What could have been? Magic Stomach Virus.

by Alex Parker on Apr 2, 2011 12:32 PM EDT

So basically before the Stomach Virus the Magic looked like a team to be reckoned with. 14-4 before the Virus hit, which Dwight Howard, Mickael Pietrus, JJ Redick, ect got and to this day it is not really known how the players received it. The notable wins was again the Heat, which Nelson attacked the basket and had 10+ assists that game and Redick did a solid job filling in for Vince Carter. The Bulls which we have blown out three straight times and did so during this stretch (funny how when Carter and Lewis were on the roster we demolish the Bulls but all of a sudden we cant beat them). Ever since the flu hit we beat the Pistons but after that period we lost four straight games, then another 4 straight and lost 8 of 10 before the trade. Before flu virus, great start. During and shortly after, different team. There were good and bad that came out of the trade but had the stomach virus outbreak not occurred where would you think the Magic would be right now? One thing that could have been guaranteed would be that this trade would not have occurred.

There is also a poll regarding this topic.

Poll

If the stomach virus outbreak did not occur to the Magic how would have predicted them to be during this season

Championship contenders

28 votes

Worse than they are now

16 votes

Slightly better

48 votes

About the same

37 votes

129 votes | Poll has closed

This FanPost was made by a member of the Orlando Pinstriped Post community, and is to be treated as the opinions and views of its author, not that of the blogger or blog community as a whole.

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Comments

bad move real bad move

It was just a big over reaction
the reason why we started losing those games was because
of our guy catching and coming back from the flu.
We did not have to trade in my opinion

by era2008 on Apr 2, 2011 1:46 PM EDT reply actions

I am also looking forward to the thread where we debate what might have happened if Grant Hill had not injured his ankle.

(Sarcasm. Kidding.)

Fortunately, the NBA has a well-tested quantitative formula for determining who the best team is. It's called "the playoffs." - Robert Silverman

by Redfield on Apr 2, 2011 2:47 PM EDT reply actions

Or what could have happened had David Robinson not convince Tim Duncan to return to the Spurs

and signed with the Magic. Really though the trade was unnecessary because it was the flu that hurt the team. The team was playing great before the stomach virus outbreak.

by Alex Parker on Apr 2, 2011 2:59 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Been there.

Eddy and Neil Paine. Two years ago.

Link.

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by Evan Dunlap on Apr 3, 2011 2:25 AM EDT up reply actions

That was pretty cool. I suppose someone could use a metric similar to the one

in the article to project how the pre-team trade would have finished the season compared to the post-team trade, once the season is over.

Might be an interesting post-hoc, hypothetical, analysis. Thanks for the link.

Fortunately, the NBA has a well-tested quantitative formula for determining who the best team is. It's called "the playoffs." - Robert Silverman

by Redfield on Apr 3, 2011 9:47 AM EDT up reply actions

This team got healthy and was destroyed by Portland and Denver.

The one Heat victory you talk about was without Carter. I don’t care what anyone says, we were not going anywhere with VC. Funny how everyone is concerned now, but was quiet during the 9 game winning streak. This team knows where they are going to be in the seed, so what do they have to play for? Seriously the team before was getting killed against every good team. This team has only one double digit loss if I’m not mistaken. Re the freaking lax. What was Gortat going to do for our team? With or without him we are going to be screwed if Dwight has foul trouble anyways. Vince is done. Vince was done. Yes I hate Gil, but he is still better than Duhon. As for the losses to the Bulls, Jameer got injured in the second game where we were up 7 or 8. And then the last one was a back to back after the epic Miami comeback. What were you expecting. It’s not like the Bulls have dominated us. Don’t fret over the regular season. Fret when the team is on the verge of being eliminated in the playoffs.

Roll Bass and War Ryno for me

by Mateo9399 on Apr 2, 2011 3:51 PM EDT reply actions

I am not fretting when making this post...

This was simply a post based on curiosity and you cant deny that the downfall of the original Magic were when the stomach virus outbreak occurred. And we werent getting killed by the good teams before as you stated we rarely played any good teams before the flu in the first place. The only times we played any good teams was against the Heat twice (1-1), the Spurs (lost in a close one), and the Bulls (again destroyed them). As far as Vince Carter goes cant really argue there but regarding Gilbert Arenas that trade was a disaster. Lewis might not have been playing very well himself but he is an upgrade over Arenas regardless of the fact that Arenas was better than Duhon, which isnt really saying much. The Suns trade, however was a slight increase. Pietrus was frustrated with sitting on the bench and Carter has a tendency to disappear in games and Turk and Richardson has been clutch since coming (back in Turkoglu’s case) to the Magic.

by Alex Parker on Apr 2, 2011 7:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Portland, Denver??? You didn't see those games?

