Official 2014-2015 Strapped-In Season Thread

[The Neighborhood Bully 266]

brian (de)

At the time of the trade most said Orlando didn't get enough for Affalo in Fournier and a 2nd rounder. Has Fournier improved a lot since last year or is it just more minutes and a small sample size?

 

 

Kevin Pelton (3:24 PM)

He's certainly played much better than last season, when he was a below-replacement contributor. Hence the pessimism about the choice to take him over a possible first-round pick. At the same time, if you cut Fournier's 3-point percentage just to 40 percent, he slips below average on a per-minute basis. So there's a fair bit of noise in there right now.

http://espn.go.com/s...er-kevin-pelton

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

[/size]http://espn.go.com/s...er-kevin-pelton

 

That's a fair assessment

[magicblue 315]

That's a fair assessment

 

I'd agree, but Pelton didn't really expand much into how much Fournier's role has changed and how his skills can be maximized in our system. The way he's playing doesn't seem to be a fluke as much as a good fit, based on what I'm seeing and even if his 3pt % drops to 40%...which would still be very solid.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

I'd agree, but Pelton didn't really expand much into how much Fournier's role has changed and how his skills can be maximized in our system. The way he's playing doesn't seem to be a fluke as much as a good fit, based on what I'm seeing and even if his 3pt % drops to 40%...which would still be very solid.

 

I think it's because almost 100% of his value is shooting at >steve Nash levels. He's just not getting any assists or rebounds

[Miller4Prez66 545]

I still think it was a great get for Afflalo, who wasn't seriously anything special in two seasons here and was likely looking at an overpaid deal that a rebuilding team couldn't afford. Henny really does a good job spotting young guys with minor roles that he sees blowing up in a bigger role here. Guys like Vucevic, Harris and Fournier struggled to get minutes on their teams but have been our best players this season

[Mauro Pedrosa 1,033]

Zach Lowe talked about the Magic some hours before we played the Bucks, saying that we could be better than expected but Harris is more of a stats guy and not really a great basketball player.

 

http://grantland.com/podcasts/

[JamminJ21 35]

Zach Lowe talked about the Magic some hours before we played the Bucks, saying that we could be better than expected but Harris is more of a stats guy and not really a great basketball player.

 

http://grantland.com/podcasts/

 

I can see why he makes that assertion. He's still young so hopefully it changes, but the verdict is still out.

[The Neighborhood Bully 266]

On offense, the Magic are actually doing some neat things with the ball, splicing funky plays with traditionally effective point-scoring avenues. And they are competing in games because of it. A few nights ago, and on the road, they turned the fierce Toronto Raptors and their top-five defense into a backpedaling, confused bunch, losing only because Orlando’s bench, a forgettable cast featuring Ben Gordon and the ghost of Mo Harkless, coughed up a double-digit lead early in the fourth quarter to Toronto’s well-oiled second unit. On Wednesday, they went into Madison Square Garden and handed the New York Knicks their sixth straight loss.

 

What we are seeing are the infantile stages of promise. Orlando’s attack will not look as impotent four months from now as it still occasionally does today. Most of the team’s long-term properties are already in place, and almost every night we see hopeful signs of a brighter tomorrow. Questions are still necessary, but they are a bit less concerning. Traces of talent are finally here.

 

Elfrid Payton is less than 10 games into his NBA career, but he has already shown real chops as a playmaker, averaging 8.0 assists per 36 minutes. His court vision is clear, and eventually, he should be able to consistently scissor his way into the defense’s chest as a means to creating open shots all over the floor. (I write “eventually,” because Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn does not trust his rookie late in games, opting for Luke Ridnour’s steady hand instead.)

 

Payton cannot yet shoot from outside (he missed the only three pointer he has attempted thus far), but to his credit, he does not pretend that he can. His head is always up, always looking for a passing lane or a way to carve nothing out of thin air, not playing for a jumpshot that is not there. With their rookie point guard on the floor, Orlando averages 101.3 points per 100 possessions. When he sits, their efficiency drops to 94.3. It’s a steep fall. He’s fun.

http://bballbreakdow...a-good-offense/

[The Neighborhood Bully 266]

Vucevic shows at -.08, same as Joakim Noah.......and better than Ibaka at -.18.

Nylon Calculus has a new metric they've developed called Rim Points Saved per 36 minutes. The idea, briefly, is that if opponents make 79.1 percent of all shots at the rim on average (which they did last season), and you multiply all attempts at the rim times the two points they score, then take 79 percent, you see what an "average" opponent would score on a players' given number of attempts defended. Subtract how many they actually are allowing this season, and you have the number of points they save against the average defender.

 

In short, the metric tells you how good a player is at defending the rim with consideration to the average number of misses you can expect a player to create just by showing up.

 

Then you adjust per minute to give you a better indication of how they're doing when they're actually on the floor.

 

http://www.cbssports...opez-struggling

[Franchero MVP 391]

http://bballbreakdow...a-good-offense/

 

I like this article.

 

:shard:

[Soul Bro 1,421]

Oli looks very rusty. I don't like him playing PG, to be honest. I think I'd like Fournier or Harris off the bench, although both have been playing some of the best ball. Still I like the following starting lineup:

 

PG: Easy

SG: Oli

SF: Harris

PF: Frye

C: Vooch

 

And Frye has to improve as a defender.

[TreyMachine 398]

Here's a question: who do you think gets the minutes that Gordon would have normally gotten over the next few months? Do you guys think Moe Harkless shows up to fill his shoes? And if so, does he do so adequately or do you have your beliefs that there are reasons that Harkless was held out?