobe, lebron, garnett, etc...

As to underrated, the Hornets? I cant name more than 4 guys on their team.

[theTHIEF]

they are pretty underrated...that is for sure...but it happens...they are starting to work into their own, so it will come...i think...next season if they make a move and continue to gel, it will all work out...

i think that this season, at the present state NJ is really underrated, sure they have lost a lot of games this year and they looked bad nearly all season, but Harris is fitting in well and their younger players are starting to develop quite nicely...

I'm glad that Houston is starting to get the respect they deserve, 16 games is tough, it doesn't matter if you play the Wolves 16 times in a row, 16 is still 16...

[J-Mezzy]

We are 13-12 against the Western conference so yes we would be competitive in the Western conference IMO

[Cammo101]

The Magic have given up 100 points only twice in their last 11 games. The whole bad defense thing is greatly exaggerated.

[theTHIEF]

The Magic have given up 100 points only twice in their last 11 games. The whole bad defense thing is greatly exaggerated.

i agree, they catch a lot of heat for it, but it's not as bad as advertised...still, it could be a good deal better...SVG would really like to see them slide up there in the rankings...and he's right, defense is a top commodity in the playoffs...

[Flash3]

No, that belongs to the Hornets of New Orleans, IMO.

The Magic were getting their props early on in the season, when they came out 'gunz a blazing'. But, they've since cooled off....

[theTHIEF]

No, that belongs to the Hornets of New Orleans, IMO.

The Magic were getting their props early on in the season, when they came out 'gunz a blazing'. But, they've since cooled off....

they haven't cooled off that much really...and the Hornets were pretty parallel weren't they? they have been strong off and on, and earlier in the season they were unbeatable, so...wouldn't they be in the same boat? plus Paul is a darling, as he should be, anyone scoring 23 and dishing 18 deserves it...i'm not sure if he and Howard are in the same category as far as that goes, since the Superman thing, but Paul gets his share of media and the team gets their propers...

it's also self perspective, a Magic fan asking if the Magic are the most underrated...that is a common thing...

[y 2 a B]

No, that belongs to the Hornets of New Orleans, IMO.

The Magic were getting their props early on in the season, when they came out 'gunz a blazing'. But, they've since cooled off....

True, but still huge improvement from last year. We've already matched last years win total with 19 games remaining. With a favorable schedule, we have a realistic shot to get to 50 wins.

The Hornets were underrated, but I would call them more of a surprise.

[Cosmic_Backlash]

-= original quote snipped =-



Well, has anyone on their team, outside of Hedo, ever won a playoff series?

Also, 3 things win in the playoffs: 1) a superstar, 2) Defense & 3) rebounding.

The magic are average on the last 2, and while howard is a beast, he hasnt shown the ability to take over a game on the offensive end like kobe, lebron, garnett, etc...

As to underrated, the Hornets? I cant name more than 4 guys on their team.

Garnett doesn't "take over" on the offensive end. And thats not Dwights game, to take over on the offensive end. Thats like saying Duncan is bad because he doesn't "take over" the offensive end (I'm not saying I've never seen him do it, I'm just saying he's never done it in a Kobe or LeBron kind of way). Your using horrible logic.

Also, the magic are not a horrible rebounding team. They average 42.2 to their opponents 41.4 per game. Sure, they have problems when Turkoglu and Rashard aren't putting effort into rebounds, realisticly that doesn't happen that often. They aren't a supreme rebounding team, but they certainly aren't poor.

Lastly, there defense is their weakest spot because of Jameer Nelson. Regardless of all the bad rep Rashard has as a poor defender you can make a case that he works extremely hard. Their weakest spot is PG, and we sub in Dooling, the 6'3" with like 6'10" wingspan. He's ferocious on the wing. They both have their weakspots (one on defense, one isn't a good distrubitor) but when a pg on the opposing team has a hot hand, Dooling normally does a good job. I agree, they aren't great on defense, but they are getting better, for this team, it's all about effort on the defensive end because they don't have ideal "defensive" players in all 5 positions.

[Muzzleshot]

How much respect should the fourth best team in a terribly weak conference get?

1 Boston
2 Detroit
3 Cleveland
4 Orlando/Toronto

[theTHIEF]

How much respect should the fourth best team in a terribly weak conference get?

1 Boston
2 Detroit
3 Cleveland
4 Orlando/Toronto

explain your rankings...

[Cosmic_Backlash]

How much respect should the fourth best team in a terribly weak conference get?

1 Boston
2 Detroit
3 Cleveland
4 Orlando/Toronto

when they're the only team in the league to beat the 1 and 2 seed, both arguably top 3-5 teams in the league, twice, I wouldn't expect them to be called weak.

and lol w/ Orlando = Toronto and Cleveland > Orlando. If your going by records Orlando is #3, and you have them POSSIBLY #5. I'm not saying Orlando is better than Cleveland, I'm saying this PROVES how much disrespect they get because you can go ahead and just move them down so easily.

[Flash3]

-= original quote snipped =-



True, but still huge improvement from last year. We've already matched last years win total with 19 games remaining. With a favorable schedule, we have a realistic shot to get to 50 wins.

The Hornets were underrated, but I would call them more of a surprise.

Valid point.

But, given that they started off with one of the league's best records, but then went on a small losing streak, they fell of the NBA map, of sorts.

They've gotten a few quality wins thus far, but their mark will not be made in the regular season, as it never usually is for such teams who've perenially made it to the post-season; a la the Pistons, Spurs, Lakers, Suns and others; it's about what they do and how they fare in the post-season.

[hermes]

No, that belongs to the Hornets of New Orleans, IMO.

The Magic were getting their props early on in the season, when they came out 'gunz a blazing'. But, they've since cooled off....

i'll vote for the hornets as well

[jradMIT]

Yes there record is great, but the West, Boston, and Detroit have better records and more star power.