EP. 383 – Under The Weather – Orlando Magic Podcast

EP. 383 – Under The Weather – Orlando Magic Podcast

This is the Sixth Man Show an Orlando Magic podcast with your hosts Luke Sylvia and Jonathan Osborne covering all things Magic Basketball by fans for fans go Magic what’s going on Orlando Magic fans you guys are back with the six-man show today is January 15th 2024 it’s MLK Day Jonathan Osborne here as always joined by my co-host Kevin Tucker I guess not all as always this time your a special guest Kevin Tucker Luke’s out of town

Doing his H work thing what’s going on producer Kevin Tucker how are you Jonathan glad to be here as always always good to chat with you and uh yeah this is off to a great start thanks for having me yeah as a special guest for sure how are you doing out there a

Little little cold in in Savannah you’re you’re recording from your your postgame last Studio out there all bundled up that’s right how’s how’s weather in Savannah these days it’s better than the Midwest that’s for sure I mean obviously sports fans this weekend saw Kansas City and the craziness that was out there I

Do not miss that for those that don’t know I lived out in Indianapolis for four years and uh I I don’t miss it I love Indie great City but the the winter weather for about you know four months of the year is just brutal glad to be in

The South where uh this is as cold as it gets it’s like 44 I can handle this all right that’s good speaking of the the NFL playoffs my Giants obviously nowhere near the playoffs but your bucks and a lot of listeners Tampa Bay Buccaneers are playing this evening right because

The bills have the Day game the Eagles how how are you feeling going into that terrible don’t feel good at all I have zero belief but it’s the playoffs it’s Sports Anything Can Happen um you know obviously the only reason the Bucks are even in this position is is because of

The division they play in but um you know we’ll see that’s the thing you never know we’ve got weapons on both sides of the ball the Eagles are you know reeling essentially like they’ve Fallen apart the last you know month month and a half or so whatever it’s

Been so we got a shot we’re at home the thing that’s annoying as you know living in the Tampa area there will be way too many Eagles fans at that game so that’ll be no fun uh but yeah we’ll see I mean we got a shot of course you know most

Listeners some listeners will be listening to this after this game and you’ll know how it goes but uh I’ll be watching we’ll see how it goes and maybe just maybe the Bucs can pull off the upset so we’re recording this Sunday night obviously uh before Monday the

Magic take on the New York Knicks in New York today uh that game is going to tip off at 3 o’clock Eastern so a nice little uh early afternoon MAA uh MLK day I believe every NBA team plays on that’s correct yeah so lot to look forward to

Uh listening in this episode hopefully we’re getting you primed for that game so excited uh look at looking at the standings you know it’s all very very close we’ll talk more about that in just a second second so uh but before we start talking Magic Basketball just a

Couple of talking points here our next episode of the six fan show is going to be recorded this Friday the 19th outside of Kia after the magic take on the Philadelphia 76ers and don’t forget y’all still vote Allstar vote.nba.con Jaylen Suggs Cole Anthony all your favorite magic players to the All-Star

Game Alo banero jumped a couple of spots you know got above Kyle C kma thank God uh really really needed that magic fans galvanized around Palo banero getting ahead of Kyle kma so we were able to make that happen for him we want to see

Him get a you know a little bit higher not too far behind Julius Randall and Orlando Magic player beating out uh a Nick that’s playing really really well this year would be awesome so continue to vote for those guys each and every day and uh make sure that you’re getting

Your votes in on those three for one days as well Kevin let’s get into the state of the magic this week unfortunately the magic went 0 and3 with losses to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday a loss to the Miami Heat on Friday and a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday

They currently sit eighth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 21 and 18 they are now nine games back of first first place Boston six games back of Second Place Milwaukee four games back of Third Place Philadelphia four games doesn’t seem like it’s all that much two

Games back of Cleveland Indiana and New York they’re a game and a half back of Miami three games up on Chicago four and a half games up on Brooklin five and a half games up on Atlanta and six games up on Toronto they are now 24th on the

Season in NBA in the NBA in offensive rating with a rating of 112. two they are fifth in the NBA in defensive rating with a rating of 111.2 and they are 16th in net rating with a net rating of one exactly one taking a look at the injur

Report we’ve got some good news we’ve got some bad news the good news Joe Engles returned to the lineup Friday against Miami after missing 14 games with an ankle sprain Jonathan Isaac returned to the lineup Saturday against Oklahoma City after missing 10 games with a sore hamstring Kevin he’s now

Played 22 of the Magic’s 39 games that is a 45 game Pace if he continues that the you know the the current level of injured that he’s been now if he can get healthy and put a nice together you know maybe he can get to 55 60 plus games

Would be incredible definitely need that guy to be a bit more healthy here Wendell Carter Jr has missed the past five games with nenitas he is questionable for Monday’s game against New York fron vogner has missed the past five games with an ankle sprain he has ruled out for Monday Gary Harris has

Missed the past five games with a calf strain also has been ruled out for Monday and then Markel folz and Joe Engles both missed the second night of the back-to-back Saturday aturday night as they both work back from injury but both are expected to play Monday Kevin

Now we’re going to get into a little bit of a little bit of tea here a little bit of of the rumor mill Friday uh Jake fiser reported that Wendell Carter Jr is expected by League Executives to be involved in trade talks as we get closer to the deadline and Sunday Mark Stein

Reported that the magic are exploring trade talks around Marquel folz Kevin what do you make of these rumors do they surprise you and do you expect the magic to make moves as we’re now three and a half weeks away from the trade deadline do they surprise me no first

Off on two fronts number one the rumor mill is going to Rumor Mill you know like it’s that time of year it’s just about Silly Season as we call it as we are you know as you said just less than a month now away from the trade deadline

So rumors are going to fly about every team all 30 teams are going to have rumors so that doesn’t surprise me specifically about the magic it really doesn’t surprise me you know those two guys specifically Marquel Wendell at one point even you know just as little as you know three months ago

Four months ago thought to be really important pieces of this core and then two things happen number one they get injured again which unfortunately has been part for the course for both of those guys but then the big thing that happened Jonathan those guys went out

And the magic kept winning and I think it made some people in the organization and people outside of the organization go okay maybe these guys are more Expendable than we originally thought you know maybe in the off season so um it’s tough though because I think most

Magic fans really love those guys like as human beings like those are great guys and even as basketball players they’re good basketball players they just can’t stay on the floor and I don’t care how good you are you’re not worth as much if you can’t be healthy

And so that’s the hard part with those guys you know I think both both those guys are so talented they’re great locker room guys they’re great Community guys and so I would hate to see them go however does it surprise me that they’re being discussed no the the the extra

Thing though I’m sure you’ll mention this is it’s kind of hard to trade a guy that’s hurt you know or that can’t stay healthy like if the magic don’t want them because they can’t be healthy what teams are going to want them you know that’s that’s the hard part where the

Magic right now is even if they do decide to deal those guys what are you even going to get back and will it even be worth a trade you know so all that you know to say Jonathan I’m not surprised and I definitely expect a deal

Come deadline day is it for one of those guys both of those guys I don’t know I guess we’ll have to wait and see so not only have they you know not been available they they haven’t really been all that impactful when they have been available now we’ve had the conversation

