2023-2024 General Game Thread

[Phil4Real 45]

Great game last night, we managed to keep the lead all the game long, which was pretty awesome. Ok, Milwaukee didn't look so sharp (except for Giannis, of course) but we have to give credit to our guys.

I couldn't be prouder of Paolo and Franz just keep atacking after a bad last game vs. Atlanta, with total confidence. I'm really concerned about Markelle being out again tho, you can feel his absence in the pace of the game on the offense. I agree to the general feeling here about AB, he's great (a nightmare on defense). 

I think we could also use this game to evaluate in a fairer way our players and our team. I didn't watch live the Mexico City Game, because it was really late night here, but i watched it the morning after. Obviously i was frustrated in many ways, but when i came here in the forum i couldn't believe many of the comments about Paolo, Franz, Fultz, about the team all around. 

I mean, we have to understand that we have a core of very young players, who are already really good, but still too young and incline to struggle in high-pressure situations. We are gonna have several games of Paolo and Franz shooting poorly, but remember that we made them the faces of the franchise and because of that we'll have to live with the good and the bad moments during this process. In some cases the coaching staff can make moves to simplified the job for them, introducing new plays and distribute the roles better. I don't like a bit coming here and reading teenager-hater-stuff like i did the other night. I think we should do better too. Today we're not the best team in the world but yesterday we weren't the worst. 

 

[Albert Lergier 99]

12 hours ago, TreyMachine said:

We played an all around great game, though Milwaukee was far from full strength. There will be steps back (like Atlanta), but our core will continue to learn, grow, and get better together. 

Magic were also missing some "guns".....Markelle, Gary Harris and Wendell.

But that Bucks team is a mess right now.....starting with their rookie coach.

[MagicMan1979 105]

19 minutes ago, Phil4Real said:

Great game last night, we managed to keep the lead all the game long, which was pretty awesome. Ok, Milwaukee didn't look so sharp (except for Giannis, of course) but we have to give credit to our guys.

I couldn't be prouder of Paolo and Franz just keep atacking after a bad last game vs. Atlanta, with total confidence. I'm really concerned about Markelle being out again tho, you can feel his absence in the pace of the game on the offense. I agree to the general feeling here about AB, he's great (a nightmare on defense). 

I think we could also use this game to evaluate in a fairer way our players and our team. I didn't watch live the Mexico City Game, because it was really late night here, but i watched it the morning after. Obviously i was frustrated in many ways, but when i came here in the forum i couldn't believe many of the comments about Paolo, Franz, Fultz, about the team all around. 

I mean, we have to understand that we have a core of very young players, who are already really good, but still too young and incline to struggle in high-pressure situations. We are gonna have several games of Paolo and Franz shooting poorly, but remember that we made them the faces of the franchise and because of that we'll have to live with the good and the bad moments during this process. In some cases the coaching staff can make moves to simplified the job for them, introducing new plays and distribute the roles better. I don't like a bit coming here and reading teenager-hater-stuff like i did the other night. I think we should do better too. Today we're not the best team in the world but yesterday we weren't the worst. 

 

Great post!  It’s nice to see some perspective. There was way to much complaining on here after The Atlanta game.  Franz and Paolo are still so young (Happy Birthday Paolo). Both had bad shooting starts this year but are coming along nicely. Both are clearly better all around players compared to last year.  Suggs looks better as well.  AB looks like a great pick. Go Magic!

[Forumreader 10]

5-4 right now fellas

2-7 last year at this point 

lets go

[JJZFL 619]

13 hours ago, TreyMachine said:

We played an all around great game, though Milwaukee was far from full strength. There will be steps back (like Atlanta), but our core will continue to learn, grow, and get better together. 

I’m hard pressed to give full credence to a game (Atlanta, Mexico City) played at 7200 feet above sea level.  More like a survival contest than a basketball game.  I’m giving the Magic a pass on that one.

[O_SteveO 102]

Don’t look now, but Paolo leads the team in points, rebounds, and assists 

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

The Houston Rockets have won 6 games in a row including beating Denver last night. We may have played them at the right time.

[CTMagicUK 1,482]

Some interesting (small sample size) lineup stuff. 

Markelle has only played greater than 10 minutes with 2 lineups. 

The legit starters (Fultz-Suggs-Franz-Paolo-WCJ) and the non Wendell starters (same group replace WCJ with Goga). 

The legit starters group are +10.4 net rating in 78 mins.

The non Wendell starters are -36.2 net rating in 12 minutes. 

Suggests that there's a chance with the additional spacing Wendell offers (not loads but certainly more than Goga) Fultz and Paolo could survive together. 

Obviously we'll have to monitor the numbers as the sample size grows but interesting counter argument to my "Fultz is the odd one out" post I made a couple days ago. 

Also it's even smaller sample size stuff but we have a positive net rating in 94% of minutes AB and Joe Ingles share the floor together so far. Including their most played lineup together which is Black-Suggs-Ingles-Paolo-Goga, which has played 14 mins together and has a 42 net rating. 

[TreyMachine 398]

7 hours ago, CTMagicUK said:

The Houston Rockets have won 6 games in a row including beating Denver last night. We may have played them at the right time.

They're jelling. I wasn't a believer that they could work, but it's a decent balance. Their books are not going to be great in 2 years with what they paid Brooks and VanFleet, but right now, they look to have a good balance of athletic defense, shooting, and unselfishness. I don't know they get past the 1st round in a 7 game series, but they definitely look like they fit together a lot more than initially thought. 

[Jay Magic 1,247]

9 hours ago, CTMagicUK said:

The Houston Rockets have won 6 games in a row including beating Denver last night. We may have played them at the right time.

no we r better than them. we match up very well with them

[Phil4Real 45]

No Markelle and no GH tomorrow either. 

In BKN Cam Thomas and Ben Simmons missed the last games and they'll be probably out tomorrow too. I just feel we have a must-win game ahead of us

[ball junkie 277]

I know you guys like AB …me not so much …but the Fultz injury issues are very troublesome for our season outlook …not good imo