2022-2023 Regular Season Game 51: Orlando Magic (19-31) at Philadelphia 76ers (32-16) - 7pm

[zaymon]

As a Fultz realist i must provide some of my analysis. Hope you enjoy.

1st quarter
4.33- drive to the basket, pass to Harris, open corner 3

2nd quarter
5.24- not really assist, pass to Wagner who drives after a while and scores
4.32- good pass to cuting Suggs
4.11- Franz quick attack, more of a transition pass than halfcourt
3.53- transition pass to Banchero
2.14- pass to cuting Bamba who was late running the floor. Not 100% half court look
1.44- pass from transition to open Bamba 3.
0.23- inbound pass to Banchero 3

3rd quarter
7.26 inbound pass to Banchero 3
3.32 pick and pop to WCJ 3

Assists he created in the halfcourt- 3. Our starting point created 3 assists in the halfcourt. Rest was transition and inbound passes.
Hasnt scored or assisted in the 4th outside two meaningless free throws at the end. 4-14 from the floor. Hasnt attempted a single 3. His defensive activity was good but thats about it.
Jalen Suggs is like a third Wagner brother. Both him and Moe are our energy storage. We need one of them in the starting unit.
WCJ is so inconsistent in his effort. He is extremely talented, but sometimes i wonder if he would not be better coming from the bench.

[eyriq]

As a Fultz realist i must provide some of my analysis. Hope you enjoy.

1st quarter
4.33- drive to the basket, pass to Harris, open corner 3

2nd quarter
5.24- not really assist, pass to Wagner who drives after a while and scores
4.32- good pass to cuting Suggs
4.11- Franz quick attack, more of a transition pass than halfcourt
3.53- transition pass to Banchero
2.14- pass to cuting Bamba who was late running the floor. Not 100% half court look
1.44- pass from transition to open Bamba 3.
0.23- inbound pass to Banchero 3

3rd quarter
7.26 inbound pass to Banchero 3
3.32 pick and pop to WCJ 3

Assists he created in the halfcourt- 3. Our starting point created 3 assists in the halfcourt. Rest was transition and inbound passes.
Hasnt scored or assisted in the 4th outside two meaningless free throws at the end. 4-14 from the floor. Hasnt attempted a single 3. His defensive activity was good but thats about it.
Jalen Suggs is like a third Wagner brother. Both him and Moe are our energy storage. We need one of them in the starting unit.
WCJ is so inconsistent in his effort. He is extremely talented, but sometimes i wonder if he would not be better coming from the bench.

Nice analysis. I'm with you on starting Suggs. Harris would be the odd man out though.

[JoshuaPotter]

Best win of the season.

I mean, we are now in serious excitement territory. Excitement? Wtf is that? There are teenagers on the planet who have never seen an excited Orlando Magic fan.

The deep rotation model is a pretty interesting one. Rather than have an 8-deep gameday roster, you can mix and match with all kinds of options and keep competitive when the starters sit. You get away with having a subpar starter because the bench guy is better than the typical NBA bench guy.

It's what I have been saying with the joking hail hydra comments.

I only listen in to the radio and they say Moseby attitude regarding the team is he going to dance with the players who wanna dance that night. Meaning if you aren't ready to perform. Sit down.

Can't say I disagree with his approach. Some big issues in terms of how good our starting 5 can be. I just know 3 positions that are solidly part of that best 5 in terms of position. Paolo + Franz + WCJ. Mo W. is making an argument for his energy off the bench. Never doubt that mans ability to hustle.

[VFX]

If this game told me anything.. it’s that Bamba is 100% gone.

[eyriq]

If this game told me anything.. it’s that Bamba is 100% gone.

What did you see?

[VFX]

If this game told me anything.. it’s that Bamba is 100% gone.

What did you see?

Moritz solidifying backup quality against the best Center in the league.

[eyriq]

If this game told me anything.. it’s that Bamba is 100% gone.

What did you see?

Moritz solidifying backup quality against the best Center in the league.

Ah, nice take. Yeah, Moritz is an interesting case for sure.

[OrlandoSaban]

If this game told me anything.. it’s that Bamba is 100% gone.

What did you see?

I did think it was very weird and awkward when he came up to Fultz during the post game court interview with Dante. That was very awkward to me for some reason.

[Bergmaniac]

I wonder what kind of contract Moritz will get in the summer. The last 2 games definitely help his case and Franz is quickly reaching a level of stardom where our management will be willing to overspent significantly to please him by keeping his brother.