Of oh hey you know a few weeks ago when Wendell came back it was like all right well let’s sort of let him play himself back into the rotation and back into Rhythm and as soon as it looked like he was getting back into that Rhythm he’s

He’s hurt again yeah now marel since he’s come back has really just looked like a shell of himself if if I’m being totally honest like even like athletically doesn’t look the same like the uh fast break that he had against the Miami Heat where a couple of years

Ago like Marquel would take off from almost like the free throw line yeah just didn’t look like he had the same level of lift as he’s had in in in in past years I’m I’m looking at you know Marquel and and Wendell’s numb so marquel’s only played in Eight games

This year um averaging almost 24 minutes a game eight points three rebounds three assists shooting you know just under 45% from the floor hasn’t made a three this season he’s shooting 40% from the free throw line I don’t know if we are how big of a

Deal it really is but one thing is for certain is like the hitch in his jump shot is completely back like all the progress that he’s made over the course of the last season last few seasons with his shooting form seemingly has just gone out the window like now you see the

KT Tape you know on the back of his shoulder I don’t know how much the thoracic outlet syndrome is is really a factor and I talked about this with Luke a couple of weeks ago when or a week or so ago when Markel came back the fact

That the whole talk around his to since he came back the first time like when he first like joined the magic his shoulders good to go it was okay we we found a regiment that works for me now it’s all about maintenance so I have two big questions now is the maintenance no

Longer working or did you sort of like fall off that maintenance which allowed this to happen both of which are massive concerns yeah it’s it’s funny I um sometimes when it comes to the magic I I Pro I probably have you know I don’t know about Rose Colored Glasses but like

Blue colored glasses like like I I I tend to give the magic the benefit of the doubt a lot probably to a fault and so early on when Marquel was out you know this season there were these people you know online Twitter Reddit whatever saying oh I think it’s the the to

Flaring up again but they don’t want to tell us you know blah blah blah and I was like guys come on you know there’s no way that’s that his knee hurts right and then he comes back and you’re like oh crap maybe maybe this is the reason

He’s been out this whole time you know I don’t know obviously the magic can potentially get in trouble for you know Mis um Mis you know quoting an injury or whatever you they can get in trouble with the league for that so I really I’m not exactly sure if that really happened

But it it’s concerning and maybe it’s just more so when he’s away from the game for so long you know that that kind of maybe tends to creep back in um so he has to get his reps back in I don’t know that that that is the one thing with

Both Wendell and Marquel they’ve been out so much I still can’t bring myself to fully judge how they’re playing yet you know if you think about like when Dell was you know came he played the first was at three almost four full games you have the the Utah game is the

Fourth game of the season and then he’s out for you know two months three what I don’t remember how many it was comes back and doesn’t look great he does have that one good game and I can’t remember who we were playing Phoenix Phoenix the Phoenix game had a great game in that

Phoenix game we like oh Wendell’s back and then as you said gets hurt again so zero opportunity for him to get his legs under him zero opportunity for him to get a real Rhythm to his game and the same thing with Marquel you know you said only played eight games this season

We played 39 games now he’s only played eight of them and so part of me is like it’s still so hard to judge these guys because just like any job your job my job if we’re away from it for so long and then all a sudden we have to get

Thrust back into it it’s going to take us some time to get our reps in to feel comfortable and so again part of it is I love those guys and I don’t don’t want to see them fail and and don’t want to see them get traded you know as as human

Beings and as as basketball players but then at the same time it’s like maybe it’s time I don’t know I don’t know but yeah maybe it just takes more games to get their their legs under them but they’re running out of time I think is what it comes down to like they’re

Running out of time like you said February 8th is right around the corner is that going to be enough time for them to you know stake you know claim a stake in this this team going forward I I really don’t know we’ll have to see so

Like we talk about the way that they’ve performed I think what doesn’t really helped their cases the way that other guys have filled in in their absence so true with Marquel being out like you just look at the way that Pao is really taking over like setting up the offense

But then like the way that Jaylen has played the way that Anthony black has played I like lately I find myself like why is marel in like we like Anthony black should be on the floor and I never thought that I would say that heading

Into this season we look at the way that Goa has played and the way that Mo has played in Wendell’s absence which has sort of LED th to those thoughts of like hey are these guys Expendable the one guy who has not been as injured but still has been injured

Throughout the season is Jonathan Isaac and I I don’t know about you Kevin but I find myself feeling differently about the ji situation because when he has played he has been so impactful and it’s like okay that’s sort of a guy that I’m I’m more willing to wait on because when

He plays it seems to make a massive difference yeah it’s two things to that you know Friday or sorry not Friday Saturday night against OKC you know ji comes back and while he’s you know not going to jump off the stat sheet actually he didn’t even have a field

Goal Saturday night the the way he plays defense and I think it took him a little bit you know first few possessions you maybe missed a step but thinking back and obviously we’ll talk about this OKC game later but to your point end of the third quarter quarter beginning of the

Fourth quarter jayen Williams is cooking you and what happens they put Jonathan Isaac on you and he shuts him down so even though Jonathan Isaac he doesn’t have to you know jump off stat sheet at you he’s impactful in his own way um and some nights Some Nights the shots

Are falling or whatever but def defense is his thing but going back to your your point about Marquel Wendell trying to play their way out of or play I guess play their way into fitness or whatever that’s one of the biggest differences with this season versus the last two seasons the last two

Seasons we this team gave opportunities for players to come back from injury or to grow or to develop because they weren’t really playing for anything right this season is where it’s different not only for the front office for the coaching staff but us as fans the expectation is higher and so there

Is such a shorter leash for guys like Marquel to where in past years it’s like oh he’s out there because he’s coming back from an injury it’s okay let him play through it whereas now it’s like we’re trying to win these games and he’s not helping us and so it’s it’s so

Interesting it’s a totally different position that this team is in and that our fan base is in the front office is in that we have haven’t had in a long time which is a good thing you know but it’s it’s just so different it’s so different so that’s part of where I

Think the frustration comes from Marquel you know if this was last year two years ago everyone would be like ah it’s all right just let him get his legs under him he’ll he’ll be fine and now it’s like he’s part of I don’t want to say

He’s part of the problem but you know we need someone to positively contribute to win games and right now he’s just not doing it like uh what was that Friday night against Miami like there’s times he’s bringing the ball up and we’ve got a on too and marquel’s not even looking

At The Rim like he he’s yeah past first point guard but this was like to to our detriment like was not looking to attack at all just looking to move the ball offensively he just does not seem confident right now like does not look like the same guy even the the first few

Games of the year it probably was that that knee ton night was starting to flare up on him and he could feel that coming on uh and didn’t look like himself but since he’s been back hasn’t really looked like himself another guy as we are getting close to the trade

Deadline that that I’m really interested to see what happens with is is Gary Harris because of the recent emergence of Caleb Houston like Caleb Houston gives you a lot of what Gary Harris gives you and Caleb Houston is a guy that’s still under contract for another

Two years making $2 million a year Gary Harris is an expiring contract is he going to resign or the magic going to be willing to pay him probably a a pretty similar contract with with they resigned him to before last season so yeah what what do you think about that do like do

You see a move getting made and what do you think or what would you prefer the move to be yeah I recently talked about this on uh postgame show which by the way six man show postgame live presented by Rockham after each and every Orlando Magic game come check us out on YouTube

