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OK, first of all I need to state that AG is my current favorite player on the team and I believe is currently the most talented player on the current roster. So I cannot in any way be classified as a hater.

But, I attended last night's game and sat center court 12 rows up and had a great view of the action (surrounded by Heat fans and it got REALLY uncomfortable when they made their run - they are so obnoxiously loud and boastfully confrontational). There was a specific sequence (in I believe the 3rd quarter) where AG had the ball on the baseline and Vuc was trying to run a 2 man game with him. AG drove around him and took a very high degree of difficulty shot that missed (several open passing lanes were available to him) - Vuc hustled for the tip rebound and AG got the ball back, and he again forced up an almost impossible shot when there were several open teammates calling for the ball. It was egregious in its ballhogginess - worse than anything I've ever seen from Fournier, Vuc or even DJ. And frankly I saw that a lot last year as well.

Now, I and others are usually positively inclined when AG says in preseason interviews that his goal is to be an All Star or be the best player in the NBA. But I wonder if instead of that being encouraging, it should be a concern that his answer is always about what he can be not the team (it seems) - he is a driven dude but perhaps his goal is to reach his potential ceiling even at the expense of team chemistry or wins. And I worry the fact he is now in a contract year could make it worse.

One other proof point - in a article from Josh Robbins last week previewing the season he wrote this:

The returning nucleus never fully welcomed Ibaka, and Ibaka never fully embraced them. Biyombo’s arrival created tension because it threatened to unseat Vucevic from the starting lineup. And Aaron Gordon, playing out of position, sometimes upset teammates by launching perimeter shots.

Hmmm. I hope I'm wrong and want that to be so. But what does the board think? Is it possible that AG is selfishly focused on his personal success and that is a critical cause of team chemistry issues? And if so, should we look to trade him mid year if his stock soars and we have a position backup in Isaac? He should net a good return.

I'm not there yet as I'm a big fan, but it is something I'm going to keep an eye on this year.

He is being more selfish and I am ok with that... he has the most potential to breakout and this is the first year he's getting a real opportunity to put it to the test. Last year he was jacking up a bunch of midrangers out of position... he stopped doing that after a while, especially post all-star break when he played better closer to the basket at his natural position. This year he is attacking a lot, so I don't think it's such a bad thing he's forcing stuff near the basket. I think he's going to consistently draw fouls that way. Plus when he's missing shots you can still count on him to come through with hustle points.

OrlandO wrote:He is being more selfish and I am ok with that... he has the most potential to breakout and this is the first year he's getting a real opportunity to put it to the test. Last year he was jacking up a bunch of midrangers out of position... he stopped doing that post all-star break when he played better. This year he is attacking a lot, so I don't think it's such a bad thing he's forcing stuff near the basket. Plus when he's missing shots you can still count on him to come through with hustle points.

That's true - both shots he forced were attacking based - but he did this last minute fadeaway move at the rim that made the shots Michael Jordan level hard

YosemiteSam wrote:

OrlandO wrote:He is being more selfish and I am ok with that... he has the most potential to breakout and this is the first year he's getting a real opportunity to put it to the test. Last year he was jacking up a bunch of midrangers out of position... he stopped doing that post all-star break when he played better. This year he is attacking a lot, so I don't think it's such a bad thing he's forcing stuff near the basket. Plus when he's missing shots you can still count on him to come through with hustle points.

That's true - both shots he forced were attacking based - but he did this last minute fadeaway move at the rim that made the shots Michael Jordan level hard

Still, 6 fta. We desperately need players to consistently get to the line and I think his style and athleticism can get him there often. Might not always be pretty, but as long as we get something out of the aggressiveness I think it will be helpful. He also had 3 assists, which is above his avg last season. IIRC he pulled back on forcing shots in the 2nd half, so that shows some self awareness. There are selfish players who just keep chucking when they aren't playing well.. I don't think AG is like that.

One game is probably too early to stress over his play. Whiteside is a really good shot blocker, so that might have played a factor in his shot selection and struggles last night. Might have had some opening night jitters, too. You ask if AG is interested in becoming a star or playing on a winning team. I think he wants both. Let's give him a chance to show what he's got. Let's see how he plays against BK next game... he scored 20+ the last two times we faced them.

If we're asking/wanting it out of him, we're going to have to deal with those plays. Everybody here has done it and if we can deal with years of Vuc and Fournier buddy ball or Jeff Green or DJ or Willie or whatever, I'm 100% on board with AG forcing things sometimes because he has the athleticism and (hopefully) confidence to pull it off. Now, I'm always wanting anybody on the team to make the smart play and hit the open man, but "stars" make the hard plays and make them work, so I'm willing to live with that because he's unselfish enough in most other scenarios. If he wasn't then I'd have an issue.

