Orlando Magic Grading (Quarter Season Edition)
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 2:49 pm
Scott Skiles: B+ Some room for improvement. I love the defense he has us playing compared to last year. The offense still leaves a lot to be desired. I know, we have a tricky roster to implement a good offense for -- it works some nights, other nights it looks terrible. I still think we could be playing a style that suits our players more, but it would probably be taxing with the defense we play. I have loved his substitution patterns for the most part, sometimes he gets a little too creative and pushes the limits of rest a little far, and to be quite honest, I think his 4th quarter sub pattern is really, really poor compared to how great he is the first three quarters. Regardless, he's been a good look for this team.
Elfrid Payton: B+ He started slow, I preached patience. People forget this is only his second year as well, manning a position that is hard to grasp. After a few games of trying to find his footing in this new scheme, he seems to be embracing his role well and competing night in and night out looking like our best player a lot of games on both ends of the court. His shooting looks better confidence wise, and I feel comfortable with his jumpers more than I did last season. He is as good as ever finding the open man (I think we should be more greedy with him and use his vision more) and has played good defense. He still has things he has to clean up, but I feel secure with him on the floor.
Evan Fournier: B If it wasn't for the hot start, this would be a worse grade -- he seems injured or slow lately. I don't know if the extended minutes made him look better than he is, but it's a reason why we shouldn't get too high or low with these young players. He's defended pretty damn well considering. I think when he has bad shooting nights it makes his defense a bit worse -- which is the opposite of most players on this team, we can still depend on their defense and other attributes when the shot isn't falling. Even still, he's our best driving threat on the wing and our most reliable shooter from the wing, and when he has it going he's tough to slow down.
Andrew Nicholson: B I really didn't expect this renaissance from Cold Cuts. He looks good out there, man. What can I say? I knew he always had the offensive capabilities but he was unsure whether he was a stretch or a post player, and this year he's showing he can do both. His negatives are that he is still slow at closing out, still a huge black hole at times which is troubling when there is an open man with nobody behind him and he's still doing the slow dribble, but other than that what more can you ask?
Tobias Harris: B- I'm really wishy washy about his future on this team. I think he's a great teammate, a good leader, can score in different ways, defends decent enough on most nights and is really good in the community. On the flip side, I feel he's just average, slightly above average, or slightly below average in a lot of categories. Good scorer, but is leading the league in getting blocked. Decent defender, but reacts slow because of his stance (read Zach Lowe's piece on him last year), he seems to have shied away from his clutch role last year -- he has been the least involved in 4th quarter comebacks this year, or it damn sure feels like it. Needs to work on his body control and overdribbling. You. Do. Not. Need. To. Bring. The. Ball. Up. Sometimes, sure. Other times I see him wave off Payton or better ball handlers while he just pounds the top of the key. He also fights for rebounds and smacks balls away from people way more than anybody should. He just needs to learn that less is more sometimes. Otherwise, he's picked us up a lot of games with needed scoring and energy. Not giving up on Tobes. Up that three point shot a bit.
Aaron Gordon: B- I've been pretty impressed with him this season. I knew the Summer League offense wouldn't translate right away, and I still think he can show more confidence and poise on certain offensive plays, but he is truly a game changer on defense - possesses probably the best elite skill on the team in that category. I would like to see a role that gets bigger and bigger as the season progresses to see how he handles it, as I think he will be a big piece of our future. Rebounds better than I thought, improved FT rate, shot is still iffy, still has a lot of raw 20 year old mistakes but he is pure energy and I appreciate that.
Nikola Vucevic: C+ I am openly critical of Nik more than a lot of our team. I came into the season thinking he was our franchise player and top 5 center, but I'm a little less convinced this year. His rebounding seems noticeable worse. His offense is still impressive as always. His defense is come and go, I think the injury really bothered him. Some nights he is really abusable out there. He also is anemic at getting to the line. He has a lot of faults, but he still does a lot of other good things out there and probably is the only one that can get us buckets when we really need it. Would I be open to trading him? Maybe, if the package is right.. but I think he isn't done growing or learning as a player.
Channing Frye: C+ Maybe I bitch about Channing more, but I've liked him as late. We can find him more, but let's not use that as an excuse the last season and a half. He has missed a lot of open shots, he has pump faked into worse shots, he has fouled people for clear paths more than anybody, he has **** lateral movement and is not the best at closing out. With that, he still spaces the floor better than almost any big in the game, disrupts the passing lane in the paint with his long arms and as of late has hit the shots he needs to hit. He should be more involved in the offense. When his offense is suffering his defense needs to be up to par or else he's a negative out there. An enigma, for sure.
Victor Oladipo: C- I had higher hopes for Vic this season. His jumper is broke. Just broken. I don't know what is wrong, but it's just bad as of late. He's finished better as of late, but had a tough early season with it. That being said, he still can be our best driver at times (not finisher), plays suffocating defense, is our heart and soul as far as energy and still has the capabilities to be our best player. I think it's foolish to give up on Vic considering what he's shown the last few years. He needs to pick his spots better and learn when to pass and not to pass in the second unit.. but it will come. He's had to learn the most the last two years just from being put in so many different situations.
I'm tired of writing, but everybody else:
Hezonja - Rookie. I love his shot. I want him to be more selfish. Passing is underrated, handles are super suspect and needs to learn how to drive to the basket without getting exploited. I see good things in his future.
Smith - Our best backup PF/C and has brought more than I expected. I can do without some dirty plays, but I love the enforcer role he brings. Jumper has been better, still hate the shot in general because at the end of a day, it's a Jason Smith jumper -- but it's been lethal. No complaints.
