Official Speculation Thread '19-'20 V: Purgatory

[The Real Dalic]

We're not in purgatory, silly.

Everyone is forgetting about Savior. They wouldn't have hyped him up like they did if he was a bum. Don't worry, did you guys not see the elite shooting display he put up last game in his first start? Good stuff from the Savior of the franchise so far.

[spinedoc]

Well, if its not purgatory, its definitely Limbo.

[Skybox]

MIL is a beast!!!! They are also one twisted ankle away from being beatable. Same could be said about a lot of great teams. That's one thing about not having a star - you're never too terribly panicked about an injury.

[PrimeThyme]

These titles though... Remember these get stickied for our official speculation. They don't have to be so extra all the time just because some might not be fans of what they think are going on. Ain't gonna kill me or make me lose sleep... But... Just saying.

I gave you and whoever else a two-hour headstart to make your own Spec thread and you could have titled it "Rainbows && Unicorns" or "WeHam for President" or whatever else you saw fit. If after 8 years of utter mediocrity we couldn't find a little humor in our current state I'm not sure what the point of all this would be anymore.

So just lighten up a little bit man

[OrlandoNed]

These titles though... Remember these get stickied for our official speculation. They don't have to be so extra all the time just because some might not be fans of what they think are going on. Ain't gonna kill me or make me lose sleep... But... Just saying.

I gave you and whoever else a two-hour headstart to make your own Spec thread and you could have titled it "Rainbows && Unicorns" or "WeHam for President" or whatever else you saw fit. If after 8 years of utter mediocrity we couldn't find a little humor in our current state I'm not sure what the point of all this would be anymore.

So just lighten up a little bit man

Wouldn't kill him to not have the homer goggles surgically welded to his skull either.

It is funny though how he's talking like the ones unhappy with our team's current predicament are in the minority. It's sad how some are so blind to reality.

[yoyojw17]

These titles though... Remember these get stickied for our official speculation. They don't have to be so extra all the time just because some might not be fans of what they think are going on. Ain't gonna kill me or make me lose sleep... But... Just saying.

I gave you and whoever else a two-hour headstart to make your own Spec thread and you could have titled it "Rainbows && Unicorns" or "WeHam for President" or whatever else you saw fit. If after 8 years of utter mediocrity we couldn't find a little humor in our current state I'm not sure what the point of all this would be anymore.

So just lighten up a little bit man

Man.... I missed my chance! Lol. As I said... Not losing sleep. ... But I can totally see how things could change very quickly. Tis all. Trust me.... I understand the frustration.... I wanna see us win just as much as the next. Who doesn't on here. So I would never mean any disrespect to the next at all.

[yoyojw17]

These titles though... Remember these get stickied for our official speculation. They don't have to be so extra all the time just because some might not be fans of what they think are going on. Ain't gonna kill me or make me lose sleep... But... Just saying.

I gave you and whoever else a two-hour headstart to make your own Spec thread and you could have titled it "Rainbows && Unicorns" or "WeHam for President" or whatever else you saw fit. If after 8 years of utter mediocrity we couldn't find a little humor in our current state I'm not sure what the point of all this would be anymore.

So just lighten up a little bit man

Wouldn't kill him to not have the homer goggles surgically welded to his skull either.

It is funny though how he's talking like the ones unhappy with our team's current predicament are in the minority. It's sad how some are so blind to reality.

Yeah.... Not being a homer if I can understand how things can go right just as much as how much they can fail. I can see where this can all turn out to be a win... And since thats what I'm assuming the GMs are working towards... Why not support them til the failure is imminent? Wasn't meant to entice emotions.... But whatevs.... To each their own. If you see that the ship is burning... I respect that. As I said last... I can see how this all works out.... But just not gonna make judgement cuz MY individual wants or desires aren't occurring when I want it. If the ship sinks.... We'll be in the same place at the end.... Helpless onlookers. Haha

[pepe1991]

Watch on YouTube

I still can't belive he is gone

[CPBalla2003 n da 863]

