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Justin Jaudon

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Posts posted by Justin Jaudon

  1. Posted · Report reply

    Yeah but they're different players. Jeremy is a guy I see developing into a half way decent scorer on a bad team. I see Doron Lamb being a good player on a good team who can play team ball. I'd rather have Doron.

     

    Absolutely true. It's the difference between JJ Reddick and Nick Young. Two great shooters, but one is willing to limit himself to good shots and play within a system, the other is just a semi-talented chucker.

  2. Posted · Report reply

    His defense isn't good but come on, are JRICH and Redick really providing that much defense? I know for a fact that neither Redick or JRICH can jump a passing lane and create an easy transition bucket like Wafer can. Spark plays; Von provides them. And he's not going to go all JR Smith and start jacking bombs, he's a more controlled player than he gets credit for.

     

    I'm just tired of Stan preaching effort and energy while leaving Ish and Wafer (two guys who really should be used in "spark" opportunities) on the bench.

     

    It's hot air and meaningless words. The player's know it too.

     

    Are you Von Wafer's agent or something. This team had 16 turnovers last night. 16! How does Von Wafer help that? This team shot 35% from the floor. How exactly does Von Wafer help when Roy Hibbert is in the middle getting leeway from the refs? He doesn't make open jump shots. I've seen Wafer in enough Orlando games now that I can officially call him a ball stopper. All ball movement gets thrown out the window when he is given the ball. Having Von Wafer come in and try to ISO on Paul George, then score over Roy Hibbert, that's just comical. Any passing he does comes from when he's unable to get free in the lane.

     

    There is a reason the guy has bounced around to seven teams in seven years. He can't play NBA basketball at a consistent high level, because all he knows how to do is take people off the dribble. The problem is that it only works occasionally, and even when it works a lot, like with Carmelo Anthony, it doesn't translate to winning basketball. And Wafer is not 'Melo. He's not even remotely in the same plane of existence as 'Melo. He doesn't work as a spark player because even if he came in and got a couple of buckets, it would screw up the entire flow of the offense after the D started focusing on him. So once you take him out, he's really done nothing but sacrifice the entire flow of the game for a couple of cheep buckets. This is why six different people who get payed to manage rotations let their GMs either not resign him or trade him.

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  3. Posted · Report reply

    For the record, to whomever said Stan accused the team of low energy at the beginning of games, go back and watch the interview again. He did say that, but then said later that he didn't mean it was an effort thing, but that they just played poorly at the beginning of both games. That is really obvious. They were down big at the beginning of both games.

     

    For those who want him to encourage a team that got absolutely dominated on both ends: this team has been known for years as a team that lacks self-motivation. They are short-handed and outmatched. If he starts making excuses and telling the media, "Well, we were really tired out there. What do you expect?" The team gets it in their head that if they have a good excuse, failure is acceptable. Sometimes I think no one here gets what it means to be an underdog. If you start telling everybody you're the little guy, and don't expect too much, then you start to believe you're the little guy, and then you don't expect too much. To try and compare this situation to anything Phil Jackson has ever dealt with is a joke. The guy coached MJ and Kobe, two of the most self-motivated players in league history, and he let those guys talk about the lack of effort (on the rare occasions they needed to).

     

    Stan said what he needed to say. He also admitted that he has to help the guys come up with a way to shoot over 40%, because they are so outmatched on that end. Every player is undersized except for Hedo and Anderson, and we know how Hedo is (he is the only guy I thought just quit at the end of that game last night; the rest were simply exhausted). Grainger is certainly big enough that Hedo doesn't dominate him, and Anderson can't hit a shot, and is getting in foul trouble. The biggest issue with last night was that they couldn't make up for their lack of energy by making open shots. Baby missed a ton of open jumpers, as did Nelson, Anderson, and JRich. The turnovers came from frustration and desperation, which cannot happen if this team is to win; the margin of error is 0 right now. So Stan called out the players for the energy and lack of focus. He took responsibility for the poor shooting. That is good coaching. Simple, elementary stuff guys.

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  4. Posted · Report reply

    so remember that week and a half-ish stretch where Van Gundy bailed on the whole defensive-minded snail team and we played hard, were fun to watch, and actually scored? What happened to that?

     

    Well, the team obviously got tired. That's gonna happen when you play hard every night and play 6 games in 9 nights. Also, Orlando missed a boatload of open shots. Can't do that if you want to win against a bigger, more talented team, who is getting all the calls.

