2024-2025 Regular Season Game 5: Orlando Magic (3-1) at Chicago Bulls (2-2) - 8pm ET

[Fortune Teller]

Signing KCP didn't address any of this team's weaknesses, and that seems pretty apparent on the court. We didn't need another lock-down defender who can't hit open shots. The priority should have been a PG, and if that wasn't workable a knock-down shooter. Buddy Hield was available for a reasonable price. Instead Welt extended Cole, re-signed Gary Harris and added KCP. Cole is already out of the rotation, Gary Harris is back to being triple-bagel Gary Harris (0 pts, 0 rebounds, 0 assists) after one good dame, and KCP can't hit the side of a barn.

[Knightro]

The priority should have been a PG, and if that wasn't workable a knock-down shooter.

Who?

I get what you're saying, but who would you have acquired at PG?

[SloNick Russia]

Last season we had a dominant inside scoring and FT shooting team. Now we have lost it completely in favor of more 3 point shooting, which I think is a mistake, have to find that balance.
Paolo seems to have a stamina problem, we should cut his MPG down to get better value out of him. Sure we need healthy Franz to do that.


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[eyriq]

This feels like a huge moment

Read on Twitter

?t=mdpJ-R5Jr1qqdHQq8lm6Cw&s=19

[VFX]

IF he isn’t hitting shots he’s worthless. He’s 4/24 now in 5 games. Orlando already had Anthony Black and re signed Gary Harris… his defense isn’t THAT much better to forgo scoring.

They paid him to hit shots even though the problem was NEVER about shooting as expressed the entire offseason.

Tonight’s second half of basketball was exactly a rewind to last seasons offense. The issue is ball movement and creating opportunities for Paolo to get to the rim. Franz was out, but even then the roster lacks a guy to “run” things so it doesn’t revert to chucking and standing around. KCP can’t even put the ball on the floor.

So what are people going to tell me? Suggs needs to hit 6-8 threes a game for the offense to make sense? lol. No. The FO was clueless and thought zero ball handlers made sense because they are infatuated with point forwards pretending to reinvent the wheel.

I'll ask you the same thing I've asked you before.

Who would you have signed instead of KCP?

Chris Paul? Tyus Jones? Russell Westbrook?

Ball handlers available on the free agency front were extremely limited. And they had to spend the money this summer or they'd have lost it on Franz and Suggs' extensions.

And if the answer is "oh well they should have made a trade" would you be happy right now if they gave up Anthony Black and two firsts to get Dejounte Murray because that's the equivalent of what New Orleans gave up to get him.

You can obviously look at this roster and see that there is a consolidation trade to be made outside of outright signing someone. We even have two first round picks that I have a very hard time believing this front office will use.

And no, they didn’t need someone like Murray to even make sense of things. They just needed someone that had any kind of resume at putting the ball on the floor without being a target on defense. That list is bigger than 3 players.

[ibraheim718]

I watched the post game presser.. they must've mentioned gassed 10 times. Call the time out... that's why you have it.

[ibraheim718]

He finished the game with a time out in his pocket and had the last possession. Inexcusable but you seem to always excuse him.. it blows my mind.

Just to be clear, the Magic did not finish the game with a timeout.

They did choose to hold their timeout so they could advance the ball to halfcourt on the actual final possession in case they missed on that possession. Which is exactly what happened.

You keep the timeout in your pocket because there's 19 seconds left and you're not intentionally going to run the clock down to 0 and take one shot.

If you miss, then you can still foul and get another chance.

Unfortunately, because Paolo gave up the ball too quickly and Suggs panicked, the play broke down and ended up running way more time off the clock than they wanted it to.

The plan was certainly not to have that possession end with 0.1 seconds left.

On the road down 2 you always take the 3 to win the game. Anyone who follows the game close enough for long enough knows this. For some reason this was lost on everyone.

The time out when he used it was useless.

I went to other Magic forums just to reinforce my opinion and it was reinforced strongly. The team was winded.. the game had bogged down. I'm sorry you have to call a time out there and draw up a play for a 3 and take the last shot.

In his post game press conference Mosley just kept going back to the two 34 point quarters being the reason they lost the game but they had the last possession to win or tie (always go for the win on the road) and they settled for iso's that lead to a mid range jump shot.. that's not a good enough job from the coach.

[Knightro]

You can obviously look at this roster and see that there is a consolidation trade to be made outside of outright signing someone. We even have two first round picks that I have a very bad time believing this front office will use.

And no, they didn’t need someone like Murray to even make sense of things. They just needed someone that had any kind of resume at putting the ball on the floor without being a target on defense. That list is bigger than 3 players.

Just give me one name

The point guard crop in free agency was really bad and one starting caliber PG got traded for a lotto pick and two firsts, which is price people would have been squealing had the Magic paid.

I have no problem with you or anyone else saying "I wouldn't have done X" but you have to have some sort of sense what Y or Z would have been.

Just saying into the void "well they could have made a consolidation trade!" - what trade? Who would you have pursued?

