Game Thread #4: Orlando Magic (0-3) @ New Orleans Pelicans (0-3) 11/3 8PM ET

[J the Drafter]

Is anyone else concerned that Tobias only scored nine points? I know he was guarding and being guarded by A.D., but still. I went through NBA.com's record of Harris' field goal attempts for last night and saw a missed face-up against Babbit(?) with no movement from the rest of the Magic, and the Pelicans in good help position; some kickout threes; some transition opportunities; some putbacks/putback attempts; and a post-up attempt against Davis.

I don't think the Magic have done a good job getting Harris the ball in the post, though it stands to reason post-ups would be harder to come by if Tobias is being guarded by PFs.

[KillMonger]

One thing that i'm not liking is our guards NOT attacking the rim enough, we need to find some way to have our guards attack. Dipo is settling for jumpers and when Elf's not passing it he's settling for jumpers which i give him a pass for but NOT dipo. Dipo has to know where his bread is buttered, he's an all-rounder but to me he's a slasher....so slash Dipo, your jumper isn't quite there yet but it is good enough for it to be a threat to open up your drive game.

Another thing that's kinda killing me is that Vuc has proven to be undoubtedly our most consistent offensive player but there are times where we inexplicably go away from him, especially when he has it rolling. There are times where we hit offensive lulls with Vuc out there but instead of getting him the ball we're launching jumpers. If he has the hot hand feed the beast, don't feed him and then go completely away from him only to try and go back to him but he's out of Rhythm. Vuc could of easily had 30+ point nights if we fed him imo

[drsd]

One thing that i'm not liking is our guards NOT attacking the rim enough, ...

I politely ask you to watch this clip:


[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyAnhO5hNRI[/youtube]

[yeti_]

Is anyone else concerned that Tobias only scored nine points? I know he was guarding and being guarded by A.D., but still. I went through NBA.com's record of Harris' field goal attempts for last night and saw a missed face-up against Babbit(?) with no movement from the rest of the Magic, and the Pelicans in good help position; some kickout threes; some transition opportunities; some putbacks/putback attempts; and a post-up attempt against Davis.

I don't think the Magic have done a good job getting Harris the ball in the post, though it stands to reason post-ups would be harder to come by if Tobias is being guarded by PFs.

He just hasn't been making shots the last two games. Plenty of open looks that he usually makes. The few times he posted up against Davis were comically bad, which is to be expected. He's also missed quite a few putbacks and close to the basket shots, which he seems to only make on the move, not flat footed.

[KillMonger]

One thing that i'm not liking is our guards NOT attacking the rim enough, ...

I politely ask you to watch this clip:


[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyAnhO5hNRI[/youtube]

I meant Elf/Dipo.....Fournier is a wing(sort of)

[tiderulz]

Is anyone else concerned that Tobias only scored nine points? I know he was guarding and being guarded by A.D., but still. I went through NBA.com's record of Harris' field goal attempts for last night and saw a missed face-up against Babbit(?) with no movement from the rest of the Magic, and the Pelicans in good help position; some kickout threes; some transition opportunities; some putbacks/putback attempts; and a post-up attempt against Davis.

I don't think the Magic have done a good job getting Harris the ball in the post, though it stands to reason post-ups would be harder to come by if Tobias is being guarded by PFs.

nope. He didnt force up volume shooting. His job was primarily to play defense last night and the team rode the hot hands of Fournier and Vuc. he also had 13 rebounds, an assist and a steal. So he wasnt invisible, just prioritized on his assignments

[Big A All Day]

i didn't see the game, but who was on Davis most of the night?

Tobes.

[Big A All Day]

Watched the game this morning. You gotta give vuc credit, this is the first time I've seen him move his feet so fast on defense. He's help D has been pretty damn good so far.

It feels good to finally get a win. I really wanted that thunder game but I'll settle for a W against Dwight

[CraZyPraiZ]

Watched the game this morning. You gotta give vuc credit, this is the first time I've seen him move his feet so fast on defense. He's help D has been pretty damn good so far.

It feels good to finally get a win. I really wanted that thunder game but I'll settle for a W against Dwight

Vuc has been great. Got to give credit to this coaching staff. He's already improved more than most thought he would.