He's more interested in becoming the first player to have his jersey retired by the Orlando Magic.

I am ok with someone's with AG's ceiling playing a little selfish ball rather than seeing Augustin dribble and chuck 3 pointers all day.

AG/Issac/Simmons.... the future.

His focus should be on becoming a star. THEN hopefully one day that will lead to us being on a legitimate contender because he will attract more stars to join him.

Playing passively so that his teammates can be more involved is a wretched thought.

GortatExpress wrote: AG/Issac/Simmons.... the future.

simmons is 28 years old.

I think he is simply focused on improving. I expect that he worked hard over the summer and has some new tools that he needs to experiment with. The sequence you cited was indeed ugly, though I don't think it was indicative of anything more than that. He forced up another shot on an ugly fadeaway on another possession as well, though later in the game he was matched up against a smaller defender and kicked the ball out to an open shooter. Fournier and Simmons both forced up some ugly shots last night as well. I'm not equivocating here. It's going to happen. It's way too early to make anything of this.

It's one game and he's coming off a hot pre season. I imagine he's been told to be aggresive as well not that he is just forcing by his own choosing. By all accounts he is the kind of player who will listen to what he is told and play that role.

OrlandO wrote:

YosemiteSam wrote:

OrlandO wrote:He is being more selfish and I am ok with that... he has the most potential to breakout and this is the first year he's getting a real opportunity to put it to the test. Last year he was jacking up a bunch of midrangers out of position... he stopped doing that post all-star break when he played better. This year he is attacking a lot, so I don't think it's such a bad thing he's forcing stuff near the basket. Plus when he's missing shots you can still count on him to come through with hustle points.

That's true - both shots he forced were attacking based - but he did this last minute fadeaway move at the rim that made the shots Michael Jordan level hard

Still, 6 fta. We desperately need players to consistently get to the line and I think his style and athleticism can get him there often. Might not always be pretty, but as long as we get something out of the aggressiveness I think it will be helpful. He also had 3 assists, which is above his avg last season. IIRC he pulled back on forcing shots in the 2nd half, so that shows some self awareness. There are selfish players who just keep chucking when they aren't playing well.. I don't think AG is like that.

One game is probably too early to stress over his play. Whiteside is a really good shot blocker, so that might have played a factor in his shot selection and struggles last night. Might have had some opening night jitters, too. You ask if AG is interested in becoming a star or playing on a winning team. I think he wants both. Let's give him a chance to show what he's got. Let's see how he plays against BK next game... he scored 20+ the last two times we faced them.

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Cool. I hope you are all right. Thanks for the well reasoned feedback. We won so not looking for negatives, just came to mind because I was putting together the Robbins article, AGs quotes and a few plays from lst night. Best case is he is able to leverage his freak athleticism to make high difficulty shots a staple for him.

For me i've been asking for the team to unleash him, i want to see what he can really do.....i have no problem with these shots if he's supposed to have the potential i think he does. Now if it's an ongoing issue then that's a different story, as of now it's been only one game

There is so much pressure on him to deliver offensively, I think all he is doing is being aggressive.

Last Guardian wrote:There is so much pressure on him to deliver offensively, I think all he is doing is being aggressive.

I agree , he seems like he is still trying to figure out what his actual nba role will be . Rt now in his mind he may become a scorer , but it may end up he will just be a high energy roll player .

I saw on the Heat broadcast that Vucevic yelled at him after that sequence. I think he was just trying to carry on his pre-season and practice performances into the regular season and was maybe trying too hard. I could tell he was hesitant when he got the ball last night. In pre-season it was all quick decisions. My guys playing off of me... jumper. My guy is close up on me... drive. Last night it was not like that. He'll put it together eventually.

OrlandO wrote:We desperately need players to consistently get to the line ....

As an obvious example: It is why Orlando won game #1 !!!

..

Imo he is becoming The Matrix clone I mean now when he started to hit that 3 pointer they started to look so familiar...spring legs no 1st step no shot creation but still decent.Matrix is a 4 time all star.
If you guys think he will be 25+ppg superstar Lebronesque style you are as mad as Mad King.

I believe AG is trying to be the best he can possibly be while playing on a winning team. It isn't one or the other. He is very young and still going through his growing pains but the talent and work ethic are certainly there.