The Orlando Magic Deserve More Respect and Recognition

The Orlando Magic Deserve More Respect and Recognition

Let’s start off with the Orlando Magic first they’re catching some Buzz I recently saw on my Twitter that JJ reic challenged Stephen A Smith and he he told Stephen A that the magic are a threat and Stephen A Smith responded by saying I’m not sleeping I’m snoring on

The Orlando Magic they’re the fifth seed 41 and 28 they just clenched a playoff appearance they’re in the playoff just locked in a plan yeah they can get as high as the second seed right now they’re in the mix for that they’re the they’re the fifth seed currently on a

Four-game win streak what are your thoughts on the magic do you feel like they’re being overlooked do you feel like there’s a gear this team could get into in the playoffs that can make everybody wake up are the Orlando Magic being overlooked the answer to me is yes

You look at what they’ve been this entire season and they’ve just taken care of business because against really bad teams they’ve blown them out the water they really stick their they put their foot on the gas and led by Jaylen Suggs this defense has been top three

The entire season in the last couple of months we’ve seen Pao bankera take things to a different level in his one-on-one creation and there’s just a level of Joy these guys play with they’re one of the youngest teams in the NBA defensively everybody is engaged and while they’re a very limited offense

Currently ranking 26 and 24th in points and offensive efficieny they’ve been able to get to a current record at 41 and 28 which is only three games out as you highlighted from the second seed and it’s that Foundation that they’ve built with an elite bench one of the most

Infectious in terms of energy you got Jonathan Isaac not only healthy but he’s finding a rhythm and defensively he’s been the same player who makes a humongous difference off the ball on the ball at times and then you add in players like Cole Anthony and mo Vagner

Those guys are kind of The Elixir for the magic to again take care of business against teams that they should be beating and the reason they’re being overlooked is because of the fact they don’t have those signature wins right the last time they played a big team

Like the Knicks they scored 74 points it’s the least amount of points the team scored last four years so there’s a limitation with magic offensively they don’t have a whole lot of shooting and that’s pretty important for a team to go on a deep playoff run but with Paulo

Bankera and Jaylen sugs right now we’re seeing a foundation being built where they’re a pretty frisky playoff team in the first round versus the Knicks we just saw OJ anobi have a new health update his elbow learing up again if OG misses that series and Julius Randle is

Not playing quite well the magic or a team which lot like the 2022 Timber rolles could push a team the six or seven games in the first rounds and I’m not they’re not going to get a whole lot of credit now but the fact the matter is

They’re the very they’re a hard team to understand because they don’t have enough offense and they really are missing a guard who can basically create offense in bunches but even without that they have something to them a joy a physicality and a pride which stems on

Their bench and their two Wings to me they can be a very competitive playoff team but I still think they’ve got to get a top four seed they’ve got to face a team like the Sixers in the first round if they’re going to actually win a series to

Me I thought you were gonna go one step further I thought you were gonna say if the Knicks don’t have OG the magic will beat them in a series because if OG is not in that series I am fearing facing the magic as a Knicks fan you’re right they don’t have

Enough offense their offense has been one of the bottom bottom 10 offenses in the League this year there’s no doubt about that but I’ve seen weirder things happen I’ve seen teams lighted up in the playoffs I think their team is is built off of their defensive identity they play frisky

Basketball and we seen as recently referees are not blowing the whistle as often they’re allowing more physicality and I feel like that plays into the hand of a team like the Orlando Magic you know what interesting Paulo bonero one of the more under promoted first overall picks I’ve

Seen in recent memory Kade Cunningham is not promoted but uh he plays for the Pistons so there’s a reason for that really the last one was probably DeAndre Aon Zion got promoted Victor inyama Anthony Edwards DeAndre aan might have been the last first overall pick that hasn’t got him

Promoted in a way that Paulo’s not getting promoted in his career he’s only had one nationally televised game and for as great as the magic have been the only game that they’ve had nasty televised this year was against the OKC Thunder they deserve more attention they’re not getting

Enough you mentioned Jaylen sucks all defensive team he’s gonna make it 100% he should deserves it first team too I agree Gary Harris I think has been the key for the for the magic and the reason why the magic are now the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference since February

