You know everyone brings up the Magic but.... You have Jameer Nelson Aaron Afflalo Hedo Glen Davis And some young guys at center. You have Harrington and Reddick off the bench... My point is this is a veteran team, sometimes this alone will keep you from being a 'bad' team. They are not like the Bobcats who are still going to throw out a lot of young players, they are throwing out guys who've been to the playoffs, been to finals, won championships...that counts for something. Big Baby has been having a pretty good preseason too (and looked good in the playoffs) Not that these guys are going far but I don't think they will be as bad now that I look at their roster.
I guess they mean the 12th pick we got from them. Not that it makes any sense to say Jeremy Lamb was traded to Houston...
Grass is greener on the other side? I notice how you are so pessimistic about Rockets and sometimes down right depressing reading your Debbie downer posts, but to think Magic will not "be as bad'?? Rockets have far superior starting 5 than Magic. Davis had a good preseason but not against Smith and the rest of Rockets. 1. Playoff experiences do not translate into regular season success. They only matter during playoffs. 2. Jameer Nelson and Hedo have peaked and Hedo is on a free fall decline. Arron Afflalo's is already a 5-year vet whose upside is minimum. 3. They dont even have a legit center to guard the rim. G. Ayon and N. Vucevic, which you couldn't even name, are so inexperienced, look for teams to expose at their weakest link. It will be a nightmarish season for Magic fan to watch how other teams score at the paint! How can they be 'not bad'? They are terrible!! As a fan, don't you think Rockets deserve a better chance??
Clearly you did not watch HOU games last season, in which we won games vs. OKC, LAL, ATL etc. in great part because Chandler could control the likes of Durant, Kobe etc down the stretch and made them inefficient throughout the game.
I said nothing about the Rockets in my post. Just that I don't think the Magic are going to be that bad. I'm sorry that my opinion on these things don't fit into some of the newer members vision that we are definitely a playoff team. Rockets are a bottom 10 team in my eyes. I could be wrong but lets not act like I'm the only person in the world that thinks that. Now. 1.) That's a load of...it's just wrong. If you can perform in the post-season you can do it in the regular season. The playoffs everything is tuned up another level. A lot of times guys break out the following year after just having made the playoffs. I think teams realize there is another notch they can go to after having made the playoffs. The Magic team without Dwight last year PROVED that they were not that bad. I'm just going by past history. They bought it to a very good Pacer team and most of their accomplishments last year was without Dwight. 2.) Not talking about upside. Obviously their upside is not good, but they are experienced vets. Having gone to finals and won championships for some of them. The Rockets have more upside than the Heat, doesn't mean they are better than the Heat, just means they have more room to get better while the Heat are already at the top of their game. 3.) Not many teams actually do any more. I didn't name Ayon or Vucecic because it isn't clear as to who would start. It is funny you bring up inexperience, because most of the Rockets are inexperienced. The Magic actually have a more experienced team than the Rockets. I don't understand why what I think the Rockets deserve means anything. I think the Rockets deserve championships, doesn't mean it's going to happen and I'm sure not going to talk myself into believing it can happen any time soon with the roster as constructed.
Optimism versus Pessimism. I will wait till after the end of the coming season and get a more accurate answer which way the team is heading. I will not second guess the team effort. Rockets fan forever!
The first game that Magic won against Pacers was a shocker. I give credit to SVG more than their roster full of 'role players' with playoff experiences. Once D12 was out for the season, Magic's season was lost. They went from 3rd seed EC to a team with the longest odds of winning; they had no chance. That's a bad example of comparing upside of Heat and Rockets. Heat is 2 tiers above in talents. There is little room to improve when you are sitting atop the league. Perhaps I shouldve used the word 'proven' instead of 'inexperienced' when I brought up their centers. We are solid at 5, where as Magic have their weakest link at 5. Magic is terrible and we agree to disagree. BTW it was from other threads that you were so pessimistic about our team. We really should watch enough regular games to decide how bad or how good Rockets really are.
Well no one is saying they are better without Howard. Also...roster full of role players? Exactly what is this team? Except their role players actually have high level experience and ours do not. All of these guys we have would be role players on better teams. Until they prove they are more than that is what they are. The point is their upside doesn't have much to do with how they are now. Do you think the Wizard, Cavs, Bobcats, Detroit are all better than the Magic? Until those teams actually go out and prove it I'd go with the Magic. Well everyone is talking about how good or bad this team is going to be and I am just throwing in my thoughts. Some here think they will win more than 40 games and make it to the playoffs and some think not. The whole point of pre-season predictions is well predicting. Of course after 10 or so games we'll know a lot more about the team than we do now.
