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Stats courtesy of NBA.com.

ORLANDO MAGIC
Record: 4-6, 9th in Eastern Conference
Expected W/L: 2-8

Traditional Team Stats
PPG: 101.8 (30th of 30)
Opp PPG: 110.5 (14th of 30)
Pace: 99.0 (21st of 30)
FG%: 42.6 (29th of 30)
3PT%: 31.0 (28th of 30)
FT%: 72.9 (21st of 30)
Opp FG%: 46.9 (18th of 30)
Opp 3PT%: 37.8 (24th of 30)
Opp FTA: 20.6 (3rd of 30)

Advanced Team Stats
ORTG: 101.7 (30th of 30)
DRTG: 110.5 (20th of 30)
NetRTG: -10.9 (29th of 30)
Assist %: 62.9 (6th of 30)
Ast/TO: 1.88 (5th of 30)
Ast Ratio: 17.7 (12th of 30)
DReb%: 73.1 (15th of 30)
Reb%: 48.5 (23rd of 30)
TS%: 50.9 (30th of 30)
Pace: 100.05 (21st of 30)

Four Factors (Shooting, Turnovers, Rebounding, FTs)
EFG%: 48.0 (29th of 30)
FT Rate: .205 (30th of 30)
TOV%: 13.1 (4th of 30)
OReb%: 26.7 (20th of 30)
Opp EFG%: 53.5 (18th of 30)
Opp FT Rate: .234 (4th of 30)
Opp TO: 14.5 (16th of 30)
Opp OReb%: 26.9 (15th of 30)

Miscellaneous Team Stats
Pts of TO: 15.1 (23rd of 30)
2nd Chance Pts: 15.6 (6th of 30)
Fastbreak Pts: 11.7 (21st of 30)
Pts in Paint: 41.8 (28th of 30)
Opp Pts of TO: 15.1 (8th of 30)
Opp 2nd Chance Pts: 11.8 (10th of 30)
Opp Fastbreak Pts: 11.3 (3rd of 30)
Opp Pts in Paint: 44.0 (5th)

Team Scoring Stats
% of FGA 2PT: 65.2 (15th of 30)
% of FGA 3PT: 34.8 (16th of 30)
% of points off 2PTA: 57.4 (8th of 30)
% of points of midrange: 16.3 (3rd of 30)
% of points off 3PT: 29.2 (16th of 30)
% of points off fastbreak: 11.5 (18th of 30)
% of points of free throws: 13.5 (29th of 30)
% of points of turnovers: 14.8 (14th of 30)
% of points in paint: 41.1 (24th of 30)
2PT FG Made Assist %: 55.1 (4th of 30)
2PT FG Made Unassisted: 44.9 (27th of 30)
3PT FG Made Assist %: 85.9 (8th of 30)
3PT FG Made Unassisted: 14.1 (23rd of 30)
FG Made Assist %: 62.9 (6th of 30)
FG Made Unassisted: 37.1 (25th of 30)

Shot Dashboard
FGA Closest Defender 0-2 feet: 1.8 per game (3rd of 30)
FGA Closest Defender 2-4 feet: 9.3 per game (14th of 30)
FGA Closest Defender 4-6 feet: 25.3 per game (1st of 30)
FGA Closest Defender 6+ feet: 19.7 per game (11th of 30)
FG% Closest Defender 0-2 feet: 44.4% (1st of 30)
FG% Closest Defender 2-4 feet: 31.2% (17th of 30)
FG% Closest Defender 4-6 feet: 33.2% (26th of 30)
FG% Closest Defender 6+: 36.0% (25th of 30)
3PTA Closest Defender 0-2 feet: 0.6 per game (4th of 30)
3PTA Closest Defender 2-4 feet: 2.4 per game (24th of 30)
3PTA Closest Defender 4-6 feet: 13.8 per game (3rd of 30)
3PTA Closest Defender 6+ feet: 15.0 per game (18th of 30)
3PT% Closest Defender 0-2 feet: 16.7% (15th of 30)
3PT% Closest Defender 2-4 feet: 25.0% (23rd of 30)
3PT% Closest Defender 4-6 feet: 26.8% (29th of 30)
3PT% Closest Defender 6+: 36.0% (22nd of 30)

