Game #1 Orlando Magic at New Orleans Pelicans 10/28 8PM ET

BadMofoPimp · Post #1341 » by **BadMofoPimp** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 3:15 pm

I think Mo is much better than Bum Garbage and Willie Green while he might even be just as good if not better than Fournier (currently). Thus, it baffles me that Harkless was not in there with his length to help disrupt the defense or help out on some of those fast breaks or help defense on the bigs at times. I think Nicholson could have made a difference last night. Just baffles me how bad Vaughn was as a coach last night. I expected him to prove me wrong.

tooler · Post #1342 » by **tooler** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 3:26 pm

Our second string feasted early in preseason but they've looked bad the last 4 games or so. Maybe they aren't as good as we thought.

It will help to shift them down when Frye and Oladipo return.

thelead · Post #1343 » by **thelead** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 3:28 pm

purpleswordfish wrote:So, are there still people out there who think that this is a playoff team? Sorry, had to throw that out there for all the offseason homer posts..

Yeah. It's still a possibility, although the injuries are really killing the small likelihood.

Blue_and_Whte · Post #1344 » by **Blue_and_Whte** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 3:29 pm

BadMofoPimp wrote:I think Mo is much better than Bum Garbage and Willie Green while he might even be just as good if not better than Fournier (currently). Thus, it baffles me that Harkless was not in there with his length to help disrupt the defense or help out on some of those fast breaks or help defense on the bigs at times. I think Nicholson could have made a difference last night. Just baffles me how bad Vaughn was as a coach last night. I expected him to prove me wrong.

The rotations are fluid, they have to be unless Vaughn is in tank mode. We get nothing from Forunier, BG, or Willie Green that's better than what Nicholson or Harkless bring.

OrlandO · Post #1345 » by **OrlandO** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 3:35 pm

I believe Vaughn said a week or so ago we would see different rotations depending on the opponent int he regular season. I assume this is even more the case while dipo/frye are out. Harkless probably would have played if the pelicans weren't so small from 1-3.

mhectorgato · Post #1346 » by **mhectorgato** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 3:44 pm

purpleswordfish wrote:and there was Fournier's weird ponytail.

I thought it was just me.

Blue_and_Whte · Post #1347 » by **Blue_and_Whte** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 3:51 pm

OrlandO wrote:I believe Vaughn said a week or so ago we would see different rotations depending on the opponent int he regular season. I assume this is even more the case while dipo/frye are out. Harkless probably would have played if the pelicans weren't so small from 1-3.

Yeah...I guess. Just doesnt seems like a smart decision.

Driguez · Post #1348 » by **Driguez** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 4:41 pm

So has everyone settled down? Good.

tooler · Post #1349 » by **tooler** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 4:56 pm

Driguez wrote:So has everyone settled down? Good.

Ben Gordon was blocked by Jimmer.

mhectorgato · Post #1350 » by **mhectorgato** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:07 pm

Driguez wrote:So has everyone settled down? Good.

Granted it's only 1 game out of 82, but it was a less than impressive to start to a season we've been waiting, what seems like forever, for.

And it's RealGM, where overreactions and petty arguments thrive.

OrlDave · Post #1351 » by **OrlDave** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:11 pm

JBSouthpaw wrote:
OrlDave wrote:
KingRobb02 wrote:I would like to point out that the Pelicans' 7-8-9 guys are Salmons, Rivers, and Jimmer. We should have destroyed their bench.

Our 6-9 in this game were Ben Gordon, Luke Ridnour, Aaron Gordon and Dwayne Dedmon. Other than AG who isn't polished yet, how are those 4 better than Salmons/Rivers/Jimmer? Once Dipo and Frye get back, then yes our bench will destroy theirs.

And really it boils down to Ryan Anderson. He's the best non-starter on either team by a lot.

Not sure of your point. My point was, N.O. has more time playing their key players together. Which should reduce turnovers, and missed defensive assignments. Which those 2 were our major problems last night.