I was vocal on here that Management is taking the Milwaukee and Toronto approaches... I know for one that the Magic don't have a Giannis... But they wanted to get their young player a taste of Playoffs:

Under J. Kidd
2014-2015 - 41-41- Lost in first round
2015-2016 - 33-49 - Missed playoffs
2016-2017 - 42-40 - Lost in First round
2017-2018 - 44-38 - Lost in First round

Hired Mike Budenholzer

2018-2019 - 60-22 - Lost in Eastern Conference Finals
2019-2020 - 48-8 - *To Be Determined

Over the time they had their draft misses, but, able to develop Brogdon, Middleton, added Pieces like Bledsoe and B. Lopez, still drafting well adding DiVincenzo, adding pieces like Connaughton, and Hill... It was slow cooking and Giannis developed in Playoff environments.

Same with Toronto who had DeRozan and Lowry who was our "Buddy Ball" comparison (But they are way better than Vooch and Evan)

Under D. Casey
2013-2014 - 48-34 - Lost in First round
2014-2015 - 49-33 - Lost in First round
2015-2016 - 56-26 - Lost in East Conf. Finals
2016-2017 - 51-31 - Lost in East Conf. Semis
2017-2018 - 59-23 - Lost in East Conf. Semis

Promoted Nick Nurse
2018-2019 - 58-24 - Won NBA Title
2019-2020 - 42-15

They Traded DeRozan and gambled on Kawhi for a title... But they develop a lot a good players, Van Vleet, Ross, Powell, Siakam who looks like a superstar... their younger talent is looking good as well... OG Anunoby, Terrence Davis.

I mean, I rather stay in contention for Playoffs until they figure it out... Let Isaac, Fultz, Okeke, Bamba grow in Playoff environments... If their development become stagnant, then they become assets. But the first move is figuring out what to do with Evan or AG this summer...

[Statlanta]

This is a top 10 salaried roster and Vucevic is the team's best player.

It's time to trim the fat.

Build around JI and Vuc. Trade everyone for guys who've been to the playoffs more than this group and get an NBA level SF.

[drsd]

Orlando is predicted to win 5 of their next 10 games and the Nets predicted to win 4.

So: the computers like the Magic to be essentially tied with Brooklyn in 10 games time. And from there, in the final 15 games, it will be a real race for the #7 and #8 slots.


..

[basketballRob]

If we win 1 of the 2 remaining games against Brooklyn we win the tiebreaker.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

[Blue_and_Whte]

Orlando is predicted to win 5 of their next 10 games and the Nets predicted to win 4.

So: the computers like the Magic to be essentially tied with Brooklyn in 10 games time. And from there, in the final 15 games, it will be a real race for the #7 and #8 slots.


..

The fight for and during the PO's is such a good experience for our guys. Going from being labeled a bust to potentially starting for a Playoff team has to do wonders for his confidence.

[thelead]

Orlando is predicted to win 5 of their next 10 games and the Nets predicted to win 4.

So: the computers like the Magic to be essentially tied with Brooklyn in 10 games time. And from there, in the final 15 games, it will be a real race for the #7 and #8 slots.


..

The fight for and during the PO's is such a good experience for our guys. Going from being labeled a bust to potentially starting for a Playoff team has to do wonders for his confidence.

I disagree if they can’t get to a winning record. Getting into the playoffs with a sub .500 record and getting pummeled does nothing for ones confidence.

[Blue_and_Whte]

Orlando is predicted to win 5 of their next 10 games and the Nets predicted to win 4.

So: the computers like the Magic to be essentially tied with Brooklyn in 10 games time. And from there, in the final 15 games, it will be a real race for the #7 and #8 slots.


..

The fight for and during the PO's is such a good experience for our guys. Going from being labeled a bust to potentially starting for a Playoff team has to do wonders for his confidence.

I disagree if they can’t get to a winning record. Getting into the playoffs with a sub .500 record and getting pummeled does nothing for ones confidence.