     

    This looking for complaints about Stan is getting old. Stan coached a great first half where his team took a lead. They came out flat after the half and they were tired. Did you watch the game. Baby was playing so hard, but he looked like he was about to pass out. It's hard to rotate on D and box out when you can barely breath. And don't tell me he should have put Orton in. Orton would get eaten alive by that frontcourt. Baby got Hibbert in foul trouble, and that was great. Anderson in foul trouble killed Orlando, and Stan didn't make all those terrible calls. Stan coached to win the game. His team didn't have it tonight. They should hopefully bounce back Wednesday. Maybe at some point they'll start making all those open shots. But they get all those open shots because of Stan's coaching and preparation.

    • Upvote 4

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Orlando has so much playoff experience out there, whereas the Pacers have almost none. Hopefully Orlando can dictate the intensity of the game again. I agree that they should come out and try to bum rush the Pacers. Don't worry about foul trouble on the wings, just pressure the ball like crazy. Get in their heads and keep the tempo up. Keep them away from the post game, and frustrate their big men with physical play on D and on the boards. My one worry is that they focus so much on 'Meer that he can't run the offense the way he has been. Overall, though, if Orlando can shoot better than 45% tonight (and keep the turnovers down), I think they win.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    Its not so much refuting as it is that Lopez's stats are below what they should be for a top pick of a center.

     

    Pau is not a shot blocker and doesnt have to be because Bynum is there. Now when Pau was the only center in Memphis, he wasn't a shot blocker there either. Just like Lopez is not a shot blocker. So if you don't want a shot blocker, then fine. However, since our team doesn't have one besides Dwight we would be screwed on defense.

     

    For the rebounding, I expected Lopez to atleast average 10 rebounds for being as big as he is and the position he plays, and being top pick among centers. Lopez hasn't even hit 9 boards a game, puzzling as it sounds it speaks to his other areas that he lacks: Quickness, Agility and Lift in his jump. Bynums isn't fast but he is quicker than Lopez and Bynum is going on his 4th knee (joke).

     

    All in all, picks are not garunteed to do anything... So the package of what is being suggested (Lopez and picks) are just not worth the risk.

     

    Besides our front office needs to be remodeled before we make any player decisions.

     

    I don't really disagree with any of this, other than Pau not being a shot blocker in Memphis. He had a couple seasons over 2 a game there. Over two a game is not even just solid, it's quite productive.

     

    My whole point was that if Dwight demands a trade, could Orlando succeed with him at the 5. Gasol was the 5 in 08 when the Lakers went to the finals (Bynum missed almost all of the second half of the season and the playoffs). I don't think it would be a good idea to pay him what Gasol is making, but with his coming off an injury, I doubt they would have to. If he's healthy, I'd say he could (based solely on his numbers, again, since I haven't seen him play much) be worth close to 10 a year. He should never be a first option on any team, but as a number two guy he could be worth it. But this is all just speculative on my part, based on his numbers and reputation.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    Lopez's official stats suggests otherwise.

     

    Again, Lopez has no lift in his jump and no agility, not to mention doesn't react fast.... which would coincide with his low rebounding (offensively and defensively), and shot blocking.

     

    And since this is a wing league, those two areas (Reb and Blocks) are preferred over scoring when you look at the center position.

     

    I'm confused, which statement is being refuted here, that he was a decent rebounder for his first two years or that he has solid career shot-blocking numbers are solid for his career? Because I can look up stats, and when I do, I see that his rebounding his first year was 8.1 per in 30.5 minutes. Which is solid, so long as you consider Ryan Anderson solid. If you compare his numbers to early Pau Gasol, they are very similar for the first two seasons. I understand you can't throw out the last full season (though I think we can agree that his three games this past season can be pretty much thrown out), but two one bad year can't mean everything. As far as his shot-blocking, a career average of 1.6 in 34 min is actually preferable to Pau's 1.7 in 36. I use Pau Gasol as an example because he is a guy with a reputation for being soft, but when I watch him he seems like he's a serviceable defender. I think most people would agree he's a decent option defensively as a big man, and his offense has been well above average for his career (which is once again almost identical to Lopez's numbers).

     

    Now, once again, I haven't seen a whole lot of Lopez in action, and I understand there is more to basketball to sports. That's why I asked about him. But I can read a statline, and that suggests a decent option as a bigman.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    I'm not really in love with the idea of bringing in a guy that has always been soft and now has a suspect wheel to go with it. Only way you can live with a soft big is to put a shot blocked with him and some badass perimeter guys.