Agree when Frye and VO get back, that our sub-package gets a lot better.

On a different note, I thought Dedmon came in and did fine in his short minutes.

You misquote? I was replying to Robb about why our bench didn't destroy their bench. The answer is, Ryan Anderson alone was better and more impactful last night than our entire second unit.

p0peye · Post #1352 » by **p0peye** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:20 pm

FInally some meaningful games.

npiper17 · Post #1353 » by **npiper17** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:20 pm

I noticed this last year with Jacque. He's always so keen to match us up with our opponents eg taking Nicholson out after his stellar first half against the Pacers in the season opener last year so he wasn't matched up with David West.

Shouldn't we also be trying to create matchup problems for the other team to think about? Nicholson could have made hay in the post against an average defender in Ryno. Harkless could have posted up either Eric Gordon or Jimmer to give the offence a different look for a possession or two.

I don't see why we should always be the ones doing the 'adjusting.'

OrlChamps2030 · Post #1354 » by **OrlChamps2030** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:28 pm

ryno putting this thing away while putting up a nice 22/9 when frye was on the bench injured made me grin. im happy for ryno though, seems like he is in a really nice situation. we got dominated last night, we really need oladipo and frye back

tooler · Post #1355 » by **tooler** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:31 pm

npiper17 wrote:I noticed this last year with Jacque. He's always so keen to match us up with our opponents eg taking Nicholson out after his stellar first half against the Pacers in the season opener last year so he wasn't matched up with David West.

Shouldn't we also be trying to create matchup problems for the other team to think about? Nicholson could have made hay in the post against an average defender in Ryno. Harkless could have posted up either Eric Gordon or Jimmer to give the offence a different look for a possession or two.

I don't see why we should always be the ones doing the 'adjusting.'

New Orleans is going to be difficult to match up with even if you want to take the initiative. Normally I'd like to go small against two bigs, but JV actually made the right prediction here: playing a second big to grab rebounds against their 3 front court guys. Only problem? KOQ was awful and the dribble penetration didn't help.

The bigger problem was on offense when we failed to exploit individual matchups that were right in front of us on the court. JV didn't even need to change the plan or sub anyone in. He or the players simply needed to recognize the opportunities to take on poor defenders like Ryan Anderson and Austin Rivers.

LedeniZZZ · Post #1356 » by **LedeniZZZ** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:39 pm

136 pages. Wow people are really hungry to watch some games.

ezzzp · Post #1357 » by **ezzzp** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:46 pm

npiper17 wrote:I noticed this last year with Jacque. He's always so keen to match us up with our opponents eg taking Nicholson out after his stellar first half against the Pacers in the season opener last year so he wasn't matched up with David West.

Shouldn't we also be trying to create matchup problems for the other team to think about? Nicholson could have made hay in the post against an average defender in Ryno. Harkless could have posted up either Eric Gordon or Jimmer to give the offence a different look for a possession or two.

I don't see why we should always be the ones doing the 'adjusting.'

This is what annoyed me about last nights game - not that we lost - but that we lost playing conservatively. This team should be loose playing with a nothing to lose demeanor but the rotations were predictable and innefective and JV never adjusted.

I understand O'Quinn starting and he just had a terrible game. I even understand Fournier starting to stretch the floor and help with ball handling. But it was pretty clear in the first quarter that they were dominating the paint and that we needed extra length and defense to slow them. Vuc and Harris were holding us in the offense - we just needed help on the boards.

So JV's answer is to throw in old man Ridnour and zero defense Gordon. That was terrible. Even if that was the rotation pregame he needed to adapt to real world conditions. It was obvious that they were killing us in the switches and that we needed help rebounding. Meanwhile 6-10 Harkless a solid perimeter defender/rebounder who btw can also spread the floor was sitting on the bench...

