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JJZFL

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Posts posted by JJZFL

  1. Posted · Report reply

    13 minutes ago, All Eyes On Me said:

    Looks like we get the Scott Foster crew tonight. Get ready to be frustrated 

    I'm already frustrated with the projected starting lineup that CT posted above.  It hasn't worked for 2 games.  It probably won't work this time either.

    People focus on the 5 and whether Isaac should start in that lineup, which he hadn't done all season.  I think it's a fair question, although I'm not sure of the answer.  To me the bigger issue is that neither Suggs nor Harris is even close to a point guard.  We've seen repeatedly against better teams that having no point guard out there is not a recipe for success.

  2. Posted · Report reply

    5 hours ago, TrueMagicFan07 said:

     

    I agree with you, All Eyes. So, what I am about to say, if you disagree, just say why instead of giving me downvotes. This is not directed at you, All Eyes.

    I'm looking at the highlights of Fultz performance in 2022 - 2023 which was a season ago. In the 2022-2023 season, he was ready to go and playing loose after rehabing from injuries. I'm looking at the highlights then and the way Fultz is playing now.

    He did'nt start the 2023-2024 season because I think he had a relapse (injury wise) before the season  started.

    So, AB, who was drafted began the 2023-2024 season as the starting point guard. Being a rookie you could tell that he wasn't nba ready to take over that role. So, as the season progressed, the coach allowed Franz and Banchero to be the primary ball handlers. Cole was the backup point guard playing with the secondary unit coming off the bench.

    More than halfway through the regular season, when Fultz was injury free, Mosley continued to let Franz and Paolo be the primary ball handlers. Fultz was not allowed to get his starting role back.

    If you look at the highlights from a year ago, and I know there are snipets, look at the spacing of the floor. When Fultz was crashing the board, you did not see Franz or Paolo clogging up the paint.

    Now, I don't think that Fulz has lost his confidence. it's because he knows that Franz and Paolo were allowed to be the primary ball handlers for the latter half of the regular season and the first 2 games of the playoffs. So, in Fultz mind, he was not a part of that game plan. He, along with other teammates, stood around and/or in the corner watching.

    I think it was/is a problem with the coaching and lack of game planning--just letting the team play loose (backyard).

    That's just my opinion. So, go ahead and give me downvotes if that's your pleasure.

     

    Fultz just won’t or can’t shoot effectively.  That is unfortunately too much of a liability.   I agree with you that this business of having Franz/Paulo be the primary playmakers is very flawed, as I’ve posted many times. Unfortunately, we don’t have the personnel to really fix it, which should not have been the case, but the opportunity to improve in this area was passed on.  
     

    So I see the same problems you mention in your next post.  Fultz gives us nothing on offense, and Cole Anthony has been ineffective.  So with no real point guard you give the ball to Franz or Paulo and let them do their slow iso thing which also mostly doesn’t work in terms of making the team effective on offense.  
     

    Kind of depressing.  

  3. Posted · Report reply

    6 minutes ago, Sumike4ya said:

    Yep. Watch how many times we pass the ball around the key and find a cutter or make an extra pass that leads to a made shot. It’s very rare, most of the time is drive and get doubled and either TO or pass it out to someone else who drives and gets doubled and then maybe we pass it to a shooter who then bricks and we give up a fast break 3.

    Been posting about lack of ball movement for what feels like a very long time.  100% agree.  

  6. Posted · Report reply

    1 hour ago, All Eyes On Me said:

    The advanced stats of the missed open 3s are mind blowing. We shot like 4 for 30 or something like that when a 3 was attempted with the closest defender 4+ feet away. We need to make shots and force Cleveland to defend outside the paint or else we’re gonna be stuck with iso ball in the half court, I fear.

    You’re right.  

  8. Posted · Report reply

    3 hours ago, CTMagicUK said:

    I believe game 1 was literally the worst half court offensive performance the Magic have had all season. Surely we'll get some regression to the mean tonight? Just average shooting from Harris, Suggs, Cole etc and we give ourselves a chance. 

    If we can continue to play the same level of defense and improve offensively;  our defense in game 1 was outstanding.  Could be some reversion to the mean there also, as Cleveland went something like 8-30 from 3.  I hope that’s not the case.  
     

    That’s why they play the games, I guess.  

  10. Posted · Report reply

    37 minutes ago, All Eyes On Me said:

    From what I’m seeing we were 8-9 in the first quarter. Were 9-10 at one point then Ingles missed the technical free throw we got from the Niang BS and it was all downhill from there.

    You’re right. I was thinking more about the entire first half rather than the first quarter; mistake on my part.  Banchero went two for four in the first half.  

  11. Posted · Report reply

    11 minutes ago, All Eyes On Me said:

    What’s worse with the free throw shooting is we started 11-12 I think, and in the second half when we were trying to come back is when the bricks started. Hit 8-18 to end the game if my math is right. It was especially noticeable in the 3rd when we cut it to 4 and then Paolo, Franz and Jalen bricked like 5 freebies in a row.

