MAGIC @ Spurs Official Game Thread 8.30 EST

[JJZFL 618]

4 minutes ago, MagicFanDan said:

True, but they should be a significant upgrade compared to some of the guys playing tonight. 

I agree.  I just have concerns about how quickly some of them can come back, and how effective they will be when they do, and how long it may take for them to get back up to speed, and if they are able to do so.

[TreyMachine 395]

Playing with space and the pass involves understanding an offensive system. My question is what is the system and how good are they at implementing it?

it’s one game. Most of these guys haven’t played significant minutes with each other. They are still trying to figure out their roles. It will hopefully gel with time. 

[Jay Magic 1,233]

10 minutes ago, JJZFL said:

I think it's more like realism vs pie in the sky optimism.  We have the worst record in the NBA over the past 10 years and you've been consistently optimistic about us the entire time.  At some point it's just detached from reality.

You will still have something to moan about when we are successful guaranteed. We will talk about pie in the sky optimism when we are at full strength....until then u can enjoy all of this for sure

[JJZFL 618]

3 minutes ago, Jay Magic said:

You will still have something to moan about when we are successful guaranteed. We will talk about pie in the sky optimism when we are at full strength....until then u can enjoy all of this for sure

I don't enjoy this at all.  I just want this team to finally get better.  To me that means honestly assessing our weaknesses so we can improve on them.  I've never heard you advocate for tanking so I think we're mostly on the same page there.

Huge discrepancy in +/- this game, btw.  Starters were mostly ok, Carter and Bamba actually both positive.  Ross was a shocking -32.

[crisby pancakes 126]

1 minute ago, TreyMachine said:

Playing with space and the pass involves understanding an offensive system. My question is what is the system and how good are they at implementing it?

it’s one game. Most of these guys haven’t played significant minutes with each other. They are still trying to figure out their roles. It will hopefully gel with time. 

Yep, might not be till after the all star break that you see some genuine improvements, were some positives out there though. Franz was really solid on his debut, you can see a decent player there if he can develop that 3 point shot.

There was one thing that was unacceptable for me tonight though and that was the lack of boxing out. We are in for a long season if they don't do the basics. Really poor all night with it.

[All Eyes On Me 1,196]

I think we can safely put to bed any of the talk that Markelle Fultz isn’t tiers above Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony and RJ Hampton. Cole especially didn’t look like an NBA player tonight.

Good games from Mo, WCJ and Franz. It’s gonna be a long year y’all 

[MagicFanDan 121]

11 minutes ago, JJZFL said:

I agree.  I just have concerns about how quickly some of them can come back, and how effective they will be when they do, and how long it may take for them to get back up to speed, and if they are able to do so.

Only time will tell. 

[harley 61]

Franz is gonna be really good. Not concerned with Suggs, we got a great core of Bamba can take a leap. Cole and RJ just stink. Ball stoppers. 

[Natesroom 197]

10 minutes ago, harley said:

Franz is gonna be really good. Not concerned with Suggs, we got a great core of Bamba can take a leap. Cole and RJ just stink. Ball stoppers. 

I disagree Hampton would be much better if he wasnt paired with cole

[Mauro Pedrosa 1,031]

Money-hungry Bamba is a very good player

[CTMagicUK 1,476]

Turned the game off after 3 quarters. Thoughts:

At present the best offensive player on this team is still Terrence Ross. 

Suggs has a long way to go to be even a positive offensive player let alone a star. His handle is dreadful. He's tough and strong and has fast hands so I'm not worried about him impacting the game on defense and in transition. I'm excited to see how he develops though.

Franz Wagner is good. His jumper looks worse than it did in college though, hopefully this is a step back in order to take two steps forward down the line. But he just fits in as a smart 6'8 guy who can move his feet, pass and cut add in hopefully being a very good shooter by the end of his rookie contract and that's a really good player.

WCJ is not a 4 and the sooner we get back Okeke or Isaac at the 4 the better. He is a good player though and even if he doesn't improve at all his contract is good.

RJ Hampton is a 3. This might be a controversial take considering he's still slender and he's not like 6'8 but I don't think anybody benefits when he handles the ball (except in transition when he can be a blur) and he needs to focus on spotting up, attacking closeouts and cutting in the half court.

Mo Bamba certainly looks like a much more motivated player and he was pretty good overall but his inability to post up smaller dudes and getting bodied by offensive rebounders is rough. If you want WCJ and Bamba to work as a tandem Bamba has to be better against smaller guys because most teams would probably rather battle WCJ with their big man on defense since he's more physical. 

I don't have a lot of faith in Cole being a starting PG long term. I like his energy and effort and he can certainly get buckets but he has to do so much with his handle to get anywhere. Like he needs a screen and 4 dribble moves to gain even the smallest advantage. I hope for him (and us) he becomes a really good spot up shooter so he can fit into a role with less creation burden.

I like some of the stuff we saw from the team scheme wise on offense. Definitely felt like less of a reliance on flat pick and roll compared to Clifford and hopefully we'll build up more wrinkles as everyone gets more familiar. Defense didn't look good really but it was always going to be hard with a Bamba/WCJ frontcourt.

This feels like its a really negative post but I'm mostly trying not to get sucked in by hype and excitement and give an honest assessment. It might be a long season but it's hard to say how we'll look 30 games from now given the players we might have back by then plus familiarity and development.

I'm excited to have Magic basketball back. Roll on Friday.

 

[CTMagicUK 1,476]

Yknow I've just seen that the Bamba/WCJ minutes have really good ratings (tiny sample size) that's surprising to me because I didn't really feel that way watching it but I guess I might just be wrong about that? Maybe it can work? (Or maybe it's just small sample sizes and I'm overthinking it)