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Justin Jaudon

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Everything posted by Justin Jaudon

  1. Justin Jaudon

    Magic @ Raptors - Monday, Oct. 28th at 7:30 P.M.

    That was the knock on him in college, from what I remember, and why I was against picking him at the time. I'm trying to give him a chance, but...
  2. Justin Jaudon

    Magic @ Raptors - Monday, Oct. 28th at 7:30 P.M.

    Also, re-signing T-Ross may have been a mistake.
  3. Justin Jaudon

    Magic @ Raptors - Monday, Oct. 28th at 7:30 P.M.

    And Mo' Bamba seriously looks like he doesn't belong on an NBA floor. Not good from a 5th pick in the draft.
  4. Justin Jaudon

    Magic @ Raptors - Monday, Oct. 28th at 7:30 P.M.

    Is it just me or is DJ considerably worse on defense this year? Like he's lost what little ability he had.
  5. Justin Jaudon

    Magic @ Raptors - Monday, Oct. 28th at 7:30 P.M.

    This offense is pitiful. Just... sad.
  6. Justin Jaudon

    2019-2020 Official Regular Season Thread

    NY is where PGs go to die.
  7. Justin Jaudon

    2019-2020 Official Regular Season Thread

    Myself, I'm looking at Fultz shooting this year similar to how I looked at 21-year-old Gordon shooting 3's. Or even Vuc that first year it was clear he was trying to add that to his game. Or really anyone who doesn't have that shot yet, but should be able to add it in time. Fultz doesn't look comfortable shooting the 3, but everything about his mid-range shooting and the fact that he was a very solid outside shooter in college makes me hopeful that he'll get comfortable in time. But he'll never be comfortable if he doesn't pull the trigger. Will it hurt us sometimes, Fultz taking what are right now actually bad shots? Yes, probably. But much like we all understood with Gordon's first 3 years, he'll never add it to his game if he's not shooting them in games. He doesn't need to over-do it, just take open shots as though he's a 35% shooter from out there, whether he actually is yet or not. I expect he'll be able to keep people honest out there within a couple years. But this season's probably going to be ugly from outside.
  8. Justin Jaudon

    2019-2020 Official Regular Season Thread

    I was just telling my dad the other day how Fultz reminds me of Andre Miller right now, just more of an athlete. Also, this video goes a long way toward explaining some of the major offensive differences between Fultz without shooting and Elfrid Payton without shooting. Elfrid wasn't always terrible in terms of feel for the game, but Fultz is next level. Fultz, even without shooting, has a lot of ways to attack a defense. Elfrid - when he even tried to make something happen - basically just charged in and either made a nice pass, made a nice finish, or he was toast. If they took away what he was initially trying to do, he just had nothing else. Fultz is much better on the fly in the half court, working that mid-range and finding a way to make something happen. He's young, so he still gets himself into bad situations sometimes... but dear God if he ever gets his outside shot back he's going to be a nightmare to defend.
  9. Justin Jaudon

    2019 Preseason Thread

    So much this. The reason I was down on Payton early was that he would look great for five minutes when he just seemed to say, "Screw it!" and enter attack mode, then he'd be timid and unsure for the rest of the game. When his defense didn't really improve (I think it may have gotten worse through the years), I knew he was a bust. Markelle (again, extremely small sample size, but yeah) has exactly the problem you want to have with a young point guard. He's always looking to make something happen, and once the game slows down and he can think five moves ahead instead of two, he could be a monster.
  10. Justin Jaudon

    2019 Offseason Thread

    Can I just say: I'm excited. Trying to curb that excitement, but I'm definitely excited. It seems like the players are taking this seriously, and the Fultz hype is definitely very high. I still think there's a better than decent chance Gordon makes a jump. Isaac should be better year 3. Fultz is likely something between a solid backup and a really good starter, which is huge. What I think may be getting overlooked is that we succeeded in part last year (especially on offense) on two career years from contract players in Vucevic and Ross. If either of those guys takes a big step back (and I think the odds on at least one of them reverting back to their previous career path is higher than we'd hope), that likely negates the plus of one or two of Fultz/Gordon/Isaac improvements. Understand that I don't mean simply statistical reversion, but impact. If Vuc's outside shot isn't falling at such a high rate, and his defense suffers (we all know he gets lazy on defense when he gets frustrated on offense), or Ross' offensive confidence suffers from sharing some of the load with Fultz or (god, please let it be) DJ - those things are bigger than "Vuc is only getting 18 a game but only because Gordon and Isaac are taking on more of the offense," or "Ross still goes on ballistic runs sometimes, but they're fewer because Fultz/DJ also sometimes elevate the bench unit with big runs." I'm excited for the upside this team has, and I'm not trying to bring everyone down. I'm just tempering my expectations until I see what Ross and Vucevic bring now that they've got their money. Of course, as ? said, if Gordon takes a Kawhi-level age-24 jump, or if Fultz looks like a near all-star first pick in the draft like we thought he would be coming out of college, all must be re-calibrated. That's a whole other thing, a whole other level of excitement.
  11. Justin Jaudon

    Will AG Become Elite?