Um I recently talked about this the fact that Caleb Houston in my eyes has 100% earned earned a spot in the Magic’s rotation 100% credit to him for stepping up when he was given the opportunity with these injuries I think he’s 100% earned it here’s what I think might happen though

I think Gary Harris comes back from injury anytime now of course I’ve said that for weeks but anytime now he’s going to come back from injury and Gary’s goingon to get his spot back right away and I think Caleb might lose those minutes however like I said I think he’s

Earned the spot and I think Gary gets dealt I I really believe that um the other option is Caleb has earned his spot and Gary is benched that would surprise me because I think there are still plenty of teams contending teams that would love a Gary Harris who’s

Obviously not just a a good Defender typically a good shooter although this season not so much and a veteran presence a lot of teams would like that but I think Caleb in this short stretch has 100% earned a spot in this rotation not just this season but going forward

Like what does this team need more than anything they need shot making we need a guy to hit shots from the perimeter and that’s pretty much all he does you know offensively at least so you’ll take it but that’s all we need especially when when fron is back you get pal and fron

In there together with Caleb Houston I mean come on now defense has to leave somebody open and if it’s Caleb I’m okay with it so I I’m a huge Caleb Houston fan you are obviously for sure a huge Caleb Houston fan and I’m really happy what we’ve seen from him and the

Other thing I’ll add about him he was such a one-dimensional player last year this season he’s adding some other dimensions to his game like he is hustling he is rebounding when given the opportunity he’s I don’t want to say he’s finishing at The Rim he’s only done

That like twice but he’s shown he’s capable and so I think over the course of time maybe his game will open up even more and if they run him off the three-point line maybe he’ll take it to the rim I don’t know we’ll see uh but yeah I’ve been so impressed with Caleb

So happy for him and I think he’s definitely earned a spot in this rotation going forward so given given all the factors that we’ve talked about like we’ve talked about marel and Wendell both you know expected to or or rumored to be involved in exploratory trade conversations talked about Gary

Harris might be might be a guy that the magic could be looking to move who is the move for you like I feel like I know who you’re going to say but like what would be like your dream trade deadline scenario for the magic like do you have somebody like targeted ah

Um here’s here’s what I’ll say I don’t know that I have anyone specifically targeted there are people that you know their guys that magic Twitter and such have pointed out would be a great fit for this team what I’m most interested in is will this front office make a move

Like that like will they make a move for a player or will they make a move for more assets that’s like the biggest question mark I have because in the past the answer is easy like last two years they would be trading for assets like no question about it but like I mentioned

Earlier this expectation for the season is different and so will the front office be looking to add a piece that makes this team better for this season I don’t know that would be a again totally different move than this front office has made in past trade deadlines very

Much future forward looking like you think about the Marquel trade that was a the deadline that was obviously such a far forward thinking move he is not you know traded to win now um and then other examples obviously the last couple years so that’s my biggest question mark I

Don’t I don’t think I have a player in mind but I just have no idea I don’t know if this front office is ready to trade in some of our assets for you know a current asset versus trading our assets for a future asset does that make sense like that’s that’s my biggest

Question mark yeah it’s because the magic don’t really ever talk about you know what they’re going to do or what the plan is you’re just always having to play like connect the dots and and guess and speculate about what they’re going to do what I’m thinking is like the magic

Just like tend to surprise us like when you don’t think they’re going to make a move is is when they make a move right like the trade deadline in 2021 we kind of thought that Evan and AG would be moved and we would move into like the

The next age of whatever the magic were going to look like and then boom V is gone and we’re all like well we didn’t really expect that we didn’t see that coming so I I just go back to tus Jones there was a trade today involving the Washington Wizards and the Detroit

Pistons in which the Pistons traded Marvin Bagley to the Wizards it was Marvin baggley and Isaiah livers and two future round draft picks to the Washington Wizards for danelo galinari and Mike muscala I don’t think the Wizards got better in that move trading for Marvin Bagley who has largely been

Disappointing since coming into the league Isaiah livers who a lot of Detroit Pistons fans couldn’t wait to move and two future second round picks so it seems like the Wizards are officially going into the mode of like these veteran guys that we have that we

Don’t think are going to be a part of the long-term Vision here we’re going to start to move them for young players and picks sorry I was just going to say that trade is one of the funniest things ever to me and here’s why because think about

Those Wizards guys like they’re like oh this is the worst season ever it can’t get any worse than this and they get traded to Detroit I saw that trade like of all the teams to trade with each other the the Wizards and the Pistons it cracked me up sorry I thought that was

The funniest thing ever like denil Gallinari who’s had quite the NBA career obviously ups and downs and injuries like that dude that dude does not want to play in Detroit right now are you kidding me like he’s like screw this I’m out of here anyway sorry yeah no but

Again I just go back to it it seems like they’re starting to make those kinds of moves yeah and because of the injuries from this year I don’t know if Marquel makes sense I don’t know if wend make sense in that deal now Gary on the other

Hand is a guy again who’s expiring that I think if it’s Gary Harris and maybe you you can get by with a couple of second round picks in a deal for a guy like tus Jones again I’m fine with moving that 2025 uh first round pick from Denver the

Way that this team is going like we’re not going to be bringing in multiple rookies a year like in a given draft class like that’s it’s just not going to happen as this team continues to grow and take steps towards you know perennial playoff appearances and and contention eventually the days of us

Having you know multiple first round picks and using them I think are behind us and Denver is going to be good from for quite some time with yic which with Murray it’s going to be a late first at the absolute best like you’re talking about you know a high 20s pick so I’m

Good with moving that personally if the move is for tus Jones and then it just comes down to like whether or not you know the magic are going to be able to resign that guy if you’re conf confident about that that’s a move that makes you

Better for this year and it it makes you better in the future but I what I struggle with is we just still don’t know what this front office values this year like we’re all talking about yeah we’ve raised the expectations we have a new standard yeah fans say that but from

Jeff welman and and Anthony Parker’s perspective why would we change expectations like at this point if their goal was the playin for this year they’re probably are already going to match that and the rest of the season they’re playing with house money so if they don’t feel a strong need to improve

The team for this season then they’re not going to make a move we’ve got three and a half weeks and and we probably won’t know until the last minute odds are they’re not going to make a move that it just kind of is what it is but

It it’s it kind of sucks because like hey like the team’s competitive if you can make a move that makes you better now and for the future it would be really exciting like we’re at the point now where I’m not waiting for like the next Super Superstar trade I’m not

Waiting for Donovan Mitchell to request a trade or any of these other guys like I’m good with Pao I’m good with fron accentuate what those guys do well and a guy like tus Jones be the perfect fit around those guys or you know a lot of the other you know shooters that are

Going to be discussed up to the the trade deadline that’s that’s really where we’re at with the magic you’ve seen the evolution of Po the last couple of weeks and that’s largely come with playing next to guys like Jaylen Suggs and and Caleb Houston who are shooting

Pretty close to 40% for behind the arc this season I think that’s like the next step for this team and the writing is on the wall everybody knows that but are they going to start that now or like it should it should start this coming off season at the absolute latest we

