Gamethread : Wizards vs Magic

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

Payton- Fournier- green- ibaka-biyombo worked fine.

 

Payton- Augustin- Gordon- biyombo- Vucevic worked fine

 

Augustin- Fournier- Gordon- ibaka- biyombo worked fine.

 

The starting lineup sucked.

 

Also Augustin- Fournier- Gordon- ibaka- Vucevic for whatever reason

[magicjed23 12]

Right. So let's say tomorrow a team doctor realized Payton needs glasses and it improves his shot so that he's a 37% three point shooter.

 

Even after that do we think he's the long term answer? Is mentality improvable? You see this sometimes with young players on great veteran teams where they have to be prodded to take over.

 

But can he improve when he's been given every opportunity for it to be his team and he still has these issues?

Yes he is.

 

If mentality is not improvable why do we have psychologists? And how did Gordon completely change his attitude after meeting a Sports Psychologist? Yes, he wasn't always this way like we want to think he was born this way. Why do so many swear by it?

 

These players are very young adults. Every person above 30 knows that people change alot in their early 20's. And, there are endless ways one can develop a more beneficial mentality.

 

Last year Payton was hot or cold. I will also remind you that he didn't fit the offense and played for a coach that tried making him a shooter onl. Payton did go 2-3 games between good performances. At times he was lost and at times he had it all together. That was only his 2nd year of a likely minimum of 15 years he will likely play .

 

Look at this year now. He has probably had two 2 game stretches that weren't great and neither was the rest of the team. Now he is great for quarters or halves at a time and every 3rd game for both. He is becoming more consistent, and if we get other guards to threaten his starting job or even sit him down if he slacks. In all honesty though the games he plays bad might just be inconsistency performance wise. Maybe it's a product of having 4 coaches and 3 different offensive and defensive schemes in 3 seasons and not any mental deficiency. He has improved toward the end of each season so far, and maybe things will change for good by then. I feel we are just making that call far too soon. After all, he is playing the hardest position and getting better , and he outperforms Augustin and Gordon despite what this board thinks in general. Gordon is expected to score and shoots below 30% , that has nothing to do with position, and he was supposed to be good/average from distance when he came out. I only say that because if you really watch and break him down, Gordon shows no indication that he is as good or that he has more potential upside than EP. Payton is not nearly as expendable.

 

We took awhile to get the defense going. We might just need more time for our offense to pick up. We look to have the old Vooch back. The 3 is the biggest problem.

 

I'm wondering if playing every other day is keeping us from decent rest and good practice time. The Wiz had four days rest, we haven't been that lucky. Back-to-back games might not be so bad because it forces others to get minutes with everyone and you often get longer breaks. You can't really practice with games every other game abe well rested for games or road trips.

 

Just because he is not an undersized SG like many of today's popular point guards doesn't mean jack. He could play 15 years at his position. Look how long it took Steve Nash to be good and even Billups. Also ask Billups if you can change your mentality.

 

We are impatient as fans. Look, 5 years is not a long rebuild. Years ago the draft had 9-10 NBA ready players and usually 3 All-Stars. If you exclude the Lebron draft, we have maybe 4 NBA ready guys, and may 2 become difference making All-Stars within 4-5 years. There are teams that have been rebuilding for 8-9 or even more years and have done nothing. There have been teams stuck in mediocrity with nothing to do but blow it up and rebuild. Magic fans like us are spoiled by the early successes we had. That luck has evaded us during the current rebuild.

 

My rant: (I had a point until I realized that the Spurs had missed the playoffs 4 times total!, and I think I found a trade that would allow Sacto to help themselves and get us a go to guy)

Teams always say that they knew it all along when they draft a player who was not expected to be great and they become MVPs and All-Stars . Kahwi Leonard, Steph Curry, and many other team just get lucky. Then you have People like McHale and Ainge who give their former team lopsided deals for stars. Then you start seeing quality vets go championship chasing. And players going home to join another All-Star. Nobody has built a team in nearly 20 years without luck. You say Cleveland, they were the hometown team for Lebron, he leaves to make a super team who chose the coolest city they could, Cleveland ends up with amazing luck and gets Kyrie, and hits the lottery jackpot for a second and 3rd time. The team flips the #1 pick in a great top of the draft and spare parts for a 26 and 12 big man Kevin Love. Lebron comes home to finish his career. That took all luck and no skill. Oh you might say the Spurs. They were one last second change of heart from being nothing. A guy by the name David Robinson made the Spurs a contender his entire career. Also a guy named Sean Elliott and one Terry Porter are alongside him. As his career enters it's final chapter, Robinson is injured for the season and they end up with the top pick. Some guy named Tim Duncan. Robinson returns and they are contenders again. Robinson nears retirement and convinces Duncan to become the face of the franchise in the next year when Robinson will retire, instead of joining a Top 5 player, Grant Hill, (who has a relatively minor injury that all the experts expect a full recovery within a couple months). and a young upcoming star, Tracy McGrady in Orlando. The Spurs then draft a relatively unknown player from France late in the first round named Tony Parker, somehow get Argentinean soon to be star Manu Ginobili. Neither projected to become star players . Throw in a very skilled veteran in Robert Horry, and a guy named Danny Ferry. Constant replacing of aging players with very good vets including one Danny Ainge. Just read this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_Spurs and see all the players they have had. They have never had to rebuild because they have only missed the playoffs 4 times EVER. You basically have to get lucky to win in this league. You don't make luck. Shoot, I hated them, but after reading that, if you never want to rebuild be a Spurs fan. We just have to be patient . This dream that we can make our team like the Spurs is impossible. Sorry, but 5 years is not a long rebuild . Only dumb luck will speed things up. We used all of ours on Shaq, Penny, and Dwight. We may just be cursed. We low-balled the Universe and through off the whole destiny we had written in the stars by not recognizing the magnitude of our actions. Maybe DeVos is cursed. We will win the year after he passes. Maybe that is the problem . We are being teased by the cosmos. Everyone thrives after leaving. I don't know how it's possible to think this, but can we please have Channing Frye back? Someone take pity on us! Hell, I will settle for Rudy Gay, he is better than what we got. Ibaka (or Gordon), Green, and a 1st rounder for Gay and anything we have to take back, they get an expiring and a valuable trade chip to unload DMC to the highest bidder. Gordon to PF and keep Vucevic. Biyombo and Vooch can play D together oddly enough. It just balances the roster and basically means we got Gay for Dipo and a 1st. We really don't need Ibaka and Gordon. Maybe we can get Casspi out of it.

[Magicman28 295]

You wanna hear some ****

 

Our starting lineup had a net rating of -8.9

 

The next 7 most played lineups had positive net ratings

 

Augustin- Hezonja- Gordon- biyombo- Vucevic. A lineup that makes no *****ing sense, had an offensive rating of 101.1 and a defensive rating of 77.6

 

That lineup was good even by eye test standards. I figured it was going to have a good rating.

[Mauro Pedrosa 1,031]

We lost the game when Vogel put Green in and didn't get Gordon in again. That team is too athletic to rely on Green, AG at least gets us second shots.

 

Has anyone noticed that Gordon is open alot on alley-oops behind the defense and Augustin never passes to him. Payton makes that pass easy . Payton can be a top PG in this league if he gets the right coaching. And he is a starter in this league, he is an old school point though. In year 4 or 5, he will be an All-Star.

:svgsad:

 

You must live in an alternate reality