East Summer League Notes

[pepe1991]

[quote="FFBlitzace"]lol yeah, every team loves all of their acquisitions. And when training camp rolls around, every team will focus on defense, and every guy will have a "great camp" and all 15 players will be set for a "big year." And players for teams with a new coach will all say that their new coach has an "attention for detail" that the previous coach didn't have. Even for teams that literally swapped coaches, the players will say that, even though it's impossible.

But anyway, I still like reading these, so thanks. Of course I have to ask if there was anything else Magic related. I'm talkin like, Isaiah Thomas coming to town, wearing Magic gear, wanting to sign and lead us to glory (36 wins worth, at least), and Jeff Weltman passing on him for Jerian Grant.[/quote]

[drsd]

On the trade of Bismack Biyombo for Timofey Mozgov and Jerian Grant: “We had to clean up the big rotation. Biz deserves to play and Mo needs to play. And of course Nikola Vucevic is our starter. Having too many guys can be an issue. And we got a point guard we’ve liked for a while too, which helped a spot where we didn’t have a lot of depth.”

How is Mozgov supposed to read this quote? For me the only implication is that management sees Biyombo as a better player than Mozgov, but the Magic needed to free up time and Mozgov will be a better seat warmer than Biyombo.


..

[FFBlitzace]

On the trade of Bismack Biyombo for Timofey Mozgov and Jerian Grant: “We had to clean up the big rotation. Biz deserves to play and Mo needs to play. And of course Nikola Vucevic is our starter. Having too many guys can be an issue. And we got a point guard we’ve liked for a while too, which helped a spot where we didn’t have a lot of depth.”

How is Mozgov supposed to read this quote?


..

I don't know, how good is his English?

[drsd]

I don't know, how good is his English?

Sometimes not very good at all:

Watch on YouTube

[j-ragg]

And of course Nikola Vucevic is our starter

[spinedoc]

Thanks Smitty for doing this, even though its a little rosey compared to our reality. We need people to help keep us positive here though.

[UCFJayBird]

I don't know, how good is his English?

Sometimes not very good at all:

Watch on YouTube

It actually kind of looks like they were doing a bit where he was supposed to answer in Russian and the 2nd time he messed up and spoke English.

[PennytoShaq]

Channing Frye on what West Coast GMs are looking for (GMs in general)

“For me, it worked like this. I didn’t know how much the market was going to shrink, especially for big guys. It’s crazy because every west coast team is like ‘We want wings, we need length, we need like three tweeners’ so like the big guy shooter thing, out the window. A guy like Ryan Anderson who just got like...$100 million, you got to go.”

https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2018/7/26/17619106/nba-free-agency-news-channing-frye-la-lakers-nah-lebron-james

[OrlandO]

“Nikola is our starter.”

I think most fans realize this is necessary after watching Bamba huff and puff in limited minutes during summer league. Making him overextend himself on multiple levels early in his rookie season would make him more vulnerable to injury. Gaining confidence against bench players and working himself in as a starter is also better for development than struggling against starters and getting benched. I also think projects earning more minutes and a better role is underrated... it gives them a better perspective, more motivation early on, and a reason not to take their eventual role for granted. Bamba will start when he's ready.

[OrlandO]

On the trade of Bismack Biyombo for Timofey Mozgov and Jerian Grant: “We had to clean up the big rotation. Biz deserves to play and Mo needs to play. And of course Nikola Vucevic is our starter. Having too many guys can be an issue. And we got a point guard we’ve liked for a while too, which helped a spot where we didn’t have a lot of depth.”

How is Mozgov supposed to read this quote? For me the only implication is that management sees Biyombo as a better player than Mozgov, but the Magic needed to free up time and Mozgov will be a better seat warmer than Biyombo.


..

Don't think it has anything to do with basketball skills since Biyombo doesn't really have any. He's in his prime years and we're the team that overpaid him to start.... that's why he "deserves" to play. I think they just didn't want to hear him and his agent whining about minutes all season. Much easier and more low key to DNP the much older Mozgov who has already lost his minutes elsewhere.

[drsd]

“Nikola is our starter.”

I think most fans realize this is necessary after watching Bamba huff and puff in limited minutes during summer league. Making him overextend himself on multiple levels early in his rookie season would make him more vulnerable to injury. Gaining confidence against bench players and working himself in as a starter is also better for development than struggling against starters and getting benched. I also think projects earning more minutes and a better role is underrated... it gives them a better perspective, more motivation early on, and a reason not to take their eventual role for granted. Bamba will start when he's ready.

Bamba is too weak this year for the NBA grind. What he needs is the physical transformation Isaac just made in the summer before his sophomore season.

If the Magic is anywhere near a 50% winning line, Vučević might even be retained as a Magician at the trade-deadline.

That said, it is hard to imagine any other starter at Center on opening night of the 2019/20 season than Bamba. This season is Vučević's farewell tour.

..

[drsd]

“Nikola is our starter.”

...

A really interesting reflection on why this is undoubtably true:

OMD link

..