One of the few Warriors to flash an interest in playing defense, Pietrus soon found himself fighting for minutes with Don Nelson's Warriors. Now in the land of no state income taxes and playing for a coach who appreciates defense as much as Nelson ignores it, Pietrus not only will help the Magic chase the LeBrons and Paul Pierces, but also help space the floor for Dwight Howard, courtesy of a respectable 35 percent stroke from three.
They made a sensible draft pick
Maurice Evans, Keith Bogans and J.J. Reddick are no way to stock a shooting guard position. Likely starter Pietrus and rookie Courtney Lee are a lot closer to what a conference contender such as the Magic needs. While the former Warrior will handle the heavy lifting, Lee promises to star off a thin magic bench with a shooting stroke that was accurate from long range 40 percent of the time as a senior with Western Kentucky.
Dwight Howard went to school
Credit coach Stan Van Gundy for not genuflecting last season before his franchise center, who was sent to the bench after making a sharp comment to Van Gundy late in a loss to the Cavs. "His focus is on the offensive end," Van Gundy said to reporters after the game. "He gets discouraged when he doesn't get the ball. I think the numbers prove that what we need him to focus on to win is defensive rebounding, but that's not what he wants to do right now and we've got a little bit of a conflict." Howard's summer in Beijing soaking up the lessons of team-first preaching of Coach K and sharing the ball with his Team USA mates should reinforce Van Gundy's lesson.
I think Lee, Pietrus, A. Johnson and returning Battie won't help us to pass the same Pistons team in playoffs (we could not beat them even without Billiups)...We still don't have a 3rd PG, we still don't have enough power in the middle and we can't defend PG position...Otis could have done a better job, I still think that we don't need to have 2 players of same caliber if we have so many gaps in other spots...I love Turk but we had to trade him and propably Reddick to get a decent PF alongside Dwight...
I think Lee, Pietrus, A. Johnson and returning Battie won't help us to pass the same Pistons team in playoffs (we could not beat them even without Billiups)...We still don't have a 3rd PG, we still don't have enough power in the middle and we can't defend PG position...Otis could have done a better job, I still think that we don't need to have 2 players of same caliber if we have so many gaps in other spots...I love Turk but we had to trade him and propably Reddick to get a decent PF alongside Dwight...
First and foremost, we wouldn't have gotten equal value for Hedo if we traded him, so we would be taking one step forward and then two steps back.... Hedo is good ball handler, so a 3rd PG would be nice, but not necessary. 2ndley, im sure Johnson, Pietrus, AND Lee can all guard opposing PG's effectively, if need be. They are a huge upgrades defensively over the likes of Arroyo and Evans.... Pietrus brings some nice needed athletism to the backcourt.... Lee is an x-factor, if all the reports on him are accurate, and he can bring a nice scoring punch off the bench.... And Johnson is a big, veteran, defensive PG who can do a little bit of everything on offense..... Everything you say we need, we have. Gortat had 20+ PER last year in his limited mins, and will a nice backup to Dwight. Battie is another big body to throw in the mix. And Cook is nice change of pace guy who gives us versatility..... We are very versatile. I only thing I dont like is the re-signing of Foyle, but other than that, what more could Otis have really done better?? I cant wait to see this team play.
Here's what they've been saying about Lee:
Quote:
Originally Posted by JJ Redick
For the Magic fans out there who are interested in the pickup games, I’ll say that everyone looked to be in really good shape. The two guys that were most impressive to me were B Cook and Courtney Lee. B Cook is in good shape and was playing very aggressive on both ends of the floor. Courtney can really shoot the ball and he’s going to be a really good player in the league. I hadn’t played pickup since I left Duke a month ago so it was good to get some run and get buckets against live competition.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tony Battie
“He’s got a bright future. He’s very coachable, he listens. Right now, he’s just a student of the game, he’s got a lot to learn in this league but I don’t think he will have a problem at all adjusting and doing what he needs to do to get where he needs to get. I see him playing at a high level in years to come. I think the coaching staff has been on him and he had a good summer league. It’s the start of something good for him. I think he’s going to be a great player for us.”
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Don't start thinking Orlando is good please. -- Bill Simmons
They were saying that Gaines was also a very good player with a huge upside (Sasser too by the way)...Hopefully Lee would be better, tired of stupid draft choises...
Cook and Gortad are just a garbage players, will never contribute efficiently...
Jameer Nelson/Johnson is one of the most terrible PG rotation in the league...So, what happens when Jameer will be out with another contusion? or Johnson sprains an ankle? or both of them would be injured? we need a 3rd PG...
Yes, and why could not we get an equal value for Hedo??? )) Is he Kobe or Lebron???
Because noones gonna give us equal value for a 30 yr old forward who's nearing the end of his prime AND is looking for a raise..... I'm asuming equal value would be another borderline all-star like a L. Aldridge or David West type..... We're not gonna get that type of value for Hedo, so he's just not worth trading at this point. The only reason we would trade him is if we find out that we wont be able to re-sign him next year. And you ask who would handle the ball if Meer and/or Johnson are both out?? Hedo would handle the ball, but u really seem to want to ship his *** out, so idk what u would do... Also, CLee could bring the ball up in emergency situations.
Quote:
Jameer Nelson/Johnson is one of the most terrible PG rotation in the league.
Not true.
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Don't start thinking Orlando is good please. -- Bill Simmons
Lee is a rookie and don't forget about that, do you think he will be able do bring the ball up court in emergency situations in playoffs? He is not Penny Hardaway who was playing well at PG in his first year with the Magic...
You see? You are saying that Hedo is not that valuable and we could not get an All Star for him...but we don't actually need an All Star, what we need is a strong post up player with a nice jumper...Resigning Foyle was stupid move, rely on Gortat and Cook even worth...
