TreyMachine

He's Trevor Ariza 2.0. Ariza plays hard defense and hits open shots, but can't really create for himself, as I don't suspect Harkless ever will either. I think give him 26 or 27 and he'll figure things out, but he's going to have to learn to slow the game down in his head and let the game come to him. He still plays out of control when he has the ball, which causes bad decisions and turnovers.

He's a good guy, but I can believe that would happen to him. A little arrogant. Interesting fact: he's like a 5th degree black belt and can do a standing back flip... Jeff Teague was the silent killer of the group. Didn't talk much, but was deadly on the court and at the tables. And if you're wondering how the hell this game happened - I was the mascot at Wake Forest for a season. haha

Outside of a few lapses, I've been really impressed with our defense tonight. And I think Toronto is a team like Orlando in many senses - has many relative unknowns who play well together and when one guy isn't stepping up, another is (Lou Williams tonight). Lowry & DeRozen will have to become better closers, but this team could do well in the weak east.

Harkless playing well. Hopefully this leads to more PT for him and he can get out of the doghouse.

With that dunk, I would like to take this time to say I've played poker with James Johnson in college. He has an absolutely terrible poker face. :shard:

The offense just runs so well with Payton is out there. Honestly, he better be a Magic player for life. His vision and decision making get better with each game.

Frye misses a 3 with the shot clock winding down?? Must be a first for this season with how many 30 foot shots he's made with the clock winding down. haha

GAWD I LOVE PAYTON!!!

When Oladipo brings the ball up, 1 of 3 things happens: 1. A pick is made and Oladipo drives. 2. A pick is made and Oladipo pulls up. 3. (mostly this) A pick is made and and Oladipo takes a step towards the basic and passes it out. I have YET to see Oladipo drive towards the basket and find an open open man - or for him to wait for a back-screen to be developed.

I'll take two losses to the teams we should beat if it means beating the Cavs. :creaturedance:

Don't you think losing (when we know we're better) could be detrimental to the culture that is being created though? I'll concede I believe that will be the trajectory that we're on. There is no reason why we shouldn't be a 7 or 8 seed, which will surpass people's expectations for us and give JV a year. Should we not move into the higher tier with our growing talent pool (if Tobias stays with us in particular), I can see us going out and getting an older head coach with a winning resume.

For updates on where the salary cap could be (or where it's projected to be), you can get an idea here: http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/10/projecting-future-nba-salary-caps-under-new-national-tv-contracts/ I wonder if Tobias will sign a short deal to make himself available when the new cap(s) are revealed.

The thing I've found is that I believe much of the time, player development comes from assistant coaches implementing the "hands-on" aspects of the coach's philosophy. Jacque Vaughn I bet develops talent (along with his staff) very well. But if all he can do is meticulously develop talent, but doesn't have a good grasp on split second decisions for in-game adjustments, substitutions, or timely play-calling, he deserves to be an assistant coach (and an effective assistant coach) - not a head coach.

I guess I don't see him as "old." Every time I see him, I see Gene Hackman in Hoosiers and believe the man can coach forever. Who would you pick to replace JV should you have the option?

Space Jesus - Appreciate the love from space. It's good to hear your voice and I'm sorry to make a disappointment, after you took that hit for me and my sins out on that space cross. Like KandiKane before me, I do appreciate the in-depth analysis that went into your post (albeit your sarcasm was a bit much, but hey - you're Space Jesus, so is there really room for me to complain?). I took what the article said and merely cited it as fact without going into the detailed implications of the numbers. So, thanks for clearing that up. The point you seemed to ignore was my comparison of Harris to O'Quinn (or bluntly asked what this had to do with O'Quinn) in terms of signability and bang-for-buck value - which had been argued on the previous page. With your detail of the new Salary Cap, signing all our core players seems much more doable than I had previously held true - in addition to identifying that Frye comes off the books the same year that Payton and Gordon's new contracts would start (for some reason, I wrong interpretted in my head via the cap sheets that they started a year earlier). So, for that, thanks for clearing that up for me. You pointed out that no one wants to sign Harris for the max, yet there are multiple people on this board that believe that Harris should be signed to a max deal by us (or rather we will be forced to sign one if we want to keep him). My claim was that in doing so, we overpay for value that we can find elsewhere - one of those multiple depth-cogs being O'Quinn. That was my chief reason for bringing Harris into the discussion picked up on previous pages. I still hold O'Quinn to be a good key role player, though certainly through this discussion my expectations are at least tempered in light of the numbers and his recent play back to what is probably a "norm" for him in minutes and production. I like O'Quinn. Hope he stays with the team. And I believe we'll sign him in the offseason, presuming someone doesn't see his PER and sign him to a much larger deal than we're willing to offer. Appreciate the discussion.

