Our Orlando pick

It's like saying you would give back a car for the purchase price a year after you've been driving it. Would they give back all the ticket revenue of every fan that came to see Arroyo play in the last year?

They definitely seem to have soured on Arroyo. Arroyo says that he feels like he is being punished for going through a shooting slump. I sort of agree with him. He was lights out early. Even with his poor play of late, he has the 3rd best roland rating, 3rd most production, and a decent +/-. There is just something about the way he goes about his business that coaches don't like.

Orlando has enough youth. The don't really need another draft pick until they digest what they have. JJ Redick is a good example.

from espn page2's amjump:

3 Nets at Magic: 8 p.m., ESPN HD
Dwight Howard is dubbed "NEXT" on the cover of the current issue of ESPN The Magazine. Apparently Darko Milicic wasn't considered for the honor because he has already realized his potential.

Yeah, I'd give back a car a year after driving it if I could get my entire purchase price back. Especially if it drove like a piece of CRAP, or if it went into over dribble...I mean overdrive too long.

Who said anything about giving ticket revenue back to Detroit? That just doesn't make sense.

I'm saying that by getting Arroyo, the Magic boosted attendance. They made money off of the deal that way. So, if they were to "unwind" the deal, then you have to take that into consideration.

I believe a lot of this was just kind of made up. What was really going on is Orlando wanted to give their other guards a bit of a look. Despite the shooting slump by Arroyo, Orlando kept doing just fine with Arroyo on the floor. Don't spend too much time feeling sorry for Arroyo, as in this last game, Arroyo was very instrumental in Orlando's win over Miwaukee. I have seen no sign at all the last few games that Hill is in the least bit at odds with Arroyo.

I think the forum fans were more upset with Carlos than management was. They want JJ and Travis to play more and since the Magic already has a shoot-first PG, they wanted to give Travis a chance to be an assist-first PG. Carlos has exhibited a tendency to drive into the trees and try to get twisting, jumping, miracle shots off instead of getting the rest of the team involved more quickly.

As for this line of chatter, as the ESPN talking heads were saying tonight, Magic management says that Darko is not going anywhere. He will certainly be in a Magic uni next year.

Last 2 Magic games:

27 point lead over Milwaukee at the half

22 point lead over NJ at the half... extended to 31 after 3 qtrs.


They have enough youth that they get pumped up when they are playing bad teams, whereas teams like the Pistons just get bored. I think that this will be enough to get the Magic to the playoffs.

I believe that since James Augustine has finally been given some PT, they will prove to have 4 bigs, plus Bo, who can play a servicible game night in and night out.

If they could see their way clear to trade Grant and Jameer for a good point guard who is not height-challenged, they have a good shot at making a lot of noise in the post-season. Grant is a good player but the stats show that they win more when he is not in the games. He demands the ball too much. Jameer gives too much away on "D".

And especially now that JJ and Travis are getting more minutes, they are going to be hard to stop.

I am still predicting that they come in just below the Pistons. Two draft choices for the Pistons next summer will not be too bad in a deep draft.

2 of their 5 starters were held scoreless. Mr. Triple Double had 5 turnovers. His worst game in 10 years.

"They dominated us in every single aspect of the game," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said.

At one point in the game, the Magic had 42 points in the paint to New Jersey's 44 points total. That would explain the 62% shooting for Orl.

But my point isn't that it was a tough win, it is that they didn't get bored playing an easy game.

It may come to that. Detroit could be the 1, 2, 4, 5, or even 6 seed in the East. I figure the 3 is reserved for the Atlantic winner.

What if this happens?

Orlando edges out Washington and gets the 2-seed (they are only 3 games out right now). Detroit finishes behind Chicago, Cleveland, and Washington.

Orl would be the 2 seed and we would be the 6 seed. We could meet them in the 2nd round without HCA.


Since we have the toughest division, it is not that far fetched. One Gilbert Arenas ankle sprain, and Orlando can sneak in there.


The Division winners getting top seeds really makes the whole picture highly variable.

I think you are right in most of this post, but I respectfully disagree with part of it. First, I am not sure how the Pistons/Magic outcomes will be now. The front court will come off pretty even. Darko will probably nullify a lot of Sheed's assets; Dwight will outdo the center; Hedo and Ariza will nullify and probably outdo Tayshaun. It is in the guard position that they Pistons will flourish. Rip and CB will clearly outplay especially Jameer and somewhat over the 2 guard, whoever that is at the time.

I think the Pistons will have their hands full. I will be in Detroit when Orlando plays here. Gotta see these two play.

I do not agree that NY and Toronto are the best of the young teams because I beleieve that Orlando will wake up and trade Jameer and Grant for a good point that is not height challenged. Jason comes to mind.

Anyway, the rest of the season will be interesting. The injuries have so far bothered quite a few teams, including Orlando. They have had a bunch of them and not one at a time. They beat a short-handed Net team but also were without three of their own players who make a difference: Ariza, Hill, and Dooling.

This is a good sign... the Knicks beat the Magic in Orlando.
thank goodness for Jameer Nelson (this boy is on the all time worse defensive list)... I'm more than a little concerned that the Magic will acquire a defensive PG that shares the ball.
Darko is arriving folks.

doubt it. orlando is going to open up the check book to keep darko. joe would do the trade in a minute. otis is the current best gm in the league he ain't falling for no mess like that.

darko is arriving. orlando is making a big trade by the deadline. jameer's days are numbered.

Max, be careful. Bad matchups don't define a player. Why mention Bogut, who just had a horrendous game, being shut down totally by Darko. Orlando just slaughtered Milwaukee, and the fact that Darko is so much more player than Bogut is was a big reason why. Sure Curry went right thru Darko at times. Then again, how many times has Darko played Curry? Not much. Darko started faring a bit better later in the game, after gaining some experience. Meanwhile, Curry was bulling his way right thru Howard as well. Does that make Howard a weak player? Hardly. Curry was just left off the playoff roster, and had a huge chip on his shoulder. Curry played to prove something. To me, no way Curry, who is having his best season, does not get the nod over Howard, who has great potential but has not yet realized it yet. Good for Curry.