May 2, 2024 • 38 mins
Dante, George and Jake discuss what we learned about both teams from Game 5 in Cleveland, what Game 6 at Kia Center will be like, the Magic's quiet confidence even in defeat and how special it is when Paolo Banchero gets rollin.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello everyone, and welcome to an emergency podcast edition of
Orlando Magic Pod Squad Dante Marketelli George Galante, get you
ready for Game six, critical one as the Magic try
to even up the series at three games apiece, and
we got everything in the ahead of Game six Magic
Fans of four a Department of Transportation reminds you that
fans don't let fans drive drunk. If you've been drinking,
(00:25):
don't get behind the wheel. Instead, find a sober driver
or catch your ride service. Remember, drive sober or get
pulled over and have a great night and drive safe.
We get into everything on this edition of Pod Squad
Dante Marketelli, George Galante and Jake Chapman. We recapped the
brilliant performance by Pallo ban Cairo in Game five, one
of the best Enfranchise history. Also Froz Wagner his performance
(00:48):
in Game four and Pallo ban Caro just sensational in
Game three as well, nearly pulled one out. We recap
that heartbreaking loss in Game five and what it's gonna
take for the Magic to get a win in Game
six and even up the season series and anything can
happen in a Game seven. We have a lot of
fun as we recap the series to this point and
preview pivotal Game six on this edition of Magic Pod Squad.
(01:12):
Those fawns of long enough, they're Orlando Magic.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
This is Cole Anthony, mister Jennings Suggs, this is Paulo
Man Carroll the Orlando Magic and you're listening to the
Pod Squad.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
And welcome everyone to another installment of Orlando Magic Pod Squad.
Dante Marctelli, Jcavin, George Galatee as we get you ready
for Game six and hopefully beyond. Is that not the goal?
Guys we're talking. We don't overlook Game six, but obviously
in the back of our minds we want game seven,
We want Round two. We now hold know where the
opponent will be here in the Boston Celtics. I don't
(01:42):
think we don't play, so it doesn't affect how we
look at it. So we know that this team isn't
looking beyond Game six. But man, this has been a
lot of fun here right now. We thought it was
important to do an emergency podcast here get you ready
for Game six now that we know start times. Game
six will be six thirty for the pregame show and
Steven o'clock tip and hopefully if we have a Gage
seven it'll be an ABC exclusive. So no matter what, guys,
(02:06):
it's a little bit orsweet. We will not broadcast on
Valley Sports Florida beyond tomorrow night, so we have a
heart out and you guys could go anywhere from tomorrow
night to the end of June. Right, So this with
a little bit of a different timeline here for Jake
Chapman and George Galante, isn't it?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Well? You know what was funny. We were on our
you know, we have a text thread with myself and
you and David and Jeff and Ty Easton, the TV producer,
and I think one of you guys said it might
have been JT. This is shocking, by the way, if
I have to go back and see if it was JT.
He says, well, do we root for Miami here to
get to to make sure we get another And then
(02:45):
you know, we all just kind of that. That thought
lasted for I think about ninety seconds of like, no,
we don't root for Miami roots from Emmy.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So it was nice to that would be the case.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
There's no scenarios, so yeah, it'll be an interesting thing. Uh,
you know we're gonna have to We're gonna have to
win tomorrow night and then uh and then pack for
I don't know, six days just in case, you know, hopefully,
hopefully I need all the clothes in my suitcase and
I don't just pack things for no reason. And uh, yeah,
I mean this. The other thing was we're on another
(03:17):
text thread, uh with a couple other PR people around
the league, And it's funny how when you get to
the playoffs, no matter how it goes, you just want
to keep going, like you you just want more, and
then you want more, and then you win a game
and you know, like we probably got into this thing thinking, well,
hell it was a great season, like we made the playoffs,
and then then you win a game and you're like, yeah,
(03:39):
now I want to win two games. And then you
win a second game You're like, shoot, now I want
to win three and four? You know, now I now
I want to Now I just want to go to
the finals. Like it's just want were You're constantly wanting
more and more. But that's the beauty of it, right, guys,
Like this is what this is what we do this for,
this is what we're where we're all in this to
to win and uh, and this definitely beats the alternative
(04:00):
of what we've been doing the last few years.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
This is awesome. Well, you've checked so many boxes and
you've had so much success. This year. You won your
first home playoff game, regardless, first home playoff game in
thirteen years. That was huge. Fans were electric. I fully
expect that same energy here going into tomorrow. But kind
of on a personal note, you know, you watch that
Celtics series come to an end, and it's the last
broadcast for Mike Gorman who did the telecast, right, So
for me growing up watching Mike Gorman and getting to
(04:25):
call a game in the building with Mike Gorman this
year was something surreal that I'll never forget. And kind
of similarly, you have Jake Chapman, who grew up listening
to Joe Tate called Game five in Cleveland and the
Joe Tate Perch, Right, But it's got to be a
little bit surreal Jake when you think about I know
it didn't go the way we wanted, but there's a
scenario where you could go back and potentially call the
(04:47):
Game seven in Cleveland, Ohio in the Joe Tate Perch
I know it was a little it was just completely surreal.
I didn't really I still have a fully wrap my
head around it in Boston, but had had to have
been surreal for you calling that game five.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
That was pretty spec tacular.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I I called the game in that building before when
I was with the Pistons, and that experience just being
there and doing play by play in the building. I mean,
you know, Richfield Coliseum existed when I was a kid,
but I grew up in Gundarina and the quickened loans
and all the different iterations of that building, and it
is a pretty spectacular own crowd when the Calves are good,
and that that that spot is one of the best
(05:23):
radio broadcast locations in the league. You do have the
speakers right above you, and the pyro comes. I mean
I think I'd singed my eyebrows.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
And the engineer there, Stacey, she's great. She'll be the
first to tell you. If you like the spot, you
could thank Joe Tate because this is what he wanted.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
A hundred percent that he literally he said this is
gonna be uh. He picked that.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Out and the the road English broadcaster me the other day,
we've got the best spot like I'm more.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
I'm more at mid.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Court than even Tim Elcore, the Calves radio play by
play guy, now that he and Jim Jones are a
little bit off center.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
And then you know the Spanish broadcasters, the a whay
Spanish broadcasters are behind me.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
So I just kind of waltzed right in and Stacey
took care of Mege you got me a cup of coffee.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
I felt like I was king of the castle, king
of the castle there.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
But no, it was fine when you mentioned Jim Shows.
Jim Shows, who a long time NBA player, won a
championship in nineteen eighty with the Los Angeles Lakers. Super nice,
always accommodates me. But every time I leave a conversation,
I think, boy, there isn't anyone that guy wants to
talk to less than me with all the things, with
all the things that he's done. But he's super nice,
he's super accommodating.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I'll say something real bad.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Do you think that's exclusive to Jim Shoes though, Dante, really,
I mean I think it put.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
Me in on it.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
You can open that up to a lot of.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Peopce a youth think because I was gonna say he
was he was very accommodating with his time. When Terrence
Ross introduced himself and they chatted corect before one of
the games, Nater Orlando, No, He's fantastic.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
It was.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
It was an awesome experience. I mean, the you know,
the only thing missing was from Franz converted up at
the end of the game, and that would have made
it even more epic. But sometimes you got to appreciate
the moment rather than the result, and that's what you know.
I left the arena. What day is it? What day
was it?
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Tuesday? Tuesday night? Going the boy he came out of
the wrong end of the stick.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
But that was a special basketball game, period and just
an experience for me as a kid growing up in Cleveland,
and I certainly will never forget.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
First trip for a for a guy with a one
year old George and his head spinning. Imagine that icker shocker,
Welcome to life on the road. People think it's you know,
it is spot Obviously it's it's incredible, but it does you.
You do have certain points where you're like, Okay, where
are we, what day of the week is it? Where
what city are we in? Listen, guys, I think at
the end of the days. As frustrating as that was,
(07:49):
I think you're watching that and in the back of
your mind, you're thinking, you're keeping it close. You can't
seem to get separation. Big offensive rebounds down the stretch
that led to a Marcus Morris three of X trust
three self and flat things that you look at it
now and say, if we can correct these self inflicted things,
we can win on the road. I think as disappointing
and heartbreaking as it was to win that game, I
(08:09):
think you leave thinking, obviously have to take care of
game six. Nobody looks past game six, but I think
there was a feeling, was there not George, that if
there is a scenario where you have a gauge seven,
we can win there. We feel like we now know
what it's going to take value of every possession, which
we've heard since the start of the season. But I
think all of that sunk in and at least maybe
(08:30):
there's a somewhat quiet confidence that if we go to
a game seven, we might be able to pull that up.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah. I mean, let's be honest. You don't want to
be on this end of a three two deficit, like
you don't want to go into the game six, knowing well, hell,
we have to win this or our season's over. You
don't want that scenario. There was definitely a feeling in
the locker room of and I think Josh Robbins actually
had a story today in the Athletic or last night
(08:58):
that but yeah, we let that one slip away, and
we just hope that we can overcome it and get
another opportunity, uh in game seven. And let's be honest,
like anything can happen in a game seven. Anything can happen.
It's a it's a it's a winner take all. Obviously
you would like to have home court. We don't have
home court. There are lots of things no matter how
(09:20):
this plays out for the Magic, there are gonna be
a lot of great lessons that they can take moving forward.
