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, 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 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. Those fawns of long enough, they're Orlando Magic.
This is Cole Anthony, mister Jennings Suggs, this is Paulo Man Carroll the Orlando Magic and you're listening to the Pod Squad.
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 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,
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?
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
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.
So it was nice to that would be the case.
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 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,
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 of what we've been doing the last few years.
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 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 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.
That was pretty spec tacular.
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 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.
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.
A hundred percent that he literally he said this is gonna be uh. He picked that.
Out and the the road English broadcaster me the other day, we've got the best spot like I'm more.
I'm more at mid.
Court than even Tim Elcore, the Calves radio play by play guy, now that he and Jim Jones are a little bit off center.
And then you know the Spanish broadcasters, the a whay Spanish broadcasters are behind me.
So I just kind of waltzed right in and Stacey took care of Mege you got me a cup of coffee.
I felt like I was king of the castle, king of the castle there.
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.
I'll say something real bad.
Do you think that's exclusive to Jim Shoes though, Dante, really, I mean I think it put.
Me in on it.
You can open that up to a lot of.
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.
It was.
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?
Tuesday? Tuesday night? Going the boy he came out of the wrong end of the stick.
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.
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, 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 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 there's a somewhat quiet confidence that if we go to a game seven, we might be able to pull that up.
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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. 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.
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.
I asked him. I asked him if he wants to give us like ten minutes.
He said, depending on what happens with Gary Harris, we might need it.
So we don't know.
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
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
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.
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.
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 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?
Probably?
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 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?
Probably?
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.
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 it out in the last playing the game.
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 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. 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. 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.
The best postseason performances we've ever seen in the guys in the year two.
Well, here's what what well go ahead to do?
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. 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 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.
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 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 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 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 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.
Coley, that's probably not gonna get it done.
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 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.
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.
But that's to me what Cleveland's doing right.
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 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.
I know he already.
I know he already discussed that.
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, we know what, We've got a dude and a dude that's not gonna shy away from the pressure of the postseason.
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 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.
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.
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, 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.
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 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 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 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.
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 each game five games. You know, even in game four when you're saying we're we weren't down ten? Were sorry?
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.
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 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 game seven, like, let's see how they react if if, if we can punch them in the mouth first.
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, 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.
You know, Jalen's had big games, knocking down threes at times, and we know what he's.
Doing on the defensive end.
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 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, there's so many questions, you know, in Cleveland, and it's the fans and not the actual people that matter.
That sounded a little bit harsh, but you know.
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
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.
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 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 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.
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 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.
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 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, 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.
And real quick, just think about where we were.
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 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.
And I know, sorry, go ahead, Well.
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.
A minus ten net rating. He is a minus ten.
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.
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 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, 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 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 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 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 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.
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
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 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 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.
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.
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.
Yeah, there's not a whole bunch of oh yeah, he's interested in Phoenix or Detroit.
Uh. You know, like that's typically not not being thrown out there.
It is.
It's fun and like you know, I think I cautioned fans, like, let's not think about the offseason just yet.
Let's let's focus in on Game six and seven.
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 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.
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 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?
I mean, I knew you guys didn't need it on the thread? Are we rooting for the.
I look back on the thread, you know, I never we did it said yes.
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 it can probably happen anywhere.
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 that can happen there in Philadelphia, it can happen anywhere.
That That is about as fun a series as three.
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.
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.
Six, that's gotta get Game six.
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, but we'll talk too soon, hopefully on Magic Pod Squad.