JNice

Steve Francis - B+

Steve is having one of his best seasons of his career. 5 game winners and countless clutch shots in the 4th quarter. The reason for the B grade, some games Stevie just doesn't bring it which is why Orlando has lost to some teams it shouldn't have. Stevie is also 3rd in the league in turnovers per game and probably leads the league by a wide margin in dribbles per game.

Doug Christie - C

The trade of Mobley for Christie is looking like a good deal for Sac-Town so far. Mobley has shown flashes of his defensive prowess, but he has yet to really fit into the offense and sometimes looks too tentative to shoot the ball. And he clearly isn't the lock-down defender he used to be. I do expect Doug to have a better second-half of the season.

Grant Hill - A+

How can you not give Hill an A+? Him just being on the court and playing in most of the games this season warrants it. Let alone being an All-Star and the #2 guy on the team all year. Hill has hit nearly as many late clutch shots as Francis and has been pretty consistent all year long. The best story in the NBA this year and the scary thing is, he'll probably be even better next year if he stays healthy.

Dwight Howard - B+

Statistically, Dwight is about where I thought he would be. But his actual impact on games has been greater than I expected this year. He has started every game this year and he provides a real inside presence for Orlando most games. Still prone to foul trouble and occassionally loses his aggressiveness on the boards and defense. But for a 19 yr old on a good team, he has been impressive. If the team involved him more in the offense, he could have easily earned an A grade.

Kelvin Cato - C

Cato started the season out great and was one of the main reasons for Orlando's surprising start. A couple of injuries have set him back and seemed to take some of his fire away. Early on he played with a lot of energy, blocking shots and grabbing big rebounds to start the Orlando fastbreak. Orlando really needs Cato to return to early season form and stay healthy.

Hedo Turkoglue - B-

Hedo represents the Jekyll and Hyde persona of this Orlando Magic team. 30 pts on 60% shooting one night, 6 pts on 30% shooting the next. Hedo's playing time is sometimes irregular and he has been in and out of the starting lineup at times this year. Most of the time Hedo plays good, solid ball - and sometimes he comes into the game chucking up some bad shots. A small shot at 6th man of the year, but Orlando needs just a little bit more consistency out of Hedo.

Tony Battie - A

Battie is one guy whose stats don't represent his impact. He has started. He has played off the bench. He's played PF and C. He's done a little of it all. Even though he is often playing bigger, stronger players, Tony always shows up. Aside from a couple of poor games, Battie has been consistent all year. He proved his value even more when Cato went down with injury.

Jameer Nelson - C

Jameer has been inconsistent, which is to be expected. He really struggled with his shot early on. He has also had some big shooting nights and has led a few late but failed comeback attempts when Orlando was down big. I have the utmost confidence in Jameer's ability and I think he could be a solid starting PG in the future. He needs to work on his outside shot a little more and get some more consistent playing time, which might not happen playing behind Francis.

Pat Garrity - D

The 3 really good shooting games Pat had in the first half of the year save him from an F grade. Garrity hasn't found where he fits in with this team, most likely because Orlando doesn't really have an inside presence to draw double-teams yet. He's a 3 pt scorer and when he isn't doing that, though he tries really hard, he gets killed on defense and on the boards and still after all these years is almost entirely incapable of creating his own offense.

Andrew DeClerq - I

Injuries have wrecked his season. As a big man that can get up and down the court, DeClerq could have been a valuable backup this year sparing Orlando fans from seeing Mario Kasun attempting to play NBA basketball. After a short stint back, Andrew is back out for the rest of the season. No Hammer time this year.

DeShawn Stevenson - F

Orlando signed DeShawn to a pretty decent contract this summer (why?) and that is the main reason they decided to dump Bogans in favor of D-Steve. DeShawn really hasn't gotten much of a chance to play and until recently, when he did, he just came in jacking up bad shots. DeShawn's complaining about PT and asking to be traded earlier this season drop him from a D to an F.

Mario Kasun - D+

While Cato was injured, Kasun actually managed to provide some decent backup C minutes. He's just not very good. At times early he looked like he had never played basketball before, but he slowly improved. If Mario can stay on the team, work on his game and conditioning, he could actually develop into a decent backup C. Mario will probably be a complete non-factor the rest of the season.

Stacey Augmon - C-

Augmon has provided a few valuable minutes off the bench this year. He doesn't play much and that is a good sign for Orlando. Still capable of making a couple of nice defensive plays and scoring a few points. He seems like a good locker-room / mentor type, which is why he receives a C grade.