Paolo Franz, Jalen Cole, all of these guys, Wendell, all
of these guys that are young. This is their first
taste of it. Even going back to how they can
(09:42):
look at the regular season that leads up to the playoffs.
You know, hey, we win one more game or two
more games, we have home court, and we are going
to be in the situation we can hold serve and
and and and know that you know, the home court
isn't our advantage. So there's there's just lots of different
elements to this, but yeah, I think there's definitely we
(10:04):
knew going into the series that Game one in their
place was going to be tough, only because our guys
have not been in it before. That you can say
all that you want about how to prepare for the playoffs,
and there's nothing that can replicate actually being there. I
look back to when we were in nine, when we
were in the finals, and I could tell the minute
(10:27):
the lights went on that we were going to get
dump trucked in that first game, only because that whole
team had been through all of that before and our
guys had not. And it just is a completely different animal.
So you take it down to a lesser degree. Yeah,
Game one was gonna be hard for us because you
can't tell somebody. You can't tell Palelo, hey, listen, like
(10:48):
this is how the crowd's going to be, and you
can't tell Franz, well, this is how the referees are
going to call the game. They have to experience this
stuff first. And now that we've gotten that taste, and
now that we know what that looks like, yeah, I
think if we can somehow, like let's just say two.
Game six is no guarantee on Friday night. Absolutely, all
you know Cleveland is this is these are two really
(11:11):
evenly matched teams that are going at it, that are
exchanging blows, and uh, listen, let's hope. Let's hope we
have the same result. I hope nobody, just every nobody
thinks that just because we're at home now for Game six,
that well, that's an automatic dub and we're going back.
That is not the way this is because Cleveland is
feeling the same way. Well, now, we've been to Orlando
twice in the playoffs, and we know how that crowd's like.
(11:32):
We have to take it up another level. Every time
you get out there, you have to continue to take
it to a different level. So let's hope we can
win game six and then yeah, I'll take a toss
up in Game seven. Let's just see how that thing
plays out. We're just as good as they are, so
let's let's just see how it plays out.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
And it's gonna be an electric atmosphere we knew would
be for games three and four, and you're gonna have
some VIPs right we go with Sharon Lewis is going
to be in the house here tonight, which is gonna
be awesome. We've got some other people say and courts
out see playing Roscharot.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
I asked him. I asked him if he wants to
give us like ten minutes.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
He said, depending on what happens with Gary Harris, we
might need it.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
So we don't know.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Questionable for Gary Harris, questionable for Jiaron Allen. We don't
know where they're going to go. So there's some things
that are up in the air. If Gary doesn't play,
where will they go as far as starting? But I
think at the end of the day, so now you
can't replicate postseason and the pressure and all that. You
can't replicate how you're going to feel in an elimination game.
And now you're going to have that experience going to
theation game, and potentially if you win that you're going
(12:37):
to have the experience of a game seven. I mean,
you could have two huge things that you could check
off the list going into this thing. Jacob, I want
to get to you here in just seconds. I want
to get your thoughts on how we talked about it
our Magic drivetime. We want to get your thoughts on
how do we get Pollo and Franz going in the
same game. We've had a multiple time fisting, right, I
think you're about what fifteen and four something like that
(12:59):
where they both get in a game during the regular season. Right,
You've had a lot of success when they've both done
that in the same game in the regular season. We
got to get him going on the same page. But
we'll get both of your thoughts on this, George. I've
seen every playoff game since nineteen ninety eight with the
Orlando Magic, and you go back than that, and I
didn't see the Shack playoff performances. But Pollow in Game
five is right there as far as any Magic playoff performance.
(13:23):
Fronz Bogner was up there in Game four here in Orlando,
and Polo bay Carroll was equally as special in any
playoff performance that I've seen, with those thirty nine points
keeping us in that game.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
In Game five in Cleveland, Hey, yeah, he was. You
could tell. I don't know, I felt like you could
tell right after the first three he hit that first
three in the corner, and you know, I'm sitting there
by myself at center court with the Cleveland stats crew
and fans next to me on the left, and I
just went, oh, boy, like here we go, Like he
(13:53):
can tell right away, good as I Yeah, you can
tell right away when that guy has it going and
has a differ front. Look, you knew he was going
to do something special. Does he want the Does he
want a couple of those last possessions back?
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Probably?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Probably? But you know, now going back and looking at
the uh, the last two which, by the way, can
we can we talk about that for a second too?
Can we can we just eliminate the NBA last two
minute report because all it does is piss people off.
You you thought there was a foul on the play
where he had that awkward you know, he went up
for a pull up jumper and it looked awkward. Then
(14:30):
now all of a sudden he had to switch to
the left, and you're kind of like, well, that's weird.
Why is he shooting a left hand jumper with a
minute to go down to Well, it's because he got foul,
and so you know, it's so frustrated, so frustrating to
see that, and you know, did he want the last
couple of possessions back?
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Probably?
Speaker 3 (14:47):
So? But I have no problem with Paolo pulling up
and take the guy was feeling it. He had sixteen
points in the fourth quarter alone. He put us on
his back. He he was an absolute menace out there
in absolute menace and they had no answer for him.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Well, you talked about this on drive time too, because
you know, also if you're gonna get rid of that
narrative in the last two minute report, let's get rid
of the narrative that we should have called a time out.
That's what we've done all year is Joe Gallen guy
gets the rebound and go and it was Fraud's just
made the basket to play before that to tie the game.
So you have no problem with frauds or Paulo figuring
(15:25):
it out in the last playing the game.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
And I think it speaks to what George was talking about,
like we have to go through all of these things right,
like like Paulo is going to is going to execute
better in those those absolute clutch moments moving forward because
of the failures that we saw the other night. And
again like if you want to go through a nitpick
and question his shot selection, like then you get out
(15:48):
that I have no time for you. The guy had
thirty nine points. He would he he's I was just
looking at numbers. I mean, he's being asked to do
so much right now, and that's something that we need
to see tomorrow night, is somebody's got a little bit
of the burden off of him as far as creation
and just you know, facilitating the offense goes. He you know,
his usage percentages up over thirty. He's doing Luca things.
(16:11):
The ball is in his hands so much, and obviously
you know he's option A, B and C when he's
got it going like he did on Tuesday night. But
you know, all of these things, it's experienced. You know, nobody,
nobody pounces on every opportunity they're given immediately on their
way to the NBA Finals and an NBA Finals MVP.
So a little proper perspective I think is in order.
(16:34):
And I two out of the last three games, he's
put on performances that rank above, you know, ranked right
up there with all.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
The best postseason performances we've ever seen in the guys
in the year two.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Well, here's what what well go ahead to do?
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I think the other the other thing I was gonna
say real quick though, is and people can criticize Franz
also for attacking the ren and doing what he did.
If you look to possessions before that or the possession
before that, he did the same exact thing scored. You
have to also get like, you know what, there's five
guys on the other side of the floor team that
are playing just as hard and can make place too.
(17:08):
Mobili made a great play, Evan Mobley made a tremendous block,
and that's what he's out there to do. So, Yeah,
crap happens sometimes, right guys. I mean it's not if
we could just roll it out, Yeah, we'd be eighty
two and zero and we'd have twenty eight rings. Like
just there are things that happen on the other side
of the floor too. You can dissect it and nitpick
(17:29):
all you want. Like Jake said, it was a great
basketball game. Somebody was going to have to lose. Unfortunately
it was the Magic and let's just see if we
can bounce back for game six.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
To me, the game was lost on those offensive rebounds
because those are self inflicted wounds that you could correct.
You can correct. It's not the two minute report, it's
not the block by Evan Mobley. You played unbelievable defense
and they got a long rebound. Weis it ended up
in a Marcus Morris three, and once in a Max
Strew's three. You eliminate those three, you win and going away,
And so I think it's remarkable what you've done to
(18:01):
put yourself in that position. So now you value you
understand the value of every single possession. And I think, guys,
what we have to figure out is, you knew Donovan
Mitchell and Darius Garland, We've got to come out firing.
There was so much pressure up there on them. You know,
Darius Garland said, I haven't played well yet in this series.
I got to take more shots. He did seventeen points
in the first quart and that doesn't mean we'd have
to oblige him to let him get seventeen. We have
(18:22):
to do have to do a little bit better job defensively.
And you knew Donovan Mitchell, but he was it did
not have an efficient games. He was a team worst
minus eleven in that basketball game. It was nine of
twenty three from the floor with four turnovers. He's capable
of having a big night. The one three that he
hit all game was huge, and he went to the
free throw wide, not hit nine out of ten free
throws all the fourth quart, didn't attempt to free throw
(18:44):
till the fourth quart, so you got to clean out.
