Catman

Guys always say motivational things like this after wins. It means nothing without sustained effort and consistent output. It's easy to have a few big games and then regress again. That's been the biggest issue with the magic for years. The Knicks really didn't have much but Carmelo is a true stud and go to guy. He kept them within striking distance but his 28 points felt almost like 12. We get a guy like that who puts up 28 like its nothing and we are going somewhere.

Our closest thing to an All-Star is Vuc.

Yeah, for game 1 this worked. And it was against a lineup that some thought would abuse Frye. The interesting thing was that Harris played pretty solid defense against Carmelo.Melo made some really difficult shots.

Game over. Magic controlled this one about the entire time. Nice win.

Payton got mad and started balling again.

Skiles "Thats Fu** Bull** man!!". LOL.

Yeah though he is really good at controlling his body and not drawing fouls and just getting clean blocks. Helps to be that tall but he already has the feel for it.

Wow Porzingis is ruthless. I admire Oladipo going for that dunk, but that's a Sportscenter highlight.

Victor is a prototypical 6th man of the year type of player. He could definitely blow up his numbers off the bench.

I don't. The starting lineup has not really gelled together yet. Fournier is having an off night and they are still finding their spots. Yet we are still beating a pretty solid team in the Knicks. Dipo is getting some space to work next to Napier and vice versa with Payton. It's just easier to drive the line against their bench because Porz and Lopez are sitting. I don't expect any player to suddenly become a star or anything. It's just more of a balanced attack with better spacing on each unit.

Starting lineup I think has balanced the bench more. Instead of the bench bailing us out of bigger deficits, the bench can just hold a lead down or build on it a little. We may have one of the better benches in the league with this lineup. And Mario has not even gotten a look. Only negative.

No, he is just having a bad game. He has missed 3 point blank shots because he thought Porzingis was going to block him and he has not been attacking the rim as much. Honestly the Knicks have a pretty crazy front court to drive on. Evan's game is the same as it was last year. He just has starters minutes and that confidence level going. Even with all that he is not guaranteed for a great game every night.

Jason Smith is one of our best players off the bench. He shoots well and plays physical defense. I really, really like his game and I am glad we went with him over KOQ. He's a very very good shot blocker and his midrange J is about automatic. We could play him as a stretch 5 like we are doing tonight and it is very effective.

Whats up man? Looking good so far for us tonight.

No one once disagreed with that. That's the thing. We don't have a team with a 100% solid starting lineup yet. The numbers though do justify Skiles making this change to see how it goes.

Porzingis is a complete stud. I am watching him right now and the impact he makes on the defensive end is incredible. Mudiay is on a team with NO PG. Guess who was in the situation last year? We were. And guess who played a ton of minutes - a rookie named Elfrid Payton. Gordon is seeing solid minutes. Mario is going to have earn his. Happens all the time with young wing guys who can shoot. The same argument was made about JJ Reddick but he credited the time SVG made him sit and watch to why he became such a good defender.

lol..you are really hung up on being right. It's sad to read. I just posted the stats and logic of why the change was made. Not my problem that you can't accept numbers and facts. You are probably rooting against the team right now just to salvage some sort of point.

Meant to type foul call.

I'm really impressed with this Porzingis/Lopez combo. We are missing a lot of easy stuff just because of their presence around the rim.

Yeah that foul was just.... :gortat:

Awesome, are you done with this yet? Skiles clearly said this may not be permanent anyway, so your constant complaining is pointless.

And so is Channing Frye as he nails a 3. It makes sense to have energy guys come off the bench.Sparks the team in a good way. This also allows Fournier to get some rest. I bet Skiles wants his minutes at 30 or so a game.

And it appears to be working as we are winning.

Yeah because in Summer league they are playing inferior competition in front of 200 people. It's not even close to the same thing. Gordon and Mario are two of my favorite Magic players to watch, so it's not like I don't want to see them play.

Bench is a lot more balanced with Oladipo in there. He is still shooting poorly. Smith is playing like an upgrade over KOQ right now. Nicholson has really stepped it up. Only problem is that Mario has yet to log any minutes.