2020-2021 Regular Season Game 3: Orlando Magic (2-0) at Washington Wizards (0-2)

[Magic#1]

Switching gears a little. I like what Birch is doing for the team. I know that individually Mo is better but I dont think Cliff is going to get the same high energy hustle plays Birch is giving him. There's a lot of stuff that doesn't pop up on the box score going on. Also by adding a little floater and mid range shot hes able to get guys off their feet with pump fakes and attack the basket. He's still extremely limited offensively just to be clear.

Agreed. I've liked what I've seen of Birch so far. While he forced it offensively once or twice--and he definitely shouldn't do that--he's a positive player. I wish we could see Bamba on the court to see what he's got, but Birch is helping this team right now.

[Knightro]

At least adding the dimension of fake pull up 3 into a 1 or 2 dribble 2 point jumper will force teams to not overplay the 3 as much. I think many of us have been begging for him to add that move for years. The downside is a long-range 2 is a bad shot in today's NBA but it's probably better than a contested 3 and will give him better looks at the 3 in the long run. Now we just need him to work on his vision when he's double and triple teamed!

Over the last two years Terrence Ross is 151-523 on tightly guarded threes (30.9%) and 239-573 (41.7%) on open/wide open threes.

For argument's sake, let's say Ross is going to continue to be a 30.9% three point shooter on those contested threes like he was the last two years, that comes out to 0.927 points per shot.

In order for a midrange jumper to be a more efficient shot, Ross would need to convert them at a 46.5% clip to get to 0.93 points per shot.

Now in his 5th year with the Magic, Ross is a 45.4% midrange shooter on all midrange attempts.

But considering teams are going to overplay his 3PT and be more willing to give up those midrange looks, it stands to reason that when Ross fakes a three and dribbles in to a midrange, he'll be open or wide open most of the time.

Over the last two years, Ross has shot 153-284 (53.1%) of his open and wide open shots inside the arc. Removing dunks and layups, he's made 48.8% of all other open/wide open 2PT shots which are pretty much all jumpers and floaters.

So at 48.8% on open and wide open 2PT jumpers, that's 0.976 points per shot, which statistically means Ross dribbling into a wide midrange is going to be more valuable to the Magic than a contested Ross 3PT attempt.

[JojoSlimbiid]

Switching gears a little. I like what Birch is doing for the team. I know that individually Mo is better but I dont think Cliff is going to get the same high energy hustle plays Birch is giving him. There's a lot of stuff that doesn't pop up on the box score going on. Also by adding a little floater and mid range shot hes able to get guys off their feet with pump fakes and attack the basket. He's still extremely limited offensively just to be clear.

What is this based off of? Certainly not the eye test.

[Knightro]

What is this based off of? Certainly not the eye test.

Throwing professionalism out the window for a second because we don't truly know how much of an issue Bamba when it comes to all of that.

What Bamba did last year before the COVID shutdown from an impact perspective, .135 WS/48, 1.6 DBPM, 0.4 BPM, +0.5 NET, +1.6 ON COURT, +3.5 ON OFF, was significantly better than anything Birch gave last year.

If Bamba is an immature unprofessional jerk, then so be it.

But if it's strictly a "who helps more on the floor?" question, I don't know how anyone can suggest Birch is better. All Khem does is play hard and not do anything outside of his scope. He's not really good at anything.

[JojoSlimbiid]

What is this based off of? Certainly not the eye test.

Throwing professionalism out the window for a second because we don't truly know how much of an issue Bamba when it comes to all of that.

What Bamba did last year before the COVID shutdown from an impact perspective, .135 WS/48, 1.6 DBPM, 0.4 BPM, +0.5 NET, +1.6 ON COURT, +3.5 ON OFF, was significantly better than anything Birch gave last year.

If Bamba is an immature unprofessional jerk, then so be it.

But if it's strictly a "who helps more on the floor?" question, I don't know how anyone can suggest Birch is better. All Khem does is play hard and not do anything outside of his scope. He's not really good at anything.

I mean these #'s are nice but they just simply do not bare fruit when watching the games. This seems like one of those situations where we haven't seen Bamba in awhile so we're looking at him with rose tinted glasses and using these stats to try to make sense of it. All I remember is the missed open 3's, the poor effort on defense, him getting winded in like 2 minutes of play, sloppy rotations, etc. Sometimes he would hit one of his wide open 3s, get a lob dunk, and maybe block a shot every couple of games. In terms of setting screens, playing within himself, and bringing energy and winning plays to the ball club? It isn't even close.

[swarlesbarkley]

At least adding the dimension of fake pull up 3 into a 1 or 2 dribble 2 point jumper will force teams to not overplay the 3 as much. I think many of us have been begging for him to add that move for years. The downside is a long-range 2 is a bad shot in today's NBA but it's probably better than a contested 3 and will give him better looks at the 3 in the long run. Now we just need him to work on his vision when he's double and triple teamed!

