Let's Talk About Mario

[tiderulz]

Oh Contrare! He is learning how not to play the game!

And, Lebron would have destroyed Mario. There is no stopping Lebron. And, I saw Fournier play some solid defense on Lebron at times. But, no player in the NBA can play solid defense on Lebron for an entire game or stop Lebron when he is on.

Lebron would destroy everyone, but what's excuse for making Batum look like Lebron? Everything was going trough Batum ,everything. And he didn't stand a chance last night vs DD, and who payed price - Smith, Ilyasova and Gordon because Fournier couldn't stand in front of his man

Demar is about unstoppable on offense when he is on. And, Batum has been on a tear lately as Charlotte fights for the playoffs. Mario is still learning how to play defense.

so is everyone unstoppable when they are on?

[tiderulz]

Kids on this board are too inpatient with rookies.
Give him time.


Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

old timers on this board too forgiving to coaches.

call them out when they deserve it

[BadMofoPimp]

Lebron would destroy everyone, but what's excuse for making Batum look like Lebron? Everything was going trough Batum ,everything. And he didn't stand a chance last night vs DD, and who payed price - Smith, Ilyasova and Gordon because Fournier couldn't stand in front of his man

Demar is about unstoppable on offense when he is on. And, Batum has been on a tear lately as Charlotte fights for the playoffs. Mario is still learning how to play defense.

so is everyone unstoppable when they are on?

Yes. Besides, when you have no team defense, individuals look worse than they are.

[KillMonger]

this year was a learning year for hezonja, not a particularly even one but he can build on this. He will come in next season much imroved hopefully taking the guesswork out of skiles hands. Though it would've been great to see him as a part of this team and get some shine but he just didn't get the same opportunities as other rookies. There's always next year right?

[LacosteM]

I don't think Mario is frustrated or wants out. I think he is still trying to learn and work on his game in practice, with coaches and via video. He is 19 years old. He will be fine. Some Magic fans may not last long enough to see the end product due to unforseen medical/stress related issues.

I cannot know this for sure, but I highly doubt that Mario isn't frustrated. If you are familiar with his situatuion in Barcelona, you'd know that he was badly treated and that he was mostly riding the bench because of the seniority system. But hey coach at least played him when he was hot, which Skiles often refuses to do. Now he's facing the same situation with Magic. He even stated that he didn't really like playing in Barcelona. I can only imagine his anger, when he has to watch guys like Fournier, Jennings, Ilyasova making mistakes on defense and constanly taking bad shots and than getting rewarded with more minutes, while he's rotting on the bench. Skiles double criteria with Mario is really sad.

So, fans are angry because they assume a player is frustrated and want out. Lol.

Huh?

[Hoyti Von Totiy]

this year was a learning year for hezonja, not a particularly even one but he can build on this. He will come in next season much imroved hopefully taking the guesswork out of skiles hands. Though it would've been great to see him as a part of this team and get some shine but he just didn't get the same opportunities as other rookies. There's always next year right?

He was the No.5 pick not the No.50 ... and im sure he is cursing now that he wasnt the No.6 pick ...

[ezzzp]

this year was a learning year for hezonja, not a particularly even one but he can build on this. He will come in next season much imroved hopefully taking the guesswork out of skiles hands. Though it would've been great to see him as a part of this team and get some shine but he just didn't get the same opportunities as other rookies. There's always next year right?

He was the No.5 pick not the No.50 ... and im sure he is cursing now that he wasnt the No.6 pick ...

What does that matter? He wasn't the no.1 pick or even top 3; he was the 5th pick + he had 4 players that were also very young that were already better than him (Oladipo, Fournier, Gordon, Harris) all 22 or younger at start of season.

Coming into the NBA his defense was putrid and his NBA BB IQ was super low...only within the past few weeks has his defense finally gotten sustainable - at least now he's not standing upright on defense or sitting 15 ft away from defender - he is finally at least defending with the right body positioning.

[zelenooq]

It is not fourniers fault how skiles treats mario. Evan is better player right now than him. But I really don't understand why mario isn't getting more chance since magic is out of PO. He wasn't that bad on D last night.

