2nd take on Evans and Cook

[mhectorgato]

I was one that thought it could work out for the better and was willing to give a chance. I liked Evans since Day 1..but when Cook was playing I wasn't liking it. I did gave him the chance..and he wasn't producing. Therefore he was being benched. But I never knew how good his work ethic was. Stan is reaching out to him. And he said "if you want to play you have to defend as good as Rashard" which granted isn't exactly good..but good enough to display his shooting. And yesterday he was hustling. I even met Brian Cook during warm-ups vs. Houston game. He's a really class guy. He seems to love the fans and speaks with them.

Funny that SVG praised his defense last night in his post game conference ...

[DiplomaticMagic]

-= original quote snipped =-



Funny that SVG praised his defense last night in his post game conference ...

granted it's not bad..I was saying the way he told Brian Cook the one person you have to defend like was Rashard Lewis..and you wouldn't expect for someone to say that

and most of all reason why I said that is that I knew someone was gonna come firing at that statement saying Shard's defense sucks..and now you come saying I overlooked it DARN YOU!

[EasternMagic]

mo is a winner if b cook can continue to step up this may work out for us

[MagidDieHardfan]

This is why the Magic board drives me crazy. You guys hop ship so many damn time. When we made this trade I loved it. When Cook wasnt getting any PT and everyone declared the trade a rip in favor of LA I loved the trade. And now that Cook appears to be getting acclimated to our system and Mo has been great, I love the trade. Its so annoying though because Ive seen dudes on here like the deal when it happened then turn around and say we got screwed and now say its pretty good again. If Cook can keep up the solid play he will be a very nice bench player for us come playoff time. And another bonus to the trade IMO was Mo an Cook both have alot of playoff experience which could come in handy.

thank u can you all band wagon fans stop ripping magic apart when they are not playing well . have faith ..thats the key .. stick by your team when they are playing awful ..

i posted in one of those ariza trade bashing thread and said have patience and i am feeling evans already and now the numbers are not lying so there

[AdamTheGreek]

Well Trevor is hurt like the team predicted could very well happen because of foot issues, so we're looking pretty golden right now.

[SD2042]

On Evans, I like the way he would play defense first and harass his opponent whenever he hit the floor. Offensively, Evans has showed some improvement as of late compare to show he would at times force the issue from the perimeter. At least he had the sense to know to slash to the basket instead of just relying on perimeter jump shots. Hopefully, Evans continues up the road of improvement.

On Cook, personally I am not a big fan of his from his days from L.A. Mainly due to his inconsistancies. He's more offensive minded and is a liability on defense. He would need to improvement a lot more for me to consider him a dependable player on both ends of the floor.

[Illuminati]

Evans is a okay player, questionable shot but the heart is there.

As for cook, he's a stiff and always will be. He's only good at stretching the defence, one dimensional player with a very low ceiling.

[maginno]

Well Trevor is hurt like the team predicted could very well happen because of foot issues, so we're looking pretty golden right now.

Where did "The team" ever predict any such thing? There were some unsubstantiated rumors but "The team" would have to be a pack of morons to let that information out around the time of the trade

As others have said any player can get injured. Will have to see if this structural problem thing is correct but theres no evidence at the moment. Wish him the best though as I do any past magic player (okay except Steve O and McGrady)

[theTHIEF]

IDK, once I saw Cook block Aldridge, I knew we had a 3 point shooting D12 in the making...

[mhectorgato]

Where did "The team" ever predict any such thing? There were some unsubstantiated rumors but "The team" would have to be a pack of morons to let that information out around the time of the trade

As others have said any player can get injured. Will have to see if this structural problem thing is correct but theres no evidence at the moment. Wish him the best though as I do any past magic player (okay except Steve O and McGrady)

People are trying to take things to a logical conclusion in their minds.

It was reported that he heard a pop in his foot during this pre-season. Also he had a similar issue last season - forgot if it was the same foot or not.

An argument could be made (with what little detail we have) that if the current injury is not directly related, that the foot could have been weakened by these previous issues.

I know my ankles are not the same as they used to be after years of rolling them. They are more susceptible to rolling than years past.

[maginno]

Thats my point that "logical " means you cannot come to a conclusion without sufficient evidence.