There's some bad foules down the stretch too that you
got to clean up. So there's all those things that
you have to figure out. But whereas they got Garland
and Mitchell to play well together, we have not yet
in the postseason been able to get Frauds and Pollow
on the same page together in the same game. They've
both had monster performances on their own, but it seems
(19:05):
to me like Cleveland is content. Okay, if one guy's
got to go, we're just gonna load up on the
other guy. And to me, is that not where guy's
gotta make shots. You got to have other guys have
got to step up, especially in Cleveland. You know, Jalen
Suggs is one for fifteen from three in Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Coley, that's probably not gonna get it done.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
It's not gonna get done. Cole Anthony's made one field
goal in Cleveland, like guys that have been your scorers
all season long. We need that in Cleveland, but we
also need it tomorrow night for Game six. Does that
not help. Got to get those guys going. If someone
can step up and take some of the pressure off
and knockdown shots, I think that's the big key because
you think about franz big performance in Game four and
(19:43):
obviously the thirty seven to ten the third quarter was
was just an avalanche. But he got to the free
throw line. He was six to seven, I believe if
I recall in that game and he was knocking, I
think he made two out of three three point attempts,
which for Franz, it's been a very very rocky Pender
shooting season.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Like all year, it's it just hasn't really clicked. We
know he's better than that. He's he's gonna bounce back
next season for sure, and maybe he'll bounce back tomorrow
night as far as shooting from the perimeter goes.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
But that's to me what Cleveland's doing right.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
They're packing the paint when they do have Allen and there,
they've got two guys who can protect the rim just
about as well as anybody. Mobile proved in Game five
he's good enough to handle. I don't know if he
could do it for eighty two games, it'd be be
the be the five and bang like that. But he
is a pretty special defender, and they've got some size
elsewhere as well. So you know, we've got these two
(20:33):
six ' ten supersize wings who are at their best
when they're attacking the basket and creating inside out action
for their teammates. And with Polo, he's at his best,
but he's doing what he's doing the other night, which
is just raising up and knocking down long twos and
threes over whatever defender you want to trot out there
at him. The guy's a corps was clued to his
hip all night and it didn't at or It's just.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
I know he already.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
I know he already discussed that.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
That's the key. I was sitting next to Dennis Scott,
and Dennis Scott was like in Awe of Pollo. He goes,
he goes, that's what big dogs do. He goes. You're
watching a guy do what big dogs do. He goes.
When he's got Moldy, he goes around him, he gets
by him, when he's got Okoro, when he's got LeVert,
he just goes over the top of him. He said,
he's not even seeing whoever's in front of him, and
that we know regardless of all this series goes. Guys,
(21:19):
we know what, We've got a dude and a dude
that's not gonna shy away from the pressure of the postseason.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
I like so Q called him a dude with Game
one of his NBA career, too, you and then you
got three D calling him a big dog the other night.
I don't know what I like better. He is a dude,
but he's cool. He's a big dog the other night. Uh,
and he was barking, No, we need to space the floor.
We need to loosen the defense a little bit. And that,
to me is the way that you get Pollow and
Franz kind of clicking together. It's their teammates need to
(21:46):
help him out and knock down some shots from the perimeter.
It'd be great if we could do it early. And
that going back to the polo performance. You know after
the first three Georgia, I think you said like you
sort of could see it in his eye, or it's
because he started over four zero for five.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
It's just about every game I'm gonna gate with its
zer right right, and so if he starts out hitting
from the perimeter, you know they're gonna have to close
out on him and then he can do basically whatever
he wants.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Getting Franz going would be excellent, but that takes just
about everybody else. I think fro you know, when we
get out in transition, when we're forcing turnovers, offensive rebounds,
all of those things that we need to do as
a team to manufacture more possessions and to kind of
make up for the fact that we're not the best
shooting team, uh in the world. Is Yeah, I think
that's where Franz ends up benefiting. So it's on Wendell,
(22:32):
it's on Mark Hell when he's in the game moving
without the basketball. We just gotta facilitate the half court
offense a little bit better and and Franz typically is
the is the benefit of the benefactor.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
After all that happens, I think they're gonna have I
think we're gonna have similar success in the same game
you're going into Game six, because I think they I
think they know that. But guys, I think whereas we
feel some confidence having gone into Cleveland because we know
what to expect after games one and two, I think
they're gonna have the same thing coming down here. They
now know what to expect with our crowd how energized
we are. I think there's things that they know they
(23:02):
can clean up, and I think our role players thrive
in this environment feeding off the crowd. I think they
know that. I think they'll be more in tune to
the likes of the Mobogners and Jonathan Isaacs and Cole
Anthony's And not to say those guys won't have big games,
but I think they're going to be more of a
focal point than they were going in, maybe going into
two games three and four. But I think one thing
(23:24):
that jumps off the page, I think you've been down.
It might be Game four might be the only game
in this series where you weren't down double figures in
the first quarter. Yeah, Game five was the only game
you scored first, Wendell will Adelayan is the only time
you've you've had the first basket of the game. If
you could, if you could summon any kind of a
(23:45):
decent start here in game six, I think it would
be critical. And I think that doesn't mean you'll win
the game if you get up by ten in the
first quarter, but man, you give yourself a shot, because
every single game in this series, from quarter to on,
you've seem to figure something out or settled that out.
Can you not get down by ten in the first
quarter here tomorrow night, I think would be huge.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Well, I think Jamal addressed that to post game in
game five, he has added multiple times he was like, well,
we could not be down ten after one like to
constantly have to dig out of a hole, like it's hard.
It makes it hard on yourself. So yeah, I would
like to see what happens if we can somehow punch
them in the mouth. First. You know, we've been smacked
(24:25):
each game five games. You know, even in game four
when you're saying we're we weren't down ten? Were sorry?
Speaker 1 (24:31):
I think we're down tech. Yeah, I'm looking it up now.
So we were. So in every single game in this series,
you've been down double digits in the first quarter.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
It does make it tough to dig out of a hole.
Constantly dig out of a hole, dig out of a hole. Now,
that's been a strength of the magic all season with that,
when that second unit comes in, they had the ability
to either you know, bring us back into a ballgame
or extend a lead. I mean that that's the big
reason for our success. So it would be nice to
(24:59):
see how you know how it looks on the other foot,
if we were somehow able to you know, they haven't
had to do that yet. They haven't had to climb
out of a hole. And every time they've been in
a hole, the hole just guy has gotten deeper. So
it would be nice to see what would happen if
we can open the game with a twelve four run
on on Friday night, or or or you're hopefully a
(25:19):
game seven, like, let's see how they react if if,
if we can punch them in the mouth first.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
The way, I've been thinking about this so much in
this series that I that I haven't stenciled into my break.
We were twenty seven and eleven in the regular season.
What we scored first, forty seven and eleven in the
regular season. When we scored, it's the it's the dubbest
that obviously scored. But I you should have. I almost
stopped the broadcast the other day when Windell's fucking Game five.
It was it was it was a monumental moment. No,
(25:47):
And it's it's a little confusing too, because when you
look at like the net rating numbers and all that stuff,
it's not like the starters are getting blown out you know,
like when over the course of the game the starters
minutes aren't killing you, obviously, like Paulo's carried us for
much of the series. He's been fantastic. The turnovers are
a little bit of an issue. Franz had his game.
(26:08):
You know, Jalen's had big games, knocking down threes at times,
and we know what he's.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Doing on the defensive end.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
So it's just a matter of, like the first six
minutes of executing and I'll go back to Game five.
I mean, I thought, you go back and clean up
some things, making a few more free throws than turnovers.
You know, there's obviously just I thought Therrys Garland's seventeen
point first quarter was the difference in that game. I mean,
he was just ripping us off the dribble and I'm
going this, this isn't magic basketball like and if he
(26:35):
wasn't scoring himself, then both he and Mitchell were getting
into the lane and creating and dumping off to MOBILEI
And that happened, you know, all much of the night.
But when you when you you know, Garland came into
that game completely confidence, completely shot. You have to think, right,
like I haven't said on the broadcast. I don't know
if he's been listening to sports talk radio, but this
guy very clearly has a point to prove, because you know,
(26:57):
there's so many questions, you know, in Cleveland, and it's
the fans and not the actual people that matter.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
That sounded a little bit harsh, but you know.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Everybody's questioning whether or not those guys can play together.
And I think those guys are good enough, and they
went out there and kind of tried to prove a point.
Dari Scarlan's a really good player, but we had done
a great job with him up to that point, and
all of a sudden he came out and just kind
of ripped us. So I don't think it's a mentality thing.
I think it's just an execution type of thing. But
for whatever reason, like we've got to ride that wave
(27:27):
tomorrow night. And yeah, like I don't want to be
greedy a six point first quarter lead, I'll tak fine
about a couple buckets.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Well, and I think listen, I saw you could see
Gary Harris weak the hamstring earlier. Yeah, and I think
that I think that led to Darius Garland having the
game that he had. Gary tried to got it out
and tried to play, and then he had to come
out there in that first quarter and then came back
in the second half, tried to finish the game and
just couldn't. So you hope Gary's able to go here
tomorrow for Game six, But even if he does, is
(27:58):
that thing one hundred percent right? You just have no idea.
It's the same with Jared Allen. You don't know if
he's even if he's able to go and play for Cleveland.
He's short, right, You got a rip contusion that he
could be limited in some way. So you have to
figure something out for Garland because if you don't have
Gary Harris and if they do have Jared Allen, you
have a decision to make it if your replacement for
(28:18):
Gary is going to be a big because you've got
to contend with with Jared Allen, or if you're going
to go small. So you kind of got some decision.
Martill Foltz has put himself in a great position that
he could be the guy to step in. He's had
a great postseason, guys, you know, for a guy that
struggled at times, and he'll be the first one to
tell you, you know, just trying to find a rhythm. He's
done it here in the postseason and really the last
week of the regular season. He looks very comfortable out there.