Evan is not better player for orlando right now
He plays selfish basketball and that hurts the team
Hezonja play teams basketball
He is better for team
And with consistent minutes he will be better player in matter of months

[BadMofoPimp]

I cannot know this for sure, but I highly doubt that Mario isn't frustrated. If you are familiar with his situatuion in Barcelona, you'd know that he was badly treated and that he was mostly riding the bench because of the seniority system. But hey coach at least played him when he was hot, which Skiles often refuses to do. Now he's facing the same situation with Magic. He even stated that he didn't really like playing in Barcelona. I can only imagine his anger, when he has to watch guys like Fournier, Jennings, Ilyasova making mistakes on defense and constanly taking bad shots and than getting rewarded with more minutes, while he's rotting on the bench. Skiles double criteria with Mario is really sad.

So, fans are angry because they assume a player is frustrated and want out. Lol.

Huh?

Do you know what happens when you assume?

Mario has never stated he is angry and in every interview talks about what coach wants him to work on. Doesn't sound frustrated and wanting to bolt Orlando to me. I can't imagine Mario being stupid enough to be angry and frustrated. He should be more concerned with learning the NBA game.

[maRioGrande]

So, fans are angry because they assume a player is frustrated and want out. Lol.

Huh?

Do you know what happens when you assume?

Mario has never stated he is angry and in every interview talks about what coach wants him to work on. Doesn't sound frustrated and wanting to bolt Orlando to me. I can't imagine Mario being stupid enough to be angry and frustrated. He should be more concerned with learning the NBA game.

I hope you're right but I've been following mario for years and I'm sure he's not happy with this situation. I do think that he is motivated to prove he's good enough to play on high level but skiles needs to give him more chances or he will start to think how to leave orlando just like he did when he was going through similar situation in barcelona.

[LacosteM]

So, fans are angry because they assume a player is frustrated and want out. Lol.

Huh?

Do you know what happens when you assume?

Mario has never stated he is angry and in every interview talks about what coach wants him to work on. Doesn't sound frustrated and wanting to bolt Orlando to me. I can't imagine Mario being stupid enough to be angry and frustrated. He should be more concerned with learning the NBA game.

Firstly you're making an assumption aswell . It's the only thing we can do in this situations, as we cannot know for sure what Mario's mindset looks like.

Secondly; do you really expect out of 20 year old rookie who barely gets minutes to openly criticize his coach or to state he's unsatisfied with the situation he's in and risk those small minutes he's already getting? His interviews are certainly not a good indicator of how frustrated he really is.

[ORL_on_FIRE]

Huh?

Do you know what happens when you assume?

Mario has never stated he is angry and in every interview talks about what coach wants him to work on. Doesn't sound frustrated and wanting to bolt Orlando to me. I can't imagine Mario being stupid enough to be angry and frustrated. He should be more concerned with learning the NBA game.

I hope you're right but I've been following mario for years and I'm sure he's not happy with this situation. I do think that he is motivated to prove he's good enough to play on high level but skiles needs to give him more chances or he will start to think how to leave orlando just like he did when he was going through similar situation in barcelona.

Mario has to learn at the same time that if he wants to stay in the game he can't turn the ball over within 30 seconds of being on the court. You know it's coming everytime. Either that or he's gonna throw up a 3 from 4 feet behind the line. Those are things you can't do.

He's learning. He's young. He's got the talent for it. He's got the frame for it. For him it's just gonna take some time. He needs to work on his handles badly to me that's a big issue of his.

[maRioGrande]

Do you know what happens when you assume?

Mario has never stated he is angry and in every interview talks about what coach wants him to work on. Doesn't sound frustrated and wanting to bolt Orlando to me. I can't imagine Mario being stupid enough to be angry and frustrated. He should be more concerned with learning the NBA game.

I hope you're right but I've been following mario for years and I'm sure he's not happy with this situation. I do think that he is motivated to prove he's good enough to play on high level but skiles needs to give him more chances or he will start to think how to leave orlando just like he did when he was going through similar situation in barcelona.

Mario has to learn at the same time that if he wants to stay in the game he can't turn the ball over within 30 seconds of being on the court. You know it's coming everytime. Either that or he's gonna throw up a 3 from 4 feet behind the line. Those are things you can't do.

