shorty
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Post by shorty on May 2, 2014 6:46:45 GMT
Is your chances of going for a repeat set back now that you have traded T-Mac? shortyWe believe that trading Tmac will be a case of addition by subtraction. It's a sad day for the franchise (and the fanbase  ) to trade him when we've been through so much together, but it was time to move on. We simply could not support the salaries of everyone on the team, and we simply made the best decision for the franchise. The Cardinals let Albert Pujols go after he led them to a World Series, and that's what is happening here. Marion now gets to move back to his natural position at SF, and with all the hard work he's put into his game over the summer, he'll be great there. Also with McGrady out, that means more opportunities to score for Artest, Marion, and Francis. All three are talented scorers who need the ball, and now there's one less player to demand the ball. Our defense is now improved as well with Marion at the 3, and Cedric Simmons moving back into the starting lineup at the 4. We are locked and loaded, and we are aiming for the Finals once again. |
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shorty
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Post by shorty on May 3, 2014 20:02:37 GMT
Count is currently at 30.
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Post by BrazilianDude on May 3, 2014 20:43:17 GMT
Since entering this league I see you as one of the more agressive GMs. you have a prime location for anyone who wants to have a good time so it is not hard to attract players. After pulling a mega deal last offseason signing artest and putting together a championship roster you let Tmac walk this year. Any other big moves on the radar?
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shorty
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Post by shorty on May 3, 2014 20:55:10 GMT
Since entering this league I see you as one of the more agressive GMs. you have a prime location for anyone who wants to have a good time so it is not hard to attract players. After pulling a mega deal last offseason signing artest and putting together a championship roster you let Tmac walk this year. Any other big moves on the radar? Well, I just do whatever is needed to win. Letting TMac go wasn't easy because he's my favorite player, and he's been our team MVP since the start of the league. But he was let go cuz we couldn't afford to keep him any longer. As for any future big moves, that's hard to say. If a big deal is needed for us to win, then I'll look for one, otherwise I'm pretty happy with our current lineup. Count: 31 |
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Post by bloop on May 3, 2014 23:33:44 GMT
After the first sim you have to be pleased with your team. Will you change anything going forward roster wise or DC wise, or will you stay the course?
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shorty
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Post by shorty on May 3, 2014 23:44:17 GMT
After the first sim you have to be pleased with your team. Will you change anything going forward roster wise or DC wise, or will you stay the course? The "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach will be in effect here. Our core minus Tmac has returned, and they will be trusted to carry the team on both sides of the ball until they prove incapable of doing. We might experiment with DC changes or have to tweak it if we reach a rough patch. For now tho, we will probably stay the course. We will however keep rotating the young players to see who will deserve minutes. |
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Post by malice on May 4, 2014 1:13:08 GMT
Quite a few of the traditional powerhouses struggled in sim 1. What's your secret to continued success?
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shorty
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Post by shorty on May 4, 2014 1:37:31 GMT
Quite a few of the traditional powerhouses struggled in sim 1. What's your secret to continued success? I'd say so far that it's defense, rebounding, and giving players the ball. After we traded away Tmac (we miss ya buddy), that's more opportunities for Marion, Artest, and Francis who are all capable scorers themselves. Cedric Simmons was willing to take a lesser role last season for the good of the team, and he is now back into the starting lineup. It also helps that there's familiarity with the players on this team, so we can be better equipped to make the necessary DC adjustments to win games. With that said, we have only played 3 games, and it's a long season. So knock on the wood. |
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Post by rookieoftheyear on May 4, 2014 20:17:45 GMT
If you had to choose, who would you say is the most important player on your roster ?
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shorty
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Post by shorty on May 4, 2014 20:29:21 GMT
If you had to choose, who would you say is the most important player on your roster ? That is a very difficult question to answer, but if I had a gun to my head and choose, I'd say Steve Francis. The guy is just a ball of production be it dropping dimes, scoring, or even rebounding the ball. With the importance of the PG position, we are very privileged to be a part of Francis' late career revival. He was one of the big key driving forces to our Finals run last season, and we'll need him to duplicate that if we want to make another Finals apperance. |
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Post by B Town on May 5, 2014 2:37:49 GMT
How hard was it to part ways with McGrady, since he was one of the main reasons you wanted to be the Magic's GM?