We just don't know and claiming that the Magic predicted this injury would happen based on a third party report coming out around the time of the trade isn't logical.

What organization in their right mind would make those kind of predictions slip to the media at the time of the trade?

I do know one thing - Laker fans are crying big time over this which indicates they see WAY more value in Ariza than The magic fans on this board ever did. I doubt anyone would be crying over the season if cook or even evans got a fractured leg.

[mhectorgato]

Thats my point that "logical " means you cannot come to a conclusion without sufficient evidence.

We just don't know and claiming that the Magic predicted this injury would happen based on a third party report coming out around the time of the trade isn't logical.

What organization in their right mind would make those kind of predictions slip to the media at the time of the trade?

I do know one thing - Laker fans are crying big time over this which indicates they see WAY more value in Ariza than The magic fans on this board ever did. I doubt anyone would be crying over the season if cook or even evans got a fractured leg.

I don't recall the team saying much at the time of the trade about his foot, for reasons you mention.

The "evidence" is that he twice, in as many seasons, has had similar serious (in that he missed more than a couple of games) injuries in his foot. It's not beyond logic to say that this may be related.

<added>
A similar point could be made from the Laker management point of view - they don't want to make it seem like this is related to previous his recent issues to avoid a PR backlash.
</added>

I'd be upset if MoE would be out for an extended period of time. He's really doing a nice job at the 2 and is the best of the bunch as a starter imo.

[SloNick Russia]

I'm still not sure that this is the best package we could get for Ariza. Evans is OK, he is a slasher with some jumpshot and at least he tries to defend people. Still not a huge upgreat over Bogans and sure not a starting material SG at NBA level. More to the point his contract is expiring so we have to figure what to do with him next. As for Cook he is pretty much the same story is Garrity, only when his shot is falling he looks like a basketball player.

[drsd]

Look folks, the Magic traded talent for positional play. Ariza has played tough and was not an injury concern during the trade.

If Trevor goes down for the count, that does not in itself make the Magic the winners here.

[spinedoc]

I liked the trade then, and still do. I don't like the comparisons of Cook and Garrity though. I realize that he's not a defensive monster, but to compare him to Garrity is pretty insulting. He's got far more length to him to run out on shooters and can bang in the paint better than Pat. And since Pat has been steadily losing his shot, Cook has already surpassed him in my mind, which wasn't hard to do. Garrity provided more hustle, but that rarely translated to production. Just standing in the paint, Cook is a better rebounder. And, thats not even counting on the fact that we actually got someone who can play a position of need for us with Evans. No, it was a fine trade.

[drsd]

I liked the trade then, and still do. I don't like the comparisons of Cook and Garrity though. I realize that he's not a defensive monster, but to compare him to Garrity is pretty insulting. He's got far more length to him to run out on shooters and can bang in the paint better than Pat. And since Pat has been steadily losing his shot, Cook has already surpassed him in my mind, which wasn't hard to do. Garrity provided more hustle, but that rarely translated to production. Just standing in the paint, Cook is a better rebounder. And, thats not even counting on the fact that we actually got someone who can play a position of need for us with Evans. No, it was a fine trade.

Garrity had two quality years. In 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 he was a 11/4 guy.

Brian Cook has so far never come close to those golden-Garrity stats. Cook's best year is 8/3.

[TheMadMagician]

In my opinion, it's way to early too tell if we made a good trade or not. I still don't really like the trade because I think Ariza's gonna be a great defender and we need a great perimeter defender. Right now though, Evans needs to be consistent and Cook needs to keep his work ethic up for me to say that this was an ok trade.

[DiplomaticMagic]

Cook continue to impress me by 2 passes in a row he made. One was to Hedo and the other was to Dwight I think I'm not sure. He would've gotten an A from me if it wasn't for that one dropped rebound that Maxiell grabbed and dunked. Oh and also if I remember correctly Brian Cook had a post-up move yesterday.

[Shishnizzle]

Evans is better than Ariza anyone who thinks differently is wrong and has been wrong since this tired ass argument started.

[theTHIEF]

Evans is a better FIT here than Ariza, yes...straight up better? it really depends...offensively, he is more polished, but still doesn't have a reliable stroke...however he does seem to be getting better and better with each game...defensively and in terms of teams switching up Ariza still takes the cake...