2025/26 NBA Regular Season Thread

[orlandoholic]

https://youtu.be/aE2cX8MMYPI?si=R2zTJXl5xp2_0viK

 

agree with this crew. Focused on Paolo specifically but they are spot on. 

[hootie249]

Watching the Knicks and Bulls, great matchup and should interest Magic fans!

[orlandoholic]

https://x.com/matt_infield/status/1985496039780921365?s=46

 

This answer by Iisalo holds a lot of value also for the Magic. Obtains we are in that same struggle as we want to play an ultra fast pace, but it requires so much willingness and team first mentality. 

But what Iisalo ultimately will fail at. the NBA and their players feed of awards and recognition. The players are conditioned to want to make individual history, that they are not open for this approach. 

 

Iisalo is a great coach, but he won’t be able to have success with go to All Star players with this approach. But i’d be so interested to see what he can do with talent around him that don’t primarily chase individual records and numbers. 

[Luke_FfS]

https://www.theringer.com/2025/11/04/nba/paolo-banchero-orlando-magic-shooting-midrange

[hootie249]

Nah, i'm still on the blame the coaching narrative. From my own eye test Paolo can be a little selfish at times. But the situations he gets put in leads to his inefficiency. I'm sorry this team currently has more talent on it then we have had in years. They must figure it out. They have too. 

[CTMagicUK]

1 hour ago, hootie249 said:

Nah, i'm still on the blame the coaching narrative. From my own eye test Paolo can be a little selfish at times. But the situations he gets put in leads to his inefficiency. I'm sorry this team currently has more talent on it then we have had in years. They must figure it out. They have too. 

I'm with you in that ultimately the coaching needs to be better. 

But I do think it's fair to level reasonable criticism at a guy the team is paying 260 million dollars to be it's leader. 

[hootie249]

 

I hope you all enjoy Basketball and not just the Magic.

I was home and wasn't going to watch my team because i sensed a let down. So about 3 minutes into the fourth i turned on a stream. Being the Magic, of course it's like a trainwreck with that 11-0 run. Starting with missed Anthony Black dunk, something not mentioned in the game thread, all this insanity ensued! Magic game was a roller coaster ride, but i also caught the end of a couple of these other games.

That Heat ending was insane! Also i am fascinated by the Bulls and Spurs ending. Literal back and forth game and in the last minute they just ISO Wemby and he walks down the court and shoots two 3's like Curry. I mean, WTF you going to do against that?

 

Also Cade Cunningham misses 31 shots and still dominates the game!

Although he was bailed out by some guy named Danis Jenkins hitting 2 trey's back to back but still!

Next time one of our guys misses a few shots got to post a meme of Cade saying "those are rookie numbers!" 

The NBA FOLKS!

[orlandoholic]

https://x.com/iqfor3/status/1989493595003584925?s=46

 

NBA refs are just bad at their job lol

[Jay Magic]

 

[Luke_FfS]

It's almost one week old, so it's a bit more negative than the point we are now, but here's Lowe talking Magic again, with a few interesting observations.

https://youtu.be/BTQ6AQD_QUY?si=UpSpVkl_nknkz79d&t=1582

Overall, considering the bad start, I believe it's good to have a positive record again, even if the schedule and our own expectations were more about a 9-4 start than a 7-6 one.

There're still some red flags as commented in the video, but also bright spots (WCJ shooting as well as that is a key to our spacing and system, Tristan is having a great, great start building on his summer tournament and AB sometimes shows signs of the player we'll need for have a stron playoff rotation, even if consistency is key here). Franz being Franz with much better 3p% it's a great place to be.

I'm not overly worried by Bane, he's already improving and I really hope it's just about time his % come back to the solid ones he had on his career. We need a lot more from Jones and Isaac, but the two situations are pretty different IMO. The former looks terrible right now, but it's a veteran (maybe his body is not 100% right now?) and he should be ok for his role. If not, it's one year rental and a possible trade chip. JI... I've always loved him, remember when he was a nightmare for every offense, but he's getting older and each year those hopes are fading away. Bad part with him is the contract, that is a big negative right now. We gave him a big check and overpay in the previous extension, and given his health and injury status, the next contract should have been a friendly one for the team. And it's clearly not, a bad decision by FO. Hopes live forever, but at this point envisioning him being the player he was... it's probably just a dream.

[Luke_FfS]

Detroit is just a case of big casual rising that will not last long (only two years ago they had the worst losing streak of the history if I remember correctly) or they're here to stay in the open East?

Actually they have won a few games even without a lot of starters.

(talking about absences... Atlanta going 7-2 without Trae: is this something? :P)

[hootie249]

Detroit has changed the culture big time! They have quietly assembled many parts that do exactly what they wanted them to do! Duren,Stuart,Holland,Thompson and now Jenkins and Green. All talented, and they fit together. And Duren looks like he might be a star as well.

Even with Cade out who was sometimes the entire offense, they are having no trouble scoring and the defense is remaining. All this while skillfully switching the vets they bring in, last year it was Tobias and Beasly and this year it's Caris and Robinson.

And here is a big thing not doubling down on mistakes. It's looking like Ivey might be a bust, or at least the odd man out.

But notice they didn't extend him, they didn't extend Duren either but who cares! If he really is what he has shown this year they can match any offer. By not doubling down on a mistake and offering a contract just because(See, Murray on the Kings at 140 million) they won't have to worry about extending Ausar and Duren. 

Either way they have made combo moves to change the culture, fire a coach with lots of years left, bring in Vets on short term deals and keep looking for talent like Jenkins and Reed. Not settling. Moving on from some players. They look like the real deal.