Roll Bass and War Ryno for me

by Mateo9399 on Apr 2, 2011 8:22 PM EDT up reply actions

Those games were not before the virus outbreak.

by Alex Parker on Apr 2, 2011 8:29 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm glad you can use two games on a west coast road trip...

To justify overhauling a roster who went to Game 6 in the ECF the year before. Two road games against playoff teams, no less, with some players still recovering from the virus that caused them to lose up to 15 pounds.

"We just want to chill" - Chris Bosh.
Proud Jameer and Rashard apologist since '07

by slickw143 on Apr 3, 2011 5:55 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Three games!

Don’t forget Utah!

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by Evan Dunlap on Apr 3, 2011 11:21 PM EDT up reply actions

According to Otis,

That road trip had no bearing on his decision(s). Take it for what its worth…

"I never look at the points," Howard said. "Rebounds and blocks are what win games for me."
http://www.twitter.com/JShannonhouse3
http://www.twitter.com/Amway_Get_Loud

by JeffShann3 on Apr 4, 2011 12:58 AM EDT up reply actions

If he was thinking about trading for Arenas before that...

Then God or Allah or Buddah or Aquaman help us all.

"We just want to chill" - Chris Bosh.
Proud Jameer and Rashard apologist since '07

by slickw143 on Apr 5, 2011 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions

To me the trades were a double-edged sword.

I think we improved in some areas and regressed in others. Overall we’d probably be in around the same shape now if we didn’t pull the trigger, but the trades did put some life back into the organization.

But Chicago is a tough one. The old team completely demolished the Bulls several times going back into last year. I would say the Bulls have improved a lot throughout the year from what I’ve watched. So it isn’t just the Magic. Considering there is a good chance we will play them at some point in the playoffs, we might’ve given away our best chance to get into the Eastern Conference Finals. But obviously that will be a question mark going into a potential series for both teams.

The intensity has to go up, up! Not down...UP! -Stan Van Gundy

by cgsimone on Apr 2, 2011 4:21 PM EDT reply actions

While setting up a poll is rather harmless, I think this not the time to criticize the team going into the play-offs. We all need to stay behind the team, in my view.

by Matt1325 on Apr 2, 2011 4:29 PM EDT reply actions

Dont see how asking where the Magic would have been had the stomach virus not occurred is not staying behind the team. Or criticizing the team for that matter.

by Alex Parker on Apr 2, 2011 7:09 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, I am not one of the proponents of the trade(s), but I think criticizing the team while going into the play-offs is just untimely, and could wait until after the season is over.

by Matt1325 on Apr 2, 2011 7:31 PM EDT up reply actions

yea matt

Because I’m sure all the players hop on the OPP to get motivated for games. And they’d just be heart-broken over the fact they get criticized by a poll

by jtam on Apr 3, 2011 11:38 AM EDT reply actions

What's your point? I won't be surprised if some players - or others - dig OPP. After all, it's the best blog on Magic, and a lot better than the hometown paper.

by Matt1325 on Apr 3, 2011 4:58 PM EDT up reply actions

using Stan's terms:

“they shouldn’t worry how fans criticize them, they should worry how I (Stan) criticize them.”

by isum on Apr 3, 2011 10:14 PM EDT up reply actions

Great. We all should be happy that Stan is that kind of a coach.

by Matt1325 on Apr 3, 2011 11:06 PM EDT up reply actions

To my knowledge, no Magic player reads OPP.

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by Evan Dunlap on Apr 3, 2011 11:21 PM EDT up reply actions

What about other people in Magic organization or those who are connected with Magic?

When we were running orlandosmagicblog.com, Whit Watson mentioned that he was checking our stuff on daily basis.

by Matt1325 on Apr 3, 2011 11:35 PM EDT up reply actions

I do know that some of my posts used to be distributed on the company email list. I'm not sure if that's still the case.

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by Evan Dunlap on Apr 3, 2011 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions

You're just being modest.

I’m sure Gilbert reeds OPP on his iPad all day long, sitting on his amazing couch.

Don't mind my spelling. I'm a Typo Master.

by 44792212 on Apr 4, 2011 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Ha ha. You are always funny, sir.

by Matt1325 on Apr 4, 2011 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Gilbert insists he's not big on social media. Doesn't like reading blogs.

I didn’t publish the quote on OPP, so it’s gone now (somewhere on Twitter, I imagine) but he said during his blogging days he was too “wrapped up in my own self” (I’m paraphrising; those may not have been his exact words) to read others’ blogs.

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by Evan Dunlap on Apr 4, 2011 4:40 PM EDT up reply actions

I was merely trying to make a compliment without making one. And BTW I don’t really believe anything Gil says cause of his weird sense of humour (which I like).

Don't mind my spelling. I'm a Typo Master.

by 44792212 on Apr 4, 2011 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions