it’s the games where we’re clearly going to win/lose and svg still doesn’t clear the bench that frustrates me. happened a lot last year.

but yeah, 3 games is not enough for someone like jj, who as svg even said ‘just needs to hit one shot’. can’t hit a shot if you’re not on the fn floor. there’s also no way that the first 2 games can be put squarely on jj’s shoulders, either. there wasn’t a bright spot on the court, including dwight.

Right now we need to start winning games. If only three guys are good enough to be in the rotation, than so be. Really, I don’t even think AJ is good enough to be in the rotation at this point.

Now, eventually, once the Magic starters find their groove, we need to start playing the bench more. Cut Battie’s minutes and play Cook behind him, with Gortat playing behind Howard, cut Bogans’ minutes and play Redick (sure, give him another chance, why not. It’s not like we really doubt he can shoot, right?), and see if we can’t phase AJ out completely with CLee. If CLee doesn’t work out at pg, than JJ misses out. We need CLee more at this point.

Really, I want to trade JJ+Cook for a pg to back up Nelson. Sergio Rodriguez anyone?

… Phoenix did it, Magic can do it (deal with an 8-man rotation).

For now. If this is what Stan feels we need to do to build a significant lead in the division then I’m all for it. Once we establish our lead then have at it SVG. I don’t mind the 8 man rotation. We’ve won 3 games straight, no complaints.

By the way, last year it looked like the Ariza trade was a wash. Now, we definitely got the short end. Oh well, I come to expect it as a Magic fan.

I have no qualms about playing Dwight/Hedo/Lewis those minutes. I think lots of coaches make too big a deal over minutes these days.

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I generally hold two views about playing the bench in the summer:

(1) When there’s a lot of roster change I like the coach to keep a tight rotation and get his veterans acclimated before opening it up later on.

(2) When the team has been together for a decent period (like Orlando) then I like to see the young players play early. I like to see the coach give them crunch time minutes in the fourth quarter. Let’s the youngsters get an early understanding of what it takes to compete, helps their comfort if called upon later in the season to play a role, and helps the veterans belief in them (unless they suck). When Larry Bird was coaching the Pacers he did this to great effect and it boosted their bench tremendously.

There’s other issues on the Magic’s roster:

• Tony Battie – he’s working back from injury and needs game time. So unless SVG wants a big lineup with him a power forward, it’ll be difficult for Gortat to get minutes early. Foyle shouldn’t be playing at this stage of the season.
• Johnson is the only option at the point at the moment. I like playing young players early, but I don’t like playing them out of position (Lee). That’s two of your 3/4/5 man rotation off the bench.
• For my money Keith Bogans is the most dependable bench player the team has, and their best bench unless/until Battie returns to full strength. Normally I’d like to keep my 6th man on the court while playing with the youngsters. This is obviously a major complication. I consider this a judgement call, one I’d happily see go either way.

Personally, I’d like to see Redick and Lee playing ahead of Bogans for now … even though I’m not that comfortable with it. I just think they’re worth an opportunity. Bogans is an old hand, he’ll be ready when called upon.

At this stage of the season we should at least be using a ten man rotation, if you ask me. But right now we need wins more than time for the bench. When we’re killing teams maybe we can give the reserves a chance against our opponents bench to see what they’ve got.

We have 3 new players and Battie who has not played under SVG’s system. Its gonna take some time to get the rotation right. But I’ve been disappointed in AJ. I think he is a 3rd string PG; not a 2nd. If Jameer goes down; AJ starts and then he is backed up by…Hedo?Lee? They’ve got to get another PG.

I’m over the Ariza trade. I was a big fan of his but he didn’t fit this system. We needed 2 players last year and Ariza got us those players. Evans was good for us and we got to the 2nd round. Ariza is a young player and is supposed to get better. Props for him working on his game but Otis had to make a move. Now about that JJ pick tho…