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MagicMan1979

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Posts posted by MagicMan1979

  1. Posted · Report reply

    5 hours ago, Jay Magic said:

    If Franz doesn't go down we win at Houston and probably the Bucks and all is well..

    but thats just my opinion 

    the whole mood of magic social media..twitter etc etc is like its the end of the world... very fickle fans... not all of course.. 

    We are making the playoffs directly without a doubt!! 

     

    I’m so glad you post so much Jay. There are so many Debbie downers it’s ridiculous. 

    • Like 1

  2. Posted · Report reply

    2 hours ago, All Eyes On Me said:

    Paolo has had a pretty bad run the past few weeks, and I think I forget all the time that he’s 21 years old at the end of his 2nd year in the league. He’s being asked to do and take on so much of our offense just due to lack of offensive talent and he needs help.
     

    Last night he played I think pretty similarly to how he did the 8 games Franz missed earlier in the season where he had to do everything because nobody else could. Difference is that when Franz was out earlier, we were missing like our entire rotation, last night it was just Franz and Paolo didn’t have to force the way he did. Also, if we keep up the ramming our head down and hoping for foul calls we’re gonna be out quick.

    Thank you for having a realistic take.  Too many people complaining about our 21 year old All Star for my taste.  He’s being asked to do way too much in my opinion.  We are seeing we need a lead guard for sure the last few games.  Even when everyone is healthy our offense is just bad.  If Franz can’t shoot anymore that furthers the point of needing a star in backcourt.  

  3. Posted · Report reply

    I’m kind of torn on D Lo. He was bad in Golden State and the moment Mike Conley replaced him in Minnesota they got better. Also he got benched in the fourth quarters of the Western Conference Finals last year.  The Ringer has had a vendetta against him for years talking about his low BB IQ. Russilo and Simmons have had many rants about fan bases talking themselves into him only to hate him after a few months. 
     

    All of that being said he can shoot!  He’s not a huge  needle mover though and I’m afraid we would overpay for him.  I’d still rather trade for Murray or someone else.  

  11. Posted · Report reply

    13 hours ago, TrueMagicFan07 said:

    Why is Franz so bad at free-throw shooting? I know you are going to say it's the whole team.

    He’s not he shoots 84.4% this year from the free throw line and is a career 84.8%. It’s the only area he beats Paolo. But Wagner’s three point shot has disappeared. 

  12. Posted · Report reply

    47 minutes ago, CTMagicUK said:

    Also Gary Trent really said to himself "these guys have 25 million in cap space in the summer, are in desperate need of shooting and I'm a free agent" going into this game. Dude was on fire. 

    I was thinking the same thing. He looked like he was auditioning.

  14. Posted · Report reply

    2 hours ago, orlandoholic said:

    We have some tough games coming up though. Saturday against the Knicks is a must win for us right now.. 

    And then we play the Pacers on a back to back on sunday. That’s a loss in my book, as we don’t match up great against the Pacers and we know that a lot of players will be on injury maintainance on sunday.. 

    Probably gonna rest Markelle, Isaac against the Knicks

    and rest Gary,  Wendell against the Pacers..

    Then we play the Nets (they are going to be motivated) 

    Then two times against the Raptors (without Barnes) on a back to back next weekend

    We play The Knick’s Friday and The Pacers who we’ve beaten every game so far Sunday.  We need those two for seeding. 

  16. Posted · Report reply

    6 hours ago, CTMagicUK said:

    I thought it was going to be one of those games after the first half but everyone locked in defensively in the second half and we got out of there with the W. Jalen, Paolo, Franz all showed up. We're always going to have a good chance when all 3 of those guys are hitting shots. AB was good too, played good defense, confident shooting, couple of nice passes. The duo of Goga and Mo gave us enough at the 5 spot between them on defense and offense respectively. Good W. 

    Cole Anthony continues to be the most frustrating player in the rotation. 12 shot attempts 0 assists. He actually made some  plays on both ends that felt big but man I'll never not groan when we enter the Cole zone (that moment where he's hit 2 shots in a row and now nobody else will get to touch the basketball for a couple possessions). 

    Thats funny I think the same way with Cole. He hit two shots and waived Paolo off for his third (which he missed).  I knew that third **** was going up no matter what. I think MJ could be out there and Cole would tell him “I got this.”

  18. Posted · Report reply

    9 hours ago, TrueMagicFan07 said:

    The Brooklyn Nets lost  101 - 86 to Minnesota last night (Saturday night). Their record is 21-35 and it looks like they may not make the playoffs.

    Can the Nets conduct a buyout of Cam Johnson so that he can become available to the Magic at a cheaper price?

     

    Edit: Cam played 22 minutes in that game and scored 10 pts. off the bench.