(28:40):
And if that's a guy that you turn to that's
going to have to play bigger minutes, they're going to
have to start. I think he's ready and I think
he'd be ready for that challenge. You could go big
with Jonathan Isaac. I mean you could. You could go
Anthony Black could be a guy that gets postseason experience.
I think we don't know what that's going to be,
and hopefully Gary's able to play. But you've got options.
If you're Jamal Moseley and this this Cabs team, you
(29:00):
know you've won the battle of the bench in all
five games. You know they got a huge lift from
Marcus Morrison that helped him win the game. They're not
as deep as you. The Magic havev options and you
but you do have to figure that out if you
don't have Gary.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see if if Gary is
limited or can't play at all in Game six, which
way you go? You beat me to the punch. I
was gonna say Markel Fult is a really big X
factor for US. I thought he was excellent, excellent. I
was kind of surprised you didn't play more. But he's
given you everything. He's he's had these first five games
(29:34):
and you're You're right, Dante, Like even the last few
games of the regular season, it's something flipped for him.
And I'm not really sure what it was, and I'm
not really sure why why it took so long, but
it's definitely there. He's he was really steady, he was
a great facilitator. I thought he played great defense too
when he was in there against Garland and Mitchell. So yeah,
(29:56):
it'll be interesting to see what happens, uh, come Friday night.
I'm really looking for forward to it again. No matter,
no matter how this ends up playing out, this has
been a really really good, good, absolutely couple of weeks
here for the magic, both in the short term and
in the long term.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
And real quick, just think about where we were.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
No but go ahead, Jack, I was just gonna say
just about Game eighty two that Milwaukee, get how close
we were to a play in right and and so
you win that game, and now we talk about all
the experience that we're getting right now. You were this
close to you know, a one and done, but or
you know, a two and done potentially, And so I
I think you got to think about the building blocks
(30:35):
and how important all these experiences have been, and how
and how close it is, how easily it could have
gone the other way if you didn't deliver in the
clutch of like tomorrow night. Like yeah, it's a it's
an elimination game. We haven't dealt with that, but we've
dealt with the high stakes game in our buildings certainly.
So I don't think they'll be scared of the moment
for sure.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
And I know, sorry, go ahead, Well.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Two things real quick. I think I got I don't
know about you guys, but I've got in the back
of my head just because we've seen it so many times.
We're doing such a good job on Donovan Mitchell. But
doesn't he have to have like a forty six point
game where he's twenty. Yeah, that's what I'm seeing that,
But maybe not, maybe not. Maybe they've done such a
good job. I just he's such a good player, and he's.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
A minus ten net rating. He is a minus ten.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
But it was like crazy, that's in there somewhere, and
you can survive even if he does. You just have
to eliminate everybody else. But it feels like a big
game is coming, but maybe not. They've done give them credit,
they've done such a great defensive job on Donovan Mitchell.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
He's an all world player. Guys like, yeah, it scares me.
Every time that guy touches the ball. It scares me.
It's terrifying because I think he can go off. Listen,
he can do what Paalo did at any minute, any
mean nothing. We had talked at dinner the other night, like,
nothing will surprise me tomorrow night in Game six. It
(31:52):
wouldn't surprise me if we blow them out. It wouldn't
surprise me. If the Cavs blew us out. It wouldn't
surprise me if it goes down to the buzzer. Like
these two teams are just so evenly matched with stars
on both sides, like that, this is what the playoffs
are all about. Like this, this is this is it?
Like this is this is what the playoffs are. This
is what they bring to you. Uh, it's it's it's awesome,
(32:14):
Like it's just awesome. But can we before we get
off here, I don't know if we're we're close to
donn can we talk about the just the key. I
know the players have talked about it, and Coach Mosley's
talked about it. The fans at Kia Center have been unbelievable,
unbelievable those two games, you know, and we and we
were all both around for the old building and I
(32:35):
and I have a special place in my heart for
they the old building, which which was was louder. It
was a louder building, just the aesthetics of it, the
fans being right on top of the court. I didn't
think the Key of Center was capable of being as
loud as it's been. I really didn't. I just thought
it was correct. The just just everything, the way the
(32:56):
fans are separated from those two games. Games three and
four were easily the loudest I had heard it in
that building, yes, since since since we cut the ribbon,
and it was unbelievable. And I know they're going to
do the same on Friday night and I can't wait
to be in there for it. It's just been awesome
(33:18):
to see the players are all feeding off of it,
you know, they there may be people out there that
think it's just that it's just media speak and whatever else. No,
like when the lights are off and the cameras are off.
I've had multiple guys come up to me and say,
Holy cow, I didn't know this place could be like this,
And it's definitely given them some juice and they are
(33:41):
pumped and I can't wait to see what we bring
to the table on Friday night. From a fans perspective, well,
you went through that.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
That was going to be the last thing I was
going to say was what how great the fans have
been and how fun this is for them? Thirteen of you,
since you won a home playoff game, should at least
check that box, right, So you've done that. You've brought
some success back. We know how this city rallies, and
we've seen how they've rallied the last couple of years, right,
even when you've struggled and haven't been a playoff team,
We've seen a change in the crowd in their excitement
(34:10):
level and understanding what's brewing here in Central Florida. So
that was a part of it. But what I think
is also fun for fans, guys, is the rulers. I mean,
how much fun is this? We know you know, right,
the latest name is Paul George. We're smart enough to
know this front office doesn't leak anything, right, So any
any player that's going to be rulored to the Orlando
(34:31):
Magic is just somebody throwing a name out there, right,
So we know that we were smart enough to know that.
But the fun thing about when you're competitive and you're
a playoff team is guys are linked to you. And
I think what's fun is whether there's any validity to
it or not. I think what a lot of Magic
fans are having fun with now is one, we're playing
basketball games in May, and two very quickly, if not
(34:54):
already now, this is a free agent destination. And I
think you're going to start seeing national people by the
lake try to connect dots because we all know we
have to add a piece or two to to be
a title contender. And I think that part is fun
for fans. You're you're now back in that conversation, which.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
Is yeah, even if it's an agent that that that's
throwing it out there and creating it out of thin air.
If you're not relevant, chance it doesn't work, you kick
me up bargaining champ right right right.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
These if they are to teams that are winning twenty
two games exactly late to teams that you feel might
be your tool. Way, that's what makes the conversation fun.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Yeah, there's not a whole bunch of oh yeah, he's
interested in Phoenix or Detroit.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Uh. You know, like that's typically not not being thrown
out there.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
It is.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
It's fun and like you know, I think I cautioned fans, like,
let's not think about the offseason just yet.
Speaker 4 (35:47):
Let's let's focus in on Game six and seven.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
But the bottom line is like that, you know, that
sort of news cycle is NonStop and and when you're relevant,
I mean not jess, are we talking about, you know,
having money that you could spend and being a championship
contending team. The crowd matters, like that stuff matters, like
(36:11):
guys want to come to a place that sort of energized.
And yeah, it feels good to be in those conversations
again period. But I think if you're a prospective free agent,
you're looking and say, they've got they've got they've got something.
There's something brewing there.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
We thought we had Dwight, and for free agents very
quickly realized I want to be a part of that.
And I think that's back. I think people are realizing, hey,
if they if they determine they need somebody, maybe I
could be a piece. And I think you're going to
start seeing some some names, which would be fun conversation.
I don't think it's any secret. I disliked the Miami
Heat with the passion of a thousand suns, so I
(36:43):
think to see them to get eliminated last night, I
have no problem with that. Right, did any of you
guys have any you know?
Speaker 3 (36:50):
I mean, I knew you guys didn't need it on
the thread? Are we rooting for the.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
I look back on the thread, you know, I never
we did it said yes.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
We knew that that you knew that wasn't the case.
Also to like, did you guys like like I know
everybody was always kind of talks about when opposing fans
in the past have come in here and like quote
unquote taking our building over, you know, And did you
like did you like what happened in Philadelphia the other day?
And I mean, listen, if it can happen there, then
(37:19):
it can probably happen anywhere.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
And it is exactly right it could happen. Well, I
think that's horrible to me. That's more of a testament
to Knicks fan and that has about a great fan base.
As annoying as they are, and as much as we
don't like them filling up our building, they did it
in Philly during a playoff game, and Philly fan is
an unbelievable fan nick for as if notxious as Knicks
fans are, they're great fans, they're great fans. And if
(37:41):
that can happen there in Philadelphia, it can happen anywhere.
That That is about as fun a series as three.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
I can tell you where it's not gonna happen. It's
not gonna happen in the Key of Center on Friday night.
That is going to be electric, and I cannot wait.
I cannot wait for twenty four hours from now you
rode out when that building gets turned up.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
And if you don't have a ticket, you could still
come down and you can watch it. You could be
a part of FanFest which starts at five, and you
go to Rolantamagic dot com slash Playoffs and you can
get a free ticket and you can watch the game
on the big screen TV on Church Street right outside
Kia Center and hopefully celebrate with all Magic fans as
they leave for Game six. You don't have a Game
seven if you don't win Game.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
Six, that's gotta get Game six.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Boys, gotta get Game six. That's what it's all about.
And this has been fun for us. I don't want
to say I forgot what the playoffs were like, but
this has been a lot of fun to come back
in this energy and you fans are going to make
the difference, hopefully tomorrow in Game six. That'll do it
for this installment of Magic Pod Squad. We'll have one more, regardless,
we'll have one at the end of the season, or
we'll have one to preview the Magic and Celtics. We'll see,
(38:40):
but we'll talk too soon, hopefully on Magic Pod Squad.
