2025-2026 Regular Season Game 3: Chicago Bulls (1-0) at Orlando Magic (1-1) - 7pm ET

[pepe1991]

Btw lot of rookies are smoking hot.

We will play first great looking rookie next, that Philly game will be interesting. Late in preseason i went through their roster and figured that they actually have lot of solid players.

So i picked them as low key danger on East IF they can stay healthy.

[Bensational]

I’m not sure how much it factors in, but Paolo does have almost $50M on the line in potential supermax bonuses if he makes an All NBA team this season. That’s some pretty big motivation and self interest to make sure his counting numbers stay high and attention grabbing. Gotta be a conflict for him in deciding when to force things and when not to.

[T-Cat]

Elite 3pt shooting once again. Seems like it doesn't matter who we bring in, at some point the coaches have to be held accountable. Still very early, Bane will get better, but this team has no depth and no center.

I wouldn't give this more than 2 months. We were saying the same thing about KCP all year. Mosley's seat shouldn't be warm yet but if we're a .500 club or worse by the start of January 2026, I'd move on and bring in Malone or Thibodeau.

I think Bane has been good, he just isn't superstar some people hyped him to be.
He was guy who had nice counting stats and great efficiency on Grizzlies, but he is not super elite player.
His T rex arms make him rather mediocre defender, his passing is okey for SG but he ain't playmaker, he is elite shooter but Morant created nice gravity and Grizzlies ulitized him really well, opening up great looks for him.
Taylor Jenkin was excellent coach who made that Grizz roster look and play waaaay better than they ever should based on that level of talent. Like guy had Jackson as second best player. On West. And still won 50 games multiple times.
How much he got from players? Jones was 6th in 6MOY race...

I don't think Bane is a problem. But one guy won't solve all out issues.
Also starting 5, especially without Suggs, kind a lacks defensive talent and edge now when KCP is gone.

And yea... Banchero has been...bad. Really bad.

I never liked idea of 60 wins team that won 40 games year prior. I think there is enough trash on East to win 50, but lot of stuff needs to be solved. For start what is a point of playing Isaac 2 min a game?
Second, why is Goga key part of bench offense?
Third, why Paolo isn't passing to anybody?

When it rains, it pours!

'm starting to believe Moseley has lost his locker room and it shows with their body language in games!

[KillMonger]

Plus you got to factor in mosely himself.... Even if we did have cedric, would mose even play him? Mose is a bit old school

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[magicfan217]

Some of these lineups and player usage are just wild. Hopefully the coaching staff can figure it out. Benching Tyus was the right move tonight because if you aren't going to use him as a ball handler he has no business being on the court...but then we turn around and have lineups with AB and Jett and goga. It's pretty hard to try and figure out what they are wanting these guys to do. Hopefully just growing pains as we adjust to the new roster and style.

[eyriq]

Man we wasted a good AB game. AB is already up to 29 MPG and Tyus is on ice.

His turnovers were painful, though.

[KillMonger]

Tyus is on borrowed time, not hitting any shots and he's not defending

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[SOUL]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1ogalo4/highlight_banchero_vs_bulls_24_pts_on_721_fg_14/

The play at :30 encapsulates Paolo's play right now. Look how slow/plodding he is and then throws up a finesse shot trying to draw a foul instead of just putting his shoulder into Okoro.. that's like half of his shots right now.

[KillMonger]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1ogalo4/highlight_banchero_vs_bulls_24_pts_on_721_fg_14/

The play at :30 encapsulates Paolo's play right now. Look how slow/plodding he is and then throws up a finesse shot trying to draw a foul instead of just putting his shoulder into Okoro.. that's like half of his shots right now.

He'll get there, slow starter then he heats up.....im giving him a bit of grace because he plays well when it counts the most in the playoffs....his process isn't good right now and the uncomfortable nature of the lineups isn't helping..... One thing I could say for him and most others on the teams is the conditioning is off.... 3 games in and it looks like we got no legs.... I remember a play where I think ayo attacked the rim and goga could've made a play on it but gave up he had zero legs... Game shape is different, seems like the only one in game shape is Franz and Tristan

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[SOUL]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1ogalo4/highlight_banchero_vs_bulls_24_pts_on_721_fg_14/

The play at :30 encapsulates Paolo's play right now. Look how slow/plodding he is and then throws up a finesse shot trying to draw a foul instead of just putting his shoulder into Okoro.. that's like half of his shots right now.

He'll get there, slow starter then he heats up.....im giving him a bit of grace because he plays well when it counts the most in the playoffs....his process isn't good right now and the uncomfortable nature of the lineups isn't helping..... One thing I could say for him and most others on the teams is the conditioning is off.... 3 games in and it looks like we got no legs.... I remember a play where I think ayo attacked the rim and goga could've made a play on it but gave up he had zero legs... Game shape is different, seems like the only one in game shape is Franz and Tristan

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Oh I do agree they're gassed and I'd rather them get this out of their system now than later in the year, but the finesse finishing/bad touch around the basket is a constant for Paolo which we need to start being a positive. Can't rely on mid-range and threes from him all the time.