Shouldn’t have another year of hey let’s just evaluate and see what we have it’s like no we kind of know what we have we know that these guys can’t stay healthy jury is kind of out on ji like if he ends up playing 65 games this year like that’s it’s still a possibility

Like he would have to play every single game for the rest of the year but it is still a possibility for him but when it comes to Marquel when it comes to Wendell I think most people are looking around like hey we weren’t that bad without those guys they can’t stay

Healthy and when they have played they haven’t looked great this year and other guys are stepping up in their absence so it’s difficult conversation but we got you know three and a half weeks here I’m hoping that the magic make a move I would love to make a push for you know

Four five or or six I mean heck we’re four games back at three I don’t think you’re going to get there but your four games back halfway through the season like what what are we what are we evaluating at this point that’s kind of where I’m at like I’ve seen what I need

To see yeah part of it is obviously we’re it’s it’s interesting because the schedule’s going to get easier right around this time you know like right around the time of the deadline maybe the week before or whatever so that’s interesting but I’m with you I think the

Move is to get somebody who’s healthy you know whether that’s whether that’s us acquiring a healthy person or some our guys coming back healthy but you said something Jonathan you said it’s probably more likely that they don’t make a trade I I don’t I don’t know that

I agree with that I think it’s more likely the magic do make a trade now please a significant trade about to say I was about to say because this team like this front office I think they’ll make a trade I I don’t know if it’s going to be what magic fans

Want but I they’re known for these things right like these second round swabs or whatever so I think the magic will make a trade but yes you’re right that is the question is it significant doesn’t move the needle for this team doesn’t make this team healthy with healthier contributors obviously we

We’ll see how that goes but yeah I I think the Magic Make a Deal um and I think there’s a chance they actually make a move like a real move not a huge one but a move that adds bodies and and I guess I guess we’ll find out in three

And a half weeks most people would say like a move for tus Jones like if it is Gary Harrison a couple of future second round picks some people would say that’s not a huge move like is it a huge name move no but in terms of what it would bring to

This team I do think that is a huge move yeah absolutely I think it’s a huge move not just for what it would do for this team but it’s a huge move again by this front office like a move like that really shows what the intentions are of

This front office and also you’re 100% right talk about can we secure him long term this front office isn’t stupid they’re not making that move if they don’t know that tus Jones will stay here you know they’ll have their conversations with him tampering or not they’ll find out they’ll find out if Ty

Wants to stay here because they’re not going to throw away now let me back up if they don’t have to throw away a lot like if it’s like you said a Gary Harris expiring and you know a second round or something like something crazy like that you go okay yeah they’ll they’ll take

That um but yeah if they’re putting any kind of significant assets they’re not going to do it without knowing for sure that that he’ll uh he’ll stay beond this season and another point is if if you trade for tus Jones now I believe you you get his bird rights which means you

Can exceed the salary cap to to resign him if you need to so if this is the year that the magic are going to go on a spending spree you make an agreement with tus Jones you get another couple of like hey like we’ve got po we’ve got

France we got tyus Jones We’ve Got Jaylen Suggs and now we’re talking to I don’t know is it a Nick claxon this off season like hey you you sign here then we’re going to reassign Tas Jones we’re going to be a little bit over the cap

We’re going to make it work and next year you’re rolling into the season I’m not we’re getting way ahead of ourselves but you rolling in next season with a starting lineup of Nick uh Nick Claxton Paulo fron Jaylen and and tus Jones like we’re talking about homec court

Advantage in the first round next year yeah we might be talking about it this year that’s still not out of their own possibility but we’ll see yeah we’ll see okay let’s go back to Friday night let’s talk about this Miami game first of all Kevin I know you did not have the

Pleasure of of of attending the watch party that we had over at Hagen O’Reilly’s but I had never been to like the Winter Garden area of Orlando I had never been to Hagen O’Reilly’s that might be like one of other than Wall Street of course that might be one of my

Favorite venues that we’ve ever had for a watch party like a awesome atmosphere like small but spacious inside it’s like a really like intimate environment and like the folks that came out just brought the energy from the jump like MADD world pce was sitting next to us

There was a woman sitting behind him her name was Shell Shell was bringing the energy the entire night as always met a lot of you know listeners and other magic fans appreciate meeting everybody Nick Anderson was there got to talk to Nick Anderson got to shake his hand I

Said look I know you’re happy for the big fella it was up to us you’d be the first jersey and the rafters I had to let him know that we’re we’re you know we’re trying to get Nick Anderson on the show we’ll see what happens with that

But uh yeah I just wanted to shout out everybody for the the watch party it was a ton of fun the Heat game H it was fun you know you know it had its moments but ultimately uh you don’t come away with the the victory 99 to

96 take a look at the box score uh Magic not a great start uh first quarter out scored 22-3 but made a good run in the second quarter down one at the half really the majority of like the second quarter and into the the third and fourth quarter

The heat just kept this like four to eight point cushion where like every time the magic cut it close they would go on a little bit of a run want to fast forward to the fourth quarter magic were down I believe it was 92 to 95 with 110

To left Pao banero drives to his right hits a fade away to make it a one-point game with 110 to go bam out of bile misses a 17 foot jumper magic going the other way poo goes back to the same spot the fallway jumper from the Baseline to

Put the magic up 96 to 95 with 38 seconds left couple of possessions later 19 seconds left bam aabo hits the pullup over Mo Vagner now the magic have the ball down one with 19 seconds left poo drives misses the bank shot but collects his own rebound Kevin and when I tell

You all of Hagen O’Reilly’s was expecting Pao to just lay that ball back in he goes up the ball just falls out of his hands and into Haywood High Smith’s hands the magic have to foul he makes both free throws poo drives the length of the floor with eight seconds left

Misses the pull up at the end and the dirty stinking freaking heat get away with the 96 to 99 victory in Miami over our magic Kevin what were your thoughts from this game um this game doing the postgame show for this game was interesting because this game I

Think thinking back to the the previous 37 games or whatever it was before this game I think this one disappointed me the most and what I mentioned on the show was it wasn’t the last 30 seconds like it wasn’t Paulo missing that bank shot it wasn’t Paulo you know losing the

Handle on the way up for the putb it wasn’t Paulo taking that long three to try to tie the game it wasn’t any of those things it was like the first quarter honestly like the first quarter is where he lost this game and what was so frustrating about this game Jonathan

Was that the heat were without Jimmy Butler Tyler hero Kyle Lowry I’m probably forgetting one other but those are the three main ones and so the fact that they rolled out there eight deep they played eight guys on Friday night and when you think about the guys that

Did play you had their starting five Haywood heith starts and plays 32 minutes ni yovic you know didn’t play great but played 25 minutes bam obviously play 40 minutes Duncan Robinson played 41 minutes hawz Jr 37 minutes Josh Richardson 25 Kevin Love 16 Caleb Barton 24

That’s it that’s who played for the Heat and so coming into that game seeing their roster I know we’re hurt guys we just talked about it I know how hurt we are but I thought our team stacked up against that team should have won this game relatively easily and so the fact

That they go out there with an extra day of rest by the way in that first quarter and absolutely lay an egg on both ends of the floor I was heated I was so just disappointed because I thought this was a game you absolutely had to win first

Off in a vacuum like I said that our roster versus their roster I thought you should have won this game but then we think about the importance of this back to back and the fact you have to go from Miami to OKC which is a joke by the way