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shorty
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Post by shorty on May 5, 2014 2:41:18 GMT
How hard was it to part ways with McGrady, since he was one of the main reasons you wanted to be the Magic's GM? 35. He was the ONLY reason why I wanted to be the Magic GM when the league started. And for the most part, the guy has made my time as GM of this squad worth it with his play. However the reality is that McGrady had back to back sharp declines in TC, and we had to let someone go. Tmac had the most expensive contract, and nobody else was really getting worse except for him, so I just did what I had to do to get our salary situation back on track. It sucked, but Tmac wasn't really being Tmac anymore, and after our championship, I'm more focused on being a Magic GM now rather than just trying to get TMac a ring. |
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Post by celticfan on May 6, 2014 4:05:55 GMT
Do you think this is the best defensive team in the league?
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shorty
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Post by shorty on May 6, 2014 16:31:21 GMT
Do you think this is the best defensive team in the league? There are many factors that affect defense. For us, we do one of the best jobs forcing teams into turnovers, however we don't do as great a job with holding down opponents' FG%. I would say we are a top 3 defensive team tho, and potentially the best. Just don't know if I cazn definitely say we ARE the best. |
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Post by B Town on May 6, 2014 20:19:07 GMT
There's ten seconds left. The Magic have the ball and it's Game 7 of the Finals. Who would you want taking the last shot?
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shorty
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Post by shorty on May 6, 2014 22:09:02 GMT
There's ten seconds left. The Magic have the ball and it's Game 7 of the Finals. Who would you want taking the last shot? Right now Ron ARtest cuz he's shooting the best on the team lol. But I'd definitely want the ball to be in Francis' hands tho. The guy will make the right play be it shooting it himself or dishing it to someone else. |
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Post by bloop on May 7, 2014 1:28:13 GMT
You lose McGrady. You keep winning. You lose Artest to injury. You keep winning. What is it that allows this team to stay consistent?
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Post by mrclubz on May 7, 2014 2:36:14 GMT
You've traded Tmac to DET. & he hasn't been putting up all star numbers this season. But when he returned to Orlando to play the Magics he had one of his best games against you and won. How did you feel about that?
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shorty
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Post by shorty on May 7, 2014 5:15:48 GMT
You lose McGrady. You keep winning. You lose Artest to injury. You keep winning. What is it that allows this team to stay consistent? Defense and good rebounding will always give teams a good backbone. We have talented defenders, and good rebounders. When Artest was out, Marion and Francis both stepped up their scoring, and other players pitched in more with rebounding, and solid production. Our depth has been a great asset to us this year. |
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shorty
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Post by shorty on May 7, 2014 5:16:35 GMT
You've traded Tmac to DET. & he hasn't been putting up all star numbers this season. But when he returned to Orlando to play the Magics he had one of his best games against you and won. How did you feel about that? Well, we probably deserved that. And I'm sure it was a very bittersweet and emotional game for him as well so the big game should not have been a surprise. |
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Post by apokolypz on May 7, 2014 5:26:32 GMT
You obviously have a lot of talent on your team, but in every winning team there's a player that get's less credit than the others. Maybe it's less minutes, maybe it's stuff that doesn't show up on the stat sheet, but it's a staple of good, championship calibre teams regardless. Who would you say is your 'glue' guy?
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shorty
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Post by shorty on May 7, 2014 17:08:30 GMT
You obviously have a lot of talent on your team, but in every winning team there's a player that get's less credit than the others. Maybe it's less minutes, maybe it's stuff that doesn't show up on the stat sheet, but it's a staple of good, championship calibre teams regardless. Who would you say is your 'glue' guy? Well, Vlad Stephania is the easy answer and definitely our "glue guy," but he gets a lot of credit for that around the league so I'll try n pick someone else. Cedric Simmons is someone who nobody seems to know, but he's a very valuable part of the team. When a team has a lot of great scorers, they need players who will do things besides scoring (rebounding, defense, not taking up time with the ball), and Cedric, along with Stephania, both fit the bill very well. Also, having a key 6th man who can play two backup positions is something I look for. James Johnson helps fill that role for me at SG/SF |
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Post by malice on May 10, 2014 0:06:54 GMT
What needs to happen between now and *The End* to give you the league's first REPEAT?