He’s found his health again he’s staying on the court he’s playing we saw for stretches in the season very early on Marquel F dealing with an injury they would start Jaylen Suggs and Anthony black in the back court the spacing was very limited for them this year when

Gary Harris starts the magic are 14 and four 10 wins above 500 that’s pretty impressive what he offers is a floor spacer he’s also a plus Defender he has some size to him what he offers as a floor spacer it opens up the floor for Paulo bonero and for France Vagner

Jaylen Suggs is shooting the ball well Paulo is up to 36 37% Wendell is shooting it well fron is the one that’s more so inconsistent but when you have that floor spacing it allows Paulo and France to work in the areas where they’re best and the court isn’t

Congested then you couple that in with the fact that Off the Bench someone like Mo Vagner who might be one of the better backup centers like we we often talk about Nas Reed being a spark plug for the Timberwolves I think Mo Vagner does something similar for the Orlando Magic

He can get buckets in a flurry and Jonathan Isaac when healthy giving you those bench rotation minutes the defense is suffocating I mean he has one of the best on andof numbers amongst all Orlando Magic players this season I I think their defense is just so hard to

Go up against that I could see a team like the Knicks really struggling with Jaylen Brunson I think Jaylen Brunson is a star but when you have Jaylen Suggs and fron and Gary Harry and Paulo and Jonathan Isaac all and Anthony black even guys that you can throw at somebody

It now makes it a lot more tougher and for a team like the Knicks that they rely on one guy to create their offense it is going to be very difficult so I I think their ala magic you know not only could they win a first round playoff

Series but I think they out of all teams in the east from a stylistic standpoint probably theough toughest defense against the Celtics oh yeah I’m with it when Jaylen Suggs and Jon and Isaac are on the court together their defensive rating sits at 101.8 which ranks in the 100th

Percentile in other words there’s not a better defense in the NBA and you highlighted with Isaac it’s always been a matter of health and durability and he can only play about 15 minutes a night but with Jaylen Suggs it’s that infectious energy which is very Marcus

SM esque you think back the Celtic teams in 2018 and 2017 where they’re always punching above their weight despite their talent level not being the absolute best think about it Isaiah Thomas was the best player on those teams but they never had a definitive top 10 player before he broke out in

2017 and was averaging 27 points per game but those teams always outperformed their talent level because they had a very good coach in Brad Stevens the Celtics got that Jal mostly even in the games where Paulo last year was out they were defending at a high level and this

Year now that Paulo is back in the lineup it’s not just the fact they have a a contagious defense it’s their passing which stands out to me they have a lot of guys who attack but they’re always making the hit ahead and the extra because these guys love playing together

And you’re seeing the aura like the no look passes the one that Paulo had last night the Jaylen Suggs and then he’s saying a turnaround no look three well they’re eviscerating the Hornets by 55 million points it felt like it was like 2661 first half and it’s because of the

Fact they’re always looking for a better shot and they’re not really settling so they have a lot of work to do in the allseason getting that two like Gary Harris because look Gary Harris takes two and a half threes a game and you’re saying it’s a huge difference you plug

In someone taking seven thres in that small in that shooting guard spot and now their offense can really be uplifted but even then when you have Harris just a decent shooter at the two in the corner it opens up a lot and I want to come back to your original point you

Think the magic can win a playoff series this year we know they can beat the Sixers without him be that’s kind of given but is there another team that they 10 because the Knicks even if an Opie’s hurt what do what are the odds that one

From 10 that you think the magic could beat New York I think it’s a 50-50 series I think it’s a 50-50 series 5050 I do yeah I think it could go either way if we don’t have OG it could go either way with OG I think it’s

Probably leaning 7030 you know I give the edge to the Knicks without OG I think it’s 50/50 I think the magic are that good of a team with Jaylen Brunson getting floor spacing and Mitchell Robinson back a toss up yes wow I do the reason why I would

Probably lean like 65 35 not too far off is because in the playoffs when the court condenses you’re looking for a bucket and the one thing that has disappointed me with the magic is that with fron Vagner I’m expecting more out of him right Paulo is still in year two