Screw the NBA you have to go from Miami to OKC which is a scheduled loss so you feel like you got to get this one and so I was just I was so disappointed crushed and okay I know injuries are an excuse there a reason whatever but Miami had

Just the same excuse and reason if not more you really should have won this game so anyway the first quarter really disappointed me the rest of the game was just me you know like you said it was that same deficit the whole time credit the magic of course they’re never going

To give up they clawed back several times that second P Jumper in the fourth I that was amazing like seeing him hit that twice back toback same spot was just exhilarating and I thought I thought we’re were going to win after that I really did I was like okay we’re

Gonna get the stop this game’s going to be over and then obviously you know you mention what happened so disappointing I’m not disappointed at Pao for that stuff at the end he’s the reason you’re in that position in the first place so anyway yeah all in all just maybe the most disappointing loss

Of the season for me yeah what what really annoyed me was just like the the level of ease at which Miami was getting to the rim like Duncan Robinson should not be a guy that is blowing past your guards on the perimeter like that should just never ever ever happen no and the

Lack of like a rim presence like the magic had eight blocks in this game do not let that fool you okay Jaylen sugs had three Marquel had one Cole Anthony had one chuma had one Goa had one and mo Vagner uh Mo Vagner had one as well like

Eight blocks to Miami’s one which be like oh wow the magic probably did a pretty good job protecting the rim absolutely not like they were legitimately getting to the rim at will I know mo had it going offensively especially late in the game but having Mo especially that last position

Possession when bam aobo was able to hit that pull-up jumper but bam was just cooking Mo Vagner the entire night now Goa wasn’t doing much better but it’s like we have a long track record of goa’s defense and mo Vagner and sticking with Mo because he had the hot hand

Offensively down the stretch down the stretch I don’t care who has the hot hand you’re giving Pao and fronze the ball anybody else’s offense unless the excuse is like hey well they’re going to help with like stretching the floor Mo doesn’t exactly help you stretch the

Floor right so thought it was a little bit strange uh that we didn’t have Mo uh sitting on the bench and having Goa in down the stretch but like yes the defense is an issue but for the most part you know like Jaylen Suggs I know

He he missed a ton of this game because of the the illness he was able to play on on Sunday and comes back in that final possession but he only played almost 14 minutes in the game but we’ve got to get some more you know trevol and

Queen and Anthony black out there just try to stop Duncan freaking Robinson and hakz Jr from getting to the rim over and over and over again in this game like if you look at the you look at the the the box score you look at the stat sheet the

Magic shoot 43.9% from the floor to Miami’s 44% uh 12 uh 12 offensive rebounds for Miami 10 for the magic uh you’re out rebounded 38 to 41 it’s pretty close there 26 assists for the magic to 23 for Miami 10 steals for the magic to six for

Miami eight blocks for the magic to one for Miami and then you win the turnover battle 11 to 16 like this game like literally comes down to the fact that you shoot worse than Miami from the floor and you miss eight free throws 12

For 20 in this game like Goa 0 for two Marquel one for two Cole Anthony one for two Joe Engles 0 for one Anthony black one for two like that’s the difference in the game right there so it just drives me crazy as like how many times

Are we going to lose for the same reasons this year you you either can’t defend on a certain night I know we’ve had a ton of guys in and out of the lineup that has caused that to be an issue but free throw shooting and turnovers especially lately it’s just gotten

Crazy yes 100% agree I’m sorry I’m so distracted I just got to be brutely honest with our viewers who probably just saw me react Dame just hit a long three straight away at the buzzer to beat the kings in overtime sorry like Dame time in Milwaukee like crazy I

Pulled it up cuz there was 4 seconds left I was like let me see what happens and then Dame did that and my eyes got real big okay sorry back back to this game I did want to mention you mentioned it already I know I just totally just

Crapped on this team for losing this game and losing the first qut and all those kinds of things it is worth noting like whatever sickness is going through this team is legit like I don’t want I don’t want to yeah I don’t want to like blow past this and just totally poop on

This team because I mean it has just run through the entire team right now and this team is ravaged by this whatever sickness this is it’s making guys I mean apparently like stomach sick like so you mentioned Jaylen playing through it obviously Anthony black played through

It on was it Tuesday I guess uh and then obviously didn’t come back in the game so credit these guys I’m never I never want to sit here and um say they didn’t try didn’t give their best effort like I don’t think that’s ever been the case

With this team now I think they take plays off we it happens whatever but I think on the whole this team is never lacking effort or will or whatever please don’t mishear me on that it’s just that we got cooked by a veteran team that’s what it comes down down

To uh maybe it was a lack of focus at times so that’s unfortunate um but I just I just had to be sure I added that for this game and the OKC game like our guys are fighting through some junk you know and so credit to them always always

Appreciate them for for doing that yeah it’s unfortunate I mean I thought this was going to be earlier in the day you know we get the stat that the magic haven’t forget who it was it might have been Orlando Muse on Twitter I think that the magic hadn’t won in Miami since

March of 2019 gross uh when the uh the heat were retiring Chris Bosch’s Jersey that whole like lengthy halftime magic come back in that game part of that 22-9 stretch to end the season and you know I was there uh DJ strong came out to the

The watch party and he asked me to come up and like give some stats or whatever to to the magic faithful that were there I was like magic haven’t won in Miami in five years like that ends tonight and unfortunately it did not end that night yeah

Rough all right want to take a couple of minutes here just to give a a shout out to our patrons the folks that help make each and every episode uh happen uh part of our our patreon uh is we have our Discord Channel where we’ve had like a

Massive influx of people I think earlier this morning Sunday morning like bright and early magic faithful were going crazy in there for a good hour or so just debating different things about the the current state of the team so it’s it’s just awesome that we have you know

50 plus magic fans in that Discord right now that literally all day every day people are in there talking Magic basketball and the thing that I was most proud of today is like people disagree you know about things all the time and on social media especially it gets

Really nasty but people were disagreeing everybody was entitled to their own opinion and they were able to you agree to disagree and do so in a respectful way so if you’re in the Discord if you were part of that conversation just wanted to give you guys a special shout

Out because I thought that was really awesome so that’s one of the benefits of our patreon Community uh and another benefit is when we have brand new patrons uh whenever we have them we give them a very special shout out so a special shout out to bar stool magic who

Just joined our patreon at the elite tier level really really appreciate that welcome to the community uh I believe they’ve joined in the the Discord already if you haven’t done so please go ahead and do so always a fun talking with other magic fans and then we give a

Special shout out to all of our Hall of Fame and Elite tier patrons each and every episode we’ll go ahead and start with the court cousins and then best friend of the program Drew Gooden Armen Carson tulo Jonathan borgas normal magic player history Gabe Gaines Whiffle Michael Martin Jamal Miller Michael

Salop pong Donkey Punch Dave Palo and Fran’s Warren Pierre a Dylan Holden Mr Mikey Eduardo sanchz danal doto 15 Bobby Skinner goie 93 Teddy Sylvia Eric Lopez fuchsia Phil Folton Edmund lagone josea squeen Cayla Pete cannibalism time Miss TV ESPN really sucks gear 95 shred Junior Bruce ha Ken shahen 177 Bobby the