Shooting Stats
FGA Restricted Area: 25.6 per game (25th of 30)
FGA Paint: 13.6 per game (15th of 30)
FGA Midrange: 20.5 per game (4th of 30)
FGA Left Corner 3: 3.9 per game (8th of 30)
FGA Right Corner 3: 2.1 per game (27th of 30)
FGA Top 3: 25.4 per game (13th per game)
FG% Restricted: 64.1% (10th of 30)
FG% Paint: 33.1% (25th of 30)
FG% Midrange: 40.0% (17th of 30)
3PT% Left Corner: 43.6% (14th of 30)
3PT% Right Corner: 19.0% (30th of 30)
3PT% Top: 31.1% (28th of 30)
Opp FGA Restricted Area: 26.5 per game (6th of 30)
Opp FGA Paint: 14.6 per game (22nd of 30)
Opp FGA Midrange: 16.3 per game (7th of 30)
Opp FGA Left Corner 3: 2.2 per game (1st of 30)
Opp FGA Right Corner 3: 2.8 per game (10th of 30)
Opp FGA Top 3: 25.4 per game (21st of 30)
Opp FG% Restricted: 63.0% (17th of 30)
Opp FG% Paint: 36.3% (6th of 30)
Opp FG% Midrange: 47.2% (29th of 30)
Opp 3PT% Left Corner: 45.5% (27th of 30)
Opp 3PT% Right Corner: 35.7% (12th of 30)
Opp 3PT% Top: 37.8% (26th of 30)

Takeaways...

Some elements of Steve Clifford's coaching system have already taken hold.
-Clifford's Charlotte teams were extremely good at a few things; defensive rebounding, avoiding turnovers, defending without fouling and all the things that come along with that like 2nd chance points, points off turnovers, fastbreak points etc. The Magic are taking good care of the basketball. The Magic aren't putting their opponents on the FT line. The one thing the Magic are NOT doing to Clifford's standards yet is defensive rebounding. The Magic have improved their defensive rebounding over last year, but still only rank 15th in that category.

The Magic's offensive system is not the problem. The lack of shot creators and shot makers is the problem.
-Clifford's offense is basic and somewhat boring, but the ball rarely sticks. The Magic are No. 1 in the entire NBA in open (4-6 feet) shot attempts and No. 11 in the NBA in wide open shot (6+) attempts, but just 26th and 25th in shooting percentage on open and wide open shots. Orlando is also 6th in assists and 5th in assist to turnover ratio. When the Magic score in the halfcourt, it's off good ball movement and passing. All of this is without even one above average shot creator too.

Magic DESPERATELY need players who can create good shots for themselves and for others.
-Piggybacking off the previous point, Orlando simply doesn't get nearly enough shots at the rim and they don't draw enough foul shots. They're shooting too many midrange jumpers which lines up pretty directly to their lack of foul shots.

The Magic have been a little unlucky defensively, but generally they don't defend the three-point line well.
-Orlando is forcing a LOT of midrange jumpers defensively. 16.3 per game is a great number, but opponents are making 47.2% against them so far. In theory, this shouldn't continue regardless of how open those shots are. The Magic have deterred shots directly at the rim pretty well, but that's come at the expense of giving up too many open and wide open threes which has traditionally been a struggle for Clifford teams defensively.

Fantastic takeaways my dude, completely agree on all of them, especially generating offense off of good ball movement and passing.

Good stuff Knightro. I know we've had our debates on the win total this year, but I will say that I won't rule out a second-half push completely. That first year he took over that 21 win Char team they were like seven games under .500 (23-30) in February and wound up finishing 43-39. If you look at our schedule from February on this year it's not murderers row by any means (especially in March when the schedule really eases up). If guys buy in/get hot at the right time you never know.

I've definitely been a Clifford doubter but at the end of the day im still a fan of this team and am keeping an open mind about things. I'd be happy to be wrong about him.

PrimeThyme wrote:Good stuff Knightro. I know we've had our debates on the win total this year, but I will say that I won't rule out a second-half push completely. That first year he took over that 21 win Char team they were like seven games under .500 (23-30) in February and wound up finishing 43-39. If you look at our schedule from February on this year it's not murderers row by any means (especially in March when the schedule really eases up). If guys buy in/get hot at the right time you never know.

I've definitely been a Clifford doubter but at the end of the day im still a fan of this team and am keeping an open mind about things. I'd be happy to be wrong about him.

Clifford has his warts.

My biggest issue with him is the fact that has that old school mentality that a lot of other coaches from his era have where defensively you teach your team to protect the paint at all costs.

Ten years ago that was a SUPREMELY effective defensive strategy. Hell, even five years ago that was still a viable strategy. But today? It's not really a workable strategy because EVERYONE - guards, wings and bigs - all shoot threes whether they're wide open or not.

You used to be able to pack the lane and defense the paint aggressively and the worst thing that would happen is teams would get open midrange jumpers, but now those are just open threes and it's really difficult to win the math when you're giving up open threes.

Is that why this:





Happens at least 4-5 times a night with Vuc? In 2018 where everybody is a threat to shoot would Clifford seriously be telling him to not come up on any screen or even make an effort to contest the shot? On mid-range jumpers too? It's really a bizarre thing. Vuc doesn't even attempt to come up on half the screens and sits there and stares at the shooter with his hands down. If Vuc is being coached to do that then that is a big issue. Those clips happen consistently.

