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I still believe in Oladipo but he needs to relise that he is not a star. It seemed like he might have some Dwayne Wade like potential in his rookie year but in year 3 we can see he's not that level of player. And thats ok. But he's gotta stop forcing it and just be the defensive juggernaut we wanted when we drafted him. He really needs to work on spot up shooting this off season and forget about being a iso primary scorer cause he's not that. He could be one of the best 3& D guys in the league. We've seen worst shooters develop into solid shooters. I think we still have a very good player but we may need to readjust how we are using him. Sometimes I don't think his struggles are all his fault. We might be asking him to do more than his skill set allows.

I just think we need to unleash Hezonja. I think he can be a top shooting guard in this league. I'd like to see him get more minutes and for Orlando to run more plays for him the next few games. We have a three game stretch here where we can experiment a little and I would like to see Mario unleashed. Give him a bit of a green light and just see what happens. If he struggles, so be it. I think this guy should be getting 10 to 15 shots a game.

He needs to accept his role and limit himself to open shots, cuts, play without the ball, and focus on defense, he can score some out of transition points and putbacks as well, or if the posesion is up and he is the guy with the best match-up one on one, or the game is stuck and he is able to score on isos, but not as a norm.
It should not be that difficult to adapt to that.

reducing vics' role isn't going to fix any of the issues he's having with his jump shot right now which is the biggest problem with him at this moment.

regardless of the role he plays, he's gonna have to get back to shooting better than 39% from the field and 27% from 3.

imo, the best thing to do with vic is exactly what we're doing now: bring him off the bench and allow him some degree of freedom to play his game. when he does he can still get you 15/5/5 easy. i'd rather have that than the nigerian-american version of mickael pietrus.

Sure. I don't believe players magically become horrible in one offseason. But we've got to find a good way to use him. This end-of-quarter possession stuff is useless and it doesn't help him either since it just heaps more pressure on him while he's struggling.

Idk what to say about Oladipo. He has been so inconsistent offensively. It really might have saved our season that he got benched. But it seems skiles wants to use him to close out games and we are still suffering from it. It's time to realize he just doesn't have those skill sets to be a premier player, and can only show stuff in small doses.

I agree with letting Mario take over a bigger role. It's time to take the reigns and let Oladipo play off the ball more and focus on locking down guys.

yes

Remember this game? Why does it seem so long ago
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fFyv-uLW6wI

I want to believe. He's making it difficult though.

He needs to turn this 30game funk around quickly! Otherwise we will all be calling for a trade come february. I really like the guy, but he seems like the odd man out this season, maybe due to Skiles offensive schemes, maybe he is pissed about being 6th man.
I would hate to see him go, but man its hard to watch him play this season.

Of course. He'll start knocking down shots at the same rate as last year very soon, and when he does, people will start recognizing him as a top 5 SG. Guaranteed

I'm not sure what Oladipo you guys have been watching, but he has always been inefficient and with exception of a few scattered months has been bad to horrific offensively.

It just didn't matter because the team was tanking and there was no system or consequence...and his potential to one day be efficient go-to-guy was the only glimmer of hope Magic fans had. Sure sometimes it was fun, but lets not kid ourselves and think that he was good offensively.



As I've been saying since this summer, it is very likely that Oladipo is much closer to Tony Allen than Dwayne Wade. By the end of this year he'll be 24. Efficiency isn't something that just suddenly appears, normally there is a pretty visible gradual improvement. So right now its looking more and more clear which end of those two players he'll be closer to.

ezzzp wrote:I'm not sure what Oladipo you guys have been watching, but he has always been inefficient and with exception of a few scattered months has been bad to horrific offensively.

It just didn't matter because the team was tanking and there was no system or consequence...and his potential to one day be efficient go-to-guy was the only glimmer of hope Magic fans had. Sure sometimes it was fun, but lets not kid ourselves and think that he was good offensively.



As I've been saying since this summer, it is very likely that Oladipo is much closer to Tony Allen than Dwayne Wade. By the end of this year he'll be 24. Efficiency isn't something that just suddenly appears, normally there is a pretty visible gradual improvement. So right now its looking more and more clear which end of those two players he'll be closer to.