     

    From someone who hasn't watched him too much, is he that much softer than guys like Pau Gasol, Blake Griffin or Roy Hibbert. His career shot-blocking numbers are solid, and his first two seasons his rebounds were decent. Does anyone think that with some good coaching he could improve. Currently, Orlando has one of the toughest, most hard-working big men ever as an assistant coach, so maybe Ewing could put some hair on his chest. I've only seen him play a handful of times in the NBA, and he didn't look like a lost cause defensively.

     

    Offensively, he has looked solid every time I've seen him, and his numbers back that up. He doesn't shoot an ideal % from the floor for a big man (though no worse than Tim Duncan's, I think), but his great FT% makes up for that, in my opinion.

     

    I'm not saying it's a fair trade for Dwight. In fact, I think a straight-up trade would be beyond foolish. But with some picks (especially a top-3 pick if they can get one) he may be the best thing available, and if we do let Anderson go to some desperate team that offers him way too much, a Lopez/Baby front court might be solid, as good help-defending 4's can hide a little softness from a 5. Anything has got to be better than Orlando's current total lack of defensive rim presence.

  22. Posted · Report reply

    Fantastic game! I haven't enjoyed a game that much since '09. I really think Jameer Nelson is proving he always should have been the catalyst for this offense (yes, I know that Orlando only scored 81 points, but if Baby weren't 8 inches shorter than Hibbert, he would have had thirty with the looks 'Meer was getting him, plus Ryan Anderson missed a bunch of open looks as well). The Pacers have two good defenders at PG, and Jameer got penetration on both of them with the pick and roll game, and he made great passes all night. We've all seen that in the small sample size, the offense generally looks better with him as the main focal point.

     

    For those thinking this was a fluke, I think it's worth noting that Orlando couldn't hit a shot in the second half and they still battled back. Hibbert had a really hard time getting position on Baby down low, and if Baby can keep that up they are in trouble so long as Orlando's shooting improves or the Pacers doesn't. That isn't to say the Pacers shouldn't still be the favorites in people's eyes. They couldn't hit an outside shot almost all night, and despite Orlando's overall shooting woes, there 3-point shooting was not bad. If the Pacers go consistently to David West in the post next game, Orlando will have a lot of trouble with it.

     

    It's still going to be an uphill battle, but with the hustle and heart this team is playing with, I like their chances a lot more after watching game 1.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    How did it come to this? I remember after Orlando went to the finals in '09 hearing people say Orlando was going to be the place for free agents to flock because playing with Dwight, playing for Stan, playing in Orlando with all the tax advantages, all these things were going to happen. What I guess no one saw was that Otis Smith would never allow the team to have any cap room, and that Dwight would get too big for his britches. All of this just makes the sports fan in me so sad.

     

    What I don't want to happen is that Orlando loses both Dwight and Stan. Sadly, I still think that will probably happen, unless the "WE ALL WE GOT" crew gets past Indiana. Even then I'm not sure. If Dwight hangs the carrot in front of management, I think they bite. The problem is, from every indication I get from reading YBR's posts and listening to other "insider information" from the media, Dwight is leaving. He wants to be gone, and I honestly don't care anymore. If he re-signs, I'll have a drink in his honor, but I just don't see it happening. What I see happening is Orlando gets a new coach, one who is young and raw and doesn't have the solid understanding of this team that Stan does, then Orlando struggles; Dwight isn't happy with the struggles, so he forces a trade at the deadline next year, and everyone says, "Well who can blame him, that team is terrible, the organization is falling apart." And instead of becoming the Nuggets or the Jazz, the Magic become the Minnesota Timberwolves post-KG. A pariah in the league with no players, no coach, and a LONG rebuilding stage ahead. I hope I'm wrong.

     

    The most realistic dream that I want to see happen: "WE ALL WE GOT" crew gets past the Pacers before losing a gritty series in 5 or 6 to Miami. Dwight's trade demand finally comes as advertised. Otis is fired and/or banished from the city. New Jersey gets pick # 3 in the draft, and Orlando trades Dwight and Hedo to Brooklyn for Lopez, Wallace and the third pick Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (though, admittedly, I don't know if Brooklyn can even do a sign and trade with Lopez at this point). I'm not a huge Lopez fan, but despite some sentiment that he is awful and will be over-paid, he's better than having Big Baby start there, and I think the injury will keep his salary below 12 a year, which is not that bad for a starting center. Lopez plays tougher under Stan's and Ewing's tutelage (he'll never be a monster, but maybe something like a Pau Gasol type player). Kidd-Gilchrist is allowed to grow a little coming off the bench behind Wallace, and JJ finally gets his starting job. The team starts drafting, bringing in good defenders and scoring off a system rather than stars getting isolation. Orlando becomes not the Timberwolves but the next San Antonio Spurs, building a team around a group of defensive stars who can produce as a unit on offense. Hey, a guy can dream.