[ezzzp]

AG will be fine. He will get in the rotation and eventually start. It is a long season. Go Magic!!!

Exactly.

Experienced veteran players don't miss most of summer, training camp and nearly all of preseason and just instantly integrate with the rest of the team. Why would a 20yr old, that missed most of his rookie season, do so into a situation with a new coach and an entirely new system? Him gradually catching up to speed in limited minutes is what was expected.

[mojosodope]

Happy for the win, but I have serious concerns about our offense. Maybe it is just because it is new, but I see 5 guys on the court who don't appear to trust one another at all. Specifically they don't trust one another to make good basketball decisions.

Luckily we rode Fournier's hot hand to a win, but offensively we play a lot of selfish and just bad basketball. It works when guy(s) are making shots like Evan last night, but when our leading shot taker is missing it gets ugly.

[JBSouthpaw]

Happy for the win, but I have serious concerns about our offense. Maybe it is just because it is new, but I see 5 guys on the court who don't appear to trust one another at all. Specifically they don't trust one another to make good basketball decisions.

Luckily we rode Fournier's hot hand to a win, but offensively we play a lot of selfish and just bad basketball. It works when guy(s) are making shots like Evan last night, but when our leading shot taker is missing it gets ugly.

I see the opposite, we are averaging 4 more assists per game over last year. I know it's early, but that is pretty big.
We still make some bonehead, lazy mistakes with the ball, but overall it's moving a ton more.

[Bensational]

Happy for the win, but I have serious concerns about our offense. Maybe it is just because it is new, but I see 5 guys on the court who don't appear to trust one another at all. Specifically they don't trust one another to make good basketball decisions.

Luckily we rode Fournier's hot hand to a win, but offensively we play a lot of selfish and just bad basketball. It works when guy(s) are making shots like Evan last night, but when our leading shot taker is missing it gets ugly.

I see the opposite, we are averaging 4 more assists per game over last year. I know it's early, but that is pretty big.
We still make some bonehead, lazy mistakes with the ball, but overall it's moving a ton more.

we've got some deeply rooted JV habits about ISOs and stagnant movement which we seem to fall back into (especially in the 3rd Q and final minutes of the 4th), but overall, i agree, we've been moving the ball around a lot more in general.

[BadMofoPimp]

Aaron Gordon in ORL = Tobias Harris in MIL?

Give us all a break. It is only one game and everyone is jumping to conclusions.

Aaron even looked winded after 5 minutes on the court the other night. He will be fine and get increased minutes as the season moves along.

[Skin]

Give us all a break. It is only one game and everyone is jumping to conclusions.

Aaron even looked winded after 5 minutes on the court the other night. He will be fine and get increased minutes as the season moves along.

After Skiles keeps benching him, I wonder what team we will end up trading him to, who will end up giving him 35 min a night allowing him to blossom into a star.

[MagicStarwipe]

Aaron even looked winded after 5 minutes on the court the other night. He will be fine and get increased minutes as the season moves along.

After Skiles keeps benching him, I wonder what team we will end up trading him to, who will end up giving him 35 min a night allowing him to blossom into a star.

If we trade him without ever giving him a fair chance I would be on the fire Hennigan bandwagon so fast.

[The Real Dalic]

More people care about their favorite player(s) getting on the court than winning games it seems.

I, for one, would actually like to see AG start and get 30 minutes a game. But I don't care if he does as long as we get some W's. We've been looking decent so far, just need to make a few adjustments here and there.

[MagicStarwipe]

More people care about their favorite player(s) getting on the court than winning games it seems.

I, for one, would actually like to see AG start and get 30 minutes a game. But I don't care if he does as long as we get some W's. We've been looking decent so far, just need to make a few adjustments here and there.

By all means, if we become a contending team with Aaron Gordon collecting dust on the bench I'd be all for it, but I don't see it as likely. We're all happy we won, but we're also thinking long term and not just short term. It's not like we're talking about a Devyn Marble benching. Our #4 pick played 4 minutes in the 4th game of his second season after playing limited minutes in his first 3 games despite playing well and he's not injured. People are going to talk about it. It would be weird if they didn't.