Dawn himo Ben hro RM improv 221 magic hit 714 spanking season soft taco Victor cologne Irish Magic Mike Austin lampy random hustle only France Maria Keith wall Fritz currency Kev BR s Cas green Santi Leon Kane Eckler the distract Amad timsa chantu Tom Gadson dead air Richard Tuttle Jeremiah cantero and bar stool

Magic our newest Patron again a big shout out to all of our patrons if you’d like to join our patreon you can find us at patreon.com the6 man show so Kev we talk about you know magic have this lost to Miami they’ve got to fly to Oklahoma City they get in about

4: or 5 in the morning local time in OKC got to get a couple hours of sleep probably get a nice nap in in the middle of the day but now you’re going up against you know one of the best teams in the League this year one of the best

Teams in the Western Conference in the Oklahoma City Thunder and sorry one of the healthiest teams by by the way add that to the list nobody on the injury report for the Thunder not a single soul disgusting it’s unfair Jonathan I hate it I mean did we maybe opening night

Yeah I think opening night was like the only game this year that we haven’t had a single person on the injury report and that was like the first time in like three years that we didn’t have a single person on the injury report did we not

Get through the first three games was it was Wendell the first injury that Utah game maybe or did someone he might have been but I I feel like there was like so and so is dayto day or or so and so is is questionable if anything it lasted

All the five minutes those first three games start the year which you know in comparison it isn’t much but to be here in the middle of January and you’re going up against a decimated Orlando Magic team and you’re sitting at home OKC without a soul on the injury report

You know it’s not their fault that we’ve had to suffer what we’ve had to suffer but it must be nice for them yeah all right let’s go into the the the first quarter uh not a great start to the first quarter for the magic uh got

Down I think it was 8 to2 early or even 10 to two early but magic able to sort of settle a little bit uh and were just down one at the end of the first quarter found themselves down nine at the half and really the fourth quarter uh

Especially Shay just given the magic fits seven only seven points I guess in in that fourth quarter but it felt like a heck of a top heck of a lot more uh six and ones in this game for Shay gilis Alexander Kevin which by the way set an

NBA record or tied the NBA record I should say not a great defensive performance by the magic uh Jaylen Suggs he’s fighting through that illness you know Friday night had to leave the game came back in still fighting through that illness played 19 minutes in this game

But Shay Gil just Alexander 37 points and this is another game that came down to turnovers and free throws magic 15 of 24 from the free throw line and 15 turnovers to Oklahoma’s eight Oklahoma City’s eight and they shot 18 to 21 neither team shot the ball exceptionally

Well magic actually shot the ball a bit better from the floor 46 to OKC’s 45% and then both teams 20 and 22% for the magic and the the Thunder uh so really you lost this game I felt like on the the offensive glass turning the ball over missing your free throws try to

Make a push late in the game and then end up losing 112 to 110 yeah was obviously very disappointing um and and interesting because the Miami game you know Miami actually turns the ball over more than you but OKC is just a different animal we talked about Miami’s

Veterans they just play at a different pace they just play with their their minds OKC just plays with their their speed their athleticism and uh and obviously a lot of talent in SGA and other guys too I don’t want I don’t want that to sound

Like a slight but J is just crazy you know um disappointing obviously the turnovers the free throw shooting continues to be an issue for this team I mean how many times in the last couple weeks have we said you make a decent number of free throws you win this game

Like literally the difference in the game um yeah so tonight that that was obviously a tough one on Saturday as well um going back to the whole SGA thing and I I don’t think anyone is more disappointed in himself than Jaylen about Saturday night like for him to

Bait you know take the bait on the first SJ pump fake is whatever that’s GNA happen he’s a superstar he’s gonna convince guys to to jump for that the second one though I was like jayen come on man and I know he’s kicking himself more than I you know more than it

Disappointed me but I was like man you know I I know he was frustrated about that but yeah he he was he was great and the thing with SGA is like he’s a foul Merchant but not in like the yucky gross way at least to me me like watching like

It’s not like watching a Trey young or Jo he draws legitimate contact he draws legitimate contact whereas guys like Trey young Joel embiid you know kind of manufacture that cont that that contact um so yeah even the manufactured contact isn’t all that much and then they have to sell it right exactly

Exactly so can’t stand Tre young but uh yeah anyway SGA yeah was was great and and made us pay so yeah it’s tough especially the second to draw the contact and then just flip the ball up towards the backboard and for it to Bank in like again and again it’s like what

Are you going to do about that yeah yeah yeah so not foul in the first place would be nice but that’d be that’d be my recommendation was getting his money’s worth and and it just didn’t matter to SGA just kep making him what what I’m getting at though with that is second

Night of back toback a game that again in my book was a scheduled loss you when you’re healthy and you add all these injuries is it in my mind a guaranteed loss and yet you still had chances to win this game but those things the turnovers the Miss free throws couple of

Big Time offensive rebounds by OKC in in the second half that was the difference unfortunately and again defensively this team did a great job on OKC you know held them especially like what was it the second quarter I just have this in front of me whatever quarter we it was

Like super low scoring the first quarter was the lowest one obviously but um yeah I don’t know it it’s tough I think that’s what most disappointed i’ almost rather go out there and just get blown out like I expected us to but to be that

Close and for to be come down to those things that’s that’s where it hurts the most yeah I don’t think anybody would argue that the magic and the Thunder are just sort of on different levels right now like both have been in the lottery for the last several years but with a

Thunder it’s been a little bit different because I mean even going back to like the 2019 2020 season when Shay like really started to ascend it’s like okay they have a guy that they know that they can build around and for us we’ve just sort of been floundering like trying to

Find that until you I don’t want to say stumble upon fron but it was really unexpected you know the trajectory that he’s had so far and then you have to win the number one overall pick to end up with a guy like Paulo banero where the last several seasons like we get into

Late February early March and it’s OA has an ankle injury that’s going to keep him out the rest of the year and then they they lose the majority of their games down the stretch and end up with a really nice you know lottery pick which has allowed them to to draft guys like

Chad obviously and and like a Jaylen Williams and like a Josh giddy that sort of put them in this position to just add complimentary pieces around Shay and now he’s ascended to like the Superstar level and the entire team is just taken off not to not to mention the fact that

They’re an incredibly well coached team like March deaugh has done an incredible job with them so I don’t think anybody thinks like the magic and the OKC are sort of on the same level but looking at the schedule when it first came out like when we looked at I we thought Detroit

Was going to be a lot better than they are right your circle teams like Detroit like Oklahoma City like Minnesota like other young and up incoming teams in the league like okay let’s see how we measure up so back in August this was a game that I was really looking forward

To and it’s disappointing that you get to that game and you don’t have healthy bodies like if a guy is not hurt he’s absolutely sick like even Paulo like you hear it in his voice all these guys to one extent or another have been infected by whatever is going on and to his

Credit he’s been able to play through it a lot of guys haven’t just haven’t been able to like they have been that sick so now we’re looking at February 13th the next time that we’re going to play these guys at home on TNT and I’m worried yeah I am concerned

About that game because our first nationally televised regular season game at home in over a decade it’s the night of Shack’s Jersey retirement like you absolutely have to win that game and I have no idea how we match up with Oklahoma City because we didn’t really