    No but I would keep my eye on Bridges this summer and that team in general. I just can’t figure out what they should do moving forward with non of their own draft picks.  They could be sellers this summer or try to trade their other picks from other teams  for a good player. 

  21. Posted · Report reply

    15 hours ago, ball junkie said:

    79 …the fact that you’re stating this question speaks volumes to me …time to see what the last 27 games are gonna tell us ….or maybe I misunderstood your intent ?

    I’m just making sure you know all the board members want us to win. I can’t believe Fultz is out tonight btw. 

  22. Posted · Report reply

    6 hours ago, CTMagicUK said:

    I guess my 10,000th post is thanking you for the kind words. 

    Literally didn't know such a milestone was coming up and honestly I'm wondering how much time I've spent on this board to have posted 10k times and feeling very old all of a sudden (the crazy thing is for the 10k posts there's probably another 1k posts I got half way through typing and then thought "nah this is getting too long no one will read this" or "I'm just not getting into this argument again" lol).

    On the good and bad years, I actually joined this board the summer we traded Dwight. So the good years have been slim pickings haha. I'm looking forward to them now though. 

    Thanks for all the good information you provide. Your definitely one of the best posters on here.  

    • Like 1

  23. Posted · Report reply

    3 hours ago, ball junkie said:

    The Magic (30-25) are just a half-game back of the sixth spot, which is the cutoff for the playoffs to avoid the Play-In Tournament. The Pacers (31-25), who Orlando holds the head-to-head advantage over, are sixth ahead of the Heat (30-25), Magic, Bulls (26-29) and Hawks (24-31) to cap the East’s top 10.
     

    Although Jamahl Mosley’s squad is outside the playoffs but inside the Play-In if the season were to end today, only three games separate Orlando and the fourth-seeded Knicks.

    “We [were] talking about the standings and stuff … How intense it’s going to be after the break,” Banchero said. “I’m just ready to get back on the court and chase this playoff spot.”

    What has to happen next?

    Last season, it took 45 wins to reach playoffs as the sixth seed in the East. The Nets avoided the Play-In by finishing 45-37, which is a realistic goal for the Magic.

    That requires them to go 15-12 to finish with the same record.It’s also the same record that ESPN’s Basketball Power Index projects for the Magic. The BPI gives Orlando a 58.4% to finished top 6 in the East, which is better odds than Miami (40.2%) and Indiana (36.8%).

    What does the schedule look like?

    Favorable.

    In fact, 15 of the Magic’s final 27 games are at home, including an eight-game stretch March 17-April 1 at Kia Center.

    During the first 55 games, Orlando went 18-8 at home, including a “home” loss in Mexico City the Hawks in November. After that long homestand, however, the Magic play five of their final seven games on the road. They’re 12-17 on the road at the break.

     

    What lineups do they need to use more?

    The opening night starting five of Markelle Fultz, Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner, Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. recently became the lineup of Orlando’s that’s scored the most points (608) and played the most minutes together (259).

    That’s because the group has been mostly healthy as of late and started the majority of games heading into the break, outside of the second night of two back-to-backs. Fultz missed both and Suggs missed one.

    Previously, the starting lineup of Anthony Black, Suggs, Wagner, Banchero and Goga Bitadze had played the most time together due to long stretches missed by Fultz and Carter.

    It’s important for the Magic’s opening night starting five to remain healthy, too. The group has the best offensive rating (112.4) among Orlando’s lineups that have played at least 14 games together.

    The group’s 54.7% effective field goal accuracy — a formula that adjusts for 3-pointers being worth more than 2s — also is the strongest of the most used lineups.

    How many back-to-backs remain?

    There are three sets left, including one this weekend at Detroit on Saturday and at Atlanta on Sunday.

    In addition to Fultz not being available on the second night of back-to-backs since he’s returned after missing 27 games with left knee tendinitis, Jonathan Isaac has either not played or has played limited minutes in those situations.

    Veteran Gary Harris also recently missed the second night of a back-to-back with right calf injury maintenance which puts his availability for those games at odds.

    After this weekend, the Magic have a back-to-back on the road in early March and one more late in the month.

    Orlando is 3-8 in games with no rest.

    If Orlando can finish sixth, what’s the most favorable matchup?

    They’d face the No. 3 in the first round. Based on ESPN’s projection, Orlando would battle the Knicks in a seven-game series.

    This would give the Magic a decent chance of advancing, too. Although both sides were shorthanded in the third meeting, Orlando won all three, including twice on the road.

    Avoiding Boston in the first round would be beneficial to the Magic, who lost the season-series to the Celtics.
     

    https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/02/21/orlando-magic-nba-playoffs-all-star-break-paolo-banchero-franz-wagner-jamahl-mosley/

    Thanks Jason Beede …good info …I’d say if this happens …and it sure has a chance …would be an overachieving season before the playoffs start …and all the doom and gloomers that flooded this board at the deadline will be eating some crow jajaja

    Great post and information for sure.  Could have done without your premature victory lap though Junkie lol…….We all want them to get the highest seed possible right?