Maybe not at that moment but they have to get their asses kicked a few times at the highest level in order to build mental toughness so they can mentally get over getting pummeled. That's how you eventually learn how to win.

Fighting for PO spots and the actual PO games ARE the highest level of basketball and If they can get to that point they'll gain valuable experience along the way. Its virtually impossible not to. If not having a winning record going into the PO's kills their confidence then maybe they shouldn't be pro athletes. It should be motivating them to get better and the experience should be teaching them how to win big games.

[zaymon]

Just listened to Stan Van Gundy on open mike and he sees our offense as painful as we do. He was a little bit sarcastic about our preference of long guys. Last comment was that we need more shooting around Vucevic and Fournier to win. Who would have thought. I hope we will proceed with eliminating non shooters of our roster.

[MagicFan4Lyfe]

Best gif ever.

Perfectly sums up the garbage known as the Orlando Magic with no hope in sight.

[Last Guardian]

Out of the top 10 teams in 3 point shooting, several are in the lottery and several not in the playoffs. The top team in the league is 14th in 3pt%. The second best is 15th.

Out of the top 10 teams in defensive efficiency, 9 of them are currently in the playoff race. Of the top 5, 4 are the best teams in the league.

Clearly we should be striving to be even better defensively. We are actually top 10 even though we don't seem that good, and probably stops us from being the worst team in the league, but we should be looking to perfect that side of the court...because thats what it takes to actually be a top team.

Building around Fournier and Vuc and just adding shooting would be laughable at best. Current Detroit would be our standard of play. I'm not saying our roster without them is good enough, no clearly we need to add talent. I think the identity of this team however should be clear going forward...and not be trying to build a 3 point gunning team

[j-ragg]

Out of the top 10 teams in 3 point shooting, several are in the lottery and several not in the playoffs. The top team in the league is 14th in 3pt%. The second best is 15th.

Out of the top 10 teams in defensive efficiency, 9 of them are currently in the playoff race. Of the top 5, 4 are the best teams in the league.

Clearly we should be striving to be even better defensively. We are actually top 10 even though we don't seem that good, and probably stops us from being the worst team in the league, but we should be looking to perfect that side of the court...because thats what it takes to actually be a top team.

Building around Fournier and Vuc and just adding shooting would be laughable at best. Current Detroit would be our standard of play. I'm not saying our roster without them is good enough, no clearly we need to add talent. I think the identity of this team however should be clear going forward...and not be trying to build a 3 point gunning team

I feel like we go through spurts of good defense but the way we play has to be tailor made for defensive team stats. We play slow, focus on defensive boards, never crash offensive glass, never turn it over. I wonder sometimes if we are a top 10 defense or we just play to the strengths of a top 10 defense compared to others in this era. I agree though with your overall thought, we aren't that good on either end.

[zaymon]

Out of the top 10 teams in 3 point shooting, several are in the lottery and several not in the playoffs. The top team in the league is 14th in 3pt%. The second best is 15th.

Out of the top 10 teams in defensive efficiency, 9 of them are currently in the playoff race. Of the top 5, 4 are the best teams in the league.

Clearly we should be striving to be even better defensively. We are actually top 10 even though we don't seem that good, and probably stops us from being the worst team in the league, but we should be looking to perfect that side of the court...because thats what it takes to actually be a top team.

Building around Fournier and Vuc and just adding shooting would be laughable at best. Current Detroit would be our standard of play. I'm not saying our roster without them is good enough, no clearly we need to add talent. I think the identity of this team however should be clear going forward...and not be trying to build a 3 point gunning team

I feel like we go through spurts of good defense but the way we play has to be tailor made for defensive team stats. We play slow, focus on defensive boards, never crash offensive glass, never turn it over. I wonder sometimes if we are a top 10 defense or we just play to the strengths of a top 10 defense compared to others in this era. I agree though with your overall thought, we aren't that good on either end.

I have too agree. We are good at limiting opponents opportunities to score, but we are not good at contesting shots.