Get to see like the legitimate match up of these two teams and you know could we win sure could they beat us by 20 I have no idea because we just haven’t seen what those teams look like up against one another and you know all OKC wants

To do is spoil that night that’s all they’re going to want to do they’re going to hear so much leading up to this game about this matchup about sha about blah blah blah and it’s going to be fuel so the magic are going to have to give them

Their best shot and hopefully we’re healthy enough to do it um yeah we’ll see literally you and I will see we will be there it will be a lot of fun to the Magic’s credit they scheduled the ceremony for after the game which I think is a is a genius idea because you

See these often at halftime and it throws these guys way off it’s like it’s like the Super Bowl halftime show like the elongated halftime and and guys sort of get out of their normal routine and Rhythm so ex exactly exactly and we know how that night went we just talked about

That but Kevin the highlight of this game came in the second quarter let’s let’s talk about that man I tell you what this was this was special and I did not expect this to go this way when Jonathan Isaac gets the ball and goes to the right first off Jonathan Isaac this

One-handed bounce pass to tring queen as trevel makes makes the back door cut was beautiful was great TR Queen gets the ball and who does he see in front of him Chad Hol grin and when he gathers and goes up I’m like oh gosh here we go and

Yet what happens traveling Queen yams it on Chad hrin let’s go a Throwdown worthy of the title of jam hot chicken Jam of the week it was a sensational play all around like I said the pass from Jonathan Isaac was terrific but then tring Queen to be Fearless go up to the

Rim and throw it down on Chad holgren the legit shot blocker that he is no doubt this week’s Jam Hot Chicken Jam of the week you and I were talking about TQ before like right before we recorded the Pod we were talking about the jam of the

Week Trevin has like a legitimate case for the best two-way player that we’ve had like I think we obviously we’re going to talk about ignis Brad dakis we’re gonna talk about Admiral scoffield we’re gonna talk about Kon Harris uh de cannedy Devin Kennedy was Jordan

Bone yeah I think Jordan bone was a twoa as well him it might be traveling Queen it legitimately might be traveling Queen like the way that I want to see a little bit more offensively from him because we know that he has it was the G leag MVP a

Few seasons ago but like defensively I was not like I I find myself lately you know with the amount of bodies that we’ve been missing like I’m like why why is Cole in the game get travel and Queen in the game for you know def defense

Offense those guys can go back and forth whatever but been pleasantly surprised by TQ the last couple of weeks here yeah definitely it I I’m interested to see you well not really I think obviously the writing’s on the wall once this team is healthy he’s not going to play but

You know he’s done a good job he’s done a good job filled in gaps he hasn’t lost you games and so you’ll definitely be happy with that but yeah that’s that’s the Jame of the week this week for sure what a day for for Jam Hot Chicken this

Weekend though huh Jam they had uh they had the jam fest well first of all I mean they started the weekend off right myself and Luke Sy were there Friday night and we were going hard Luke Sylvia had the Sando I had the box and we just

Like ate until we about passed out we were both like Hey we’re gonna go to Hain we’re probably gonna get something I could not eat I look over and Luke Sylvia has this massive brownie Sunday in front of him I’m like dude how are you possibly eating right now he said

Brother this slaps can’t help myself so so shout out to Luke syvia but Jam Hot Chicken located at 400 West New England Avenue over there uh in Hannibal Square in Winter Park they had their jam fest uh this Saturday with their jam fest is like the annual like Festival they have

Outside of jam hot chicken over there in Winter Park where people obviously can come and eat they have different vendors out there they have live music and and just just Vibes just great Vibes and this year also sort of lined up with them celebrating their two-year anniversary at that location there so we

Saw a ton of you know videos on social media of the line like all the way down the block people were saying it was a 45 minute wait in the line just to get to the window all day long the food was fantastic as always I know all the

Vendors did a great job our guy Gio from players closet only was over there or players only closet sorry he was over there selling vintage Orlando Magic gear said it was a fantastic event everybody out there was having a great time so just super happy for our friends over

There at at Jam Hot Chicken if you haven’t tried it yet I had a few people that this was their first time this weekend when they went to jamfest and I was like listen you have to tell me what you think because I know we hype it up

But to a person every single person that goes there they’re like you guys hyped it up but somehow like it exceeded the hype I told Andrew who runs Jam Hot Chicken I said sometimes I feel like I might let my own bias get in the way of

Like how I feel about our partnership with them and how I feel about the people that work there obviously and I’m like is the food really as good as I remember and I do this I psych myself out every single time and every single time I take that first bite I’m like

Yeah this is everything that I tell people that it is so a big shout out to jam hot chicken for their jamfest a big shout out to all the Orlando Magic fans that that showed up there to that event and a big shout out to Gio go get yourself some JM Hot Chicken

Folks Kevin uh going back to this Thunder game I don’t I don’t really have anything to add just uh a disappointing game but I I keep coming back it’s not an excuse but it’s hard to really criticize this team team when you just have so many guys that are either hurt

Or are not healthy and as we continue to to move through this stretch that uh we’re in you just have to continue to tread water that’s all you can do with guys in and out of the lineup to be honest if you would have told me a month

Ago like during this stretch we were going to deal with all of these injuries and the whole team would be sick I’d say hey like we’re not even going to win a game and they fared pretty well the last couple of weeks you know just down fronds and the whole team being sick

Especially yeah and something I I think I don’t really know if we touched on it enough like we got Joe Engles back on Friday and Joe Engles was Joe Engles like he was great on Friday so looked like he hurt himself again yeah yeah that happened but obviously he didn’t

Play the second night of back to back he did come back didn’t play the second night in OKC but you you’d like to think this week you know there’s no backto backs maybe he’s available for all three that’s a big boost and so hopefully game

By game we add some guys back into the fold hopefully hopefully we get fron back this week that’ll be I mean that would be huge I mean honestly everyone else can to stay injured for a while if we can get fron back that changes the game big time just relieves that just

That bit bit of pressure off of poo because right now the the poor guy is literally carrying us his back has got to be so sore because he has just been just carrying us for two weeks now um but yeah like you you mentioned finding ways to win even though we don’t always

Necessarily think it’s going to be possible but this week interesting for sure like I said hopefully we can just get one guy back at a time and and hopefully eventually get healthy again so Luke and I last week when we talked about this past week we said like you

Have to find a way to to get one of those games whether it’s versus Miami or or at home versus Minnesota OKC game was always super unlikely you know you’re traveling second night of a back toback all that kind of jazz there uh but it

Felt like you had to get one of those games and you you just weren’t able to so you go 0 and three last week now you’re sitting at 21 and8 you know you were around four five six now you’re down to eight and now looking at the

Week ahead we’re starting it off right Monday you’re in New York in MSG against the Knicks that game’s tipping off at three o’clock then you travel to Atlanta on Wednesday the last game of the road trip then you come home and you’re welcomed by Philadelphia in Miami Friday

And Sunday Kevin how do you uh see this week going really quick I as we talk about this New York game I once again have to complain about the NBA schedule makers because this would this will now be the Magic’s thirdd game third NBA game in 67

Hours because not only is it not just three games in four nights it’s three games in four days because this game tips off at 3 p.m. after you played a game that tipped off at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday three games in 67 hours in three different cities you go from Miami