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Post by somerandomguy on May 12, 2014 10:58:57 GMT
with Marion out for most of the postseason, do you feel you still have a shot at winning the championship this season? Who will have to step up if you feel you still have a championship roster?
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shorty
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Post by shorty on May 13, 2014 22:08:11 GMT
Welp, I'm guessing it's too late to answer these now, but I'll try n put myself in my skin when I answer these (don't need to count them, I'll just answer for fun): malice: Health. And of course I got a big injury on the last day of the sim. Health is an important factor in teams' playoff runs. Last season the Wolves lost Roy in the playoffs and that hurt them. Meanwhile we were fully healthy in the playoffs last season and we were able to beat some other (healthy) teams by staying in one piece. somerandomguy: I would have said; I could see us reaching the ECF, but then we'd lose to the Wizards because we wouldn't be able to keep up with their offense, and we can't stop both Carter AND Butler. I expected Francis and Artest to both step up (which they both did to some capacity), and there wasn't any other key individual that we really needed to step up. On some days, the supporting cast pitches in well, and on other days they don't. It seems to be an on and off switch, and so I'll lump the lot of them together and just say that the bench and the supporting players would have needed to step up as a unit. In some of our wins and losses to the Heat in the 2nd round, the 2nd unit played well we won, and played poorly when we lost. The Heat had a more contributing overall team, and so they won. |
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Post by somerandomguy on May 24, 2014 3:47:02 GMT
how many more runs do you think this team has left in them?
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Post by itnas123 on May 24, 2014 3:54:25 GMT
Once you start the rebuilding process what player do you hope to start this movement with? The player could be on your team currently or future drafts.
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shorty
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Post by shorty on May 24, 2014 23:07:26 GMT
Once you start the rebuilding process what player do you hope to start this movement with? The player could be on your team currently or future drafts. Definitely Brandon Jennings. Today was sort of a passing of the torch. Francis has been the ageless, tireless, MVP for us for many seasons now, and after seeing a small sample size of Brandon Jennings and his development so far in two season in the league, we are confident in putting the franchise in his hands and we hope to surround him with shooters and defenders. Once Marion, Stephania, and Artest( AKA the "old guard") all move on, this'll be Jenning's team if he continues to develop and play well. how many more runs do you think this team has left in them? I feel like I keep saying this number for the past 3 seasons, and that is "two." I always dread TC because I feel like this could be the year that I end up with old geezers that fall off and I'm stuck with a lengthy contract, but our older players like Marion and Artest haven't fallen off yet and Francis even got better two seasons ago. With two years remaining on their contracts, that'll be the window I give myself regardless of whether or not Stephania retires after this one. With Deng and Jennings as the new cornerstones of our team, we will worry about how to surround them with talent afters our old guard retires/leaves Count: 41 and 42. |
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Post by tyfreak on May 25, 2014 4:37:12 GMT
After adding Deng but losing Mr Franchise himself, do you think Magic are still a legitimate title contender? And what are you expecting from Jennings?
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shorty
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Post by shorty on May 25, 2014 4:59:12 GMT
After adding Deng but losing Mr Franchise himself, do you think Magic are still a legitimate title contender? And what are you expecting from Jennings? 43. Marching on w/o Francis will not be the same, and there probably will be some hiccups along the way. I believe the Magic can still compete because with Marion at PF, I believe are now better offensively w/o sacrificing on defense. Our rebounding might dip since Deng is not as good a rebounder rating wise as Marion and Jennings isn't a good rebounder at PG like Francis was, but that can be covered with better offense. I expect Jennings to be featured heavily in a new outside focused attack. His ball handling and slick shooting will be up to the task |
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) to trade him when we've been through so much together, but it was time to move on. We simply could not support the salaries of everyone on the team, and we simply made the best decision for the franchise. The Cardinals let Albert Pujols go after he led them to a World Series, and that's what is happening here. Marion now gets to move back to his natural position at SF, and with all the hard work he's put into his game over the summer, he'll be great there. Also with McGrady out, that means more opportunities to score for Artest, Marion, and Francis. All three are talented scorers who need the ball, and now there's one less player to demand the ball. Our defense is now improved as well with Marion at the 3, and Cedric Simmons moving back into the starting lineup at the 4. We are locked and loaded, and we are aiming for the Finals once again. 