[Ducklett]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1ogalo4/highlight_banchero_vs_bulls_24_pts_on_721_fg_14/

The play at :30 encapsulates Paolo's play right now. Look how slow/plodding he is and then throws up a finesse shot trying to draw a foul instead of just putting his shoulder into Okoro.. that's like half of his shots right now.

He'll get there, slow starter then he heats up.....im giving him a bit of grace because he plays well when it counts the most in the playoffs....his process isn't good right now and the uncomfortable nature of the lineups isn't helping..... One thing I could say for him and most others on the teams is the conditioning is off.... 3 games in and it looks like we got no legs.... I remember a play where I think ayo attacked the rim and goga could've made a play on it but gave up he had zero legs... Game shape is different, seems like the only one in game shape is Franz and Tristan

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We ain't making any playoffs if his bum ass keeps playing like this.

[SOUL]

As bad as I think RealGM can be on overreaction, Twitter is going CRAZY lol. Paolo trades, Mose firings, Franz/Paolo debates, Bane regrets already.

The truth is we had a great offense most of the preseason and versus Miami and even the first half of Hawks (61 points) - then a terrible second half vs the Hawks and pretty much all of the Bulls game except one quarter.

Defense has been noticeably poor for most of the games incorporating other players which we will NOT survive unlike last year if we can't shoot and are playing poor D.

[KillMonger]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1ogalo4/highlight_banchero_vs_bulls_24_pts_on_721_fg_14/

The play at :30 encapsulates Paolo's play right now. Look how slow/plodding he is and then throws up a finesse shot trying to draw a foul instead of just putting his shoulder into Okoro.. that's like half of his shots right now.

He'll get there, slow starter then he heats up.....im giving him a bit of grace because he plays well when it counts the most in the playoffs....his process isn't good right now and the uncomfortable nature of the lineups isn't helping..... One thing I could say for him and most others on the teams is the conditioning is off.... 3 games in and it looks like we got no legs.... I remember a play where I think ayo attacked the rim and goga could've made a play on it but gave up he had zero legs... Game shape is different, seems like the only one in game shape is Franz and Tristan

Sent from my [Sidekick 5G] using RealGM mobile app

We ain't making any playoffs if his bum ass keeps playing like this.

Not worried about it, he has every incentive to play better.... Literally had dollars riding on it...... no excuses..... Honestly I don't really care how he plays in the regular season as long as he is playing well towards the end peaking at the right time, I want this team to make the second round at least

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[GelbeWand09]

Haven't watched this game yet, but at least the 3 point thing isn't so surprising. I wrote a few times over the summer that I don't know why people thought we fixed that with the Bane trade. We were the by faaaaaaaar worst 3 point shooting team in the leaque and added 1 mid to high volume shooter. The rest of the starting 5 are still all mediocre to bad shooters including Suggs based on last year.
Was Franz gased again in 2nd half? As much as the fast pace fits his play style even at the euro when Germany played much faster style than usual and Franz being a one man fastbreak, he slowed down and became much less efficient in the 2nd halves.
The assist to turnover ratio so far is really comical bad. The to you at least can explain with new style and new players but the assists... Holy moly. Paolo 1 apg in those 3 games WTF
Tyus doesn't seem to fit with iso players like in Phoenix already. Black is great in the things he does well so far defense and attacking crambled defenses but has more to than assists and no 3point volume that it matters. But AB's +/- success probably shows that the team would look much better again with a defense 1st approach.

[pepe1991]

Why da hell we play Celtics 3 times in 16 days in November?

[zaymon]

He'll get there, slow starter then he heats up.....im giving him a bit of grace because he plays well when it counts the most in the playoffs....his process isn't good right now and the uncomfortable nature of the lineups isn't helping..... One thing I could say for him and most others on the teams is the conditioning is off.... 3 games in and it looks like we got no legs.... I remember a play where I think ayo attacked the rim and goga could've made a play on it but gave up he had zero legs... Game shape is different, seems like the only one in game shape is Franz and Tristan

Sent from my [Sidekick 5G] using RealGM mobile app

We ain't making any playoffs if his bum ass keeps playing like this.

Not worried about it, he has every incentive to play better.... Literally had dollars riding on it...... no excuses..... Honestly I don't really care how he plays in the regular season as long as he is playing well towards the end peaking at the right time, I want this team to make the second round at least

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You like how our offense looked in the playoffs ? I think our offense looks bad regardless how many midrangers Paolo hits.
Same old questions appear regardless of number of shooters in the lineup.
Why do you think our shooters are out of rhytm and players hit well below their averages ? Is it a curse ? Is it just random ?

[lt175]

If they have problem shooting and defending specially with the bench players, they should use Penda. At least he's gonna defend.

[lt175]

If they have problem shooting and defending specially with the bench players, they should use Penda. At least he's gonna defend. He won't be a difference maker but having just a solid player with a good basketball IQ on the floor for a few minutes can help.

edit: Sorry for the double post. I made a mistake.

[Message Boar]

Man... between this bad start and being an Ajax fan and a Baltimore Ravens fan right now, I'm not sure if my sports fan heart can handle this much disappointment and dejection all together this soon.

Hope the Magic turn it around, and soon. Like, we don't have to be amazing, but can we at least look decent and get back to defending and stuff?

[Braggins]

Rough start to the season, but I still believe in this squads talent.