Hello everyone, and welcome to an emergency podcast edition of
Orlando Magic Pod Squad Dante Marketelli George Galante, get you
ready for Game six, critical one as the Magic try
to even up the series at three games apiece, and
we got everything in the ahead of Game six Magic
Fans of four a Department of Transportation reminds you that
fans don't let fans drive drunk. If you've been drinking,
(00:25):
don't get behind the wheel. Instead, find a sober driver
or catch your ride service. Remember, drive sober or get
pulled over and have a great night and drive safe.
We get into everything on this edition of Pod Squad
Dante Marketelli, George Galante and Jake Chapman. We recapped the
brilliant performance by Pallo ban Cairo in Game five, one
of the best Enfranchise history. Also Froz Wagner his performance
(00:48):
in Game four and Pallo ban Caro just sensational in
Game three as well, nearly pulled one out. We recap
that heartbreaking loss in Game five and what it's gonna
take for the Magic to get a win in Game
six and even up the season series and anything can
happen in a Game seven. We have a lot of
fun as we recap the series to this point and
preview pivotal Game six on this edition of Magic Pod Squad.
(01:12):
Those fawns of long enough, they're Orlando Magic.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
This is Cole Anthony, mister Jennings Suggs, this is Paulo
Man Carroll the Orlando Magic and you're listening to the
Pod Squad.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
And welcome everyone to another installment of Orlando Magic Pod Squad.
Dante Marctelli, Jcavin, George Galatee as we get you ready
for Game six and hopefully beyond. Is that not the goal?
Guys we're talking. We don't overlook Game six, but obviously
in the back of our minds we want game seven,
We want Round two. We now hold know where the
opponent will be here in the Boston Celtics. I don't
(01:42):
think we don't play, so it doesn't affect how we
look at it. So we know that this team isn't
looking beyond Game six. But man, this has been a
lot of fun here right now. We thought it was
important to do an emergency podcast here get you ready
for Game six now that we know start times. Game
six will be six thirty for the pregame show and
Steven o'clock tip and hopefully if we have a Gage
seven it'll be an ABC exclusive. So no matter what, guys,
(02:06):
it's a little bit orsweet. We will not broadcast on
Valley Sports Florida beyond tomorrow night, so we have a
heart out and you guys could go anywhere from tomorrow
night to the end of June. Right, So this with
a little bit of a different timeline here for Jake
Chapman and George Galante, isn't it?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Well? You know what was funny. We were on our
you know, we have a text thread with myself and
you and David and Jeff and Ty Easton, the TV producer,
and I think one of you guys said it might
have been JT. This is shocking, by the way, if
I have to go back and see if it was JT.
He says, well, do we root for Miami here to
get to to make sure we get another And then
(02:45):
you know, we all just kind of that. That thought
lasted for I think about ninety seconds of like, no,
we don't root for Miami roots from Emmy.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So it was nice to that would be the case.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
There's no scenarios, so yeah, it'll be an interesting thing. Uh,
you know we're gonna have to We're gonna have to
win tomorrow night and then uh and then pack for
I don't know, six days just in case, you know, hopefully,
hopefully I need all the clothes in my suitcase and
I don't just pack things for no reason. And uh, yeah,
I mean this. The other thing was we're on another
(03:17):
text thread, uh with a couple other PR people around
the league, And it's funny how when you get to
the playoffs, no matter how it goes, you just want
to keep going, like you you just want more, and
then you want more, and then you win a game
and you know, like we probably got into this thing thinking, well,
hell it was a great season, like we made the playoffs,
and then then you win a game and you're like, yeah,
(03:39):
now I want to win two games. And then you
win a second game You're like, shoot, now I want
to win three and four? You know, now I now
I want to Now I just want to go to
the finals. Like it's just want were You're constantly wanting
more and more. But that's the beauty of it, right, guys,
Like this is what this is what we do this for,
this is what we're where we're all in this to
to win and uh, and this definitely beats the alternative
(04:00):
of what we've been doing the last few years.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
This is awesome. Well, you've checked so many boxes and
you've had so much success. This year. You won your
first home playoff game, regardless, first home playoff game in
thirteen years. That was huge. Fans were electric. I fully
expect that same energy here going into tomorrow. But kind
of on a personal note, you know, you watch that
Celtics series come to an end, and it's the last
broadcast for Mike Gorman who did the telecast, right, So
for me growing up watching Mike Gorman and getting to
(04:25):
call a game in the building with Mike Gorman this
year was something surreal that I'll never forget. And kind
of similarly, you have Jake Chapman, who grew up listening
to Joe Tate called Game five in Cleveland and the
Joe Tate Perch, Right, But it's got to be a
little bit surreal Jake when you think about I know
it didn't go the way we wanted, but there's a
scenario where you could go back and potentially call the
(04:47):
Game seven in Cleveland, Ohio in the Joe Tate Perch
I know it was a little it was just completely surreal.
I didn't really I still have a fully wrap my
head around it in Boston, but had had to have
been surreal for you calling that game five.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
That was pretty spec tacular.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I I called the game in that building before when
I was with the Pistons, and that experience just being
there and doing play by play in the building. I mean,
you know, Richfield Coliseum existed when I was a kid,
but I grew up in Gundarina and the quickened loans
and all the different iterations of that building, and it
is a pretty spectacular own crowd when the Calves are good,
and that that that spot is one of the best
(05:23):
radio broadcast locations in the league. You do have the
speakers right above you, and the pyro comes. I mean
I think I'd singed my eyebrows.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
And the engineer there, Stacey, she's great. She'll be the
first to tell you. If you like the spot, you
could thank Joe Tate because this is what he wanted.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
A hundred percent that he literally he said this is
gonna be uh. He picked that.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Out and the the road English broadcaster me the other day,
we've got the best spot like I'm more.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
I'm more at mid.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Court than even Tim Elcore, the Calves radio play by
play guy, now that he and Jim Jones are a
little bit off center.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
And then you know the Spanish broadcasters, the a whay
Spanish broadcasters are behind me.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
So I just kind of waltzed right in and Stacey
took care of Mege you got me a cup of coffee.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
I felt like I was king of the castle, king
of the castle there.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
But no, it was fine when you mentioned Jim Shows.
Jim Shows, who a long time NBA player, won a
championship in nineteen eighty with the Los Angeles Lakers. Super nice,
always accommodates me. But every time I leave a conversation,
I think, boy, there isn't anyone that guy wants to
talk to less than me with all the things, with
all the things that he's done. But he's super nice,
he's super accommodating.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I'll say something real bad.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Do you think that's exclusive to Jim Shoes though, Dante, really,
I mean I think it put.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
Me in on it.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
You can open that up to a lot of.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Peopce a youth think because I was gonna say he
was he was very accommodating with his time. When Terrence
Ross introduced himself and they chatted corect before one of
the games, Nater Orlando, No, He's fantastic.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
It was.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
It was an awesome experience. I mean, the you know,
the only thing missing was from Franz converted up at
the end of the game, and that would have made
it even more epic. But sometimes you got to appreciate
the moment rather than the result, and that's what you know.
I left the arena. What day is it? What day
was it?
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Tuesday? Tuesday night? Going the boy he came out of
the wrong end of the stick.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
But that was a special basketball game, period and just
an experience for me as a kid growing up in Cleveland,
and I certainly will never forget.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
First trip for a for a guy with a one
year old George and his head spinning. Imagine that icker shocker,
Welcome to life on the road. People think it's you know,
it is spot Obviously it's it's incredible, but it does you.
You do have certain points where you're like, Okay, where
are we, what day of the week is it? Where
what city are we in? Listen, guys, I think at
the end of the days. As frustrating as that was,
(07:49):
I think you're watching that and in the back of
your mind, you're thinking, you're keeping it close. You can't
seem to get separation. Big offensive rebounds down the stretch
that led to a Marcus Morris three of X trust
three self and flat things that you look at it
now and say, if we can correct these self inflicted things,
we can win on the road. I think as disappointing
and heartbreaking as it was to win that game, I
(08:09):
think you leave thinking, obviously have to take care of
game six. Nobody looks past game six, but I think
there was a feeling, was there not George, that if
there is a scenario where you have a gauge seven,
we can win there. We feel like we now know
what it's going to take value of every possession, which
we've heard since the start of the season. But I
think all of that sunk in and at least maybe
(08:30):
there's a somewhat quiet confidence that if we go to
a game seven, we might be able to pull that up.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah. I mean, let's be honest. You don't want to
be on this end of a three two deficit, like
you don't want to go into the game six, knowing well, hell,
we have to win this or our season's over. You
don't want that scenario. There was definitely a feeling in
the locker room of and I think Josh Robbins actually
had a story today in the Athletic or last night
(08:58):
that but yeah, we let that one slip away, and
we just hope that we can overcome it and get
another opportunity, uh in game seven. And let's be honest,
like anything can happen in a game seven. Anything can happen.
It's a it's a it's a winner take all. Obviously
you would like to have home court. We don't have
home court. There are lots of things no matter how
(09:20):
this plays out for the Magic, there are gonna be
a lot of great lessons that they can take moving forward.
Paolo Franz, Jalen Cole, all of these guys, Wendell, all
of these guys that are young. This is their first
taste of it. Even going back to how they can
(09:42):
look at the regular season that leads up to the playoffs.