Being a little inefficient is one thing, but this season he's taking it to another level. He is not a 26% 3 pt shooter, and he's not a terrible finisher at the rim. We have a 160 game sample size over the past two years that tells us Oladipo is better than that. Then when you consider his FT%, his %s when shooting off the bounce, when shooting between 16-3pt line, ect... you can see why there's some optimism. He's no wade, but I don't think he's a Tony Allen, more like Andre Iguadala.

My answer is NO. I have lost faith in Dipo as a legitimate, productive basketball player. Some one who I no longer see as a piece this team needs to succeed. I apologize if I offend anyone who thinks otherwise. His decisions in-game are questionable to say the very least.

Yeah it's not just missed shots. If it was just that then whatever, I could live with it.

It's his shot selection and decision making that makes me want to make him our 3rd string shooting guard at this point.

He's been a disaster offensively this year but I definitely haven't given up hope. He's probably the most important player for this Magic team right now, either him or Payton since we don't have a backup PG. His struggles offensively this year remind me a lot of Jimmy Butler his 3rd year, eerily similar in fact. This team needs that two way player badly and Oladipo probably has the most potential to be that kind of a guy. Whether he lives up to it, who knows, but I definitely haven't given up on him.

I believe he can be a great piece to this team but he's not accepting his role like he should. To me it just seems like he thinks he's the best player on the team and that he should be starting and the star, and not in a good way either. He seems more concerned with proving this, that he is becoming a black hole. Don't get me wrong, I like guys to step up to a challenge to try and prove doubters wrong, but it should never come before the team. When he is more concerned with trying to make it about him, that he refuses to pass to most of his team, that's where the problem lies.

So it's honestly up to Dipo where his future goes. I don't see him becoming good enough to be a starter with Payton again, they just don't fit well together. Payton is the better player and has more potential, so he's not going anywhere. Dipo can be a fantastic 6th man, but not if he keeps playing like a black hole. If I was Rob, I would definitely listen to offers, but not trade him just yet unless there is something out there that makes it worth it. To answer the question though, I don't believe in him. I don't believe he will accept his role and grow into that great 6th man. I hope he does though.

I haven't given up hope... He's still a pretty damn talented player whose and all purpose guy (Rebounds, Defense, Playmaker, and hustle guy). But one of the many problems that I have with him that I feel like is effecting him now is that him not working enough on his game as a whole. He isn't exactly the most naturally talented/high IQ player. So him just focusing getting foul calls over the offseason (For example) just so he could get to the line I feel like was a reach for him given the glaring holes he has an player offensively. This goes back to him thinking that he's a star caliber player which I felt the idea had already gone to his head (Which the Magic Organization is responsible for as well).

The game (to me) for him hasn't slowed down. Half the time I see a guy running around aimlessly looking like a deer in the headlights. Still trying to figure out what to do, which goes back to his basketball IQ not really changing since his rookie season. Its definitely hard to watch given what we've seen out him the first few seasons and the hope he's given us. But it is what it is at this point...

The next season though is what is make or break for him. The Magic are LOADED in the Back-court position and they're going to make decisions on guys on whose going to be here for when they start competing for a championship. Oladipo in his current state doesn't look like he's one of those guys the Magic will keep around, not unless he focuses and really tries to understand the game better.

I'm actually a little happy that this did happen to him. This will make him realize that he's not guaranteed a starting slot/playing time if he continues to play like crap. Now he will either rise from this or fold under the pressure. Its really on him at this point.

With regards to this notion that Oladipo can't improve his shot because he's too old.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/dumarjo01.html

Joe Dumars didn't become a consistent shooter until he turned 29 years old. Victor oladipo has been a better shooter than first 3 years of Dumars. Don't see why it's impossible for Victor to keep improving. Guy is a hard worker, and he has the potential to become as good as Dumars.

He just need to fix his shot. He'll be fine.

I also hope this thread does what all the other ones have when we call out a player. Oladipo prove ALL of them wrong and go on a tear.