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  25. Posted · Report reply

     

    I do think a simpler defensive scheme would help this team. And I am not in favor of getting a single minded defensive coach, we already have that. I would like a coach with a more offensive mindset. Our offensive schemes are so damm boring and predictable. With better players of course. I do not think SVG is a bad coach, but he is not great and to win a championship you need a great coach and/or multiple great and intelligent players. I feel Stan has run his course with this team and its time for a change.

     

    In what way do you think Stan should simplify his defensive scheme? There's a reason when you watch teams like Boston, whose scheme you might consider more simple than Stan's, they have a good defense. They have good defensive players. Boston's players are defensive-minded guys who pressure the ball because the wings are quick and they have Garnett to cover backside defense. Orlando doesn't pressure the ball as much because neither Jameer, JRich, Duhon, or JJ can pressure the ball effectively. That lack of ball pressure requires that Stan run a defense revolving around a lot of flash pressing on the high blocks and on the perimeter, but that means a lot of rotation is necessary to cover up the holes created. Rotations get complicated, thus the complicated scheme.

     

    I somewhat agree with the boringness of the the offensive scheme, but that is a tough issue. Back in '09, Orlando did a lot more pick and roll, which was boring then, too, but very effective, especially when teams starting trying to cheat it, and then they had either a field day downtown or inside with Dwight.

     

    The next year, the team struggled to get used to Carter instead of Hedo, and Carter did not have the killer instinct to really fill the role. Also, Shard got off the supplements he was taking and apparently aged 10 years in one off-season. By the end of the season, though, they were clicking; they swept two rounds of the playoffs before going completely cold from downtown against Boston. I hear people complain about Stan for not adjusting early in that series, but I think completely restructuring your offense, which had been destroying people for weeks, should be a last resort. Doing so too soon might even be considered "panicking".

     

    The offense didn't really get bad until last year. I think part of the problem there was that they were afraid of getting cold in the playoffs again, so they tried to become an "inside-out" team. Early on, it didn't work because Howard was the only one who could operate within the three-point line. So they traded Shard, and the offense got better running inside-out for a while, but eventually people realized that without Carter no one on the team could penetrate anymore. So again, Stan had to change everything to suit his personnel. He could no longer run the pick and roll, because Hedo had lost a step and was no longer effective with it. He didn't have a good enough distributor at the point to get heavy penetration there, and he didn't have good enough passers to run any sort of triangle. He had to go with the inside out, post and re-post offense, but good teams could just collapse in and flash out on the three point shooters. The only X-factor was Bass, but if you just don't let him get totally uncontested shots he's not gonna beat you himself. So they were screwed without a penetrator, and when they went cold again in the playoffs, Dwight couldn't do enough by himself to get the win (Crawford hitting contested shots from 30 feet out didn't help either).

     

    This offseason, instead of dumping the dead wait that was and is Jason Richardson, Otis gave him a big fat payday to try and make his and Dwight's agent happy. The team went back to the 4-1 offense, but the pick and role wasn't as effective. Jameer wasn't himself amidst the Dwight drama early this season, and while Hedo started off running the PnR well, it didn't really last. And so at times the offense lolls back into what it was last year, especially when Baby is in at the 4. Now, with no Dwight and Jameer playing better, they are back to ball movement and pick and roll. It is somewhat easier now, because while Dwight is great at getting position and dunking inside, he sometimes doesn't clear out when other players break into the lane; instead he often positions himself for a lob or an offensive board. He got better at that as the season went along, though, and he dropped some of the habits he learned in the post-heavy offense from last year.

     

    I know, you're gonna say, "you're making all these excuses for Stan." I'm not. I'm showing the theme that he consistently did the smart thing, the best thing, with what he had. He just didn't have the right pieces to be successful. There are things he could have done better, and there are things most coaches would have done a lot worse. But most all of those things are now seen in hindsight. The only thing I cannot understand is Duhon. Maybe Ish is a terrible practice player, I don't know. You can pick apart any coach in the league and find something to hate on, including Phil Jackson's allowing Kobe to spend weeks in take-25-a-night mode, or under-using Bynum at times in the offense (and that's just at a glance).

     

    Anyone with any objectivity and comprehension skills can see Stan is a top coach in this league. Sadly, I think he's gonna be gone next year. But I can't see it as right, even if it's the right choice. Dwight over Stan, sure. But don't expect things to get better without better personnel.

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