You know, hey, we win one more game or two
more games, we have home court, and we are going
to be in the situation we can hold serve and
and and and know that you know, the home court
isn't our advantage. So there's there's just lots of different
elements to this, but yeah, I think there's definitely we
(10:04):
knew going into the series that Game one in their
place was going to be tough, only because our guys
have not been in it before. That you can say
all that you want about how to prepare for the playoffs,
and there's nothing that can replicate actually being there. I
look back to when we were in nine, when we
were in the finals, and I could tell the minute
(10:27):
the lights went on that we were going to get
dump trucked in that first game, only because that whole
team had been through all of that before and our
guys had not. And it just is a completely different animal.
So you take it down to a lesser degree. Yeah,
Game one was gonna be hard for us because you
can't tell somebody. You can't tell Palelo, hey, listen, like
(10:48):
this is how the crowd's going to be, and you
can't tell Franz, well, this is how the referees are
going to call the game. They have to experience this
stuff first. And now that we've gotten that taste, and
now that we know what that looks like, yeah, I
think if we can somehow, like let's just say two.
Game six is no guarantee on Friday night. Absolutely, all
you know Cleveland is this is these are two really
(11:11):
evenly matched teams that are going at it, that are
exchanging blows, and uh, listen, let's hope. Let's hope we
have the same result. I hope nobody, just every nobody
thinks that just because we're at home now for Game six,
that well, that's an automatic dub and we're going back.
That is not the way this is because Cleveland is
feeling the same way. Well, now, we've been to Orlando
twice in the playoffs, and we know how that crowd's like.
(11:32):
We have to take it up another level. Every time
you get out there, you have to continue to take
it to a different level. So let's hope we can
win game six and then yeah, I'll take a toss
up in Game seven. Let's just see how that thing
plays out. We're just as good as they are, so
let's let's just see how it plays out.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
And it's gonna be an electric atmosphere we knew would
be for games three and four, and you're gonna have
some VIPs right we go with Sharon Lewis is going
to be in the house here tonight, which is gonna
be awesome. We've got some other people say and courts
out see playing Roscharot.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
I asked him. I asked him if he wants to
give us like ten minutes.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
He said, depending on what happens with Gary Harris, we
might need it.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
So we don't know.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Questionable for Gary Harris, questionable for Jiaron Allen. We don't
know where they're going to go. So there's some things
that are up in the air. If Gary doesn't play,
where will they go as far as starting? But I
think at the end of the day, so now you
can't replicate postseason and the pressure and all that. You
can't replicate how you're going to feel in an elimination game.
And now you're going to have that experience going to
theation game, and potentially if you win that you're going
(12:37):
to have the experience of a game seven. I mean,
you could have two huge things that you could check
off the list going into this thing. Jacob, I want
to get to you here in just seconds. I want
to get your thoughts on how we talked about it
our Magic drivetime. We want to get your thoughts on
how do we get Pollo and Franz going in the
same game. We've had a multiple time fisting, right, I
think you're about what fifteen and four something like that
(12:59):
where they both get in a game during the regular season. Right,
You've had a lot of success when they've both done
that in the same game in the regular season. We
got to get him going on the same page. But
we'll get both of your thoughts on this, George. I've
seen every playoff game since nineteen ninety eight with the
Orlando Magic, and you go back than that, and I
didn't see the Shack playoff performances. But Pollow in Game
five is right there as far as any Magic playoff performance.
(13:23):
Fronz Bogner was up there in Game four here in Orlando,
and Polo bay Carroll was equally as special in any
playoff performance that I've seen, with those thirty nine points
keeping us in that game.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
In Game five in Cleveland, Hey, yeah, he was. You
could tell. I don't know, I felt like you could
tell right after the first three he hit that first
three in the corner, and you know, I'm sitting there
by myself at center court with the Cleveland stats crew
and fans next to me on the left, and I
just went, oh, boy, like here we go, Like he
(13:53):
can tell right away, good as I Yeah, you can
tell right away when that guy has it going and
has a differ front. Look, you knew he was going
to do something special. Does he want the Does he
want a couple of those last possessions back?
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Probably?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Probably? But you know, now going back and looking at
the uh, the last two which, by the way, can
we can we talk about that for a second too?
Can we can we just eliminate the NBA last two
minute report because all it does is piss people off.
You you thought there was a foul on the play
where he had that awkward you know, he went up
for a pull up jumper and it looked awkward. Then
(14:30):
now all of a sudden he had to switch to
the left, and you're kind of like, well, that's weird.
Why is he shooting a left hand jumper with a
minute to go down to Well, it's because he got foul,
and so you know, it's so frustrated, so frustrating to
see that, and you know, did he want the last
couple of possessions back?
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Probably?
Speaker 3 (14:47):
So? But I have no problem with Paolo pulling up
and take the guy was feeling it. He had sixteen
points in the fourth quarter alone. He put us on
his back. He he was an absolute menace out there
in absolute menace and they had no answer for him.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Well, you talked about this on drive time too, because
you know, also if you're gonna get rid of that
narrative in the last two minute report, let's get rid
of the narrative that we should have called a time out.
That's what we've done all year is Joe Gallen guy
gets the rebound and go and it was Fraud's just
made the basket to play before that to tie the game.
So you have no problem with frauds or Paulo figuring
(15:25):
it out in the last playing the game.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
And I think it speaks to what George was talking about,
like we have to go through all of these things right,
like like Paulo is going to is going to execute
better in those those absolute clutch moments moving forward because
of the failures that we saw the other night. And
again like if you want to go through a nitpick
and question his shot selection, like then you get out
(15:48):
that I have no time for you. The guy had
thirty nine points. He would he he's I was just
looking at numbers. I mean, he's being asked to do
so much right now, and that's something that we need
to see tomorrow night, is somebody's got a little bit
of the burden off of him as far as creation
and just you know, facilitating the offense goes. He you know,
his usage percentages up over thirty. He's doing Luca things.
(16:11):
The ball is in his hands so much, and obviously
you know he's option A, B and C when he's
got it going like he did on Tuesday night. But
you know, all of these things, it's experienced. You know, nobody,
nobody pounces on every opportunity they're given immediately on their
way to the NBA Finals and an NBA Finals MVP.
So a little proper perspective I think is in order.
(16:34):
And I two out of the last three games, he's
put on performances that rank above, you know, ranked right
up there with all.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
The best postseason performances we've ever seen in the guys
in the year two.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Well, here's what what well go ahead to do?
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I think the other the other thing I was gonna
say real quick though, is and people can criticize Franz
also for attacking the ren and doing what he did.
If you look to possessions before that or the possession
before that, he did the same exact thing scored. You
have to also get like, you know what, there's five
guys on the other side of the floor team that
are playing just as hard and can make place too.
(17:08):
Mobili made a great play, Evan Mobley made a tremendous block,
and that's what he's out there to do. So, Yeah,
crap happens sometimes, right guys. I mean it's not if
we could just roll it out, Yeah, we'd be eighty
two and zero and we'd have twenty eight rings. Like
just there are things that happen on the other side
of the floor too. You can dissect it and nitpick
(17:29):
all you want. Like Jake said, it was a great
basketball game. Somebody was going to have to lose. Unfortunately
it was the Magic and let's just see if we
can bounce back for game six.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
To me, the game was lost on those offensive rebounds
because those are self inflicted wounds that you could correct.
You can correct. It's not the two minute report, it's
not the block by Evan Mobley. You played unbelievable defense
and they got a long rebound. Weis it ended up
in a Marcus Morris three, and once in a Max
Strew's three. You eliminate those three, you win and going away,
And so I think it's remarkable what you've done to
(18:01):
put yourself in that position. So now you value you
understand the value of every single possession. And I think, guys,
what we have to figure out is, you knew Donovan
Mitchell and Darius Garland, We've got to come out firing.
There was so much pressure up there on them. You know,
Darius Garland said, I haven't played well yet in this series.
I got to take more shots. He did seventeen points
in the first quart and that doesn't mean we'd have
to oblige him to let him get seventeen. We have
(18:22):
to do have to do a little bit better job defensively.
And you knew Donovan Mitchell, but he was it did
not have an efficient games. He was a team worst
minus eleven in that basketball game. It was nine of
twenty three from the floor with four turnovers. He's capable
of having a big night. The one three that he
hit all game was huge, and he went to the
free throw wide, not hit nine out of ten free
throws all the fourth quart, didn't attempt to free throw
(18:44):
till the fourth quart, so you got to clean out.