    We missed four in the first quarter.  Paulo missed two of those.  

  13. Posted · Report reply

    2 hours ago, Soul Bro said:

    Anyone else notice how hesitant a lot of our guys are to shoot the three when they’re wide open? They do this odd pump fake, which allows the defender to close on them, and then they try and pass it. It drives me crazy. 

    Yep.  They’re thinking too hard about every shot they take; well, except for Cole Anthony :)

  16. Posted · Report reply

    2 hours ago, All Eyes On Me said:

    The guards have killed us tonight. Combined 3-29. Harris, Fultz, Cole combined 0-16. We can’t win like that.

    Only 11 turnovers, Paolo has freakin 8 of em lol

    As others have said repeatedly, guard play was the difference today.  We need a quick point guard to help break down the defense, and some better more consistent three point shooting.  With either one I think we have a solid chance.  With neither it’s tough.  
     

    This was evident to most of us at the trading deadline.  

  17. Posted · Report reply

    Phenomenal game yesterday, especially after the slow start which could have demoralized them but didn’t.  Lots of credit to Mosley for getting them to play with the necessary energy and focus after the first quarter.  Definitely one of the top five high points in my long suffering fan relationship with the Magic. Felt great after watching that game.  

  19. Posted · Report reply

    Yes I agree with what everyone is saying about our exceeding expectations this season.  That being said, a potential playoff run is a terrible thing to waste.  There’s never any guarantee you get back there next year.  It’s why, if we meekly lose in the first round or don’t even make the playoffs, I’ll consider this an opportunity that was missed.  
     

    We had a good idea what we needed at the trade deadline, and didn’t do anything to improve.  

  23. Posted · Report reply

    36 minutes ago, All Eyes On Me said:

    I guess we can’t have a 100% track record lol but I do appreciate the conversation. I guess my point isn’t that everyone sucks, but more so that nobody can really pass on this team and it makes us easy to collapse on. Gary is only going to shoot if he’s wide open and he’s not going to create his own shot or set somebody up for a shot. Same with Suggs, obviously same with Wendell. It’s extremely possible that we’re letting Paolo be the main distributor in the half court as a developmental thing, kind of like hiding Jett from real competition all year. It’s not a winning strategy at all, but I think it’s what we’re stuck with for the rest of this year until roster improvements are made, so maybe I’m just trying to mentally prepare myself haha.

    JJ Redick wasn’t a great one on one player either but he got more that 3 shots per game.  My point is that we need team offense to make everyone better, not give it to Franz/Paulo and have everyone else standing around  watching. Adding more shooters to the roster won’t help if we can’t figure out ways to get them decent looks.

    I appreciate the conversation also.  We agree about 99% of the time but it probably makes for more interesting discussion when we don’t.  

    We are 7-8 point underdogs for tonight.  It’s hard to see how we win this game the way we’ve been playing lately, but stranger things have certainly happened.  

  24. Posted · Report reply

    On 4/11/2024 at 10:37 AM, All Eyes On Me said:

    Serious question tho Albert… with the current talent disparity on this team and Franz out injured, what’s the alternative if we’re hoping to compete. I agree with you that we’re more effective when we can run, but teams aren’t letting us, we’re not doing a great job forcing turnovers and we’re doing a horrible job on the defensive glass. Our half court offense has to be “let Paolo cook” because we simply don’t have guys that can create in the half court other than Paolo and Franz. Our struggles over the last couple weeks we saw coming a mile away and it’s why the vast majority of us were so upset when we didn’t do anything at the trade deadline. I’m trying not to bury us this season, but if we somehow wind up fully collapsing and missing the play-in, this season went from being an overwhelming success to a meh…

    I’m a silver linings guy most of the time, so if we wind up in the play-in and win, that’s more games! Woo! Also, recent struggles make me more confident that Weltman and Parker will actually make a move this off-season.

    This is one of your rare posts that I disagree with.  I pointed out recently how Harris, during one of our losses, despite starting and playing 30 minutes, only got 3 shots the whole game (and hit two of them, both three pointers).  Giving the ball to Paulo at the top of the key and hoping he can ISO against all five of the other team is not a winning strategy.  Great players make the other players on their teams better, not worse.  Our only chance is to play better team basketball and run plays to open players up for shots.  The idea that everyone else besides Paulo sucks and therefore he has to have the ball in his hands all the time doesn’t fly from my standpoint.  I see it as an excuse to explain bad offensive execution.  
     

    Add:  by the way, when you look at our last three losses, Paulo had the worst +\- of anyone on our team for two of the three (-19, -20).  So it’s not exactly like he’s making us way better when he’s out there.  

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  25. Posted · Report reply

    34 minutes ago, All Eyes On Me said:

    4 straight turnovers on 4 straight possessions is just so laughably inexcusable in a game like this… I’m on edge tonight y’all, I apologize 

    And even worse they were mostly unforced.  Passing to someone’s back.  Passing to where you thought there was a chance someone might be.  Dribbling into traffic.  It’s almost like we were trying to turn the ball over.  

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