And if the answer is "that's up for them to figure out" - then you're kind of telling on yourself that you just want to be pissed off versus actually thinking about what realistically could have happened differently.

[eyriq]

Yeah, the point guard options were Russell and Tyus?

[VFX]

You can obviously look at this roster and see that there is a consolidation trade to be made outside of outright signing someone. We even have two first round picks that I have a very bad time believing this front office will use.

And no, they didn’t need someone like Murray to even make sense of things. They just needed someone that had any kind of resume at putting the ball on the floor without being a target on defense. That list is bigger than 3 players.

Just give me one name

The point guard crop in free agency was really bad and one starting caliber PG got traded for a lotto pick and two firsts, which is price people would have been squealing had the Magic paid.

I have no problem with you or anyone else saying "I wouldn't have done X" but you have to have some sort of sense what Y or Z would have been.

Just saying into the void "well they could have made a consolidation trade!" - what trade? Who would you have pursued?

And if the answer is "that's up for them to figure out" - then you're kind of telling on yourself that you just want to be pissed off versus actually thinking about what realistically could have happened differently.

Schroeder - nets are tanking this year
Sexton - same thing with jazz
Tre Jones - San Antonio has a glut of point guards now
Tyus Jones - could have been had at last years trade dl

Those are literally just off the top of my head without digging or looking at contracts. Any of these moves could have been made in the last 1.5 - 2 seasons and Cole Anthony could have been included considering AB is who they selected and have put their investment into.

Corey Joseph isn’t the kind of mentor that helps a team outside of garbage minutes or practice squad. Guys that see the floor can do both until he’s ready.

So are you saying that instead of pursuing any of these guys (even ones I haven’t listed) means they HAD to roll out a flawed system on offense? Thats basically what you are saying.

“No players were available so we decided to pay an overrated journeyman with the same skillset as 4 guys on the roster and address none of the offenses glaring weaknesses”. That’s YOUR theory.

[Knightro]

On the road down 2 you always take the 3 to win the game. Anyone who follows the game close enough for long enough knows this. For some reason this was lost on everyone.

The time out when he used it was useless.

I went to other Magic forums just to reinforce my opinion and it was reinforced strongly. The team was winded.. the game had bogged down. I'm sorry you have to call a time out there and draw up a play for a 3 and take the last shot.

In his post game press conference Mosley just kept going back to the two 34 point quarters being the reason they lost the game but they had the last possession to win or tie (always go for the win on the road) and they settled for iso's that lead to a mid range jump shot.. that's not a good enough job from the coach.

The initial play call with 19 seconds left I feel VERY strongly was going to result in a 3PT attempt from the Magic btw.

Paolo screened for Suggs, who was supposed to hit Paolo on the short roll and then Paolo was going to read the help defender and kick out to any one of Black, Harris or KCP for a wide open 3PT attempt.

Maybe Paolo just takes an uncontested layup if the seas part, but given who they subbed in and what they called, my expectation is for Paolo to draw help and kick.

Suggs just mishandled the basketball and then panicked when he recovered it.

And then with 14 seconds left, again it was going to be a Paolo draw defenders and kick play, but Paolo incorrectly gave the ball up against a non-double and then Suggs again panicked.

[Knightro]

Yeah, the point guard options were Russell and Tyus?

Russell opted into his contract, so he wasn't someone they could have signed.

[JoshuaPotter]

Frankly regarding our current situation I think it is overblown. It is clearly obvious based on Anthony Blacks current role that no starting PG is the sunk cost of this season....

Come next season, AB will be initiating offense in the SL. This is the "bumps in the road" that I wished we would have gone through last year with AB.

[Knightro]

Schroeder - nets are tanking this year
Sexton - same thing with jazz
Tre Jones - San Antonio has a glut of point guards now
Tyus Jones - could have been had at last years trade dl

Those are literally just off the top of my head without digging or looking at contracts. Any of these moves could have been made in the last 1.5 - 2 seasons and Cole Anthony could have been included considering AB is who they selected and have put their investment into.

Corey Joseph isn’t the kind of mentor that helps a team outside of garbage minutes or practice squad. Guys that see the floor can do both until he’s ready.

So are you saying that instead of pursuing any of these guys (even ones I haven’t listed) means they HAD to roll out a flawed system on offense? Thats basically what you are saying.

“No players were available so we decided to pay an overrated journeyman with the same skillset as 4 guys on the roster and address none of the offenses glaring weaknesses”. That’s YOUR theory.

Two things...

1. Your EXACT wording was "They just needed someone that had any kind of resume at putting the ball on the floor without being a target on defense."

Yet of the four guys you listed...

Sexton and Tyus statistically are both awful defenders. Like bottom of the league bad. Schroder is a bad defender and Tre is an ok defender.

So what you really want is a guard who can attack of the dribble and the defensive stuff is just mostly BS?

2. Just because a player is on a bad team or a tanking team doesn't mean they're available. Tyus didn't get traded last offseason, ya know? Sexton has been with the Jazz for three years now and they gave him an extension. Tre got an extension from San Antonio.

