All-Star Break Assessment

[TrueBlueDrew 75]

We made it to the All-Star Break at 17-39

 

Home record: 7-18

Away record: 10-21

 

FG: 45.6% (11th in league)

3PT: 35.8% (12th in league)

FT: 73.5% (25th in league)

 

MAGIC

95.7 Points (25th in league)

40.8 Rebounds (28th in league)

20.4 Assists (24th in league)

15 Turn Overs (8th most in league)

3.7 Blocks (30th in league)

21.2 Fouls (11th in league)

 

Against Magic

101.7 Points

43.4 Rebounds

23.6 Assists

13.9 Turn Overs

5.5 Blocks

18.3 Fouls (29th in league)

 

All in all, I think we are not taking as many steps toward forward as we would have liked. However, I really like our roster moves over the last couple of years. Frye hasn't worked out the way I think we all would have hoped, but I think that is primarily because of the coach and not the player. Vuc and Dipo are our stars but Harris has had an excellent year and Payton has been much better than I was expecting. AG has been hurt, so he hasn't been able to contribute as much as we would like, but there is no doubt the talent is there and I'm excited to see his growth.

 

I think moving foward it is obvious that finding the right coach is the most important thing for this team. We cannot have a couple more years of meritocracy or free agents will not sign and our players won't resign. As far as immediate concerns, this team obviously needs to start taking steps towards being a more defensive minded team. Whether that comes through the draft, trade, or free agency. Shot blocking is a must and it would help to have slashers to draw more fouls.

 

However, I found this picture on RealGM's twitter today and I think this is a fairly accurate description of the league and I would rather be on the bottom of this graph than on the top.

 

What are your thoughts?

 

[Magicman28 295]

What are your thoughts[\quote]

 

 

 

 

Same ####, different day.

[Janders 102]

I feel like we've got some solid foundational pieces, but it's clear the whole vision is not completely realized. Biggest needs are a PF that can play good defense and not clog the lane on offense, and some good three point shooters.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

We get a PF who can play d and spread the floor, our young players take basic expected steps to improvement, and we get bench players who are league average and we're fine.

[Jason Funderburker 110]

We certainly have a lot of pieces. I would argue that neither Vucevuc nor Oladipo are the foundational pieces that people think they are. Payton is probably the closest to a building block that we have. All in all, there is promise, I guess, but no clear path to being a great team, barring a Jimmy Butler-esque jump into stardom

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

We certainly have a lot of pieces. I would argue that neither Vucevuc nor Oladipo are the foundational pieces that people think they are. Payton is probably the closest to a building block that we have. All in all, there is promise, I guess, but no clear path to being a great team, barring a Jimmy Butler-esque jump into stardom

 

I'd say Vuc and Dipo are closer to being the top players at their position than PAYTON but that says more about the state of the point guard position than anything.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

Go back and look at our preseason predictions. We're going to hit the win range most of us expected.

[magicmacd75 37]

I gave us a C- only due to the fact there has been some growth with EP,Victor, Vuc and even AG to a degree(shooting). Other than that this team for the most part has under achieved and I am not sure how much of that is squarely on JV's shoulders. We should easily be sitting around 25 wins and battling for an 8 seed in the playoffs.

[CTMagicUK 1,488]

I'm content with how this season has been. It hasn't been great, it hasn't even been good, but I didn't expect us to be a 50 win team this year. I was hoping for 30-35 and I still think we can get near the bottom end of that range.

 

At some point I hope we give AG some serious burn. Play him 30 minutes a night, run some plays for him on offense and see what we've really got here with him. I get that we have a lot of other young guys who want touches on offense and minutes but I just want to put the ball in his hands a little, make an effort to get him post ups against smaller guys or have him handle the ball more when he's matched up with a legit big. Just stuff like that. That is my only post All Star break goal really.

[Jay Magic 1,251]

Voted F. When things have gotten so bad you have to sack the coach its a bad season.

 

Roll on next season!

[Voodoo Man 99]

I was pumped after our first west coast road trip. I was pumped when we beat the Bulls and Houston back to back. Other than that, to quote Lovie Smith (this might not make sense if you aren't a Bucaneer fan), I am Very Disappointed. Hopefully we can keep our opponents under 100 points for the remainder of the season, Vic starts hitting his 3 point shots somewhat consistently, and Vuc and Harris learn to play defense. Unfortunately, my winning the Powerball could happen before any of that.

[HeHateMe 697]

I voted D.

 

We have a couple nice pieces but still too many holes 3 years later IMO. No interior D and a serious lack of perimeter scoring. Couple guys (nickolson/harkless) haven't panned out. The veterans we have brought in have not been a good fit. The coach had to get sacked mid-season, no way Rob ever thought he was going to have to do that. I'm not really upset or shocked with how things have gone but I think we are capable of better.

 

I would be more than willing to change my grade based on how the off-season goes. I think we fill a couple holes and start to mesh next season with our new coach.