I have been giving JV a pass, but last night's biggest mistakes were his.

ezzzp · Post #1358 » by **ezzzp** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:53 pm

Zmill wrote:ryno putting this thing away while putting up a nice 22/9 when frye was on the bench injured made me grin. im happy for ryno though, seems like he is in a really nice situation. we got dominated last night, we really need oladipo and frye back

we didn't get dominated - we got out coached...when your longest wing defender, that can defend multiple positions and is a solid rebounder from the perimeter while also stretching the floor, is sitting on the bench when you are getting killed by switches, penetration and rebounding...well that is just bad coaching. There was absolutely no need for B Gordon to be on the floor

OrlandoNed · Post #1359 » by **OrlandoNed** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:55 pm

tooler wrote:New Orleans is going to be difficult to match up with even if you want to take the initiative. Normally I'd like to go small against two bigs, but JV actually made the right prediction here: playing a second big to grab rebounds against their 3 front court guys. Only problem? KOQ was awful and the dribble penetration didn't help.

The bigger problem was on offense when we failed to exploit individual matchups that were right in front of us on the court. JV didn't even need to change the plan or sub anyone in. He or the players simply needed to recognize the opportunities to take on poor defenders like Ryan Anderson and Austin Rivers.

On your first point: I agree with you that JV made the right choice starting O' Quinn. We needed Kyle's size on the glass to deal with Asik and Davis but he failed miserably. He gave up so many rebounds by letting himself get pushed around or by not trying to box out at all and he failed to help Vucevic protect the paint. He spent way to much time trying to facilitate and he screwed up several times doing that with some poor passes that resulted in turnovers. He needed to stick to his primary role last night. He also cost us the game by giving Anderson way too much room on those 3 3's in the 3rd quarter. He was the LVP last night.

Second point: I think he did recognize the opportunities to attack NO's weaker defenders but our players failed to do so for the most part, namely Ben Gordon and Evan Fournier. They should of been more effective against Eric Gordon and Austin Rivers but they just didn't get it done. I think however that Aaron Gordon did pretty well on offense versus Anderson last night but O' Quinn did not even try to score in the paint against him which was pathetic.

npiper17 · Post #1360 » by **npiper17** » Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:56 pm

tooler wrote:
npiper17 wrote:I noticed this last year with Jacque. He's always so keen to match us up with our opponents eg taking Nicholson out after his stellar first half against the Pacers in the season opener last year so he wasn't matched up with David West.

Shouldn't we also be trying to create matchup problems for the other team to think about? Nicholson could have made hay in the post against an average defender in Ryno. Harkless could have posted up either Eric Gordon or Jimmer to give the offence a different look for a possession or two.

I don't see why we should always be the ones doing the 'adjusting.'

New Orleans is going to be difficult to match up with even if you want to take the initiative. Normally I'd like to go small against two bigs, but JV actually made the right prediction here: playing a second big to grab rebounds against their 3 front court guys. Only problem? KOQ was awful and the dribble penetration didn't help.

The bigger problem was on offense when we failed to exploit individual matchups that were right in front of us on the court. JV didn't even need to change the plan or sub anyone in. He or the players simply needed to recognize the opportunities to take on poor defenders like Ryan Anderson and Austin Rivers.

I agreed with starting KOQ - he just had a bad game. I think Harkless could have offered more than Willie Green on both ends of the floor. In a way I think we missed Frye more than Dipo as Frye could have pulled Davis away from the basket a little better than Kyle. I do place some of the blame at Vaughn's feet for our offensive failings last night. He went to the same lineup in the second half that lost us the lead in the first half. I would have staggered having Vuc and Tobias off the floor so at least one of them was out there all the time.

I just generally feel last year we were the ones doing the adjusting and I'd like to see some occasions where we go with our best 5 players and let the other team try and adjust this year. I don't think it would have made a difference last night but Jacque's reasoning for DNPs last year was usually matchups and it looks like being that way again. In year 3 of the rebuild I'd like us to be causing the other team to think once in a while.