State of the Magic
Everyone here knows I am deeply pessimistic about the Magic organization to the point of being vitriolic. But I am at a loss to post much about the latest organization meltdown. It just seems to be unfair -- like picking scabs off a corpse.
Nothing seems more clear to me now than this. 24 months from now everyone will be gone except Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson and Bob Van der Weide. Brian Hill -- gone. Twardzik & Smith -- gone. Grant Hill -- not resigned. Francis -- traded at 20 cents on the dollar. Expired contracts -- all gone to different teams. The only other guy who may be here is Stevenson, but he can opt out this year and go elsewhere too.
This is a disaster.
Rich Devos: Please, I am begging you. Hire a President of Basketball Operations. It's time to rebuild again. Find a President to come in and clean house and put together an organization with a solid GM, Scouting Department, and Head Coach with a pedigree. A president who knows what he is doing. Someone with a plan on how to win 50 games no later than 2007-2008. Someone who will live and work in Orlando.
And please, do it now. Don't wait.
Nothing seems more clear to me now than this. 24 months from now everyone will be gone except Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson and Bob Van der Weide. Brian Hill -- gone. Twardzik & Smith -- gone. Grant Hill -- not resigned. Francis -- traded at 20 cents on the dollar. Expired contracts -- all gone to different teams. The only other guy who may be here is Stevenson, but he can opt out this year and go elsewhere too.
This is a disaster.
Rich Devos: Please, I am begging you. Hire a President of Basketball Operations. It's time to rebuild again. Find a President to come in and clean house and put together an organization with a solid GM, Scouting Department, and Head Coach with a pedigree. A president who knows what he is doing. Someone with a plan on how to win 50 games no later than 2007-2008. Someone who will live and work in Orlando.
And please, do it now. Don't wait.
posted by WeRDevos @ 12:36 PM
10 Comments:
At 2:54 PM,
Matt said…
Well said all. I tend to disagree that Charlotte's model is a norm. I don't know all the details on how Charlotte got a franchise so soon after the departure of the Hornets. What I know is: 1) NBA can allow a limited number of teams in the league (many think 30 teams and 82-game season is too much); 2) It is not easy to get a city approved for a new franchise, especially after a debacle.
At 3:26 PM,
OVERWADED said…
Alot of it just has to do with luck. Some moves work out, some don't. Of course they have to do their research and use common sense. And sure, the Magic had alot of moves that didn't work out. But so do "how many other teams" in the NBA? I mean, everyone around here talks like we're the only team in the league that has problems. When all that it was, is we got lucky with some #1 picks, and were spoiled way to early. People mention Grant Hill, all the time, and it makes me sick. There isn't a single team in the league that wouldn't have signed G Hill that summer. And yes, I know it's crippled the franchise, but there is nothing they can do about it until his contract is up. So why should it be talked about everyday?
With Brian Hill, I'm still undecided. I wasn't a fan of his signing. I had some issues with him back in the day. And I believe the only reason Weisbrod isn't here, is because "his guy" was Eric Musselman. Honestly, I was a fan of Weisbrod, maybe one of the few. I think he knew what he wanted to do, and was a man of action. And he did produce the single best draft the Magic ever came out of by drafting Howard of Emeka, and trading for Jameer. A nice positive note, Dave Twardzik and Otis Smith were apart of that same "war room" so they do know a little something about what they're doing. Regardless, that is over and we're left with Brian Hill. If Brian Hill deserves anything it's a little more time to work with a team that isn't so brusied with injuries. But knowing this team the injuries will continue and his time will expire.
My who reason for writing anything was just to make a point. Look around the league, there are many teams that have issues. Orlando is not the only one. Orlando isn't the only team that makes mistakes. Take a look at the Knicks, Hawks, Raptors, Blazers, Celtics, Bulls, etc... Even the Clippers, they are finally playing ball, but how many years did it take them to do something right? The Warriors, same thing... And the Lakers; Orlando isn't the only team that lost a limb due to Shaq. The Lakers have put together the worst roster in the NBA PLUS Kobe. I'm done ranting. Have a nice day!
At 3:56 PM,
WeRDevos said…
I'll disagree a bit from what Introvert says. I'm not sure the Magic had to generate trades with both Toronto and Detroit to give Hill & McGrady 7 yr deals instead of 6. At the time I didn't understand how the Magic could win it all giving away the #2 PG (Atkins) & #2 center for 2 perimeter players. And that #2 center Ben Wallace looked like he was growing into a beast. (Thanks Doc for not noticing...)