Over the last two years Terrence Ross is 151-523 on tightly guarded threes (30.9%) and 239-573 (41.7%) on open/wide open threes.

For argument's sake, let's say Ross is going to continue to be a 30.9% three point shooter on those contested threes like he was the last two years, that comes out to 0.927 points per shot.

In order for a midrange jumper to be a more efficient shot, Ross would need to convert them at a 46.5% clip to get to 0.93 points per shot.

Now in his 5th year with the Magic, Ross is a 45.4% midrange shooter on all midrange attempts.

But considering teams are going to overplay his 3PT and be more willing to give up those midrange looks, it stands to reason that when Ross fakes a three and dribbles in to a midrange, he'll be open or wide open most of the time.

Over the last two years, Ross has shot 153-284 (53.1%) of his open and wide open shots inside the arc. Removing dunks and layups, he's made 48.8% of all other open/wide open 2PT shots which are pretty much all jumpers and floaters.

So at 48.8% on open and wide open 2PT jumpers, that's 0.976 points per shot, which statistically means Ross dribbling into a wide midrange is going to be more valuable to the Magic than a contested Ross 3PT attempt.

That's awesome - thanks for all that. Also - could you do a breakdown of my shots during pick-up games at the YMCA?

[3ddman23]

What is this based off of? Certainly not the eye test.

Throwing professionalism out the window for a second because we don't truly know how much of an issue Bamba when it comes to all of that.

What Bamba did last year before the COVID shutdown from an impact perspective, .135 WS/48, 1.6 DBPM, 0.4 BPM, +0.5 NET, +1.6 ON COURT, +3.5 ON OFF, was significantly better than anything Birch gave last year.

If Bamba is an immature unprofessional jerk, then so be it.

But if it's strictly a "who helps more on the floor?" question, I don't know how anyone can suggest Birch is better. All Khem does is play hard and not do anything outside of his scope. He's not really good at anything.

I mean these #'s are nice but they just simply do not bare fruit when watching the games. This seems like one of those situations where we haven't seen Bamba in awhile so we're looking at him with rose tinted glasses and using these stats to try to make sense of it. All I remember is the missed open 3's, the poor effort on defense, him getting winded in like 2 minutes of play, sloppy rotations, etc. Sometimes he would hit one of his wide open 3s, get a lob dunk, and maybe block a shot every couple of games. In terms of setting screens, playing within himself, and bringing energy and winning plays to the ball club? It isn't even close.

Completly agree. This is a perfect case where advance stats don't paint a correct picture. Im not huge on birch but the fact that he comes into the game and knows exactly what he needs to do and tries to do it is why I go with him over bamba currently.

Now of course I would upgrade from birch in a heartbeat if I could but to me bamba is currently not the upgrade we need. He just doesn't do it for me when he is on the floor. Like you said the occasional 3 and weak side block shot isn't enough to warrant play.

[zaymon]

Birch is one of the better screen setters in the nba. He also fouled less in the past and was a better passer

[Blue_and_Whte]

Switching gears a little. I like what Birch is doing for the team. I know that individually Mo is better but I dont think Cliff is going to get the same high energy hustle plays Birch is giving him. There's a lot of stuff that doesn't pop up on the box score going on. Also by adding a little floater and mid range shot hes able to get guys off their feet with pump fakes and attack the basket. He's still extremely limited offensively just to be clear.

What is this based off of? Certainly not the eye test.

EDIT: I missed the bolded part. Mo is a better basketball player than Birch, What I don't think he does is play with the same energy and hustle that Birch does which is what I think irks Clifford, and now that Birch has added a little wrinkle to his game he's less of a liability offensively. Thats really all I'm saying...

[RookieStar]

The Cavs is also 3-0. How hilarious!

Its rhe replay of the 09 season... Cavs vs Magic ECF!!

Strangely enough both superstars are still in the league in LBJ and DH.. wow are their teammates still playing?

JJ redick is only one ,aside two of them who is still active.

Not suprising tho, almost 12 years passed.

wow.. time sure has passed.. except for the fact that SVG is still coaching JJ

[drsd]

The W-L doesn't really matter, ....

Where is the REPORT THIS POST button?

Frankly I thought winning was the only point to commutative sporting events. But that's just me.




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[drsd]

wow.. time sure has passed.. except for the fact that SVG is still coaching JJ

Read on Twitter

[KillMonger]

Watch on YouTube

;feature=youtu.be

it's crazy how you know what the scouting report says and still can't stop him.....you know more than like he's driving to the hoop....still can't stop him

[drsd]

it's crazy how you know what the scouting report says and still can't stop him.....you know more than like he's driving to the hoop....still can't stop him

Fultz plays downhill the way Iverson did. Indeed I would think that AI is the upside for Fultz' game.

The concern with this style of play is that Fultz will take a lot of poundings and eventually a 300 lbs. big might sumo slam him in to pieces.
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[Blue_and_Whte]

wow.. time sure has passed.. except for the fact that SVG is still coaching JJ

Read on Twitter

JJ is a funny dude.