He's learning. He's young. He's got the talent for it. He's got the frame for it. For him it's just gonna take some time. He needs to work on his handles badly to me that's a big issue of his.

Agree, every time he puts ball on the ground I stop breathing. He was much better in middle of the season but now he is TO machine just like he was when season started. Thats what concerns me, I can see more improvement on defense than ball handling.

[zuppafly]

Kids on this board are too inpatient with rookies.
Give him time.


Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

old timers on this board too forgiving to coaches.

call them out when they deserve it

I am not! I want Skiles head in a stick.

Not really, just don't want him as our coach...

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

[BadMofoPimp]

Huh?

Do you know what happens when you assume?

Mario has never stated he is angry and in every interview talks about what coach wants him to work on. Doesn't sound frustrated and wanting to bolt Orlando to me. I can't imagine Mario being stupid enough to be angry and frustrated. He should be more concerned with learning the NBA game.

Firstly you're making an assumption aswell . It's the only thing we can do in this situations, as we cannot know for sure what Mario's mindset looks like.

Secondly; do you really expect out of 20 year old rookie who barely gets minutes to openly criticize his coach or to state he's unsatisfied with the situation he's in and risk those small minutes he's already getting? His interviews are certainly not a good indicator of how frustrated he really is.

Well, my guess may be closer to the truth. You can't even find a video or snippet of Mario looking frustrated, yet you claim he may be frustrated and ready to bolt.

[BadMofoPimp]

I hope you're right but I've been following mario for years and I'm sure he's not happy with this situation. I do think that he is motivated to prove he's good enough to play on high level but skiles needs to give him more chances or he will start to think how to leave orlando just like he did when he was going through similar situation in barcelona.

Mario has to learn at the same time that if he wants to stay in the game he can't turn the ball over within 30 seconds of being on the court. You know it's coming everytime. Either that or he's gonna throw up a 3 from 4 feet behind the line. Those are things you can't do.

He's learning. He's young. He's got the talent for it. He's got the frame for it. For him it's just gonna take some time. He needs to work on his handles badly to me that's a big issue of his.

Agree, every time he puts ball on the ground I stop breathing. He was much better in middle of the season but now he is TO machine just like he was when season started. Thats what concerns me, I can see more improvement on defense than ball handling.

Most surprising for me is his court vision. He can throw wicked passes at times to find the open man. Mario is no bust. He floor is a starter and ceiling is much higher. There is no rush with the amount of depth on this team in building assets (Plural). Mario will be perfectly fine learning the Right way.

[ivDT]

i like how people act like skiles isn't a mediocre retread who only got his job because of upper management's nostalgia and lack of vision. these guys would probably hire brian hill a 3rd time if you let them.

[monchief]

It is not fourniers fault how skiles treats mario. Evan is better player right now than him. But I really don't understand why mario isn't getting more chance since magic is out of PO. He wasn't that bad on D last night.

Evan is not better player for orlando right now
He plays selfish basketball and that hurts the team
Hezonja play teams basketball
He is better for team
And with consistent minutes he will be better player in matter of months

Seriously? Evan has been the most consistent player Orlando has had this season. I want Mario to get a chance too, but I can't possibly see how you think Mario is better than Evan.

I don't understand this board. Why are our best scorers criticized for playing selfish basketball? Evan is in the top 20 in the NBA in 3 pointers made, and in percentage. He needs to shoot, not pass to Jason Smith for a long 2 or back to Elfrid to jack up something.

[pepe1991]

It is not fourniers fault how skiles treats mario. Evan is better player right now than him. But I really don't understand why mario isn't getting more chance since magic is out of PO. He wasn't that bad on D last night.

Evan is not better player for orlando right now
He plays selfish basketball and that hurts the team
Hezonja play teams basketball
He is better for team
And with consistent minutes he will be better player in matter of months

Seriously? Evan has been the most consistent player Orlando has had this season. I want Mario to get a chance too, but I can't possibly see how you think Mario is better than Evan.

I don't understand this board. Why are our best scorers criticized for playing selfish basketball? Evan is in the top 20 in the NBA in 3 pointers made, and in percentage. He needs to shoot, not pass to Jason Smith for a long 2 or back to Elfrid to jack up something.

