Preseason Game 1: Orlando Magic (0-0) at San Antonio Spurs (0-0)

[VFX]

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Sick sequence by Isaac. His handles look noticeably tighter. I want to see some of this from him next year. Especially when AG is off the floor and he is getting run with this unit.

Isaac is the ultimate X factor for this team other than Fultz. That was a great sequence of being able to show how versatile and effective he can be on both sides of the floor.

[tiderulz]

Orlando has a rebuild that has always modelled after the 2004 Pistons title run: extreme depth.

In the modern NBA, I still think a star-less team can win a title. Having a bench unit of near-starters is the point.


..

i think people point to Detroit a little too much. Wallace was a defensive monster and all-star and defensive player of the year. Rasheed Wallace was a matchup nightmare and 2x all-star by 2004. Billups further developed into a top-5 PG. Rip was top-10 SG.

And i think there is a reason you havent seen a similar Superstar-less team win a title.

Respectfully your point to the narrative at hand.

Be the best defensive team , and score "some" points. And have a deep bench. Is that really differing from the projected path of this current Magic team?
..

do we have top-5 positional talent at multiple positions?

the idea is there, but i dont think you can win without a superstar or multiple all-stars

[basketballRob]

i think people point to Detroit a little too much. Wallace was a defensive monster and all-star and defensive player of the year. Rasheed Wallace was a matchup nightmare and 2x all-star by 2004. Billups further developed into a top-5 PG. Rip was top-10 SG.

And i think there is a reason you havent seen a similar Superstar-less team win a title.

Respectfully your point to the narrative at hand.

Be the best defensive team , and score "some" points. And have a deep bench. Is that really differing from the projected path of this current Magic team?
..

do we have top-5 positional talent at multiple positions?

the idea is there, but i dont think you can win without a superstar or multiple all-stars

The only team I can recall doing it is the Pistons. The year they won the title, not sure any of them were allstars that year.

Sent from my SM-G965U using RealGM mobile app

[tiderulz]

Respectfully your point to the narrative at hand.

Be the best defensive team , and score "some" points. And have a deep bench. Is that really differing from the projected path of this current Magic team?
..

do we have top-5 positional talent at multiple positions?

the idea is there, but i dont think you can win without a superstar or multiple all-stars

The only team I can recall doing it is the Pistons. The year they won the title, not sure any of them were allstars that year.

Sent from my SM-G965U using RealGM mobile app

Ben Wallace that year. Rasheed was 2x all-star before that year and after. Rip Hamilton all-star after. Billups after. and their stats were not too different than the winning year.

so if we are saying that the Magic team now, not much improvement and stats and they will be all-stars within 1-2 years, then okay.

[VFX]

do we have top-5 positional talent at multiple positions?

the idea is there, but i dont think you can win without a superstar or multiple all-stars

The only team I can recall doing it is the Pistons. The year they won the title, not sure any of them were allstars that year.

Sent from my SM-G965U using RealGM mobile app

Ben Wallace that year. Rasheed was 2x all-star before that year and after. Rip Hamilton all-star after. Billups after. and their stats were not too different than the winning year.

so if we are saying that the Magic team now, not much improvement and stats and they will be all-stars within 1-2 years, then okay.

That’s the argument people always use when they try to convince themselves when there is no “star” caliber player in the roster. All of them were fringe / true allstars on a completely balanced roster. That isn’t the case here.

[drsd]

do we have top-5 positional talent at multiple positions?

the idea is there, but i dont think you can win without a superstar or multiple all-stars

The 2004 Pistons had:

Billups 17/6/4
Prince 10/2/5
Hamilton 18/4/4
R.Wallace/Oker averaged: 12/1/6
B.Wallace 9/2/12

And a very good bench.

Is that really any different than this year's Magic roster?


..

[VFX]

do we have top-5 positional talent at multiple positions?

the idea is there, but i dont think you can win without a superstar or multiple all-stars

The 2004 Pistons had:

Billups 17/6/4
Prince 10/2/5
Hamilton 18/4/4
R.Wallace/Oker averaged: 12/1/6
B.Wallace 9/2/12

And a very good bench.

Is that really any different than this year's Magic roster?


..

There is no Billups, Rip, or prime 4x dpoy Ben Wallace on this roster. Not even close.

[Hoopslife]

It's about record when it comes to whether this team has all-stars. If this is a 60 win team (I'm not saying it will be) there will be players that make the all-star team regardless. Remember Atlanta and it's 4 all-stars a few years back...

[Last Guardian]

Did you all watch a jumbo tron feed or something? How come the NBA has highlights from regular video yet the game wasn't televised....never understood that.

[magicman112]

Did you all watch a jumbo tron feed or something? How come the NBA has highlights from regular video yet the game wasn't televised....never understood that.

Yes all we had was a jumbotron feed. League Pass didn't have it even though they sometimes show it.

[pepe1991]

You make it sound like Orlando played it as if it was a regular season game and SA didnt. Orlando barely played their starters and played the entire team (15 bench players) just as SA experimented. I dont hear anyone saying from this that Orlando is going to win the title, but it seems like you are going out of your way to criticize the Magic.

And maybe because its game 1 of pre-season, the offensive scheme is vanilla and looks unchanged. And to be honest, who care, because that offensive scheme had the team make the playoffs last year.

First quater first subs:
Magic Bamba, Fultz, Aminu , Ross- that's Magic second unit that will play on opening night.

