First and foremost let’s get the air cleared here early. Yes the Magic absolutely should be able to go off playground rules where winning on a bank isn’t allowed. Sadly in the NBA where basketball is played with no integrity, those points say on the board and Trae Young just has even a little bit more to go off of when it comes to being a hero for the night. What made tonight so beautiful when you sat there and were rooting for the Magic is that all night you didn’t have someone who could consistently show up on the offensive end, and then when they got the defensive end it was as if there wasn’t a single soul out there who could lead the charge and get a stop when it was needed. 

Steve Clifford running a small lineup out there with AG at the center is something that I think ended up having a huge negative impact on the Magic. Bomba in his very limited work out there tonight was able to really be effective quick. Defensively especially while he was in getting to the rim was a lot more difficult and yet him and all the others who could actually come out tonight on the positive of the (+/-) were left wondering exactly why the tread was being ran out on the starters tires throughout parts of the third quarter. Some things do not even need to be brought back up so early from last blog, but everything said in that blog is for sure still evident and very much leaving me totally confused as to why changes haven’t come so quick. 

Listen, am I a believer that if you want to have a long successful season that sometimes lessons and lumps have to come in order to grow? Yes of course I am, but in a situation like this where it’s against a young team in your division this is no time to be learning. This is the time to be executing, It is just such a tough look when you are the team in the game that is the experienced team, and the team that has a lot of belief behind it as far expectations go from people. Overall, really weird showing here from Clifford, it seemed like the game went very fast for the Magic, let a lot of bad shots be thrown up in the grand scheme of things and honestly, it wasn’t until late late in the game that really the trapping really started to be prominent and actually be effective. Which was a solid change to get the ball from Trae’s hands but we waited until 35 were already on the board and its decision making like that, that will have the Magic fighting just to make the playoffs not fighting in them.

The Magic last night were blessed very early on with what most would call a cupcake to start the season. What the Magic did with that cupcake in the end is what you’d hope anyone would do given that opportunity, but I can tell you, they sure didn’t make it look that pretty and or easy. Sure in the second quarter at one point the game was blown wide open and the lead hovered around 20 for a point in time. The truth of the matter is, the Magic did not hardly start any quarter well, and for the most part they actually started the quarters so shitty that it looked like we had two teams possibly geared with the most fiercest of scorsers. The game was going to be a back and forth epic classic to start out the NBA season in the first quarter with the little defense that was being played. The Third quarter was a lot about the Cavs young guards being incredibly crafty, working out well with the bigs they have. The thing about this Cavs team that made them fun to watch too was they have guys out there now who are crafting and shaping games that look to become elite scorers first and foremost with Kevin Porter and Darius Garland. Both have dribble moves that catch your eye, and also have the confidence to get shots up that makes you just feel their passion for the game.

If your rooting interest resides with the Magic though, last night at times could have possibly been making you feel a little off. The defense that was played for the most part last need seemed to be isolated, the one hot spot was Vucci started stepping up and moving the ball handlers to the corners off screen and rolls and that was finally starting to slow down the Cavs shooting. This lead to the guards being able to come away with some steals just because of long lollipops from the corner.

Last night was a horrible mix of a lot of guys who didn’t either shoot well or just weren’t aggressive. John Issac got up 3 shots, and I tell you what, a stat like that is absolutely heart breaking. Terrence Ross shot 30 percent from the field, although he did play some fairly good defense, the offensive display he put up just isn’t going to be what’s expected from him this year. AG shot horrible, Aminu couldn’t hit the ocean from a boat, but the kid himself did come out and put in work. Shot 50% but what was most impressive was how much he lead on both ends. Picked two cleanly, and on the offensive end was making sure every angle was being exhausted to try and stretch the defense, did a wonderful job of penetrating with the dribble, and saw the floor beautifully. Listen coming off the bench to be the assist leader is no joke, and a lot of easy ones were missed coming from his hands for open jumpers.

And last and most annoying, the man himself went out last night and proved once again exactly why he atleast could be coming off the bench. The only person on the team to have a negative +/- yesterday was Fournier. A non point guard leading the team in turnovers is never going to be a recipe that wants to be watched, let alone will consistently win with. There are a couple different guys on this Magic bench who deserve a possible shot to nab the starts spot, and if T Ross or Fultz don’t get that light, we could really be just letting something special wither away.

