The Official 2015-2016 Regular Season Thread

[Sumike4ya 23]

@ZachLowe_NBA Would like to see this w/ Aaron Gordon in Frye's spot. But separating Dipo and Payton more is worth trying

 

Agree 100. We have had aaron for a few years now and he has proven he is a better offensive player. Even though he doesn't spread the floor like frye or Andrew, Aaron gives us this energy that no one else can.

[Jay Magic 1,251]

It's going to be weird when the Shabazz-Oladipo-Hezonja-Gordon-dedmon lineup outplays the starters

 

aslong as it works that's cool with me

[TheNameIsOrlando 310]

I really hate this for Dipo and hope he doesn't let this affect him in a negative way.

With that being said it makes much more sense to bench him rather than Payton.

A benching of Payton could destroy him as I think he is opporating on minimal confidence right now. I believe Dipo is mentally strong enough to turn this into an opportunity rather than a demotion.

[Jay Magic 1,251]

A negative to the move is that the tandem of Channing Frye & Nik Vucevic struggled together on defense last year. But Frye and Vucevic have fared better on defense this season with the Magic's new defensive scheme.

 

Via Robbins

[Catman 380]

This is no surprise to me as based on my posts the past few weeks.

 

I am a little surprised that Frye is starting, but not too much. Frye allows Harris to still work in the post. This lineup also is excellent for shooting.

 

So off the bench we have Shabazz/Dipo/Mario/Gordon/Dedmon or Smith - That's pretty untouchable for energy, but will require Victor and Mario to nail shots so the spacing is preserved.

 

What could be interesting is how this impacts Mario. If Nicholson gets more minutes, I doubt Gordon will lose any. He will probably play more SF and Mario will play more SG. This will lower his minutes.

 

Outside of Mario potentially losing minutes, I really think this change could help the team a lot. Plus I like Fournier at SG next to Payton. It's a very formidable back court. I bet we will see Payton's numbers improve from this.

 

The fact that Skiles moves Harris back to SF is something to watch. If Skiles lets Harris work in the post still, it will be ok. It just tells me that the Magic REALLY want a real stretch 4 at some point, especially after going hard for Millsap.

[Catman 380]

Agree 100. We have had aaron for a few years now and he has proven he is a better offensive player. Even though he doesn't spread the floor like frye or Andrew, Aaron gives us this energy that no one else can.

 

Yes the problem is that I believe Skiles wants the floor spread more.

 

It makes sense. He wants to open to the lanes for Payton. If Payton can penetrate more, he will create a lot more open looks for the 3 shooters. Payton has been driving into 2-3 defenders many nights. This is one reason he has struggled so much. I think he misses open looks because he is getting hesitant from being shut down at the rim so often.

 

If our PG can get into the paint more and create, it will open the offense. Payton is gifted at this.

 

This lineup also is a god matchup against the Knicks since we want Porzingis out of the paint and guarding Frye.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

I don't like the idea of starting 4 of our 6 worst defenders. Maybe Payton-Fournier-Gordon-Frye-Vucevic makes more sense.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

i mean if we had to rank defenders it would be something like

 

These 4 in whatever order (or at least the first three):

 

Oladipo

Gordon

Payton

Dedmon

 

Marble

Watson

Hezonja?

Smith

 

Harris

Fournier

 

Shabazz

Vucevic

Nicholson

Frye

 

i have a hard time figuring out where Hezonja fits.

[Mauro Pedrosa 1,033]

Yeah, I think the defense will be toast and we'll keep seeing changes

[NameLess Scrub 6]

Looks interesting on offense, but I'm worried about the defense.

 

Oladipo is a great slasher, but more replaceable in the SL than Peyton.

 

Don't know if they have mentioned it, but this team is using an 11-12 man rotation.

They'll have to figure out how to trim it down soon.

 

Harris/Gordon and Frye/Nicholson seem similar, except Frye is more of a pure shooter than Andrew.

Napier/Watson, who do you want as backup?

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

Looks interesting on offense, but I'm worried about the defense.

 

Oladipo is a great slasher, but more replaceable in the SL than Peyton.

 

Don't know if they have mentioned it, but this team is using an 11-12 man rotation.

They'll have to figure out how to trim it down soon.

 

Harris/Gordon and Frye/Nicholson seem similar, except Frye is more of a pure shooter than Andrew.

Napier/Watson, who do you want as backup?

 

Yeah. i wonder if we'll start adjusting the rotation.

 

You want Watson as the backup because he's more reliable. Shabazz has highs and lows. You can play him but i think you set it to 4 minutes and figure out what kind of night he's going to have, if the matchup is good, etc. Shabazz can win you games. Shabazz can lose you games.

[Magicman28 295]

Lol, expect another roster change. I don't know why Skiles is delaying the inevitable. Attempting to fix offensive struggles, he pencils in a lineup with little to no defense.