Just a regular Magic fan

Very happy with Fultz’s progress, but I was thinking more about our player for player trades.

I understand Bamba is sort of a disappointment and doesn't seem to have the motor we all have been hoping for, but I think it's too early to give up on him. He's aware of where he needs to improve, and I can see from game to game him working on it. Also, I see a lot of people saying let's trade Fournier, let's trade Vooch, Let's trade AG, etc.. However, change for change's sake isn't always the best strategy and hasn't worked out for us in the past. Remember what Hennigan did with Olidipo? The dude totally outsmarted himself. That said, I am ok with moving a guy; I like what Fultz4thewin said about Vooch for Hayward. I just ask, can we be on the winning side of the trade for once?

Last night against the Pacers I was watching both Bamba and Vooch defend the paint. Both keep their hands down which is perplexing to me. On one play Bamba bent down like a giraffe will do when it needs to drink water and had his arms out as far as they would go. I get he was trying to take away the passing lane, but all he did was give away any height advantage he has while the offensive guy just shoots over him. I am curious as to how a center is supposed to play it. Do they keep their hands mid-level so they can either reach down or extend high if they need to block a shot (right-hand shooter, block with the left hand; left-hand shooter, block with the right hand)? Or, should they keep both hands high at all times? One theory I have on why Bamba and Vooch don't put a hand up is: 1) Hand down, the player driving in the paint will shoot the floater 2) Hand up, the driver in the paint will keep the ball and go under the extended arm for a layup and possible +1 Maybe Vooch and Bamba are instructed to wait and try and block the shot after the player commits and as you said, they (Bamba especially) are slow to react. Not good for us.

I think the reason we lost was our inability to defend the pick and roll in the 4th. I give their center a lot of credit. He sets a mean screen. They were hitting their shots and we didn't have an answer for it. We aren't good enough offensively to dig ourselves out of a hole very quickly, so once they got a good lead on us it was easy for them to close out the game.

I am not sure the defensive rating along with the offensive rating do much to accurately reflect an individual player’s performance. That said, I am looking for stats that will do that. Any suggestions?

Shifting gears a little bit in an effort to get more educated.... The screen and roll is a bread and butter play for a lot of players and sometimes it can give us trouble defending it. How do you think we are doing this year defending it? Are we getting better, staying the same, or are we getting worse? To my eye, I think Fultz and MCWs ability to fight through the screen is helping us, but I wanted to hear what others think.

Not saying he's killin it, but DJ leads our team in assists. Hopefully, Fultz's numbers will increase as the players get to know each other better, and he continues to assert himself. I have wondered if we should switch the roles of MCW and DJ coming off the bench. I think the pace of MCW as a PG may create openings for DJ, and since he is the superior shooter, that might create more points. I have also wondered about switching Fournier and MCW and giving JI a more prominent role in our starting offense. I am with you when it comes to AG. I think he may breakout. However, since he is sort of a bull in a china shop when he is taking it to the rim, I would like to see him vary his pace when he is working his way into the paint as Fultz does. That might create an advantage for him and also start getting him some of those officiating calls we are always perplexed about.

With Augustine-Fournier-MCW-Chief-Birch coming off the bench in our 10 man rotation? If we drop it back down to Coach Cliff's preferred 9 man rotation, who do you think is the odd man out (short of injuries)?

Would we play him at SG? Right now he is playing SF about 80% of the time.

Not saying I wouldn't want the guy, but with AG and JI, wouldn't Bogdanovic give us a log jam at SF/PF?

No Augustine?

Lots of GMs get fooled by players in contract years. We were playing great late last year and they were hoping to keep the consistency. I am hopeful we have a way out should we need it.

I am surprised we even had a chance at the end. Our core ( AG, JI, Vooch, Augustine, Fournier, Ross, and Fultz) averaged about a 25% FG%.

I think AG is our glue guy. Do we really want to reduce his minutes from 29 to 13 per game?

I think that is good news. I like MCW's defensive tenacity. It's contagious.

:-(

At least we can say WeltHam have a plan, which is something I am not sure could be said about the previous guy. Considering the situation, I am not sure what else WeltHam could do.

Yeah, I definitely missed the point about building a team with a high floor. Among many things, it’s hard for me to envision a GM not doing everything they can to build a contender every year. It’s not that Weltman aren’t trying, it’s probably not practical and the window of opportunity they are using is bigger than what I, and many casual fans, would expect.

Good points. I can see that. We are a young team and with that comes inconsistency. Hopefully, that will steadily improve as the season wears on. I'm not trippin. Still excited about the team this year!

I thought AG had a good game. It looks like he is rounding into form.

Just watched the game. It looked to me like we just ran out of gas at the end after a back to back while Denver had a days rest. We are getting better and I love that Fultz got the start. He seems like he is still trying to find himself, but our team is making improvements when he is in the lineup. Not blaming Ross for the loss, but man his ice-cold shooting is killing us. Waiting for the day when his hands thaw out.

Was Doncic available for an extra 1st? It takes two willing trading partners. That said, unlike me, It does seem that Weltham have the patience of Job. That could be the product of our salary cap situation and/or them wanting to give guys a chance to develop. I am one of those that think a small town market team is at a disadvantage to snag a franchise player in FA, so we have to get our guys through the draft which can be tough because it sometimes does take a few years to know what we have.

I understand your frustration. In hindsight, what players should Waltham have taken instead of who we have?

Ouch! I am scratching my head, trying to figure out what happened here. After just watching it on the DVR, on the surface, it seems like a case of our bench being simply outplayed and like a maelstrom once it got going, pulled everyone down with it. It looked like a lot of standing around flatfooted and disorganization, too, but that probably is just a symptom. Right now, I am going to chalk it up to a" just one of those nights" type of games, but it's definitely something we need to keep an eye on. How we respond tonight is key.

Good point! Clifford talks about PACE all the time and I had forgotten about that. I can't wait to see how we play against the big dogs who are averaging 115+ points a game. Will their PACE win out or ours? LOL