I just hope we are not going to see to much of this stupid "small ball" game next season, with Lewis at PF and Jameer at PG...
Lee is a rookie and don't forget about that, do you think he will be able do bring the ball up court in emergency situations in playoffs? He is not Penny Hardaway who was playing well at PG in his first year with the Magic...
You see? You are saying that Hedo is not that valuable and we could not get an All Star for him...but we don't actually need an All Star, what we need is a strong post up player with a nice jumper...Resigning Foyle was stupid move, rely on Gortat and Cook even worth...
I just hope we are not going to see to much of this stupid "small ball" game next season, with Lewis at PF and Jameer at PG...
Are you kidding me?? The odds of both Meer AND Johnson being out @ the same time is really very low...... You can basically that about any team concerning their PG's "IF" they all magically get hurt at the same time.. In any case, we just bring some guys up from D-League or package JJ + Bogans 4 a PG, so relax.. This team is very good. And you dont like our "small ball", but u forget that our versatility is what made us soo good and soo hard to stop last year. We got a BEAST down low, and then he's surrounded w/ 4 shooters.. That's tough to stop. Factor in the return of Battie, the emergance of Gortat late in the year, and the versatility of B. Cook, in this frontline is better than most combined with Dwight..
And u say we play "small ball" but Hedo/Shard/Dwight are all 6'10+".... Jameer was a true PG in the playoffs and really elavated his game... He is the heart of this team, so if he can bring the same consistency that he showed in the playoffs to the reg. season this year, than this team is fine. Johnson brings toughness to the PG position, and is that bigger PG ur complaining we somehow "dont have"... And if a guy like Stuckey can effective play PG as a rookie, in the playoffs.... Why couldn't a guy like Courtney Lee just play in emergancy situations??? Even last year we only had two PGs, and we had Dooling play down @ the 1 alot just for his D, not for his PG skills.... Lee could do the same.
Overall, ur outlook on the team is just extremely pessimistic 4 some reason, and it's odd coming after a really solid year. One in which we revamped the backcourt, and get a big like Battie back and who is just another weapon in the post we didn't have last year, who can bang, play D, and rebound. Him and Gortat(who emerged late), will be eons better than what Foyle gave us last year.... Not to mention Cook, who won a game or two for us last year with wet stroke from 3 will be back, and apparently in the best shape of his career.... This team is gonna do big things buddy.
At the end of the day, this team is a mismatch nightmare... Three guys who can all start side-by-side who are 6'10+".... One is a beast in the paint, and the other two are dead-eye shooters. An athletice freak in Pietrus, who can play D and the Ray Allen's, Rip Hamiltons, and maybe even the LeBrons and DWades in check. Optmistically, Jameer should be better going off his playoffs performance(kinda like how Dwight stepped up in the playoffs 2 yrs ago, then had a monster yr last year). Bring a guy Johnson in off the bench to keep guys like Billups from out-muscling us. CLee is a darkhorse right now, but everything i've heard about him has been positive, so if he emerges this team would be scary. Im expecting this team to do big things.
Check out Hedo.... He looks ready to go too and he's in a contract year, so look out! Every year they sleep on us, but this year is the year where we prove everybody wrong.... again. They said we wouldn't make the playoffs last year, and we were a 3 seed.... Now they say we cant hang with Cleveland, Toronto, and Philly..... We'll see who gets it, man.... we'll see what's up... I'm tired of all the haters and the doubters. If you dont believe in Magic, then NOW is the time to start believing. We doin big things this year, over here buddy. You with us or against us.?!
I can't understand what "emergence of Gortat" means That he played 2-3 minutes a game in playoffs? Cook can't defend in the post and rebound the ball, plus his shot is not always falling...
Good dunk by Hedo...against a crap in Europe, in NBA there are guys like T.Prince who are protecting the basket
We were not that "unstoppable" with our "small ball" as you are saying. Quality teams were killing us on the boards and in the paint. Just remember the series with the Pistons. We were swept by them 2 years ago and last year we have just managed to win one game against them! And Billiups was not even playing...
I am Magic fan since Shaq's first season and of course I am "with you" I am just trying to be objective, Otis is not as terrible as the hockey guy was, but still he is far from being a great GM...
We have one of the most dominant big man in the world, so we need to surround him with the proper talent and compete for the championship, to make playoffs and go to the second round is not enough for me and I am sure for all other Magic fans who are still living with the memories of Shaq's and Penny's days in 1994/1995...
Dwight was playing with a fractured sternum too tho.... Many ppl forgot becuz he didn't use it as an excuse, but that is an extremely nagging and painful type injury..... Battie was out... Cook was out.... Like I said, Pietrus will play better D on the likes of Rip Hamilton(who was lighting us up) and Stuckey... People forget but Pietrus is also a great rebounding guard who was listed as a PF on GSW's depth chart, so he will really help us out alot.
Trust me, just because we didn't bring in an all-star like Brand or O'Neal, doesnt mean that we aren't alot better.... Our team chemistry is better than all those teams as well..... Rome wasn't built overnight tho, so be patient, but this team is good and improving. The X-Factors being Meer meer and Lee really steppin up and being consistent contributors for us to be legit contenders.... Most Slept on Team award goes to the Orlando Magic once again goin into the year tho...
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Don't start thinking Orlando is good please. -- Bill Simmons
Orlando Magic Summer Report Card
Orlando Magic Summer Report Card
= 2008-2009 NBA World Champ
)) Is he Kobe or Lebron??? 
He is not Penny Hardaway who was playing well at PG in his first year with the Magic... 
That he played 2-3 minutes a game in playoffs? 
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