That's what really gets under my skin to this day about the Hill signing. Orlando knew they had missed out on Duncan but still made the trade to Detroit to ensure they would be paying Hill $17 million when he was 34. Yeah, I didn't remotely think Wallace would be 2 time defensive player of the year, but I was hardly the only to notice he had huge upside.
I'll grant that Hockey-Guy was an entertaining upgrade from the truly below average John Gabriel. But Hockey-Guy didn't have a cap guy explaining the repercussions of his actions. Magic are #5 in the league in salary this year and in free fall. Good management only pays out the big bucks when they are very close to the top and need one last push.
And I have taken a look at Knicks, Hawks, Raptors, Blazers, Celtics, Bulls and they suck. But everyone of those teams have a core group of young guys that are now playing everyday which keeps their fans interest up.
Per Mark Cuban's blogmaverick.com The playing time weighted average age of the Magic is 26.68 and the preferred starting line-up of the team of Battie, Francis, Hill, Howard & Stevenson is 27.36 years.
Magic have two young guys who are rapidly developing, but no young role players. The Magic NEVER HAVE GOOD YOUNG DEVELOPING ROLE PLAYERS!
At 4:02 PM,
Matt said…
Introvert316, I don’t think that you ranted, at all. As a matter of fact, I agree with many points that you raised with the exception of Weisbrod that I don’t think this is the place to get into debating. I just make one statement in response to what you have mentioned: A lot of people know what they want and have the drive for action, but are they qualified to know what is best for the organization for which they work, or have the capacity of pulling off the right action in a complicated environment?
Granted that all teams have some kind of problems, but it seems to me that opportunities of life time have been squandered by the current ownership due to their heartless management of a franchise and looking only at a corporate bottom line, and all that in a shortsighted manner. Hiring coach Hill is an example. I bid you with sincerity that they hired Hill with the idea that he is going to cost less. This theory of past nostalgia is absurd since very few relate the glory days to Hill while many others to Shaq and Penny. People were well aware of Hill’s record after Shaq’s departure in Orlando, and in other coaching positions that he had.
We may not settle this debate any time soon while we could be right on portions of our argument and wrong on some other portions. Reasonable people agree to disagree.
At 4:41 PM,
Matt said…
Tragic Fan, I stand corrected on nostalgia issue. I may have expanded a minority view to apply to the public.
It was thought that some of the cotributors on this blog, Pete and I included, are carrying positive views of the Magic. It seems that Introvert316 has the most positive views of all. I would like to think that we all have realistic views with positive or negative spins, from time to time, depending on the case.
At 4:54 PM,
Matt said…
Dooling got suspended for 5 games, which is excessive in my view. What I saw was that Dooling pushed Allen hard, but Allen wrestled him to the ground. The hard punshiment may do with the fact that Dooling went after Allen towards Sonics' locker room.
At 5:04 PM,
OVERWADED said…
It's obvious the NBA is trying to make a statement that they are not going to tolerate fighting. Five games seems really excessive. I have yet to find out how long Allen was suspended for?
At 8:20 PM,
Ken said…
Thanks for the welcome Matt and Pete
I agree with Introvert316 and was actually a fan of Weisbrod. I liked him for his no-nonsense attitude toward some of the cry-baby type players. Unfortunatly, that style just didn't fit with the Magic organization and he alienated many of those around him. I,for one, was sad to see him go.
I cringed when I first heard that BHill was on the Magic short list of coachs' to hire last year. They knew his shortcommings, but I think they felt that with a whole new group of players that things would be different. He was hired to right, a wrong from their past, and now they can sleep at night knowing they gave him his due.
Unfortunatly, that wasn't in the best interests of the team.
The state of the Magic right now is nothing that any othe NBA team hasn't seen or gone through. We just take it more personally because we are devoted and passionate fans who hate to see our team struggle.
At 8:54 PM,
Matt said…
Our Magic's struggle is different from other teams' struggle in a sense that keeping the team in town depends a lot on its success on the court. I have stated this view repeatedly, and that is why when the team was getting on the right track, I thought keeping an utmost positive outlook should be in the team’s best interest. Unfortunately, the team has taken a nose dive, and the recent developments made me rethink the approach by which the town’s best interests would be served. I would still love our hometown team and will keep a realistic view on how to go about serving the ultimate objective of not losing the team.
At 3:17 AM,
Ken said…
I agree with you Matt. I also think the teams current dismal record shouldn't have any bearing on wheather an arena should be built. It's true they are having more than their share of problems. But that won't go on forever. The City of Orlando needs to look at the long term benifits the team will bring by keeping them here. I'm afraid alot of those in charge of deciding this are very short sighted and can't see the big picture.
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