Old for the players? Old for management? He's been quoted saying he wants to get back into coaching.

Quoting the article that was just posted: He's a big man who is smart, passes well, has a good shot, and an excellent concept of team defense. Because of the scarcity of good big men in this league (not lacking in size but size + skill), someone will pay him I'm sure in the $6-$8 million mark. $4-$6 mil is where I would like to get him. And for those of you who believe that Tobias should get a max contract, you're then telling me that you're willing to give up Oladipo, Payton, or Gordon (and most certainly Fournier) as a core member of this team. With Tobias at $16, Vuc at $12, and Channing Fryre at $8, we will not be able to afford to keep all 3 - perhaps not even 2 in 2 years when Payton and Gordon are up for their qualifying offers. To me, Tobias is an incredibly good scorer and leader. He's aggressive. But his play-making for others in limited. He's not a particularly good defender, ball-handler, or passer. All he does is score as a tweener. While I WANT him on our team, I have to look at the price of losing depth and asking myself "can we find scoring in other areas with other players while enhancing his weaker areas?" You want a comparison: Carmelo Anthony. Anthony is a great individual talent. But he doesn't make the other guys around him better with his playmaking ability. He does ISOs well... how have his teams done over the past few years?? What do the championship teams over the past few years all have? Scorers who also were good passers and playmakers for others. When everyone else is focused on them, they were able to find the open man (Durant, James, Duncan, Parker, Wade, Ginobli, etc.). I just don't see that in Harris and don't think we should pay him like he's one of those guys. I'll end with this: in Henny, I trust. If he makes the call - so be it. But I care more about having a complete team rather than signing a fringe All-Star to a max contract and jeopardize our depth and make it impossible to retain other players that may turn out even better than Tobias.

I've thought of this too. JV is most certainly a "company man," and while he and Henny may be on the same page, it's just not working. Are there ANY veteran coaches who could mesh with Henny? Or do you think his age would immediately make it hard for their to be a respect for him if the team isn't winning (which it should under a good head coach). George Karl is pretty much the only coach on the circuit that fits unless you want to go to Assistants or the college ranks. The only other name I can think of is Jeff Van Gundy, but there is no way we're taking on another Van Gundy is light of the last one's exit only 2 years ago.

Let's ask this question: had we lost tonight (vs. ATL), would the loss again be on JV? How did he perform tonight? From what I saw, our offense only came alive because of the athleticism of Oladipo and not because of some wonderfully drawn up plays. Additionally, he took out Payton when the boy was hot, and the last play he drew up was an ISO for Harris. The only thing I can say about JV is that he did sit Willie Green after a poor performance last night, and the defense did seem to adjust well as the night went on. While winning makes everything better, I'm still not satisfied with what JV is doing. It's a very close culture he's created (actually, I think he's created a GREAT culture of community), but his basketball mind just isn't there IMO.

Tobias sounded very pro-Magic in that interview. Perhaps I'm just reading into it, but he really loves the guys on this team (they feel like they're a bunch of good guys who enjoy themselves together). We had a lot of great stat-lines tonight for Victor, Harris, Fournier, and Vuc (and Payton once again shows why he can lead the league in assists with 7 in 20 minutes). Best part of the night: Willie Green didn't play A SINGLE MINUTE.

PAY THAT MAN!!!! :bigparty: :bigparty: :bigparty:

That was Swaggy-P-like on like on Manu last night. You literally can't play defense better that... :svgsad:

If this becomes a free throw shooting contest, I'm now glad to say I'm confident in this team (or at least more confident) than if we had D12. EDIT: Dammit... I jinxed it.... -_-

Love the resilience of this team. Oladipo has stepped it up in the last 5 minutes. We've got to communicate on pick and rolls. Oladipo is staying with his man and making it difficult by fighting through screens, yet Vuc/Frye are following along with him and leaving their man wide open. Defenses are all collapsing on the driving man. We've GOT to get better communication and become more disciplined. As I write this... Vuc and Oladipo start communicating and switching, which cases a contested 3 and and a blocked shot by Teague. GREAT adjustment.

Agreed. I can hardly watch games. Even the games we win, we have a number of clear coaching blunders that our team in the end overcomes. It amazes me that the team plays its heart out and then, due to what seems like internal sabatoge, we lose the game in the 4th quarter.