  24. Posted · Report reply

    2 hours ago, ball junkie said:

    Holic …I was done with Marquelle last week …trade deadline been over for a week now …All Eyes took a post about Banchero in which I was truly stupefied by the numbers and wondered if someone could explain it and turned it back to Fultz again …I was happy at the trade deadline unlike most …like someone posted on deadline day …it was like Junkie and Jay versus everyone jajaja …hate is a strong word …traded fits better is the term most often used with Fultz and well I hope my post exhibited that our problems are much more than Fultz .

    Now …moving forward …the players we have now is what we’ll have to seasons end …how do we maximize the personnel to our best benefit and that will give us the greatest chance for post season success ?

    Everybody thought SVG and Otis Smith were idiots for not signing a true power forward back in the day …but he signed first Turk and then added Rashad …people thought what the hell ??? …He then proceeded to revolutionize basketball by playing the 4 out Dwight on the inside thing …was thing of beauty we almost won a Ship .

    As a team we suck shooting 3’s but individually we have guys that can shoot it …WCJ at 40 …Suggs at 38 …Banchero at 37 and I’m pretty sure you saw that shooting exhibition he put on against the Knicks …point being he can shoot …the mystifying one is Franz at 32 but you look at his form it’s a thing of beauty .

    If Fultz is our only true PG what is the best way in your opinion to maximize our potential ? You mention above about the root cause of our problem being our studs struggling with playmaking …why can’t we let Fultz run the show since he’s very adept at not turning it over and play some sort of 4 out with Fultz making decisions and running things ? Isolate some pick and roll with him and someone else on one side of the floor ? 
     

    Point being we do have shooters they just need to be more consistent …Fultz is what he is ….cause I read the data suggests if we are jacking up loads of threes that’s not shown to be a route of success for us so far.

    Anywho …what do you think ? What would you do ? Our coaching staff should be on it right now coming up with new and different schemes because our offensive efficiency is not good .

    Edit: Shooting wise Trae fits but him being ball dominant does not fit …you know I like Monk he’s a UK kid duh lol 

    Turk was already here and we lucked into that lineup.  Lewis was supposed to be our SF but Battie got hurt and it all worked out.  

     

    Paolo in his last ten games is averaging 25 Pts 6 Rebs 7 Assist with only 2.3 Turnovers. He also is shooting 52% from the field and 43% on threes. 
     

    Franz in his last ten games is averaging 23 Pts 5 Rebs 5 Assist with only 2.1 Turnovers. He also is shooting 51% from the field and 36% on threes. 
     

    I am not worried about their play making or turnovers this year. Obviously  this year is a developmental year as we didn’t make a move for a shooter via trade.  I am not sure what the coaching staff can do with the current personal to change the offense much but we are good defensively.  I don’t think increasing Fultz usage is the way to go as it takes away from our two studs development. They both have improved with playmaking as the year as gone along as you can see. Hopefully Fultz just gets healthier and can contribute organically. 

  25. Posted · Report reply

    2 minutes ago, ball junkie said:

    I checked some numbers …we are ranked 23 out of 30 teams in to’s …our two studs lead the way …Suggs, Banchero and Franz take nearly 15 threes a game …I wish it was more because for the Magic to take a leap we need shooting …more makes …

    Regardless  of who the PG is …our offense efficiency is ranked 24 out of 30 teams …we’ve tried a myriad of different lineups and PG’s …Fultz has played only 21 out of a possible 55 games …17 games since he returned after Christmas …and only 11 games as a starter in which we are 7-4 with some very nice wins over highly ranked competition …point being it’s hard to blame our poor offensive numbers on a guy who hasn’t played much and who is still a net positive when he’s on the court .

    Does he pass up shots ? Yes …Is he hesitant ? Yes … but the jury is still out .

    Let me be clear on Markel …it is to early, which I’ve been saying like a broken record to make assumption's and decisions about him and our personnel for next season at this time …there are still 27 games left in this regular season 

    I thought all the trade talk at the deadline was ridiculous …didn’t see one substantial rumor with him specifically mentioned just writers seeing our poor shooting and trying to connect dots .

    Mohs will continue to experiment with lineups moving forward I feel certain in saying that .

    Finally I think winning and a successful season will drive management decisions in terms of personnel …I feel like I’ve bruised the moderators feelings for stating I thought they were leading the charge in scapegoating this teams issues on Marquelle Fultz …for that I want to apologize .

    Looking forward to watching the rest of the season and I’m certain management will watch keenly themselves and all will know what decisions need to be made by seasons end .

    Great post Junkie. Go Magic and enjoy Paolo at The All Star Weekend everybody!

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