GT Magic @ Wolves -

[Nuntius]

So, since I got to talk with some of you the other day I figured I'd watch highlights of your game. I noticed some horrible defensive miscommunications down the stretch. Normally, I'd use the following site to illustrate them -> https://3ball.io/plays

But since that site hasn't uploaded your game yet a full highlights video will have to do:

Watch on YouTube

1) 6:18 to 6:23. The score is 71-81. This is the point where the Wolves really start to build a huge lead. The play seems to progress normally until Terrence Ross for some reason decides to wander in the paint while Jimmy Butler darts to the 3-point line. Teague spots him and the Wolves have a wide-open 3. I have no idea what Terrence Ross was doing here. Did he thought that Fournier was going to switch on Butler? Was he trying to tell Aaron Gordon to switch on Butler and that he'd contain the PnR? I don't know what that was but it was definitely wrong.

2) 6:44 to 6:50. The score is 75-86. Your defensive possession is solid, Biyombo does a nice job contesting the Butler shot and Simmons does an admirable job putting a body on Taj Gibson. Meanwhile, Aaron Gordon watches the ball and does absolutely nothing. KAT was at the 3-point line and Gordon was supposed to be guarding him but he was actually ball-watching. Gordon should have either try to find his mark when the shot was up and put a body on him or attack the ball to get the rebound. He does neither. He just sits there in no-man's land and watches KAT dunk.

2) 8:45 to 8:52. The score is 106-114. This one is just horrible. Two mistakes happen in the same possession which leads to an open Taj Gibson under the basket in a crucial part of the game. Jeff Teague has the ball on the side and prepares to go for a side pick and roll. Most teams ICE the side pick and roll to hold off middle penetration and force the ball-handler to the baseline. The Magic do that as well (an example of that is at 5:57 to 6:00). ICEing the pick and roll basically means that the guard tries to block off the middle penetration by going towards the side of the ball-handler and making contact with the screener while the big takes away the penetration, thus forcing the ball-handler to the baseline. Elfrid Payton gets in position to do that but Aaron Gordon is nowhere near close to where he's supposed to be. Instead he's trailing the screener. Teague recognizes that, rejects the screen and darts to the basket. Nikola Vučević rotates over to contest the Teague drive (as he should have done) but Terrence Ross doesn't rotate on Taj Gibson and allows him to get an easy basket. When Frank Vogel was coaching the Pacers one of the main things he preached defensively was the concept of helping the helper. In other words, when one of your teammates rotates to cover someone going to the basket then you have to rotate to his player to make sure that no passing lane is open. Terrence Ross failed to do that here. I'm 100% sure that Frank Vogel almost had a heart attack watching this defensive possession.

All of those mistakes were the result of poor defensive awareness and defensive miscommunications. You definitely have the tools to be a better defensive team than that. But man if those mistakes were hard for me to watch then I cannot imagine how hard they are for you.

[SOUL]

Impressive stuff, Nuntius!

Yeah, it goes deeper than a lot of people think with the defensive breakdowns on some possessions. People on this forum (and in general) usually falsely attribute initial player matchups (e.g. Payton vs Teague or Vuc vs Towns or Fournier vs Buter etc) and the total points scored from the opposition as a bad defensive performance from the player opposite their position, totally disregarding switching (which we do tons of) or defensive breakdowns in which a player did exactly what was asked of Vogel but another player didn't do his job and then just blame the first guy for his "man" scoring on him.

[Nuntius]

Impressive stuff, Nuntius!

Yeah, it goes deeper than a lot of people think with the defensive breakdowns on some possessions. People on this forum (and in general) usually falsely attribute initial player matchups (e.g. Payton vs Teague or Vuc vs Towns or Fournier vs Buter etc) and the total points scored from the opposition as a bad defensive performance from the player opposite their position, totally disregarding switching (which we do tons of) or defensive breakdowns in which a player did exactly what was asked of Vogel but another player didn't do his job and then just blame the first guy for his "man" scoring on him.

It's not unique to this forum. It happens everywhere. When you're watching a game, you're almost always watching the player with the ball. That means that you just aren't going to watch off-ball mistakes unless you're specifically looking for them. That's why it's a lot easier to find them when you're watching a replay than when they're happening live. But as humans we have the tendency to stick with our original perception and this perception more often than not tells us that if something went wrong it was the on-ball defender who screwed up since he's the one we can see.

[paperboymafia]

Impressive stuff, Nuntius!

Yeah, it goes deeper than a lot of people think with the defensive breakdowns on some possessions. People on this forum (and in general) usually falsely attribute initial player matchups (e.g. Payton vs Teague or Vuc vs Towns or Fournier vs Buter etc) and the total points scored from the opposition as a bad defensive performance from the player opposite their position, totally disregarding switching (which we do tons of) or defensive breakdowns in which a player did exactly what was asked of Vogel but another player didn't do his job and then just blame the first guy for his "man" scoring on him.

We forget that JJ Redick became a serviceable defender eventually - JJ Redick, lol (not making fun of him, love the guy, but you know what i mean) - being in the right place, knowing the system, knowing what and where and how etc is more valuable then filling the sheet with blocked shots and steals. Magic players is a mental problem on defense, not ability.

[ChosenSavior]

That was a very nice breakdown by you Nuntius. Just further convinces me that Isaac will be starting/playing more minutes once he is healthy enough to go. Frank already seems to look at him as our defensive anchor. His defense is too valuable to waste on the bench.

[PennytoShaq]

Nuntius you are right, and i agree that AG has fallen off on his defense lately. I dont get that. I also see poor rotations to the helpers man.

The magic have to start from inside out and find guys who want to work every minute on the floor.

If i was vogel id be starting dj/evan/isaac/ag/biz just to shake things up and put some balance back on the bench. That is more of a switchy lineup too. Only weakness is DJs defense and bizs terrible offense but we have no perfect answer there right now on this roster.

[pepe1991]

Nuntius you are right, and i agree that AG has fallen off on his defense lately. I dont get that. I also see poor rotations to the helpers man.

The magic have to start from inside out and find guys who want to work every minute on the floor.

If i was vogel id be starting dj/evan/isaac/ag/biz just to shake things up and put some balance back on the bench. That is more of a switchy lineup too. Only weakness is DJs defense and bizs terrible offense but we have no perfect answer there right now on this roster.

He figured that nobody gives max money based on defense
On serious note, what would be his max ? 5 year $135M i think ? That's bit lower than Wiggins got. I'm not sure that i would even match that much money for him if somebody gives him max. At this point i would probably take Randle on 4 yeras $65M than Gordon on max. Especially if his defense at PF is average ( or like this year, Greg Monroe level medicore ).

In general i'm against giving anybody but superstars max money. Long term most of teams never turn into contenders because they overpayed their above average players and have no money for stars.

edited: If Isaac shows enough flashes this year than team could simply let Gordon walk .

[PennytoShaq]

I think we may see a trade package if the team does not plan on keeping Gordon. If not, I see him making Oladipo money, which would be ok.

[j-ragg]

I think we may see a trade package if the team does not plan on keeping Gordon. If not, I see him making Oladipo money, which would be ok.

I think it sets a bad precedent to keep drafting top 5 picks and getting rid of them without being patient (Oladipo, Tobias, Mario), all of these situations are/were unique but still, think it just looks bad on the organization. Same as I think it'd look bad to fire Vogel no matter how crap we are this year.

Anywho, I agree on his contract. Highly doubt he'd get a Wiggins/Embiid "supermax". I'm as big an AG fan as we have around these parts and even I think he won't get that. Especially with the drying cap.