There's some bad foules down the stretch too that you
got to clean up. So there's all those things that
you have to figure out. But whereas they got Garland
and Mitchell to play well together, we have not yet
in the postseason been able to get Frauds and Pollow
on the same page together in the same game. They've
both had monster performances on their own, but it seems
(19:05):
to me like Cleveland is content. Okay, if one guy's
got to go, we're just gonna load up on the
other guy. And to me, is that not where guy's
gotta make shots. You got to have other guys have
got to step up, especially in Cleveland. You know, Jalen
Suggs is one for fifteen from three in Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Coley, that's probably not gonna get it done.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
It's not gonna get done. Cole Anthony's made one field
goal in Cleveland, like guys that have been your scorers
all season long. We need that in Cleveland, but we
also need it tomorrow night for Game six. Does that
not help. Got to get those guys going. If someone
can step up and take some of the pressure off
and knockdown shots, I think that's the big key because
you think about franz big performance in Game four and
(19:43):
obviously the thirty seven to ten the third quarter was
was just an avalanche. But he got to the free
throw line. He was six to seven, I believe if
I recall in that game and he was knocking, I
think he made two out of three three point attempts,
which for Franz, it's been a very very rocky Pender
shooting season.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Like all year, it's it just hasn't really clicked. We
know he's better than that. He's he's gonna bounce back
next season for sure, and maybe he'll bounce back tomorrow
night as far as shooting from the perimeter goes.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
But that's to me what Cleveland's doing right.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
They're packing the paint when they do have Allen and there,
they've got two guys who can protect the rim just
about as well as anybody. Mobile proved in Game five
he's good enough to handle. I don't know if he
could do it for eighty two games, it'd be be
the be the five and bang like that. But he
is a pretty special defender, and they've got some size
elsewhere as well. So you know, we've got these two
(20:33):
six ' ten supersize wings who are at their best
when they're attacking the basket and creating inside out action
for their teammates. And with Polo, he's at his best,
but he's doing what he's doing the other night, which
is just raising up and knocking down long twos and
threes over whatever defender you want to trot out there
at him. The guy's a corps was clued to his
hip all night and it didn't at or It's just.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
I know he already.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
I know he already discussed that.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
That's the key. I was sitting next to Dennis Scott,
and Dennis Scott was like in Awe of Pollo. He goes,
he goes, that's what big dogs do. He goes. You're
watching a guy do what big dogs do. He goes.
When he's got Moldy, he goes around him, he gets
by him, when he's got Okoro, when he's got LeVert,
he just goes over the top of him. He said,
he's not even seeing whoever's in front of him, and
that we know regardless of all this series goes. Guys,
(21:19):
we know what, We've got a dude and a dude
that's not gonna shy away from the pressure of the postseason.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
I like so Q called him a dude with Game
one of his NBA career, too, you and then you
got three D calling him a big dog the other night.
I don't know what I like better. He is a dude,
but he's cool. He's a big dog the other night. Uh,
and he was barking, No, we need to space the floor.
We need to loosen the defense a little bit. And that,
to me is the way that you get Pollow and
Franz kind of clicking together. It's their teammates need to
(21:46):
help him out and knock down some shots from the perimeter.
It'd be great if we could do it early. And
that going back to the polo performance. You know after
the first three Georgia, I think you said like you
sort of could see it in his eye, or it's
because he started over four zero for five.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
It's just about every game I'm gonna gate with its
zer right right, and so if he starts out hitting
from the perimeter, you know they're gonna have to close
out on him and then he can do basically whatever
he wants.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Getting Franz going would be excellent, but that takes just
about everybody else. I think fro you know, when we
get out in transition, when we're forcing turnovers, offensive rebounds,
all of those things that we need to do as
a team to manufacture more possessions and to kind of
make up for the fact that we're not the best
shooting team, uh in the world. Is Yeah, I think
that's where Franz ends up benefiting. So it's on Wendell,
(22:32):
it's on Mark Hell when he's in the game moving
without the basketball. We just gotta facilitate the half court
offense a little bit better and and Franz typically is
the is the benefit of the benefactor.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
After all that happens, I think they're gonna have I
think we're gonna have similar success in the same game
you're going into Game six, because I think they I
think they know that. But guys, I think whereas we
feel some confidence having gone into Cleveland because we know
what to expect after games one and two, I think
they're gonna have the same thing coming down here. They
now know what to expect with our crowd how energized
we are. I think there's things that they know they
(23:02):
can clean up, and I think our role players thrive
in this environment feeding off the crowd. I think they
know that. I think they'll be more in tune to
the likes of the Mobogners and Jonathan Isaacs and Cole
Anthony's And not to say those guys won't have big games,
but I think they're going to be more of a
focal point than they were going in, maybe going into
two games three and four. But I think one thing
(23:24):
that jumps off the page, I think you've been down.
It might be Game four might be the only game
in this series where you weren't down double figures in
the first quarter. Yeah, Game five was the only game
you scored first, Wendell will Adelayan is the only time
you've you've had the first basket of the game. If
you could, if you could summon any kind of a
(23:45):
decent start here in game six, I think it would
be critical. And I think that doesn't mean you'll win
the game if you get up by ten in the
first quarter, but man, you give yourself a shot, because
every single game in this series, from quarter to on,
you've seem to figure something out or settled that out.
Can you not get down by ten in the first
quarter here tomorrow night, I think would be huge.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Well, I think Jamal addressed that to post game in
game five, he has added multiple times he was like, well,
we could not be down ten after one like to
constantly have to dig out of a hole, like it's hard.
It makes it hard on yourself. So yeah, I would
like to see what happens if we can somehow punch
them in the mouth. First. You know, we've been smacked
(24:25):
each game five games. You know, even in game four
when you're saying we're we weren't down ten? Were sorry?
Speaker 1 (24:31):
I think we're down tech. Yeah, I'm looking it up now.
So we were. So in every single game in this series,
you've been down double digits in the first quarter.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
It does make it tough to dig out of a hole.
Constantly dig out of a hole, dig out of a hole. Now,
that's been a strength of the magic all season with that,
when that second unit comes in, they had the ability
to either you know, bring us back into a ballgame
or extend a lead. I mean that that's the big
reason for our success. So it would be nice to
(24:59):
see how you know how it looks on the other foot,
if we were somehow able to you know, they haven't
had to do that yet. They haven't had to climb
out of a hole. And every time they've been in
a hole, the hole just guy has gotten deeper. So
it would be nice to see what would happen if
we can open the game with a twelve four run
on on Friday night, or or or you're hopefully a
(25:19):
game seven, like, let's see how they react if if,
if we can punch them in the mouth first.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
The way, I've been thinking about this so much in
this series that I that I haven't stenciled into my break.
We were twenty seven and eleven in the regular season.
What we scored first, forty seven and eleven in the
regular season. When we scored, it's the it's the dubbest
that obviously scored. But I you should have. I almost
stopped the broadcast the other day when Windell's fucking Game five.
It was it was it was a monumental moment. No,
(25:47):
And it's it's a little confusing too, because when you
look at like the net rating numbers and all that stuff,
it's not like the starters are getting blown out you know,
like when over the course of the game the starters
minutes aren't killing you, obviously, like Paulo's carried us for
much of the series. He's been fantastic. The turnovers are
a little bit of an issue. Franz had his game.
(26:08):
You know, Jalen's had big games, knocking down threes at times,
and we know what he's.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Doing on the defensive end.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
So it's just a matter of, like the first six
minutes of executing and I'll go back to Game five.
I mean, I thought, you go back and clean up
some things, making a few more free throws than turnovers.
You know, there's obviously just I thought Therrys Garland's seventeen
point first quarter was the difference in that game. I mean,
he was just ripping us off the dribble and I'm
going this, this isn't magic basketball like and if he
(26:35):
wasn't scoring himself, then both he and Mitchell were getting
into the lane and creating and dumping off to MOBILEI
And that happened, you know, all much of the night.
But when you when you you know, Garland came into
that game completely confidence, completely shot. You have to think, right,
like I haven't said on the broadcast. I don't know
if he's been listening to sports talk radio, but this
guy very clearly has a point to prove, because you know,
(26:57):
there's so many questions, you know, in Cleveland, and it's
the fans and not the actual people that matter.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
That sounded a little bit harsh, but you know.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Everybody's questioning whether or not those guys can play together.
And I think those guys are good enough, and they
went out there and kind of tried to prove a point.
Dari Scarlan's a really good player, but we had done
a great job with him up to that point, and
all of a sudden he came out and just kind
of ripped us. So I don't think it's a mentality thing.
I think it's just an execution type of thing. But
for whatever reason, like we've got to ride that wave
(27:27):
tomorrow night. And yeah, like I don't want to be
greedy a six point first quarter lead, I'll tak fine
about a couple buckets.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Well, and I think listen, I saw you could see
Gary Harris weak the hamstring earlier. Yeah, and I think
that I think that led to Darius Garland having the
game that he had. Gary tried to got it out
and tried to play, and then he had to come
out there in that first quarter and then came back
in the second half, tried to finish the game and
just couldn't. So you hope Gary's able to go here
tomorrow for Game six, But even if he does, is
(27:58):
that thing one hundred percent right? You just have no idea.
It's the same with Jared Allen. You don't know if
he's even if he's able to go and play for Cleveland.
He's short, right, You got a rip contusion that he
could be limited in some way. So you have to
figure something out for Garland because if you don't have
Gary Harris and if they do have Jared Allen, you
have a decision to make it if your replacement for
(28:18):
Gary is going to be a big because you've got
to contend with with Jared Allen, or if you're going
to go small. So you kind of got some decision.
Martill Foltz has put himself in a great position that
he could be the guy to step in. He's had
a great postseason, guys, you know, for a guy that
struggled at times, and he'll be the first one to
tell you, you know, just trying to find a rhythm. He's
done it here in the postseason and really the last
week of the regular season. He looks very comfortable out there.
(28:40):
And if that's a guy that you turn to that's
going to have to play bigger minutes, they're going to
have to start. I think he's ready and I think
he'd be ready for that challenge. You could go big
with Jonathan Isaac. I mean you could. You could go
Anthony Black could be a guy that gets postseason experience.