The NFL is so horrible that no matter whether you are a fan, player, coach, owner, or ref you are getting screwed by this stupid league at the end of the day. The Chargers Titans game is an incredible example of just how little fun you can have while trying to enjoy a damn Football game. The last 3 and a half minutes were a joke where it seemed as if 60% of the snaps had to end with the play being reviewed, and also causing a whole goddamn minute to run of the clock pretty much because when the dumbass refs make a mistake then you have to penalize the teams with time off the game clock and fans with time off their life. We have all this technology that we have no problem interupting the flow of the bullshit game with after the play has started, but instead of trying to implement it into the play and making things easier for everyone we just slowly add technology in different places to do different things, but at the end of the day you have to be able to book someone for a murder off the NFL replay before you would ever get a call overturned. Now that the chargers game is over, I really am going to bed tonight hoping high school jackasses go out and just rock those line judges mailboxes who were in the end zone and cost the chargers so much time. Even though all they can do is call it the best they can, the only thing they did was help the damn Titans and its just stupid they have to make these game deciding decisions in real time with no assistance. But still, those mailboxes being found in the ditch tomorrow wouldn’t kill my smile. 

If you can even remotely find a reason to try and even let out a clap off your couch for this chargers team then you probably just sat there and scratched the top of your head for so long that your nails are filed to a point where people think you’re chewing them. The chargers will always be good for two things in this world, no matter who the coach or the year. The chargers will give up long third day plays, and when two receivers cross paths the defensive backs just have no idea what comes next for them. It is something about that lightning bolt and being in the secondary that the combination of the two creates a very powerful spell that completely turns defends brains off. Then when it comes to having the ball on the goal line instead of going through the air where you have the absolute guarantee if the ball doesn’t get caught in the end zone, the clock is going to stop and you can get set back up for another play fairly easily. Instead the chargers run it and get stuffed to the point where both plays are reviewed and cause 10 second runs offs. You just can’t script these things, especially getting a false start on the goal line so you can easily back yourself up without causing the defense any problems. At this point, I thought it was going to be the year I could finally come out of the woodwork as a true chargers fan, but it’s going to be another year where the lanyard is stuffed deep in a desk drawer and Phillip Rivers is going to be taking all my verbal slander. Hate it has to be this way, but I only get two days for a weekend and when I commit one to watch a team who constantly kicks themselves with the same mistakes it gets hard to want to go on the internet and just talk shit until I’ve gained another 100 tweets. 

As much as last night was so horrible to watch, we did get one thing reassured to us last night that we can absolutely take to the bank with us. Our big man is something special, and no I am not talking about the Young guy who comes off the bench who is a monster on the defensive end, and has been working hard on getting a serviceable shot. I am speaking out the man who always finds his way to the block first. Always a threat to get in deep and score quickly after the ball finds his hands. The man who can set any screen needed on the floor and has a 50/50 roll to pop ratio that makes it incredibly hard for his defender to be in the right spot ever. The man who opens up the floor for our wing players to get chances to attack the basket off the dribble because if his defender even shows it’s a guaranteed dump off and bucket. As much fun as it was to see T Ross go off last night in the streaky fashion that he did, but it’s just non negotiable at this point, when Vucci is on the floor the offense is just so much more precise and efficient. 

The one thing that is actually really annoying to say the least is that I am associating myself with such huge pussies as a magic fan. If we get to the regular season and we have fans getting upset because our soft ass team is getting trashed by the announcers of the game when we are down 30 then heads are going to have to start rolling on twitter. I saw guys in tears last night over the shots Scal was sending our way, but if they were watching the game instead of just reading subtitles of what they were saying they would have been in the same boat. They would have been more upset at the ass beating than the tongue lashing. That just wasn’t the case, guys last night all they could think to do was complain about the announcers and not actually the players on the floor. That’s not how improving as a basketball team works in this world, I am not going to be sitting by all year to see as these fellow fans hard at shit that has nothing to do with the product on the floor. Only one thing needs to be focused on and we are wasting all of our time if we focus on the other bull shit. 

The Magic really have a 7 foot wing who has been so incredibly hard to craft a bag of tricks that is widely ranged that you really have to have a hand in his face and also plan to consistently work to keep him in front of you. The man is dribbling hard at the rim and having such graceful footwork that you really don’t know where and how he is finishing the basketball until literally he is going up at the rim. His shot has obvious room to get faster but the form is pure and the stroke feeds it in the net. It won’t be long and the ball screen/3 man play from the wing is going to be full of guys who are incredibly strong and long. My favorite part about this whole thing is that some of you will not even know if I mean Aaron Gordan or John Isaac. 

At this point, I am a little upset we aren’t giving some more clock to guys for them to earn their spots possibly. On the other hand though, getting chemistry with this team is going to be a blessing come opening night. I have been saying and harping on this for a while this Magic team if full of a lot of guys who can really be successful on a basketball court and giving them the opportunity to really find groves on the floor and build a strong base to work off early really only helps everyone out whos going to be bleeding that magic blue. Fournier has still looked like shit for the magic though so I’m still justified in saying we would be better off getting to those next pieces. 