Maybe in your paralel universe we are playoff team where Hezonja is logjam prospect and Fournier is locked on 5 years team friendly deal so we have no time to develop trough playing rookie. But in my world Fournier is contract warrior who is betting on himself that he will be payed this summer, by Magic or any other team willing to pay ( probably somebody like 76ers ). And in same time Hezonja is 5# draft pick who is ranked #17 in min played by rookies. Even second round picks ( on better teams than Magic) are getting more playing time.

And talking about productivity, Batum 26 points, Lebron 18 ( when they swiched Oladipo on him ), DD 26 points, Evan Turner 16 points on 11 shots are just few of guys who destoyed Fournier on defense, Batum being worst to eye test where he was targeting Fournier whole game long. Last game is best example why long term Fournier is nowhere near player that you can keep as SF. He played 33 min against above average Eastern team, he went 5-16 , but ok, he didn't have his best night, HOWEVER how da F starting SF in this league can finish game with ZERO REBOUNDS???? To go with TWO FREAKING ASSISTS ONLY? What a hell he can do at SF really? He can't defend, can't block shots (4 blocks in almost 65+ games) ,he is average at stealing balls, he can't rebound and he is selfish passer for player with high usage ( 2,7 apg puts him in Harris range -below average for SF ). Just what a hell makes him good ? Dude is second offensive option on a team right now ( 4 games without Vuć) he had ONE great game vs non playoff team- Denver, one solid game - Raptors 21 points ( where his man outscored him -DD 26 ) and did solid job filling box score being usless really ( vs Portland, blowout by almost 40 points ), where in reality he only played 1 quater good and was no factor to rest of a game.

We turned offense to him in last 12 games, we are 3-9 in that period, that puts us in rage of Lakers, Nets and 76ers in win percentage.

[BadMofoPimp]

Evan is not better player for orlando right now
He plays selfish basketball and that hurts the team
Hezonja play teams basketball
He is better for team
And with consistent minutes he will be better player in matter of months

Seriously? Evan has been the most consistent player Orlando has had this season. I want Mario to get a chance too, but I can't possibly see how you think Mario is better than Evan.

I don't understand this board. Why are our best scorers criticized for playing selfish basketball? Evan is in the top 20 in the NBA in 3 pointers made, and in percentage. He needs to shoot, not pass to Jason Smith for a long 2 or back to Elfrid to jack up something.

Maybe in your paralel universe we are playoff team where Hezonja is logjam prospect and Fournier is locked on 5 years team friendly deal so we have no time to develop trough playing rookie. But in my world Fournier is contract warrior who is betting on himself that he will be payed this summer, by Magic or any other team willing to pay ( probably somebody like 76ers ). And in same time Hezonja is 5# draft pick who is ranked #17 in min played by rookies. Even second round picks ( on better teams than Magic) are getting more playing time.

And talking about productivity, Batum 26 points, Lebron 18 ( when they swiched Oladipo on him ), DD 26 points, Evan Turner 16 points on 11 shots are just few of guys who destoyed Fournier on defense, Batum being worst to eye test where he was targeting Fournier whole game long. Last game is best example why long term Fournier is nowhere near player that you can keep as SF. He played 33 min against above average Eastern team, he went 5-16 , but ok, he didn't have his best night, HOWEVER how da F starting SF in this league can finish game with ZERO REBOUNDS???? To go with TWO FREAKING ASSISTS ONLY? What a hell he can do at SF really? He can't defend, can't block shots (4 blocks in almost 65+ games) ,he is average at stealing balls, he can't rebound and he is selfish passer for player with high usage ( 2,7 apg puts him in Harris range -below average for SF ). Just what a hell makes him good ? Dude is second offensive option on a team right now ( 4 games without Vuć) he had ONE great game vs non playoff team- Denver, one solid game - Raptors 21 points ( where his man outscored him -DD 26 ) and did solid job filling box score being usless really ( vs Portland, blowout by almost 40 points ), where in reality he only played 1 quater good and was no factor to rest of a game.

We turned offense to him in last 12 games, we are 3-9 in that period, that puts us in rage of Lakers, Nets and 76ers in win percentage.

By your rationale, Batum destroyed every teams opposing player in the last 5 games. Those teams should discard their players as well.