He’s 21 years old and France I expect him to be a lot more efficient as a three-point shooter and I’m looking to see him take that leap in year three the biggest thing with France today is an amazing driver at his size and he’s a really good finisher but when the court

Condenses he’s not the type of bucket getter in the mid-range because his release point is so low and it’s a lot more challenging to get that off over a Defender when he’s tight in your grill so I look at the playoffs I think the Knicks would be a favorite because of

The fact you have an isolation crater who you can count on and the magic right now don’t have that they have a lot of really good players they don’t really play a bad player at any point they’re very frisky they get in the glass they’re a good passing team but they’re

Not a great transition team they don’t have that go-to crater in the mid-range area outside of Paulo and even then Cole Anthony is my Sixth Man of the Year pick he’s only making 31% of his threats whoa whoa Cole Anthony’s your Sixth Man of the Year pick he was okay you knew that

When we were doing the predictions okay I thought you meant currently I thought you meant currently the year pick in October yes five months ago so or six so the magic to me just still are missing that guy I thought Anthony Simons could have been at the dead line but yeah I

Think that’s you being low on your team you’re trying not to let yourself down that’s what it sounds like it’s not being me low it’s not me being low on the Knicks it’s me understanding that the magic are an awesome team and it’s a matchup that I think can go either way I

Don’t think that’s being low on my team I think that’s just giving credit to the El of magic because I see this team you mentioned an interesting point that I was kind of surprised by for a team that generates turnovers they they’re all over the floor on defense they get deflections

They’re not a great transition team no they’re 17 percentile when I was looking at the numbers I was saying this team has to be great in transition because I feel like I always see them get transition buckets yeah and then I looked at the numbers and I’m saying oh

Wait they’re they’re actually a bottom team in transition that was very OD to me but the point being man is I I really think the Orlando Magic got something here you’re right they need to add more floor spacing I think that’s something they address in the off season but as of

Right now they are one of those teams that you don’t want to match up with their physicality in a first round playoff series it’s a lot and I think the physicality of a team like that can wear down a team like the Knicks right in a seven game series like if the if

The magic and the Knicks both play in a series I think that’s a seven game series I don’t think that we are going to beat them in five or six and when the series goes seven it can go either way Jaylen Brunson I trust them a lot Josh

Hart plays amazing Dante def fenzo he’s also awesome Duce McBride what he’s given me he’s awesome too but we’re also talking about a team in the Knicks that OG might not be there you’re getting Mitch back but Mitch is not 100% Julius Randle getting him back but he’s not

100% and Alex Burks and buam bogdanovic that they have more so to me been disappointment since we picked them up at the deadline so we’re talking about a team in the Knicks that they’re now putting back pieces into their team trying to go on a run on the Fly where a

Team like Orlando has been building up chemistry for a stretch and they already know how to play with each other and they’re ready for a moment like this so that’s why I think it it would be a tough series but uh outside of the Knicks I think they can even beat a team

Like the Cavs I think the Cavs aren a shoe in to just win that series I’ve seen too many times when the Cavs met with physicality they are frail let’s get too bright the Cavaliers are an even tougher one because they have a ton of self-creation and if

Donovan’s healthy we’ll see because he’s had these injuries late in the year a couple of times now I just don’t think the really have the gunpowder to kind of win that type of Affair but I want to say I want to make it very clear this

Team is 41 and 28 they’re about to hit double digit wins in Improvement in two straight years Paulo bonero needs to be marketed like one of the League’s upand cominging Superstars because in year two this is not normal what he’s doing he’s not somebody who’s coming out to draft a

Complete product and he has completely turned around this Orlando franchise he hasn’t transform the offense just yet but it’s a byproduct to circumstance and the difference between the magic and every other young team that they’ve built an elite culture and that has really shape shift them into a legit

Playoff team so I’m excited to see what to do in the playoffs and they’re not too far off from a 51 Pace they’re currently at 47 and a half I was expecting you to be the guy that was super Hound Orlando I am saying that they will win playoff series all this

All I’m not gonna lie to the I’m not going to lie to the people and give this team unreasonable expectation I appreciate that listen John I’ll be honest with you they have those expectations regardless they gonna have them regardless I can’t be the one that feed you unnecessary ones

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