Dedmon - Disappointed in him. Started beastly, as of late he just fouls and does stupid things.
Shabazz - Yuck, yuck, yuck. Same with him, was okay with him early on and now he just seems too small and ineffective as a point.
Marble, Watson - ???
Elfrid Payton: B+ He started slow, I preached patience. People forget this is only his second year as well, manning a position that is hard to grasp. After a few games of trying to find his footing in this new scheme, he seems to be embracing his role well and competing night in and night out looking like our best player a lot of games on both ends of the court. His shooting looks better confidence wise, and I feel comfortable with his jumpers more than I did last season. He is as good as ever finding the open man (I think we should be more greedy with him and use his vision more) and has played good defense. He still has things he has to clean up, but I feel secure with him on the floor.
Evan Fournier: B If it wasn't for the hot start, this would be a worse grade -- he seems injured or slow lately. I don't know if the extended minutes made him look better than he is, but it's a reason why we shouldn't get too high or low with these young players. He's defended pretty damn well considering. I think when he has bad shooting nights it makes his defense a bit worse -- which is the opposite of most players on this team, we can still depend on their defense and other attributes when the shot isn't falling. Even still, he's our best driving threat on the wing and our most reliable shooter from the wing, and when he has it going he's tough to slow down.
Andrew Nicholson: B I really didn't expect this renaissance from Cold Cuts. He looks good out there, man. What can I say? I knew he always had the offensive capabilities but he was unsure whether he was a stretch or a post player, and this year he's showing he can do both. His negatives are that he is still slow at closing out, still a huge black hole at times which is troubling when there is an open man with nobody behind him and he's still doing the slow dribble, but other than that what more can you ask?
Tobias Harris: B- I'm really wishy washy about his future on this team. I think he's a great teammate, a good leader, can score in different ways, defends decent enough on most nights and is really good in the community. On the flip side, I feel he's just average, slightly above average, or slightly below average in a lot of categories. Good scorer, but is leading the league in getting blocked. Decent defender, but reacts slow because of his stance (read Zach Lowe's piece on him last year), he seems to have shied away from his clutch role last year -- he has been the least involved in 4th quarter comebacks this year, or it damn sure feels like it. Needs to work on his body control and overdribbling. You. Do. Not. Need. To. Bring. The. Ball. Up. Sometimes, sure. Other times I see him wave off Payton or better ball handlers while he just pounds the top of the key. He also fights for rebounds and smacks balls away from people way more than anybody should. He just needs to learn that less is more sometimes. Otherwise, he's picked us up a lot of games with needed scoring and energy. Not giving up on Tobes. Up that three point shot a bit.
Aaron Gordon: B- I've been pretty impressed with him this season. I knew the Summer League offense wouldn't translate right away, and I still think he can show more confidence and poise on certain offensive plays, but he is truly a game changer on defense - possesses probably the best elite skill on the team in that category. I would like to see a role that gets bigger and bigger as the season progresses to see how he handles it, as I think he will be a big piece of our future. Rebounds better than I thought, improved FT rate, shot is still iffy, still has a lot of raw 20 year old mistakes but he is pure energy and I appreciate that.
Nikola Vucevic: C+ I am openly critical of Nik more than a lot of our team. I came into the season thinking he was our franchise player and top 5 center, but I'm a little less convinced this year. His rebounding seems noticeable worse. His offense is still impressive as always. His defense is come and go, I think the injury really bothered him. Some nights he is really abusable out there. He also is anemic at getting to the line. He has a lot of faults, but he still does a lot of other good things out there and probably is the only one that can get us buckets when we really need it. Would I be open to trading him? Maybe, if the package is right.. but I think he isn't done growing or learning as a player.
Channing Frye: C+ Maybe I bitch about Channing more, but I've liked him as late. We can find him more, but let's not use that as an excuse the last season and a half. He has missed a lot of open shots, he has pump faked into worse shots, he has fouled people for clear paths more than anybody, he has **** lateral movement and is not the best at closing out. With that, he still spaces the floor better than almost any big in the game, disrupts the passing lane in the paint with his long arms and as of late has hit the shots he needs to hit. He should be more involved in the offense. When his offense is suffering his defense needs to be up to par or else he's a negative out there. An enigma, for sure.
Victor Oladipo: C- I had higher hopes for Vic this season. His jumper is broke. Just broken. I don't know what is wrong, but it's just bad as of late. He's finished better as of late, but had a tough early season with it. That being said, he still can be our best driver at times (not finisher), plays suffocating defense, is our heart and soul as far as energy and still has the capabilities to be our best player. I think it's foolish to give up on Vic considering what he's shown the last few years. He needs to pick his spots better and learn when to pass and not to pass in the second unit.. but it will come. He's had to learn the most the last two years just from being put in so many different situations.
I'm tired of writing, but everybody else:
Hezonja - Rookie. I love his shot. I want him to be more selfish. Passing is underrated, handles are super suspect and needs to learn how to drive to the basket without getting exploited. I see good things in his future.
Smith - Our best backup PF/C and has brought more than I expected. I can do without some dirty plays, but I love the enforcer role he brings. Jumper has been better, still hate the shot in general because at the end of a day, it's a Jason Smith jumper -- but it's been lethal. No complaints.
Dedmon - Disappointed in him. Started beastly, as of late he just fouls and does stupid things.
Shabazz - Yuck, yuck, yuck. Same with him, was okay with him early on and now he just seems too small and ineffective as a point.
Marble, Watson - ???