Great post - +1

PrimeThyme wrote:Is that why this:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Happens at least 4-5 times a night with Vuc? In 2018 where everybody is a threat to shoot would Clifford seriously be telling him to not come up on any screen or even make an effort to contest the shot? On mid-range jumpers too? It's really a bizarre thing. Vuc doesn't even attempt to come up on half the screens and sits there and stares at the shooter with his hands down. If Vuc is being coached to do that then that is a big issue. Those clips happen consistently.

I'll play devil's advocate. I'm not going to pretend like Vuc is a good defender, but I don't think those clips are a good example of why.

1. Being quick to switch creates mismatches, which is why he hangs back instead of running up to contest. If he does switch, suddenly he's defending a guard and their C is now being defended by Augustin, neither of which is ideal.

2. Leaving the post to contest deep mid-range shots creates easy offensive rebounding opportunities for the other team. I saw a lot of examples last night of one of our big men doing a good job of closing out on a guard in the paint, only to have Tristan Thompson get an uncontested offensive rebound since there was no longer anybody to box him out. Having your center close out on a guard's mid-range shot is even worse.

3. Vucevic running out on guards gives them a big opportunity to drive to the basket. If Vuc's momentum is going towards the ball handler, it's going to be significantly harder for him to stay in front of that player if they drive.

4. The responsibility of guarding the ball handler in the pick and roll usually falls more on the guard to be able to fight through the screen. It's a joint effort, but in both of these plays Augustin and Ross do a poor job of getting past the screen (although you could argue Ross was fouled, it looks like he got pushed out).

5. All in all, there are worse shots to give up than a long pull-up mid-range one.

Wide open shots stand out to me. 1st in wide open 2s and 3rd in wide open 3s. We will start shooting better at least for some portion of the season.

PrimeThyme wrote:Is that why this:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Happens at least 4-5 times a night with Vuc? In 2018 where everybody is a threat to shoot would Clifford seriously be telling him to not come up on any screen or even make an effort to contest the shot? On mid-range jumpers too? It's really a bizarre thing. Vuc doesn't even attempt to come up on half the screens and sits there and stares at the shooter with his hands down. If Vuc is being coached to do that then that is a big issue. Those clips happen consistently.

In my opinion, dropping back is *exactly* what Vucevic is being coached to do defensively in the pick and roll.

Defensively, you want to encourage your opponents to shoot midrange jumpers. It's entirely a percentage play. We all know Vucevic is slow footed. So if he steps up too far, the ball handler will blow right past him into the lane for a shot at the rim or FTs. If the Magic hit the first rotation properly, the ball handler will just dump the ball off to a big at the rim for a dunk/layup. If the Magic hit the SECOND rotation properly, the ball handler hits a kick out to the corner for an open 3.

Think about it this way...

Of all the scenarios that could happen, Hill and Smith shooting midrange jumpers are pretty much the most appealing outcome for the defense.

George Hill is a career .379 shooter from midrange. He's .801 from the FT line. He's a .652 shooter at the rim and a career .432 shooter from floater/runner range. The least efficient shot he could take in that scenario is the one he took.

JR Smith same thing. Better shooter at the rim and from the FT line than he is from midrange.

Now if you want to call out Vucevic for completely and utterly refusing to contest midrange jumpers after he drops back, that's perfectly acceptable.

But the case could be made that if he does contest too hard, he'll likely be out of position for a defensive rebound.

Nightman wrote:

PrimeThyme wrote:Is that why this:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Happens at least 4-5 times a night with Vuc? In 2018 where everybody is a threat to shoot would Clifford seriously be telling him to not come up on any screen or even make an effort to contest the shot? On mid-range jumpers too? It's really a bizarre thing. Vuc doesn't even attempt to come up on half the screens and sits there and stares at the shooter with his hands down. If Vuc is being coached to do that then that is a big issue. Those clips happen consistently.

I'll play devil's advocate. I'm not going to pretend like Vuc is a good defender, but I don't think those clips are a good example of why.

1. Being quick to switch creates mismatches, which is why he hangs back instead of running up to contest. If he does switch, suddenly he's defending a guard and their C is now being defended by Augustin, neither of which is ideal.

2. Leaving the post to contest deep mid-range shots create easy offensive rebounding opportunities for the other team. I saw a lot of examples last night of one of our big men doing a good job of closing out on a guard in the paint, only to have Tristan Thompson get an uncontested offensive rebound since there was no longer anybody to box him out. Having your center close out on a guard's mid-range shot is even worse.

3. Vucevic running out on guards gives them a big opportunity to drive to the basket. If Vuc's momentum is going towards the ball handler, it's going to be significantly harder for him to stay in front of the that player if they drive.

