Official Gamethread: ORL vs PHI

[random 19]

Haha, was gonna tell him listening to him is unacceptable, and we should ban him if we win. Sounds like we won already.

[Franchero MVP 391]

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

 

Yeah, weird moment there.

[~O~ 565]

Dude needed to relax. I'm confident in the Magic tonight..however, are will hubris overcome them. The Magic still hasn't proved enough yet to come into Philly's building coast to a victory. Its another game to prove our quality.

 

As for Skiles needing to be fired for losing a game against Philly? That would be out of line for the Magic to do and it ruin the season even further not having the time to prepare for the rest of the season with an alternate coach and coaching style.

 

 

The Magic have no choice but to win this game and to go into this building believing their is an alternative is would show that we haven't learned ****.

 

Cheers to more winning

 

 

 

 

[Catman 380]

I have to say this game thread has opened with a bang. People like that should be posting in youtube comments. ESPN or the Orlando Sentinel section, not here. Good riddance.

 

Things Im watching for -

 

Harris. I want to see Harris keep building on this early season start. He is playing right now like a guy who could be an all star reserve if he continues on this pace. Incredibly efficient basketball, and more importantly, he has yet to really be stopped by anyone while playing the 4.

 

Elf - He slumped early last year and then took over after a while. Curious if he can show some signs of breaking out of the slump.

 

Mario - I feel like we may see his shots dropping tonight. His D has most likely gotten him out of the doghouse and that should mean he will play with a little more confidence.

 

Gordon - really filling a major hole in our team last year as a bench stud. We have such a better bench now, and Gordon is a main reason. Tonight I'm looking to see him spark us especially if the score is tight and we need to get fired up with a big dunk or block.

[A Random Stranger 25]

I have to say this game thread has opened with a bang. People like that should be posting in youtube comments. ESPN or the Orlando Sentinel section, not here. Good riddance.

 

Things Im watching for -

 

Harris. I want to see Harris keep building on this early season start. He is playing right now like a guy who could be an all star reserve if he continues on this pace. Incredibly efficient basketball, and more importantly, he has yet to really be stopped by anyone while playing the 4.

 

Elf - He slumped early last year and then took over after a while. Curious if he can show some signs of breaking out of the slump.

 

Mario - I feel like we may see his shots dropping tonight. His D has most likely gotten him out of the doghouse and that should mean he will play with a little more confidence.

 

Gordon - really filling a major hole in our team last year as a bench stud. We have such a better bench now, and Gordon is a main reason. Tonight I'm looking to see him spark us especially if the score is tight and we need to get fired up with a big dunk or block.

 

I'm interested in all that, but I also want to see if Oladipo can continue with his consistency. Also I think there is going to be a debate popping up sooner or later about Gordon starting and Harris coming off the bench. Gordon will be really good and he is showing some very bright spots during this early season. I wouldn't be surprised if by the half-way mark Gordon emerges as someone who shouldn't be sitting on a bench waiting for his turn, but a guy who can contribute as an amazing two way player.

[Bauncey Chillups 288]

Payton just plain isn't playing hard enough right now. Not seeing anywhere near the passion he displayed in the last months of the previous season. Or maybe he just looked decent padding stats against teams who didnt try against us.

[A Random Stranger 25]

Payton just plain isn't playing hard enough right now. Not seeing anywhere near the passion he displayed in the last months of the previous season. Or maybe he just looked decent padding stats against teams who didnt try against us.

 

I think it is a bit too early to judge. I think he is settling too much for jumpers and his passing/defense are still top-notch, but what it comes down to is if you can't score any points with your offensive talents you aren't going to help your team. I do think his jumper will get better, but at this point he is not doing enough offensively to warrant him taking time from Watson or Napier. Napier has been a revelation this season, he is playing like he belongs in the NBA, and is passing the ball decently enough while playing defense. Sure he isn't Payton, but Napier is still solid enough on defense to leave his mark. Also with Napier in lineup is solves our shooting issues. Payton is going to need to improve drastically if he wants to remain the starter because Napier is taking time from him by doing his thing.

[Catman 380]

I'm interested in all that, but I also want to see if Oladipo can continue with his consistency. Also I think there is going to be a debate popping up sooner or later about Gordon starting and Harris coming off the bench. Gordon will be really good and he is showing some very bright spots during this early season. I wouldn't be surprised if by the half-way mark Gordon emerges as someone who shouldn't be sitting on a bench waiting for his turn, but a guy who can contribute as an amazing two way player.

 

Im not sure if Gordon will start over Harris the way Harris has been playing. If anything, I could see Gordon maybe starting over Evan if Evan cools off. But lets see what happens.

 

The good news for Gordon is he is usually first off the bench and he can play multiple positions.

[magicjed23 12]

Gordon is not ready to start no matter what people think . He is whe re he should be , bringing energy in from the bench. I am curious as to why he is never out their with Harris or so it seems. I think Hezonja is fine but let him run with some other scoring threats or the starters a bit.

 

As far as the Oladipo criticism, teams have learned how to play him, but give him 6-7 more games and he will be back to himself when everyone loved him. He would be well off to absorb some contact instead or avoiding it so much. Don't kill yourself like Wade, but take a little. In fairness though it seems like the refs miss alot of fouls on him, just because he tries to avoid contact does not change what should be called a foul. Even out of control, it's a foul.

 

About Payton and the PGs, I know this board is obsessed with Watson be he has stunk it up until last night. Napier can provide shots but average point guards school him. But, he has moments in small quick lineups and against backup combo guards who are forced to play PG. Even with an unreliable shot Payton is by far our best distributor and traditional PG, people just expect the more modern high scorer which he isn't. He's a 10-12 point guy and may hit 15 ppg one day. He is a guy we want triple doubles and low turnovers from. The only issue is he must have shooters or consistent scorers around him. You need to give him the ball and do not play him with poor shooting or he will be forced to shoot. Everyone is expecting too much too soon. He essentially missed the whole preseason people! Also look at her counter-point each game:

 

John Wall- All-Star, High scorer, super quick

Russell Westbrook- Superstar (Top 3 player), High scorer

Ty Lawson- All-Star caliber, very good all around and runs next to James Harden who you can't breathe on

Derrick Rose- Former MVP, very skilled and still strong as can be

Kyle Lowry- All-Star, High scorer, quick and draws fouls like crazy

 

Other than New Orleans and the pressure playing in front of family that came with, he has had probably all top ten PGs to play against and they are All-Star players. Let him get going a bit before bailing. And he was, what , one rebound from a triple-double in one game Give the man a chance in a brand new offense and defense.

 

If we keep up the effort and Dedmon doesn't foul too much early we will beat Philly.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

Well this is a good opportunity for Payton tonight against a not all that talented point guard ( though McConnell does hustle a lot)

[magicjed23 12]

About the plus/minus stat, if a player is in the game and the other 2 guard nails 3 pull up threes and you're not even covering him, everyone on the court goes -9. If your starters give up a 7 point run and the bench comes back, and the starters keep it within a point after that, the starters go -6 and the subs go +7.

 

Basically depending on substitutions and scoring runs it can be seriously distorted and often totally useless.

 

In a game of runs, every NBA game, it's hard to learn anything from. Just hope the people who think this stat is everything realize how little it means unless the starters or same 5 players play all game. You should see how the player got that +/- before you judge.