To Oklahoma City to New York in 67 hours it is a joke it is terrible it is awful from the NBA for that reason and because of the Magic’s health I think you lose on Monday I hate to say it I would love to beat the Knicks always love to beat

The Knicks I especially love to beat them because they’re flying high right now with their Acquisitions they’re feeling great would love to knock them down a few pegs I just think it’s a schedule loss I think this team is exhausted I don’t think one day off is

Going to do enough for you you don’t even get a full day off on you know a full day to to get ready on Monday I think you beat the Hawks if if for no other reason for my own sanity you got to beat the

Hawks um and then you you got to find a way to split those two games I’d like to think we beat the heat on Sunday which by the way since we’ve been talking they they won tonight so we’re now two games back behind the heat we were one and a

Half games to start the show now we’re two games back and so I’d like to think you beat the heat I feel like you have to beat the heat and hopefully by next Sunday we have more bodies back hopefully fron is there so that’s my that’s my prediction it might be the

Easy way out out but I say you beat Atlanta you beat Miami after losing to the Knicks and the Sixers so I’ll say two and two yeah I think for me like this week you know the beginning of the week I I agree with you I don’t see us

You know the Knicks have been playing so well they’re at home it’s MLK Day the magic are depleted schedule sucks you don’t even get a full day’s rest because of like travel and everything like that so uh I agree with you the way that the

Week starts you have to find a way to split that Friday Sunday with Philadelphia or Miami don’t particularly care who it comes against I would prefer to win both of those games it would be awesome to beat the heat but the Joel embiid you know sort of being like in

And out of the lineup you know the last you couple of weeks is going to be something to monitor now we played Philadelphia a couple weeks ago at home without Joel embiid and it didn’t really matter no but I would like to think that we wouldn’t allow that to happen twice

Like consecutive you know matchups against that team so I do think you’ve got to find a way to beat Miami on Sunday now they’ll probably have Jimmy Butler and Tyler her and those guys back so it’s going to make it a lot more difficult but you lose to Miami on

Sunday you lose the season series and then you’re you’re losing that you know head-to-head you know tiebreaker and all that kind of stuff so that becomes incredibly uh important when it comes to seating because they’re two games ahead of us right now and they haven’t been

All that great this year I know that you know Jimmy’s missed a decent amount of time but I still think that Us New York Cleveland Miami are going to continue to bounce back and forth like around that you know four to to seven and and eight

Seeds there and if you lose to Miami then it’s just like that season series and that tiebreaker sort of goes out of the window and that’s going to be crucial down the stretch so unfortunately I think we’re we’re looking at probably a one and three week

Unless you’re able to get fron back like I was really hoping France would be back at some point on the road trip he’s already out Monday I don’t feel great about the fact that he was was ruled out 24 hours ahead of time maybe if he was questionable I

Would feel good about him playing Wednesday potentially but the fact that he was like immediately ruled out tells me that he’s probably not back for Wednesday so you’re hoping that he can come back for Friday against Philadelphia at home yeah speaking of uh injuries I do just want to mention about

Monday’s game Jaylen Brunson missed the next game on Saturday and he’s questionable for Monday it is a cal contusion AKA a little tiny iny wey bruise on his calf so he’s probably going to play on Monday but we see maybe maybe there’s a chance he’s out at this

Point obviously we’re never rooting for injuries never rooting for that ever but you know if a player’s out for the other team I wouldn’t hate it you know so but we’ll see obviously I think he’ll play but um I yeah you gotta get France back

This week right you got to I hope so man man I would think so but honestly when he went out I I didn’t think that he would be out you know almost what it’s almost been two weeks now so I I thought that he would be back by this point just

The way that he’s recovered from from previous injuries yeah we’re uh yeah Wednesday will be two weeks for fron so I I didn’t Envision him being out this long but that you know ankle sprain just pretty significant and it’s happened a few times now I I don’t

Remember if it’s the same ankle that he injured earlier in the summer in the fee World Cup and Paulo you know a guy who uh you know he seems to tweak an ankle you know every now and again and before he did it last season he said had never had an

Injury I remember the last time he hurt the in the the ankle I think it was against Sacramento like when he screams in the middle of that game and he was asked about I think he was like oh it’s it’s the the same ankle that always so

Now the fact that that is like his quote unquote bad ankle I don’t love that and I don’t know if what’s going on with fron like oh that’s just his bad ankle and if something happens to it now he’s gonna miss a little bit more time but I

Would hope that you would get those guys back hopefully we’re able to get Wendell back he’s questionable for that game on Monday but I’m not super hopeful that even if he does come back that he’s going to be back for good because this KN tontis thing with him it’s like the

You know the planner fish itis that he was dealing with last year it’s just going to you keep coming back and yeah we just haven’t had a ton of luck on on that front this year so yeah all right Kev I don’t really have anything else I

Think that’s going to do it for this one wrap this one up unless you’ve got something else I just have one correction we said earlier we thought all 30 teams play on Monday MLK day it’s not true only 22 there’s 11 games but that’s all I have so yeah uh MLK always

A fun day um of basketball obviously a very important day for us though to remember kind of what that day is about and celebrating The Life and Legacy of Dr Martin Luther King Jr but yes uh in his honor we will definitely enjoy some some basketball Monday it’ll be fun we

Absolutely will and hey if you are listening to this Monday I forgot to mention this I was uh lucky enough to make an appearance on Nicks film school with our our buddy Andrew claudo so uh if you want to hear about the the preview of that that match up from like

A a Nicks perspective get a little bit of you know magic perspective as well go ahead and check that out ahead of Monday’s game so that’s going to do it for this one wherever Luke Sylvia is we know he’s having a great time we got a video earlier that man singing Party in

The USA we sure did at a piano bar so we know he’s having a fantastic time appreciate producer let’s just give a round of applause everybody for producer Kevin and what he’s been doing this season with the postgame lives been so much fun doing a great job I’m telling

You folks I’ve done one it’s not easy to do that so appreciate Kevin and everything that he does as always but that’s going to do it for this one for producer Kevin Tucker and Luke Sylvia wherever the heck that joker is this has been Jonathan Osborne you all have been

Listening to the six-man show and we will catch you guys next time see you thanks for listening to the Sixth Man Show be sure to subscribe on iTunes and Spotify to get new episodes downloaded directly to your phone if you enjoyed the show please take a minute to

Give us a f-star rating and a review it helps out the show a lot follow us on Twitter Instagram and Facebook @ 6man show we’ll catch you guys next time go magic let’s go magic go go

The Magic continue to be ravaged by injuries and illness, but the bodies are beginning to return.. slowly. Jonathan & Kevin recap the last couple games and take a look at the trade deadline.

Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thesixthmanshow

JAM Hot Chicken: https://www.jamhotchickenfl.com/

Follow Us: https://www.thesixthmanshow.com/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/sixthmanshow

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SixthManShow

YouTube: https://twitter.com/SixthManShow

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSixthManShow

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/sixthmanshow

Hosts: @j_osborne21 & @lukesylvia96

Producer: @kevin_tucker_

Music: Prod. by Tantu Beats

If you enjoyed the show please LIKE & SUBSCRIBE!

#OrlandoMagic #OrlandoMagicPodcast #PaoloBanchero #BlueWireVideo