Are we really with a straight face suggesting we'd rather have 31-year-old Dennis Schroder with his awful .533 career TS% who has graded out as a negative both on offense and defense almost every single year of his career over KCP?

I get people are down on KCP after a week, but come on now.

[VFX]

Schroeder - nets are tanking this year
Sexton - same thing with jazz
Tre Jones - San Antonio has a glut of point guards now
Tyus Jones - could have been had at last years trade dl

Those are literally just off the top of my head without digging or looking at contracts. Any of these moves could have been made in the last 1.5 - 2 seasons and Cole Anthony could have been included considering AB is who they selected and have put their investment into.

Corey Joseph isn’t the kind of mentor that helps a team outside of garbage minutes or practice squad. Guys that see the floor can do both until he’s ready.

So are you saying that instead of pursuing any of these guys (even ones I haven’t listed) means they HAD to roll out a flawed system on offense? Thats basically what you are saying.

“No players were available so we decided to pay an overrated journeyman with the same skillset as 4 guys on the roster and address none of the offenses glaring weaknesses”. That’s YOUR theory.

Two things...

1. Your EXACT wording was "They just needed someone that had any kind of resume at putting the ball on the floor without being a target on defense."

Yet of the four guys you listed...

Sexton and Tyus statistically are both awful defenders. Like bottom of the league bad. Schroder is a bad defender and Tre is an ok defender.

So what you really want is a guard who can attack of the dribble and the defensive stuff is just mostly BS?

2. Just because a player is on a bad team or a tanking team doesn't mean they're available. Tyus didn't get traded last offseason, ya know? Sexton has been with the Jazz for three years now and they gave him an extension. Tre got an extension from San Antonio.

Are we really with a straight face suggesting we'd rather have 31-year-old Dennis Schroder with his awful .533 career TS% who has graded out as a negative both on offense and defense almost every single year of his career over KCP?

I get people are down on KCP after a week, but come on now.

Yeah the point is that the top 3 defense doesn’t need to be #1 when your offense is in the 20’s. You obviously make sacrifices so that your youth develops in a better system instead of guys standing around watching Paolo struggle on offense most nights. Orlando isn’t playing the pacers for 82 games.

[BlazersBroncos]

Whats the thoughts on Anfernee Simons as the Magic start somewhat slow offensively? Asking b/c I truly hope PDX moves him to hand the keys to Scoot and see if he can sink or swim. They are a horrible fit together on the floor but I see Simons as a much better fit given the talent assembled in ORL.

[drsd]

We are all sad the Magic lost the Bulls game, and this was fully down to horrible distance shooting in the second half.

So: box-score thoughts.

The Magic lost the FG% battle and lost the game.

The assist / TO line is still a strong point for the team. Here 25/12= 2.08

The Magic was outrebounded.
The Magic was excellent from the charity stripe.




Blah-blah, and blah. Only one thing mattered in this game,

Three-ball by quarter
1st: 5/13 = 38.4%
2nd: 3/12 = 25.0%
3rd: 3/8 = 37.5%
4th: 0/12 - zilch

The Magic's 3ball shooting in the 2nd and 4th quarters was awful. And thus the loss.

[drsd]

Whats the thoughts on Anfernee Simons as the Magic start somewhat slow offensively?

Caldwell-Pope's distance shooting is very disappointing so far.

[drsd]

It was **** pathetic. Paolo in hero mode missing 4 threes in a row, lack of offense from the role players, no structure whatsoever under the pressure. A long way to go. This road trip may be brutal if it continuous...

[ibraheim718]

On the road down 2 you always take the 3 to win the game. Anyone who follows the game close enough for long enough knows this. For some reason this was lost on everyone.

The time out when he used it was useless.

I went to other Magic forums just to reinforce my opinion and it was reinforced strongly. The team was winded.. the game had bogged down. I'm sorry you have to call a time out there and draw up a play for a 3 and take the last shot.

In his post game press conference Mosley just kept going back to the two 34 point quarters being the reason they lost the game but they had the last possession to win or tie (always go for the win on the road) and they settled for iso's that lead to a mid range jump shot.. that's not a good enough job from the coach.

The initial play call with 19 seconds left I feel VERY strongly was going to result in a 3PT attempt from the Magic btw.

Paolo screened for Suggs, who was supposed to hit Paolo on the short roll and then Paolo was going to read the help defender and kick out to any one of Black, Harris or KCP for a wide open 3PT attempt.

Maybe Paolo just takes an uncontested layup if the seas part, but given who they subbed in and what they called, my expectation is for Paolo to draw help and kick.

Suggs just mishandled the basketball and then panicked when he recovered it.

And then with 14 seconds left, again it was going to be a Paolo draw defenders and kick play, but Paolo incorrectly gave the ball up against a non-double and then Suggs again panicked.

I can see that. Well on to the next one. Hopefully everyone learns from this one and it doesn't come back to haunt them at the end of the season.