Spurs: Daulton Hommes ( undrafted) , Chimezie Metu ( 49th pick of last year), first sub in second quater - Deric Lawson (undrafted) and Drew Eubanks ( undrafted)

They had no intention to do anything but to try out guys they called for camp.
That's not taking anything from Magic ,rather putting contexst into a win. Min before game Spurs decided that they won't play Derozan and Mills just to give this guys more PT. They didn't even want to play their 2019 highest pick Samanic all that much, matter of fact guy played least min ( 8).

For vast majority of a game Magic rotation players playeed Spurs camp players that won't be on their roster.

So Orlando played the 1st quarter and subs as normal, and thats about where it ended. you make it sound like Orlando treated the entire game as a regular season game and SA didnt, trying to downplay anything. Im not saying ORlando will be world beaters, but you seem to go out of your way to criticize Orlando in this 1st game.

and Orlando played 15 bench players, many who wont be on the roster.

All i'm pointing ( and that's not opinion, but facutal) is that Magic played rotation players for 3 quaters and "camp squad" in 4th, where Spurs played their camp players through whole game.

[tiderulz]

do we have top-5 positional talent at multiple positions?

the idea is there, but i dont think you can win without a superstar or multiple all-stars

The 2004 Pistons had:

Billups 17/6/4
Prince 10/2/5
Hamilton 18/4/4
R.Wallace/Oker averaged: 12/1/6
B.Wallace 9/2/12

And a very good bench.

Is that really any different than this year's Magic roster?
..

yes, it is.

[pepe1991]

Stop with this crappy Pistons comparisons. Pistons won ring 15 years ago.

First of all let's say one fact- after they won championship Stern urged to put last nail in the handchacking coffin and make defense inferior part of a basketball.

Pistons won championship but they were so damn ugly to watch that it was impossible to root for them if you are not from Detroit and over a top basketball fan.
Just look at this box scores vs Nets

game 1: Nets 56- Pistons 78
And no, this is not halftime result, it's actual basketball team in 2004 scoring 56 points in 48 min , while shooting 19/70 from the field.

Game 2 Nets 80- Pistons 95, while Nets shot 3-15 from 3

Game 3 Nets 64- Pistons 92, Nets shot 0-10 for 3 and 22/76 from the field

Since ratings were apsolute $***t from what i could find, Stern made decision to make league more casual fans friendly and it started offensive revolution.

Today you simply WON'T win championship without superstars because pace and shooting exposes less talented teams more.


Just for comparison, in 2004 nba teams made,at average 5,8 threes a game. In 2019 Steph Curry and Klay made 8,9 threes a game.

[pepe1991]

It's about record when it comes to whether this team has all-stars. If this is a 60 win team (I'm not saying it will be) there will be players that make the all-star team regardless. Remember Atlanta and it's 4 all-stars a few years back...

2 of 4 Atlanta's allstars were regular allstars anyway.
Matter of fact Horford was allstar 5 times and Millsap 4 times.
Korver was selected due his historic shooting season and Jeff Teague was replacment for somebody i belive?

[Howard Mass]

Magic Win! It's only preseason but some really solid performances from several players. It was not just Markelle Fultz and Mo Bamba but several other players too. This team is SO Deep.

Orlando has a rebuild that has always modelled after the 2004 Pistons title run: extreme depth.

In the modern NBA, I still think a star-less team can win a title. Having a bench unit of near-starters is the point.


..

i think people point to Detroit a little too much. Wallace was a defensive monster and all-star and defensive player of the year. Rasheed Wallace was a matchup nightmare and 2x all-star by 2004. Billups further developed into a top-5 PG. Rip was top-10 SG.

And i think there is a reason you havent seen a similar Superstar-less team win a title.

The Magic are different from Detroit if you look at the teams.

In terms of stars, The Magic have potential but not definite stars although they have potential All-Stars.

A team like Detroit would not have the scoring to win in today's game although I see the no superstar point you made.

[Max Power]

The 04 Pistons comparisons I’m not really getting. That team didn’t have a Lebron, but they had a Hall of Famer at the point guard spot and in the interior. A Hall of Fame coach and depth for weeks. They were also very savvy vets by the time they won in 04. They also defended a hell of a lot harder than this current Magic squad. And here’s a major difference. They had 4 or 5 super clutch players. If Billups didn’t burn you, Sheed, Prince or Rip did. The Magic play a similar way, but let’s not get crazy here.

[PrimeThyme]

Let's just focus on trying to get back to the playoffs as something higher than a 7th seed before we start talking about a championship level team..If Fultz/Isaac/Bamba/ and AG continue to develop maybe thats a conversation for the future but right now we are very far off.

[RookieStar]

On another topic.. The celtics released their official height measurement. Kemba is a flat 6'0? Everyone kept harping about him being 6'2 supposedly. But what I'm hearing is that he is supposedly closer to 5'11 than 6'0 lol

[RookieStar]

Oooppps posted this in the wrong thread. my bad.

[Popsicle1228]

I was unable to watch the game last night but read this entire thread to get nuggets of info and some perspective from the members here on how our team played. That said, I enjoyed the read and want to give a massive shout to The Lead.

He took time to PM I don’t how many members and that is a lot of work. Especially when you are trying to watch the game yourself. Unselfish acts like that serve as a great example of what a fan forum should be. I’m proud to be a small part of this community!