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Fultz4thewin

2019-2020 Official Regular Season Thread

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I've been thinking for a while about why we are so inconsistent on offense right now, and why Clifford takes the ball out of Fultz's hands when DJ is on the floor - and I think I am finally beginning to see it. He is playing for the end of the season, looking to close as we did last year. It all comes down to point guard play and the continuity/familiarity with the guys on the floor. We talked about the fact that we brought so many guys back this year, but we have ignored the major change, which is the point guard position and who is initiating the offense, and playing with whom. 

DJ spent last year, and training camp playing with the starters, and that meant the majority of his minutes were focused on how to play with Fournier, Gordon, Isaac, and Vucevic. Fultz didn't play last year, or in training camp, and there haven't been a lot of full practices since the season started. He is now starting, and Clifford has him focusing on how to play with the rest of the starters. DJ is now having to learn how to play with the bench players, who all have different strengths/weaknesses than the starters; and who need the ball in different ways/positions. I think Clifford is focusing on getting DJ those reps now, since he didn't get them previously. I don't think it is so much taking the ball away from Fultz, as it is trying to acclimate DJ to his new role, and who he is on the floor with. I think the injuries to MCW and Aminu have thrown his rotations, and that we would see a lot less of Fultz and DJ together if MCW/Aminu were healthy. Not having Aminu means less of Gordon with the bench guys, and not having MCW throws off his PG/wing rotations. Less Gordon/no MCW means the secondary ball handler/offensive initiator is missing from the bench squad. I am beginning to think he is avoiding some short-term, "obvious" moves because he is trying to build for his longer-term roles. 

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16 minutes ago, jmmagicfan said:

I've been thinking for a while about why we are so inconsistent on offense right now, and why Clifford takes the ball out of Fultz's hands when DJ is on the floor - and I think I am finally beginning to see it. He is playing for the end of the season, looking to close as we did last year. It all comes down to point guard play and the continuity/familiarity with the guys on the floor. We talked about the fact that we brought so many guys back this year, but we have ignored the major change, which is the point guard position and who is initiating the offense, and playing with whom. 

DJ spent last year, and training camp playing with the starters, and that meant the majority of his minutes were focused on how to play with Fournier, Gordon, Isaac, and Vucevic. Fultz didn't play last year, or in training camp, and there haven't been a lot of full practices since the season started. He is now starting, and Clifford has him focusing on how to play with the rest of the starters. DJ is now having to learn how to play with the bench players, who all have different strengths/weaknesses than the starters; and who need the ball in different ways/positions. I think Clifford is focusing on getting DJ those reps now, since he didn't get them previously. I don't think it is so much taking the ball away from Fultz, as it is trying to acclimate DJ to his new role, and who he is on the floor with. I think the injuries to MCW and Aminu have thrown his rotations, and that we would see a lot less of Fultz and DJ together if MCW/Aminu were healthy. Not having Aminu means less of Gordon with the bench guys, and not having MCW throws off his PG/wing rotations. Less Gordon/no MCW means the secondary ball handler/offensive initiator is missing from the bench squad. I am beginning to think he is avoiding some short-term, "obvious" moves because he is trying to build for his longer-term roles. 

Yeah. Most of what we're doing is trying to build long term sustainability for better or worse. 

Vucevic and Fournier played 31:42 in a 4 point game that ballooned to a 17 point game when they went out. Neither guy was in foul trouble. If we were playing the results we would have played them 38 minutes. 

We're definitely trying to let guys work though mistakes so we can go on another late season run and if we were faltering instead of just parked in the 8th spot I think we'd see more drastic moves being made. 

It's definitely debatable whether this is a good or a bad thing but this is definitely intentional. 

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58 minutes ago, Fultz4thewin said:

Yeah. Most of what we're doing is trying to build long term sustainability for better or worse. 

Vucevic and Fournier played 31:42 in a 4 point game that ballooned to a 17 point game when they went out. Neither guy was in foul trouble. If we were playing the results we would have played them 38 minutes. 

We're definitely trying to let guys work though mistakes so we can go on another late season run and if we were faltering instead of just parked in the 8th spot I think we'd see more drastic moves being made. 

It's definitely debatable whether this is a good or a bad thing but this is definitely intentional. 

Hmmmmm yeah I’ll definitely plant my flag on the “that’s a really dumb strategy” side of the debate. 

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2 hours ago, ML6 said:

Hmmmmm yeah I’ll definitely plant my flag on the “that’s a really dumb strategy” side of the debate. 

I will second you on that. We are not 'parked' in the 8th spot. We have one more win than Chicago and Charlotte and only two more than Detroit. I don't remotely believe for one second that the coaching team are doing this now in the hopes of 'going on a late season run'. Trying new things and playing starters smaller minutes is what you do when you're an elite team and a lock for the playoffs, we are neither.

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43 minutes ago, crisby pancakes said:

I will second you on that. We are not 'parked' in the 8th spot. We have one more win than Chicago and Charlotte and only two more than Detroit. I don't remotely believe for one second that the coaching team are doing this now in the hopes of 'going on a late season run'. Trying new things and playing starters smaller minutes is what you do when you're an elite team and a lock for the playoffs, we are neither.

We have played one of the most difficult schedules so far this season. Charlotte, Chicago, and Brooklyn have played three of the easiest. Don't be surprised if we do go on a late season run.

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3 hours ago, crisby pancakes said:

I will second you on that. We are not 'parked' in the 8th spot. We have one more win than Chicago and Charlotte and only two more than Detroit. I don't remotely believe for one second that the coaching team are doing this now in the hopes of 'going on a late season run'. Trying new things and playing starters smaller minutes is what you do when you're an elite team and a lock for the playoffs, we are neither.

I don't necessarily think it's smart either but I guarantee you that we're trying to keep everyone fresh for games at the end of the season. 

And we're pretty well entrenched in the 8th spot right now. We might only have 1-2 more wins than some of these teams but we have 2-4 fewer losses. That's a pretty big gap. It's not something that can change overnight. 

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I think the fact that we seem content to be locked into the 8th seed is pretty lame. So the goal is basically to make the playoffs and get destroyed? That’s why we resigned Vuch and Ross? Pathetic 

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14 minutes ago, magicblue said:

I think the fact that we seem content to be locked into the 8th seed is pretty lame. So the goal is basically to make the playoffs and get destroyed? That’s why we resigned Vuch and Ross? Pathetic 

Who's content? Surely no one on this board. What evidence do we have that management is content? In the short time they've been here we have improved significantly. 

It's amazing how impatient some people are. I have no doubt we will make a move. Let's let the move happen. 

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1 hour ago, TheNameIsOrlando said:

Who's content? Surely no one on this board. What evidence do we have that management is content? In the short time they've been here we have improved significantly. 

It's amazing how impatient some people are. I have no doubt we will make a move. Let's let the move happen. 

It’s been an 8 year rebuild and we still have a mediocre team that might grab the 7-8th seed. Any long term fan of this team has a right to be a little impatient at this point. This includes losing patience with Clifford’s rotations and minutes that our key players are getting. This team isn’t going on a deep playoff run. There’s no reason to limit their minutes to save them for anything in particular 

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