but this time, I think he was stuck without any bargaining chips due to his own decisions and this is a saving face statement.

Shots? OK. Heart, hustle, desire… I’m seeing a lot of that missing, too. Sure, that’s stuff that can dealt with internally, but at the end of the day, I just don’t see anyone on this team with the mental fortitude to truly lead and move this team forward.

Although the effort hasn’t consistently been there defensively either.

BUT

We still need a solid big for the playoffs, I think. That hasn’t been a problem recently, but it could be a problem in the future. If Bass gets hurt in the playoffs…

there is not a dam thing I can do to clean up my mess!

Arenas is never going to make those shots, and the entire team save for Dwight seems disinterested in defense, and the team absolutely needs a backup C, and the trades have really backfired as a whole, sooooooooo……… I call BS.

That blanket statement can be said for any team. Otis has constructed the Magic to be just like Cleveland, instead of being patient and waiting for the right pieces to pair with Dwight, we bought retreads. Now that they are peeling off on the highway and we are stuck walking while everyone is honking on the way by. I knew chances were slim to win a championship this year, but I had hope for the future. Now half a season later, all I see is Gilbert and Hedo being the future of our team. We really need to put this into perspective, we ended up giving up Carter, Gortat, and Pietrus to get Hedo back. I missed Hedo, but that guy is unbelievably overpaid and is NOT worth that money no matter how much better he can pass. Earl Clark and Richardson are most likely gone after this year, so really we gave up all our tradeable assets to get back an overpriced player that we could have gotten for cheaper if we had courted him in the first place? It is like we had a fire and Otis reached for the closest liquid to throw on it and grabbed some gasoline. The Arenas deal was horrible, but I could have lived with it. The Hedo deal was horrible but I could have lived with it. Both together? Unforgiveable. I truly hope I have to eat my words here, but I have no fear of that happening. The Magic as currently constructed are not that good. They still don’t have a closer, someone they can go to at the end of games. And for some reason, Otis traded away every piece that was worthwhile, well before the trade deadline when teams get desperate, so he could add Hedo to be that guy. Carter, Pietrus, Gortat, and Lewis for Richardson, Clark, Hedo, and Arenas. Let’s see, Gortat has come up big for us when Dwight was out, Lewis has hit clutch shots in the post season many a time, Carter, well he contributes as much as Lee or Richardson, and Pietrus has been a proven asset in the playoffs as well, outscoring the entire opposing team’s bench by himself at times. So where exactly is the plus side? We took on more salary for a longer time and really to me it seems we depreciated our total talent level. Like I said this reeks of the same failed plan that the Cavs took. Instead of getting younger and more athletic, we got older, slower and more expensive. Did anyone even watch the Heat and how they achieved (albeit overly so) so much talent? Sacrifice. The team throws that word around a lot, talking about the players sacrificing for the good of the whole team, but management didn’t listen to its own credo. Sacrifice. Don’t make bone headed knee jerk trades. Don’t take on bloated contracts that will capsize the damn boat. Be patient and wait for the right deal. Well Otis did not wait. I gave Otis a lot of undo respect, but the truth of the matter is he hasn’t made very many good decisions. Isaiah Thomas is villified in NY, but I contend Otis has done far more harm than Thomas ever did, as far as basketball decisions. New York had Marbury as their star, whereas we have Howard. Now the team has no major tradeable assets, and our future success is tied to the success of two aging players in Arenas and Hedo. I say again, our success is majorly contingent on the success of those two players. So at the start of this season, I wondered how well Lewis would be able to play, and who we could pair with Dwight to form a dynamic duo. Well the answer is here everyone, his name is Gilbert. Thanks Otis.

Record 5-5 vs 31-17 (.500 vs .646)
FG% 44.2% vs 46.5%
3FG% 30.5% vs 37.1%
FT% 69.4% vs 69.8%
Ppg 97.5 vs 100.3
Opt 92.8 vs 94.2
ORb 9.6 vs 10.3
TRb 44.2 vs 43.1

It does appear that shot are not falling at a normal rate, especially the 3’s. Over the last 10 games only Hedo is shooting at or above his average.