Otis: Dooling not for sale.
Otis says Dooling is not on the trade block, at least for now...
MAGIC: Otis Smith On...: "
MAGIC: Otis Smith On...: "
From Eddie (8/22): i was wonderin, espn.com says that keyon dooling is on the trading block, is this true and who are we looking at trading for?
Otis: : Eddie, While I like the work that ESPN does most of the time, sometimes they are way off. If you look at our roster, you can see that we are heavy at the guards - so they make guesses sometimes. However, I like our team and the depth we have in those positions.
At this point in the game, I have no one that's on the 'trading block' - your words, not mine. Thanks for the interest. "
posted by WeRDevos @ 9:40 AM
9 Comments:
At 5:10 PM,
Matt said…
I am beginning to feel more comfortable with Smith. However, the test of his management skills would be the way he is going to handle personnel issues when he is not in agreement with Hill. In a typical setting a GM should be able to override the coach although that may change with the stature of the coach. Smith should be able to exert his authority when need be. His handling of the Francis's fiasco was in-authoritative and he deferred to Hill at a time that he should have stepped in, decisively.
At 7:01 PM,
Ken said…
Good point Matt, the real test is going to be over the course of a long season when personnel issues come up. And i'm still afraid that, with BSHill as head coach, that it is just a matter of time until they do.
At 1:51 AM,
OVERWADED said…
From the outside perspective of a fan I thought the Francis problem was handled as good as it could have been. I thought Francis was as good as gone for a while. Once December hit, he just sealed his own fate. Of course I was the same one saying Jameer should have been our starting point, so maybe I was just being a "wishful thinker". Back to my point, when Francis and his issues came up, Smith and Hill both spoke out as Francis as our "starter", and they expected to get the all-star kind of performances they knew he was capable of, out of him. My take, he was as good as gone, they spoke as if he was still our starter, like he had some value to us when he wasn't wanted, so they could get as much for him as possible in a trade. At that point, everyone knew he was gone, it was just a matter of making the deal. Smith appeared to play the typical political GM role and saying what he was supposed to say. Still, Matt, you have a really good point. Over time, when issues come up, how they are handled will be what defines Smith, and Hill. As I feel today, I think Smith is doing a really good job.
At 3:54 AM,
Ken said…
Thats true that Hill handled the Francis situation about as well as could be expected, considering the circumstances. And Hill may be ok for this young team for a year or so. But I just don't think Hill is a coach to take a team over the top to the next level. Hill road the coat tails of Shaq, Penny, Nick and Scott the year they reached the NBA Finals. Anyone of us on this blog could have done the same thing that year. He isn't the kind of coach who commands respect from a player. You don't hear players praising Hill for his player substitutions and field general game strategy. Players don't come to Orlando to be coached by the Almighty Hill, they come because we paid them more than the next closest team. Like I said earlier, he is probably fine for now, these guys are young and Hill is a back-to-basics kind of coach, but championship caliber? Never......
At 9:46 AM,
Matt said…
There is a host of ambiguities here that needs to be put to rest. I will try to be brief:
1. Francis’s situation before reaching the critical mass was handled as poorly as possible by Hill, with Smith probably sitting on the sideline assuming that Hill knew what he was doing. Remember the alleged car accident and slumping of the numbers. Francis, not being a dummy, probably was feeling the threat of Jameer coming up, and he could have been envious. That should have been brought out in the open by the coach and GM and be resolved much earlier than reaching a critical mass.
2. Then came the situation where Hill ordered Francis to go in for the mop-up time. Hill was either foolish in that action or was deliberately trying to test Francis’s loyalty, both very dumb ideas.
3. The suspension and the events that followed were handled as good as possible with the GM being more involved.
4. I give nobody on the Magic’s side much of a credit for the trade with New York. No GM in his right frame of mind would have acted as foolishly as Isiah Thomas did. One could have imagined a trade with a team that was desperate for a point-guard, and would have taken a chance on Francis, but New York had no need for a point-guard. So could we call that trade just a lucky strike for the Magic? I certainly do not believe that there were some magical skills involved on the side of the Magic to pull off that trade.
As a final note, I would like to add that young teams usually require more communication skills. Young teams, typically, have more of a fragile psyche, requiring more attention to personnel management and being attentive to the players’ sensitivities. It is a false assumption, in my view, that this young Magic team would respond well to Hill’s coaching as an extension of late last season’s success, and for being selfless as a team. It all depends on a whole bunch of variables being unknown at this time, much of it revolving on the style that Hill may impose on the team, and whether or not Smith would have a higher hand in handling personnel issues.
At 8:11 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
For some reason, Isaiah Thomas thought he would strike gold pairing Steve Francis with Stephon Marbury in the backcourt. As we have seen, it sure didn't turn out that way.
It may have indeed been a lucky strike trade for the Magic... let's be happy that Thomas was foolish enough to want to make that trade.
Remember, there were lots of rumors and speculation flying around regarding Francis the week prior to the deadline. Otis made probably the trade that turned out the best for the Magic.
At 7:15 PM,
WeRDevos said…
Any way you slice it Cato, Francis and next years first for Darko, Arroyo and Ariza were brilliant moves.
Clearly the best move for Isiah was 1.) trade Penny to Portland for Miles, 2.) do nothing, and 3.) do nothing. Instead he traded for Francis special combination of psychotic behavior and massive contract. Thank Portland for pulling Miles (he's as bad as Francis) off the table. Still Isiah should have just kept Penny and taken the salary dump.
Credit to Smith for getting that trade done, and then for not overpaying Ariza this summer.
At 11:09 PM,
Matt said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 9:43 AM,
Matt said…
Where is the logic in giving credit for a trade that basically fell in our lap due to some one's stupidity? Also let's not mix up different trades; Cato's expiring salary was worth 8 million, and in any assessment that factor should come into play. See my earlier remarks on that trade when it happened.
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