Good morning Magic world. It is an absolute delight to wake up this morning and be able to go back and find clips from a scrimmage last night that was absolutely heavily favored for the team last night. The thing I am going to go ahead and get out of the way is yes we saw Markelle. Yes a jumper went in. I can’t believe people weren’t talking about how much he was seeing the court last night. Especially in transition, he made the right play most every time he was the ball handler in the transition. Looked very much as athletic as ever, but what was the most blessing was he was back to that college looking ball handler who is so incredibly quick on his feet and has no real one direction he will be heading. His crossovers on open court defenders is something that is going to absolutely lead to the magic being one of the highest tempo transition teams. 

What really got my mouth watering last night was the fact that there wasn’t a Magic player who touched the floor last night that looked out of place. Defensively first and foremost, forcing the Spurs into a lot of turnovers that would come fairly early in the shot clock. If the Magic can be a team who comes in every night and shows this type of Hard Nosed play then scoring the ball will be a second hand thought. 18 steals in a night is going to lead to at least 15 easy points and I couldn’t be low balling it any more. Mo Bamba last night legitimized my worst possible fear. We have two guys who could get 35 minutes a night at the center position and both guys could have an impact on the game that is hard to counter. Mo was showing signs of being a smart rebounder for one, but two who was an animal on the other end of the floor. Came away with 3 swats like it was nothing. The dude was also shooting free throw line jumpers that were cash, and had some threes that went up that were threatening. The Magic are in a spot where honestly they have all the right pieces to be a premier team in their conference, the pieces may just not be in the right spots yet. All I know is John Isaac learning from a guy like Aminu is going to springboard this man into lethal level wing play. All around, he had glimpses last night where he was able to handle the ball, he always had his eyes up. He hit perfect dump offs when he needed to that really had no chance of being guarded because the help was too committed. 

At the end of the day, the one fact that ices the cake better than anything I could even think about saying right now is the fact T-Mac was there working out with these guys giving him tips where he felt they could possibly be just a little more effective with their games. I have to say, this team is going to be fantastic, Terrence Ross really might break out and solidify himself in the Magic HOF after this year alone. It’s no wonder San Antonio didn’t want to send this game out to the world because the knew how much fear would be struck across the league once teams got their eyes on how well rounded of a unit this magic team has, and just how well they are able to keep themselves playing together for 48.

John Isaac is absolutely looking like he may have been a BIG diamond in the rough. Grown a couple inches and has a body that has absolutely filled out. Terrance Ross was quoted earlier in the week saying he thought that Isaac looked like a “Giraffe and Lion” at the same time. I believe there is a real chance that the Magic players who get minutes off the wings are every night is going to be a real difference maker all 48 minutes. Between Isaac, Ross, Inwundu, Aminu, Gordan, and even Fournier these guys have not only specific strengths on the floor that they are top tier in the league, but the east is a Big mans league and Bamba and Vucci will have their work cut out for them all night. The Magic have real potential to be that team in the east this year that surprises a lot of people, and the names that will be the charge of that shock will no doubt come from the wing. The man has already been showing signs of being a real threat on the defensive side of the ball. Not a knockdown shooter, but it goes up, sometimes in. Can attack the basket with a purpose, if he has added 20 pounds and a couple of inches on himself though, he will only be able to develop an even deeper set of skills when it comes to getting his spots and his shots. 

The one hypocritical thing I am coming here to do mainly is to say that Markelle Fultz looks very confident, and he has his college self back with the ball in his hands. A lot of videos being tossed around of him using his change of pace and absolutely taking advantage of the fact that his eyes are always down the court. I know, I know, I hated the fact that we were freaking out over the workout videos, and yet here I am with my eyes glued on some videos that our coming out of training camp from our guys. It may feel the same to some of you, but it isn’t it. I have done a lot of back and forth today with this about If it’s actually okay to jump so quickly back over the fence just because he’s in training camp. My conclusion is that yes, He is playing against guys who are on the team or for sure trying to get their name etched into those final spots. It is hard work that is being put in, no matter how much Clifford goes into the pressers and gets loud like he loves to do.