[dsg2021]

JI needs to improve his spacing on offense. It’s not going to be fun to play with him if he’s posting up at the FT line without the ball while Paolo with the ball is at the top of the 3. That was a slightly extreme scenario, but not completely far from the truth.
I know JI is taking advantage of post up opps against guards, cutting plays, and offensive rebounding but he needs to probably move most of those to after the initial action of a play. Let his teammate make something happen with proper spacing first. As JI grows into the offense, he can embrace that part of his offense a little more again especially as he notices who the ballhandler is when he makes cuts. It should be when a passing savant like Fultz and Franz has the ball.
JI also needs to set picks far better. They do literally, absolutely nothing period. Don’t do them, or do them properly. To be fair, a pick needs two partners fully into it too.
Likewise, the Magic defense should make adjustments if they have and want to use JI to the best effect out there. He’s lost some lateral quickness but we don’t know how much shape he’s trying to get into still and we are also seeing him use his length and IQ to catch up and still somehow bother a shot well.
And so the big opportunity is to use JI better in the whole defense; this could be to not double if JI is lurking 4 feet away, it could be to not funnel the offense a certain direction away from JI, it could be letting JI and the defense make assignment switches on vocal command, and then it could be sticking on assignments closer if JI is guarding on the ball. Even scoring on JI would be expending a lot of energy. I speak less confidently on this as it seems JI does get to pick initial assignments and have some rein to roam already, but it still feels like the Magic Coaches can do a little more with how to use JI in a whole team defense system.
Overall though, the main thing for me is for JI to improve his spacing on offense, and then his opportunities for 3’s will be there. And then his cuts will stand out more as real missed opportunities. As well as his post ups on guards, or just generally using him as an accurate, unguardable fadeaway. And offense has been proven to boost confidence and defense as well.

[tooler]

As much as I loved this win, I just know after a game like this, we will get destroyed by 10+ the next game.

I just don’t understand why this team cannot always play with the same intensity and consistency

It's like asking why we aren't the Bucks or Celtics or Sixers. They have better rosters, stars, and are more seasoned. Young teams win and lose like this.

And guess what? Once we’re the Bucks, Celtics, and Sixers, the team won’t play with the same intensity either. We’re going to lose to the Magic sometimes.

That’s how sports work.

[ORLMagicGirl15]

If this game told me anything.. it’s that Bamba is 100% gone.

What did you see?

I did think it was very weird and awkward when he came up to Fultz during the post game court interview with Dante. That was very awkward to me for some reason.

He has done that throughout the season-crashing interviews-. He did it with Bol and some other guys, can't remember. He always congratulates them.

[KillMonger]

I wonder what kind of contract Moritz will get in the summer. The last 2 games definitely help his case and Franz is quickly reaching a level of stardom where our management will be willing to overspent significantly to please him by keeping his brother.

Not sure that would be the right move.... Sure he can get some buckets now and then.... However I still can't get over a "Center" that doesn't defend or rebound.....like when that second unit is more or less solidified will we really be looking at moe Wagner to get buckets for us? Sure if you can keep him around for a good price no problem.... But I think we should pursue a real center

[RookieStar]

I wonder what kind of contract Moritz will get in the summer. The last 2 games definitely help his case and Franz is quickly reaching a level of stardom where our management will be willing to overspent significantly to please him by keeping his brother.

Not sure that would be the right move.... Sure he can get some buckets now and then.... However I still can't get over a "Center" that doesn't defend or rebound.....like when that second unit is more or less solidified will we really be looking at moe Wagner to get buckets for us? Sure if you can keep him around for a good price no problem.... But I think we should pursue a real center

How about Meyers Leonard?? Probably waaaay better than Bamba

[eyriq]

I wonder what kind of contract Moritz will get in the summer. The last 2 games definitely help his case and Franz is quickly reaching a level of stardom where our management will be willing to overspent significantly to please him by keeping his brother.

Not sure that would be the right move.... Sure he can get some buckets now and then.... However I still can't get over a "Center" that doesn't defend or rebound.....like when that second unit is more or less solidified will we really be looking at moe Wagner to get buckets for us? Sure if you can keep him around for a good price no problem.... But I think we should pursue a real center

He's definitely not a traditional center by any means. Among centers he is in the 27th percentile in TRB%, 1st percentile in BLK% (that means 99% of centers with at least one start this year have a higher BLK%, lol), and 31st percentile in DBPM.

He also turns it over more than 61% of centers.

His value is purely in the energy he brings, the ball movement he provides, and the long ball.

For energy you can look at his free throws and steal tendencies. He's in the 61st percentile for FTr and the 98th percentile in FT%. He's in the 77th percentile in AST% and the 91st percentile in STL%. Dude is hustling and attacking whether on offense or defense. He is in the 71st percentile in USG%!

For ball movement, he is in the 77th percentile in AST%.

For the long ball, he is in the 89th percentile in 3PAr, 60th percentile in 3P%.

Its definitely a trade off with him as your back up center.

Edit: I think his FT% is a positive omen that his three point shooting accuracy can improve. We'll see though.