[OrlandoSentinel.com] Weisbrod's hits and misses stand out

howard over okafor a birdie???

questionable IMO.

 

And we all know what a great move he made by unloading Tyronn Lue & Reece Gaines contracts! What, with the combined 2.5 million dollars they unloaded over 2 seasons? LOL.

 

I don't understand how anyone could still see trading away Mobley as a good thing. They could have made him a 6th man and be in a better spot than they are now.

 

They've improved the club by rocking Francis' world, moving him to shooting guard after trading his best friend, Cuttino Mobley, for Doug Christie.

Improved the club? They're better than they were?

The move helps alleviate Francis' TO and tendencies to shut others out of the offense, but moving Mobley has helped lead to him going into a full-scale pout mode. At best, he's as happy now as he was with JVG last year.

Evan

 

Wow, and people talk about Jonny Feigen being a homer. Feigen is Fran Blinebury compared to this OS columnist

 

The chemistry was just so good with the team earlier in the season. It sucks right now. The Mobley deal was inexcusable.

IMO you either build a team to enhance your best player's strengths, or you trade that player away while his value is high. Moving Francis to the two makes some sense from a turnover standpoint, and I can see the argument for getting Jameer Nelson into the lineup. But bottom line, Steve Francis is the most talented player on that squad, and his value and game have been diminished by the moves Weisbrod has made. He's a flawed player, true, but so are guys like A.I. and Arenas. That style can still be effective to a point, with the right surrounding players. Maybe not championship worthy, but even a playoff-caliber club would be a step up from the way they're playing.

 

The Mobley deal was a huge mistake for the Magic and they will pay for it as long as SF3 is on the team.

 

well considering the fact that howard could be the first guy out of HS to avg a double double since moses malone i would say that this is a birdie.

 

Weisbrod must still believe he got the better end of the Houston-Orlando trade.
According to former reports, as a hocky guy, he is all into plus/minus stats to evaluate a player.
Here is the +/- stats for the last 30 days from 82games.com (2/08-3/09)
Francis +14.9, Cato +13.4
McGrady -9.9, Ming -1.7
I don't know who is more dumber, the one who invents this stat or the one who believes it!

 

Let me get this straight:

If the writer wants to bash Tmac, then just say he quit on the team and refused to play through a minor nagging injury.

If you want to kiss Weisbrod's ass, just say that he placed Tmac on the injured list as a disciplinary measure.


Also, the Francis to shooting guard experiment has mainly been a disaster. Everybody in Orlando now knows that SF has neither the skills to be a good distributor or shooting guard. Way to go Weisbrod, you traded a top 5 player for one of the most fundamentally flawed 'basketball players' in the game. Does anyone else wonder if SF has even tried practicing his catch and shoot skills in the offseason? Or does he just play one on one against Cat all summer long? Where the hell did his 3 point shot, which was solid his first several years, go? They're going to be paying him max money for a long time, probably after he loses some of his all-important athleticism, and he has not even improved any skills since his second year in the league.

 

Not to mention the fact that CD parlayed those two into Jon Barry and Mike James. Booyah!

 

Indeed. In fact, considering what the Rockets got for them, you could say this was a screw-up for Weisbrod - who fobbed them off as nothing, but they were valuable enough to land Mike James and Jon Barry - who would've helped that Magic team enormously.

And trading McGrady. He's the second best player in the game right now, and he still isn't in his prime.

Colossal screw-up to burn the bridges with a player of his ability.

 

Ah, the genius of moving Francis to SG. What's his catch-and-shoot % again?

 

Weis' Birdies and Bogeys

BIRDIES

* Drafting Dwight Howard over Emeka Okafor and arranging a draft-day deal to acquire Jameer Nelson.

Jury is still out on this one. Howard could turn into a great PF, or he could not. Okajor was a safe choice and looks solid.

* Trading Cuttino Mobley and helping facilitate the move of Steve Francis to shooting guard.

This is possibly the worst thing he did. Mobley is a bad trading piece by himself because of his contract. When a guy is better than his contract, you can only trade him for a player in a similar situation, or as part of a package with players not worth what they are getting paid. This mistake is compounded by the fact that is sent Steve into a funk. I don't know how this can possibly be classified as a positive move for Weisass.

* Signing of free agent Hedo Turkoglu.

Hedo has always been a little overrated, but this was a solid move.

* Moving the contracts of Juwan Howard (a six-year pact), Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines in the T-Mac deal.

Juwon Howard is playing up to his contract, it isn't like he is still making 20 million a year. Lue and Gaines were salary throw-ins who the Rockets, who actually have a BASKETBALL GM, managed to turn into quality pieces.

* Upgrading the overseas scouting efforts

no comment

BOGEYS

* A broken relationship with Tracy McGrady that, in part, resulted in his trade.

McGrady was not really redeemable in Orlando after last season. He led the team right into last place, focused on the scoring title over winning games, and was admittedly half-assing his way through the season. I don't put this one on Wiesbrod.

* Acquiring Doug Christie for Cuttino Mobley. Bottom line: Christie isn't playing.

This is true. The trade was bad. Trading Mobley at all was stupid, but getting the nutless wonder in return only made it worse. I thought it was hilarious that all of the ESPN pundits called this trade a steal, FOR ORLANDO.

* Trading Keith Bogans.

no comment

* Signing DeShawn Stevenson to a three-year contract and aging free agent Stacey Augmon.

Yes. What genious thought Stevenson was good? Even Jerry Sloan, who tricked teams into signing away Shandon Anderson and Bryon Russell, couldn't keep Stevenson from looking like garbage.

* Including rookie Anderson Varejao in the Drew Gooden deal.

I'm not sold on Varejao, but how about the fact that he traded Drew Gooden for Tony Battie in the first place?

 

Wasn't moving Francis to SG done because he wasn't really getting it done at the PG, especially after his little temper tantrum when Mobley was traded and his missing practice after All Star weekend? For some reason I got the impression it was a last resort move for them rather than a real potential solution to their problems. Honestly, as dense as I think Weisbrod is, I think even he realizes at this point that Francis will never be the player they need to build around for a championship. I guess they are hoping Howard develops into that player...but I wouldn't count on it. I'm sure Weisbrod will trade Steve eventually, sooner rather than later...and it will probably be in a confusing deal that ends up sending Steve somewhere for Bo Outlaw Mark Madsen because they are "scrappy."

 

LOL, ICAM

I probably have less than 1/100 of Francis ability put I have no problems shooting the ball just after receiving it. The need to dribble around to get in rhythm to shoot is moronic.