So coming away from Saturday morning there are a lot of people on the internet talking about how yesterday was a positive experience that villa was apart. Some of these people who have had similar things to say have been PLAYERS. I want to air this sentiment out and really exhaust why I think that may be the dumbest shit I have heard so far as far as Villa’s season goes. Yes, I will admit, I did say they could possibly finish 9th in the tables. Is that dumber than saying that the draw from yesterday in which we dummied Burnley in possession and practically had an afternoon doing dances over corner kicks was something that we can use to walk away positively from? Especially when we have already had a couple games now in which we have let leads go late into the match that have both turned into us walking away with no points. OH! What about when we played close to 40 minutes of football with 10 men in a match that was neck and neck going back and forth? Remember how we gave up like 16 shots after that red card and just couldn’t have one person on the pitch for us get even the slightest understanding of how to drag the ball around and pass to space so we could use even a second of the clock to our advantage. Shoot I was about to start breaking down what people said, then I forgot about my favorite blunder of the season so far, when Tom Heaton was in slow motion while the rest of the pitch was full speed. Heaton registered where the ball was, made a play on it as it was getting deeper into the left side of the box, but when he decided to make his move on the ball he didn’t account for the ball to still be moving and instead just took Callum Wilson completely out of stride. Villa never even felt like they had a foot in the match until about the 30th minute and when they did it was only a pinky toe that was holding them there for a while. What is funny about all these matches, we couldn’t hardly get a pebble even rolling down a hill for good chunks of time, and yet we were able to come out and keep everything close. We blew the two leads to two top table teams, in which we were able to break out and strike first in both matches. In the Arsenal match we played for 55 minutes in which we looked like the team that people would call the top 6 team. In all 4 of the matches in which we walked away with no points, we had very glaring issues in which kept us that step behind. Yet we were able to be strong and win battles in other places along the field to keep it close and make sure that it didn’t necessarily end without us giving a fight. Yet we want to walk away from yesterday, in which we couldn’t have done really more right and hang our hat on the fact that NOW we can see the things that are there and the things that aren’t. Now we have some positives that we feel we can build a foundation off of? We played a team that has played very well in the beginning of the season, yes, but a team that is going to bottom out very hard and the fact we didn’t close out a match AT HOME and come away with 3 points when we executed better and more confidently than ever this season is something that just absolutely makes me want to stick my head in a full bathtub and scream my heart out so the neighbors aren’t worried. I am a huge Grealish fan too, but I am absolutely heartbroken that yesterday wasn’t the biggest disappointment of the season to him. At the end of the day, this Aston boys in Villa may just be a big group of sissies.

As a Magic fan I am in total agreeance that we have no reason to not be excited for the upcoming season. So many pieces look like they are really going to fall in some beautifully comfortable places. One thing I have to say that I am extremely confused for though is the fact that everyone in our twitter verse is freaking out over the fact we have videos of Markelle making jump shots. Listen I am all for watching basketballs go in hoops, even when they are in open workouts surrounded by 80+ people standing around the court out of bounds and one coach rebounding and one coach hitting passes. Those are some of my favorite of the summer videos to see, those or the fantastic Nba game speed highlights we get to see from Rico Hines. The only problem with our Markelle videos is that we got to see these same videos pretty much the year before when in the summer. Then still a season came around where he missed 70 or more games. We have real reason to be excited, alot of our guys showed out in a legit world tournament. 

Like I said, I promise this is something I am trying to come off negative with it is just something that I want to get straight more than anything. Not saying it scares me how magic fans have reacted so far to seeing these videos, but I do believe that we as fans could possibly be putting our hats on some things that do not look so made out of cardboard. 

After the Sunday I had today I never thought I would be writing this blog at the end of the night, but I have to admit. After everything that transpired today, I am walking away truly blessed with knowledge. All my life growing up people like my father used to tell me “Drake watch out, history will repeat itself!”. As I got older I used to respond to those comments with things like “Hey dad, you sound fucking stupid.” It turns out after all this time, he wasn’t as fucking stupid as he sounded! He just didn’t know the whole story. History does always repeat itself, it’s just in sports when you spend 100 million dollars over the summer, or when you trust the same Dontrel Willis throwing piece of shit quarterback for the last 8 years. The saying never meant that Trojan’s would be storming people with horsers over and over again. Only that Phillip Rivers in the 4th quarter this season would yet again lead a lackadaisical drive down that field that once again ripped the hearts out of the 37 people who still pay attention to the chargers. No, No, Woodstock wasn’t going to be a magical place where std’s were swapped as freely as the water was shared. Just Aston Villa would give up another soul crushing penalty that completely taps the momentum for a good 10 minutes. Not to mention they hit fans with the classic suddenly playing with no confidence with 30 minutes left in the match. 

It is almost magical at this point how Phil can look down field before the snap and see guys already dropped back into the slots. Then still decide he wants to take on the 8 guys waiting for one of his wobbling docks to trot off his hands. I can say that seeing this team get the 4th downs when it was needed to get down into scoring chance territory felt nice, but it would be cool if we could get that strong play calling on the other three downs as well. It usually bodes well it football games. 

And as for the Lions, those dim lighted twats. I hate watching a team who almost feels as if they invite pressure down the middle of the field to only fizzle out their counters as their reaching their opponents attacking third. Heaton today not only looked absolutely lifeless on a pk, but Arsenal had him lost in a free kick set and he couldn’t even make an attempt at the ball. At this point the bandwagon I hopped i’m not going to lie I think was an imposter epl team. Not sure at this point but we are surely going to some shady places.