Magic @ Raptors - Wednesday, Nov. 20th at 7:30 P.M.

[TrueMagicFan07 672]

10 minutes ago, Fultz4thewin said:

How many very good starting centers are there?

Let me get back to you on that, please. I have to go through the teams online because I don't know some of their names but I have seen them play.  :)

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

7 minutes ago, TrueMagicFan07 said:

Let me get back to you on that, please. I have to go through the teams online because I don't know some of their names but I have seen them play.  :)

I'm only definitely worried about Drummond, embiid, and Whiteside against Birch. 

I can see Capela and Gobert maybe causing problems but I'm not really sure because I don't know how active they'd be on the offensive end. Not like they're going to post up. Towns is also in the same category. He's not really a center with a power game so I'm not sure if he'd abuse Birch or if Birch would do fine defending him on the perimeter and boxing him out on the offensive glass. 

The other guys are mostly finesse athletes. Birch can handle finesse. 

[TrueMagicFan07 672]

16 minutes ago, Fultz4thewin said:

How many very good starting centers are there?

B/R NBA Player Rankings: Top 15 Centers for 2019-20

  1.  Nikola Jokic

 2. Joel Embiid

 3.  Karl Anthony-Townes

 4.  Rudy Gobert

 5.  LaMarcus Aldridge

 6.  Kristaps Porzingis

 7.  Andre Drummond

 8.  Myles Turner

 9.  Nikola Vucevic

10. Steven Adams

11. Marc Gasol

12.  Brook Lopez

13.  Clint Capela

14. Jonas Valanciunas

15.  Deandre Ayton

Edit:  Dwight Howard is playing pretty well with the Lakers

THERE YOU GO!

Link  https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2858459-br-nba-player-rankings-top-15-centers-for-2019-20#slide1

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7 minutes ago, Fultz4thewin said:

I'm only definitely worried about Drummond, embiid, and Whiteside against Birch. 

I can see Capela and Gobert maybe causing problems but I'm not really sure because I don't know how active they'd be on the offensive end. Not like they're going to post up. Towns is also in the same category. He's not really a center with a power game so I'm not sure if he'd abuse Birch or if Birch would do fine defending him on the perimeter and boxing him out on the offensive glass. 

The other guys are mostly finesse athletes. Birch can handle finesse. 

Eh, I don’t know. I think playing Indy is going to be trial by fire for Birch and Bamba. Sabonis had a good game against us last time, and I feel like Turner usually is pretty good against us. I could see Indy just destroying us at the center position.

 

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

22 minutes ago, 3rd Quarter Collapse said:

Eh, I don’t know. I think playing Indy is going to be trial by fire for Birch and Bamba. Sabonis had a good game against us last time, and I feel like Turner usually is pretty good against us. I could see Indy just destroying us at the center position.

 

Eh. I don't know if they're going to have demonstrably different games than normal just because Birch is defending them. That's more of what I'm talking about. 

[JJZFL 619]

2 hours ago, TrueMagicFan07 said:

I agree. I posted the same sentiment/belief before. He is okay playing against backup centers, but he is not going to make a difference against a lot of very good starting centers in the league, especially playing more minutes than he plays as a backup. And please don't tell me, again, about how well he played last season when Vuch was injured. This is a whole different season. 

This is misguided.  Birch will do fine defensively.  He doesn’t get pushed around easily, he’s faster than Vuch, and he has excellent defensive footwork.  None of what I just said applies to Bamba, though.  I’m hoping Birch starts and gets the majority of the minutes 

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1 minute ago, JJZFL said:

This is misguided.  Birch will do fine defensively.  He doesn’t get pushed around easily, he’s faster than Vuch, and he has excellent defensive footwork.  None of what I just said applies to Bamba, though.  I’m hoping Birch starts and gets the majority of the minutes 

Birch got pushed around pretty easily by Gasol in the post. I’m more worried about spacing with Birch, though, and that’s somewhat compounded by Iwundu being on the court as well. We’ll be fine defensively with either, it’s about how we replace Vuc’s shots and efficiency. Playing at a higher tempo will help, but it’s going to be a cramped paint. 

[~O~ 565]

Joel Embiid is the toughest center in the league.  The center position is so thin and there's not that classic 2000's toughness 

 

[Just a regular Magic fan 38]

2 hours ago, TrueMagicFan07 said:

B/R NBA Player Rankings: Top 15 Centers for 2019-20

  1.  Nikola Jokic

 2. Joel Embiid

 3.  Karl Anthony-Townes

 4.  Rudy Gobert

 5.  LaMarcus Aldridge

 6.  Kristaps Porzingis

 7.  Andre Drummond

 8.  Myles Turner

 9.  Nikola Vucevic

10. Steven Adams

11. Marc Gasol

12.  Brook Lopez

13.  Clint Capela

14. Jonas Valanciunas

15.  Deandre Ayton

Edit:  Dwight Howard is playing pretty well with the Lakers

THERE YOU GO!

Link  https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2858459-br-nba-player-rankings-top-15-centers-for-2019-20#slide1

Reading their other rankings, I noticed AG is their #12 small forward. Other than AG and Vooch, none of our guys made the lists. I look for Fultz and JI to make some noise so next time we will hopefully see them. Woot!

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

34 minutes ago, 3rd Quarter Collapse said:

Birch got pushed around pretty easily by Gasol in the post. I’m more worried about spacing with Birch, though, and that’s somewhat compounded by Iwundu being on the court as well. We’ll be fine defensively with either, it’s about how we replace Vuc’s shots and efficiency. Playing at a higher tempo will help, but it’s going to be a cramped paint. 

Gasol scored 2 points and got 1 rebound in the 14 minutes he shared with Birch

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1 hour ago, Fultz4thewin said:

Gasol scored 2 points and got 1 rebound in the 14 minutes he shared with Birch

Gasol also only attempted two field goals, one of which was a three— Gasol isn’t a prominent part of Toronto’s offense, so him having that line is as indicative of Birch being good against traditional centers as it is the amount of opportunities Gasol gets within Toronto’s offense.

Either way, I was just pointing out a specific play where Birch struggled against size. Teams don’t use post ups since they’re typically inefficient and all that, so it’s not a concern for me, but I don’t think we can definitively say Birch isn’t going to get bullied or pushed around by more traditional centers.

[OnlyFranz 291]

10 hours ago, 3rd Quarter Collapse said:

Gasol also only attempted two field goals, one of which was a three— Gasol isn’t a prominent part of Toronto’s offense, so him having that line is as indicative of Birch being good against traditional centers as it is the amount of opportunities Gasol gets within Toronto’s offense.

Either way, I was just pointing out a specific play where Birch struggled against size. Teams don’t use post ups since they’re typically inefficient and all that, so it’s not a concern for me, but I don’t think we can definitively say Birch isn’t going to get bullied or pushed around by more traditional centers.

I’ve never seen Birch being bullied by a center in all the games I’ve watched him play. What he lacks for in height he makes up with strength and athleticism. While I am concerned a little with spacing Birch actually showed 3 point range in the offseason/preseason. Not saying he’s a threat out there but if he can hit open 3’s and bring that all around hustle I think we will be a better team because of it.