    I made mention of pretty much this same concept back during the series against Toronto, and there are a lot more than just those three other guys to compare him to. I like those guys specifically because they are the prototype for guys who came out of college with a lot of upside but were incredibly raw on offense. That is what we knew about Gordon coming out of college. So far he's done just about the best you could hope for from a player with that profile. Like Kawhi and Vic, Gordon had a lot of things he needed to learn to do when he got into the league, but his overall talent and work ethic (again, like Kawhi and Vic) have caused him to add things and become a little closer to great player every year. In my opinion, Gordon is missing one thing to become elite: consistent stop and pop or even step back jumper. If he gets that, his quickness and athleticism makes him very hard to guard. He doesn't have to be a terrific ball-handler if he can do that. He's shown he can out-muscle and out-hustle smaller guys for buckets in the lane, if teams try to play him small. He's shown he can out-quick bigger guys when they try to put a bigger 4 on him. What he struggles with is beating athletic 4s. The step-back, or even the Kawhi-level stop and pop helps that tremendously. Adding that shot causes these athletic 4s to guard him differently. He would draw more fouls because they would have to guard him closer, or he would hit shots over-top of them if they lay off. He's shown flashes of that shot, but he's got to stop fading so far back with it. It's by no means a given. Maybe he starts to plateau now. But I'm certainly not betting against him. Dude could absolutely still be elite. It's just a matter of does he have that shot in him.
  12. Justin Jaudon

    Magic @ Raptors - Tuesday, April 23rd at 7 P.M.

    Yeah, imagine if Birch wasn't useless though.
  13. Justin Jaudon

    Magic Vs. Raptors - Sunday, April 21st at 7:00 P.M.

    Just throwing this out there. First Year Kawhi scores 20+ per game: age 24. DeMar DeRozen: 24. LaMarcus Aldridge: 25. Steph mother*****ing Curry: 24. Victor "sniff... I'm not crying, you're crying!" Oladipo: 25. Julius Randle: 24. Klay Thompson: 24. Hell, why not? Joe Johnson: 24; Jimmy Butler: 25. I mention these guys because, unlike other guys such as CJ McCollum or Isaiah Thomas (both age 24 for their first, by the way), these guys didn't suddenly come out of nowhere as terrific scorers because they finally got the minutes. They build it up over time. They were guys who came into the league at various levels of poor-to-mediocre offense and built themselves into high-level scorers (Randle, I guess really we'll see, but I threw him in there just because he fit the criteria so far). They started out rough. Then they were okay. Then they were solid. Then they were very good. Then they were elite. They just worked their way into being elite scorers. I think Gordon does that his age 24 season. He fits the mold. This playoffs should be a reason for us to put it in his hands more (who else leads without Vuc, and dear God don't let us re-sign him). Yes, he's still raw in some ways. No, he's not Kawhi, or DeRozen, or any of those guys. That's what's great about that list of guys. Those guys are all different, all had to learn different things to be the elite scorers they are/were. Some were scorers in college who had to learn how to do it at an NBA level (Curry, for one). Some were super-raw talents who everyone thought could do it, but it took time (Aldridge, Johnson). Some were guys who weren't supposed to have high scoring ceilings at all, but worked their way into it (Kawhi, Klay). I'm not saying Gordon for sure does this. I just wanted to remind everyone that he hasn't NECESSARILY plateaued as a scorer, and he could still be elite. I see so many people say "We don't have that guy yet" with such certainty. But we still might. Tonight Gordon showed that he can put up 25 in a playoff game against one of the best defensive teams in the league, while guarding one of the best offensive players in the league. He did it in a variety of ways, when the defense knew he was all we had at that point. Yes, we lost big tonight. Yes, we lost big the other game this series he put up 20. But remember that we used to say 'Dipo only had big nights when we lost, too. It wasn't 'Dipo's fault we lost so much. It isn't Aaron's fault we're losing this series. I think Gordon makes another stride forward next year as a scorer, especially if Vuc leaves (please, God, leave).
  14. Justin Jaudon

    Magic Vs. Raptors - Sunday, April 21st at 7:00 P.M.

    To be fair to Vuc, Birch has been garbage this game. 4th quarter Vuc couldn't be worse.
  15. Justin Jaudon

    Magic Vs. Raptors - Sunday, April 21st at 7:00 P.M.

    I still feel like Aaron can develop into this guy more consistently.
  16. Justin Jaudon

    Magic Vs. Raptors - Sunday, April 21st at 7:00 P.M.

    Seriously, every time we double Kawhi up top like that he torches us.
  17. Justin Jaudon

    Magic Vs. Raptors - Sunday, April 21st at 7:00 P.M.

    I *****ing love AG.
  18. Justin Jaudon

    Magic Vs. Raptors - Sunday, April 21st at 7:00 P.M.

    Every time we try to double Kawhi it's a disaster
  19. Justin Jaudon

    Magic Vs. Raptors - Sunday, April 21st at 7:00 P.M.

    Gotta think we come out with more energy in the second. Couldn't have less right now, anyway.
  20. Justin Jaudon

    Magic Vs. Raptors - Sunday, April 21st at 7:00 P.M.

    Bunny suit for Easter?
  21. Justin Jaudon

    Magic Vs. Raptors - Sunday, April 21st at 7:00 P.M.

    Damn internet went out at the end of the first. Just now coming back up.
  22. Justin Jaudon

    Magic Vs. Raptors - Sunday, April 21st at 7:00 P.M.

    Must. Stop. Turning. Ball. Over. We would be up big right now, even if all the TOs were just missed shots.
  23. Justin Jaudon

    Magic Vs. Raptors - Sunday, April 21st at 7:00 P.M.

    We look so good when we're making shots.
  24. Justin Jaudon

    Magic Vs. Raptors - Friday, April 19th at 7:00 P.M.

    Assuming you're talking about Kawhi, we clearly made the adjustment from game 2 and made him work a lot harder and have an inefficient and mistake-prone game 3. If we can find an adjustment against Siakam as well, they will have no offense.
  25. Justin Jaudon

    Magic Vs. Raptors - Friday, April 19th at 7:00 P.M.

    To be fair, we've played one game where Leonard couldn't miss no matter the defense, and another where Siakam couldn't. Maybe we'll actually get a game where none of their players put up the best game of their lives.
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