Brandon Hunter - F

Why Orlando lets go of a better player in Bogans because he won't get any PT and then bring in a less-skilled big that isn't getting any PT is beyond me. Johnny should really try using Hunter in some of those games where Orlando really comes out with no energy. Hunter is like a very poor man's Ben Wallace - no offense, but a beast down low who can rebound and block some shots. He won't be much of a factor in the 2nd half unless someone gets injured.

Johnny Davis - C

This is a tough one. Overall, I think Johnny has done a decent job. But Orlando could really benefit from a more experienced, more respected coach. Johnny's substitution patterns and un-willingness to force Dwight to get some touches on offense lower his grade. Johnny is a relatively inexperienced coach with room for improvement, but I don't see him lasting in Orlando long enough to get the chance to improve.

John Weisbrod - B-

Another tough one. He again has overall done a solid job and has established more respect within the organization. Weisbrod forced out Tmac, which in the long run, was probably a good move for Orlando. The trade with Houston turned out to be pretty good for Orlando - returning 3 starters for one superstar and 3 players Orlando no longer wanted at all. And the Turkoglu signing was a good one. But some moves leave you wondering what the team was thinking like:

1. Leaving Zaza Pachulia un-protected in the expansion draft
2. Giving up Anderson Varejao so easily
3. Trading Bogans for Brandon Hunter

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MC Hammer once said "You can't touch this!" I am THIS.

X-Factor

Very nice list JNice but a couple of my changes to your list:
Johnny Davis- C- to D+. IMO the Magic aren't playing to their full potential and Davis is part of the reasoning.
Doug Christie- C+. Christie has come in and not meet my excpectations, yet he has been playing well on the defensive side of the ball like most fans thought he would. He needs to step up the offense a little bit.
Hedo Turkoglu- A. Hedo is the man for the Magic. He has been there when we needed a big shot, he was there when we needed a hustle play, he was there for crucial rebounds, he deserves an A IMO,
Pat Garrity- F---------------. Garrity has been sucking. That's all there is to say about him. He is a complete embarrassment. He can't hit the outside shots, which is the only thing he is on our team for. Other then that great list must have taken a looooong time.

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thegza

Stevie isn't as consistent as you'd like to see him, but it is because of his style of play. When you handle the ball as much as he does and like to drive it and make "flashy dribbles and cuts so-to-speak, then your gonna turn the ball over and have a few rough games. Call me crazy, but the way he has been able to step up and be a leader and providing you with a go-to-guy in clutch sittuations just makes me have to give him an A-. Perhaps it's because I do not watch Orlando as often as you do, but that's just my $0.2 and no more.

Yep. He is playing no where near the level that I expected from him and is stinking it up from the outside, which is what he is known and needed for in Orlando. He may very well be the odd man out sooner rather then later.

Giving him anything below average would be very tough because you guys are coming off a horrendous season in which he took over in the proccess of it, but you've got to understand that he is more of an emotional leader, a cheerleader to a certain extent. I hate to sound like the others here, but it is no secret why he is a liability on gamedays in terms of X's and O's and being able to put his team in a position to win.

Johnny has a lot to learn, as you've said and just isn't the best option for this team. He won't last much longer then the off-season, but I respect the guy and think he's done a very solid job.

JNice

The main reason I don't think Stevie deserves an A grade, and I think others who have watched them all season would agree, is that too many times this year he hasn't shown up against the lesser teams of the league. He gets up and performs big against the good teams, but sometimes loafs his way through the game against worse teams and the rest of the team follows suit.



The only reason I can see for keeping him is we start establishing Dwight Howard down low to the point where he can draw some double-teams and then Garrity might be valuable. But he has hurt the team more than helped most of this season.



I didn't think the Davis hiring was a good one coming off of Doc Rivers as the coach. They are too similar. They are both "motivational" coaches who aren't great with the Xs and Os. We could really use someone who carries a great deal of respect and experience with them. I haven't been as hard on Johnny as some others, but he has really made some questionable decisions, mostly with his substitutions. I think he has been decent and even though the team is about where I expected them to be, I think they have under-achieved. I agree that I don't see him around for too much longer.

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MC Hammer once said "You can't touch this!" I am THIS.

X-Factor

I agree. It seems that all the easy teams we play and we think "wow Francis is going to shred this team up" he ends up sucking. He is too inconsistant to be an A player. Be he still got snubbed as an all-star...

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