I think we don't know what that's going to be,
and hopefully Gary's able to play. But you've got options.
If you're Jamal Moseley and this this Cabs team, you
(29:00):
know you've won the battle of the bench in all
five games. You know they got a huge lift from
Marcus Morrison that helped him win the game. They're not
as deep as you. The Magic havev options and you
but you do have to figure that out if you
don't have Gary.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see if if Gary is
limited or can't play at all in Game six, which
way you go? You beat me to the punch. I
was gonna say Markel Fult is a really big X
factor for US. I thought he was excellent, excellent. I
was kind of surprised you didn't play more. But he's
given you everything. He's he's had these first five games
(29:34):
and you're You're right, Dante, Like even the last few
games of the regular season, it's something flipped for him.
And I'm not really sure what it was, and I'm
not really sure why why it took so long, but
it's definitely there. He's he was really steady, he was
a great facilitator. I thought he played great defense too
when he was in there against Garland and Mitchell. So yeah,
(29:56):
it'll be interesting to see what happens, uh, come Friday night.
I'm really looking for forward to it again. No matter,
no matter how this ends up playing out, this has
been a really really good, good, absolutely couple of weeks
here for the magic, both in the short term and
in the long term.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
And real quick, just think about where we were.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
No but go ahead, Jack, I was just gonna say
just about Game eighty two that Milwaukee, get how close
we were to a play in right and and so
you win that game, and now we talk about all
the experience that we're getting right now. You were this
close to you know, a one and done, but or
you know, a two and done potentially, And so I
I think you got to think about the building blocks
(30:35):
and how important all these experiences have been, and how
and how close it is, how easily it could have
gone the other way if you didn't deliver in the
clutch of like tomorrow night. Like yeah, it's a it's
an elimination game. We haven't dealt with that, but we've
dealt with the high stakes game in our buildings certainly.
So I don't think they'll be scared of the moment
for sure.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
And I know, sorry, go ahead, Well.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Two things real quick. I think I got I don't
know about you guys, but I've got in the back
of my head just because we've seen it so many times.
We're doing such a good job on Donovan Mitchell. But
doesn't he have to have like a forty six point
game where he's twenty. Yeah, that's what I'm seeing that,
But maybe not, maybe not. Maybe they've done such a
good job. I just he's such a good player, and he's.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
A minus ten net rating. He is a minus ten.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
But it was like crazy, that's in there somewhere, and
you can survive even if he does. You just have
to eliminate everybody else. But it feels like a big
game is coming, but maybe not. They've done give them credit,
they've done such a great defensive job on Donovan Mitchell.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
He's an all world player. Guys like, yeah, it scares me.
Every time that guy touches the ball. It scares me.
It's terrifying because I think he can go off. Listen,
he can do what Paalo did at any minute, any
mean nothing. We had talked at dinner the other night, like,
nothing will surprise me tomorrow night in Game six. It
(31:52):
wouldn't surprise me if we blow them out. It wouldn't
surprise me. If the Cavs blew us out. It wouldn't
surprise me if it goes down to the buzzer. Like
these two teams are just so evenly matched with stars
on both sides, like that, this is what the playoffs
are all about. Like this, this is this is it?
Like this is this is what the playoffs are. This
is what they bring to you. Uh, it's it's it's awesome,
(32:14):
Like it's just awesome. But can we before we get
off here, I don't know if we're we're close to
donn can we talk about the just the key. I
know the players have talked about it, and Coach Mosley's
talked about it. The fans at Kia Center have been unbelievable,
unbelievable those two games, you know, and we and we
were all both around for the old building and I
(32:35):
and I have a special place in my heart for
they the old building, which which was was louder. It
was a louder building, just the aesthetics of it, the
fans being right on top of the court. I didn't
think the Key of Center was capable of being as
loud as it's been. I really didn't. I just thought
it was correct. The just just everything, the way the
(32:56):
fans are separated from those two games. Games three and
four were easily the loudest I had heard it in
that building, yes, since since since we cut the ribbon,
and it was unbelievable. And I know they're going to
do the same on Friday night and I can't wait
to be in there for it. It's just been awesome
(33:18):
to see the players are all feeding off of it,
you know, they there may be people out there that
think it's just that it's just media speak and whatever else. No,
like when the lights are off and the cameras are off.
I've had multiple guys come up to me and say,
Holy cow, I didn't know this place could be like this,
And it's definitely given them some juice and they are
(33:41):
pumped and I can't wait to see what we bring
to the table on Friday night. From a fans perspective, well,
you went through that.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
That was going to be the last thing I was
going to say was what how great the fans have
been and how fun this is for them? Thirteen of you,
since you won a home playoff game, should at least
check that box, right, So you've done that. You've brought
some success back. We know how this city rallies, and
we've seen how they've rallied the last couple of years, right,
even when you've struggled and haven't been a playoff team,
We've seen a change in the crowd in their excitement
(34:10):
level and understanding what's brewing here in Central Florida. So
that was a part of it. But what I think
is also fun for fans, guys, is the rulers. I mean,
how much fun is this? We know you know, right,
the latest name is Paul George. We're smart enough to
know this front office doesn't leak anything, right, So any
any player that's going to be rulored to the Orlando
(34:31):
Magic is just somebody throwing a name out there, right,
So we know that we were smart enough to know that.
But the fun thing about when you're competitive and you're
a playoff team is guys are linked to you. And
I think what's fun is whether there's any validity to
it or not. I think what a lot of Magic
fans are having fun with now is one, we're playing
basketball games in May, and two very quickly, if not
(34:54):
already now, this is a free agent destination. And I
think you're going to start seeing national people by the
lake try to connect dots because we all know we
have to add a piece or two to to be
a title contender. And I think that part is fun
for fans. You're you're now back in that conversation, which.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
Is yeah, even if it's an agent that that that's
throwing it out there and creating it out of thin air.
If you're not relevant, chance it doesn't work, you kick
me up bargaining champ right right right.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
These if they are to teams that are winning twenty
two games exactly late to teams that you feel might
be your tool. Way, that's what makes the conversation fun.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Yeah, there's not a whole bunch of oh yeah, he's
interested in Phoenix or Detroit.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Uh. You know, like that's typically not not being thrown
out there.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
It is.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
It's fun and like you know, I think I cautioned fans, like,
let's not think about the offseason just yet.
Speaker 4 (35:47):
Let's let's focus in on Game six and seven.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
But the bottom line is like that, you know, that
sort of news cycle is NonStop and and when you're relevant,
I mean not jess, are we talking about, you know,
having money that you could spend and being a championship
contending team. The crowd matters, like that stuff matters, like
(36:11):
guys want to come to a place that sort of energized.
And yeah, it feels good to be in those conversations
again period. But I think if you're a prospective free agent,
you're looking and say, they've got they've got they've got something.
There's something brewing there.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
We thought we had Dwight, and for free agents very
quickly realized I want to be a part of that.
And I think that's back. I think people are realizing, hey,
if they if they determine they need somebody, maybe I
could be a piece. And I think you're going to
start seeing some some names, which would be fun conversation.
I don't think it's any secret. I disliked the Miami
Heat with the passion of a thousand suns, so I
(36:43):
think to see them to get eliminated last night, I
have no problem with that. Right, did any of you
guys have any you know?
Speaker 3 (36:50):
I mean, I knew you guys didn't need it on
the thread? Are we rooting for the.
Speaker 1 (36:54):
I look back on the thread, you know, I never
we did it said yes.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
We knew that that you knew that wasn't the case.
Also to like, did you guys like like I know
everybody was always kind of talks about when opposing fans
in the past have come in here and like quote
unquote taking our building over, you know, And did you
like did you like what happened in Philadelphia the other day?
And I mean, listen, if it can happen there, then
(37:19):
it can probably happen anywhere.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
And it is exactly right it could happen. Well, I
think that's horrible to me. That's more of a testament
to Knicks fan and that has about a great fan base.
As annoying as they are, and as much as we
don't like them filling up our building, they did it
in Philly during a playoff game, and Philly fan is
an unbelievable fan nick for as if notxious as Knicks
fans are, they're great fans, they're great fans. And if
(37:41):
that can happen there in Philadelphia, it can happen anywhere.
That That is about as fun a series as three.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
I can tell you where it's not gonna happen. It's
not gonna happen in the Key of Center on Friday night.
That is going to be electric, and I cannot wait.
I cannot wait for twenty four hours from now you
rode out when that building gets turned up.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
And if you don't have a ticket, you could still
come down and you can watch it. You could be
a part of FanFest which starts at five, and you
go to Rolantamagic dot com slash Playoffs and you can
get a free ticket and you can watch the game
on the big screen TV on Church Street right outside
Kia Center and hopefully celebrate with all Magic fans as
they leave for Game six. You don't have a Game
seven if you don't win Game.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
Six, that's gotta get Game six.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Boys, gotta get Game six. That's what it's all about.
And this has been fun for us. I don't want
to say I forgot what the playoffs were like, but
this has been a lot of fun to come back
in this energy and you fans are going to make
the difference, hopefully tomorrow in Game six. That'll do it
for this installment of Magic Pod Squad. We'll have one more, regardless,
we'll have one at the end of the season, or
we'll have one to preview the Magic and Celtics. We'll see,
(38:40):
but we'll talk too soon, hopefully on Magic Pod Squad.
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