4. The responsibility of guarding the ball handler in the pick and roll usually falls more on the guard to be able to fight through the screen. It's a joint effort, but in both of these plays Augustin and Ross do a poor job of getting past the screen (although you could argue Ross was fouled, it looks like he got pushed out).

5. All in all, there are worse shots to give up than a long pull-up mid-range one.

It's not a switch or sag though. A lot of bigs that can will hedge and recover. I think what we are doing is how Clifford wants to run it, but I suspect that's probably due to Vucevic's limitations.

If the pick and roll is executed well, there isn't a lot the man chasing the ball hander can do if the big doesn't help him out. You can go under the screen if the initiator isn't a great shooter, but going over the screen always leaves you in a tough spot if the timing on the screen is good.

We are just going to have to live with being bludgeoned by the 1-5 pick and roll for as long as we have Augustin and Vucevic in our first unit.

Knightro wrote:

PrimeThyme wrote:Is that why this:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Happens at least 4-5 times a night with Vuc? In 2018 where everybody is a threat to shoot would Clifford seriously be telling him to not come up on any screen or even make an effort to contest the shot? On mid-range jumpers too? It's really a bizarre thing. Vuc doesn't even attempt to come up on half the screens and sits there and stares at the shooter with his hands down. If Vuc is being coached to do that then that is a big issue. Those clips happen consistently.

In my opinion, dropping back is *exactly* what Vucevic is being coached to do defensively in the pick and roll.

Defensively, you want to encourage your opponents to shoot midrange jumpers. It's entirely a percentage play. We all know Vucevic is slow footed. So if he steps up too far, the ball handler will blow right past him into the lane for a shot at the rim or FTs. If the Magic hit the first rotation properly, the ball handler will just dump the ball off to a big at the rim for a dunk/layup. If the Magic hit the SECOND rotation properly, the ball handler hits a kick out to the corner for an open 3.

Think about it this was...

Of all the scenarios that could happen, Hill and Smith shooting midrange jumpers are pretty much the most appealing outcome for the defense.

George Hill is a career .379 shooter from midrange. He's .801 from the FT line. He's a .652 shooter at the rim and a career .432 shooter from floater/runner range. The least efficient shot he could take in that scenario is the one he took.

JR Smith same thing. Better shooter at the rim and from the FT line than he is from midrange.

Now if you want to call out Vucevic for completely and utterly refusing to contest midrange jumpers after he drops back, that's perfectly acceptable.

But the case could be made that if he does contest too hard, he'll likely be out of position for a defensive rebound.

Yeah see if their strategy was to lay back on certain guys and force mid-range jumpers or a shot they aren't comfortable taking, that would be one thing but Vuc has done it just as often to more than capable 3pt shooters and gave up a three which is why I don't think thats the case.


In my opinion, this cant happen in 2018:





If Clifford's gameplan going into this game was to let a guy that is shooting 48% from 3 have that shot, then we have big problems. Kemba and Lillard also were given that exact same shot and Vuc did the same thing in the pick and roll. You can go watch the Charlotte and Portland game again to see countless evidence of that. Whether it's Vuc or Clifford at fault here, it needs to be corrected imo if they want to be taken seriously.

I know that Vuc struggles as a PnR defender but he has to at least come up and attempt to contest that and hope that somebody rotates over for the rebound. His man is out setting the pick so it isn't like he is a threat for an offensive board or somebody Vuc has to box out.

PrimeThyme wrote:Is that why this:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Happens at least 4-5 times a night with Vuc? In 2018 where everybody is a threat to shoot would Clifford seriously be telling him to not come up on any screen or even make an effort to contest the shot? On mid-range jumpers too? It's really a bizarre thing. Vuc doesn't even attempt to come up on half the screens and sits there and stares at the shooter with his hands down. If Vuc is being coached to do that then that is a big issue. Those clips happen consistently.

Im the first to be critical of Vuc, trust me, but Vuc is actually doing exactly what every smart coach in the NBA would want him to do here, infact they both are. Statistically speaking, the worst shot in the modern day NBA is the mid range jumpshot, so a good defense will force the opponent to shoot as many mid range jumpers as possible. The ball defender goes over the screen rather than under in on order to take away the threat of a three point shot, and forces the player into the mid range area. If Vuc pushes up, the guard will just blow by him and get a layup, so laying off and baiting the opponent into a mid range shot is exactly what you would want. Layups and threes are the goal in a modern day NBA offence.

Obviously a better defensive center would be able to push up higher and take away the midrange shot too, and then recover fast enough to challenge at the rim if the guard went by him, but given what we know about Vuc's defensive toolset, sagging off is what you would ask him to do.

Knightro wrote:

PrimeThyme wrote:Is that why this:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Happens at least 4-5 times a night with Vuc? In 2018 where everybody is a threat to shoot would Clifford seriously be telling him to not come up on any screen or even make an effort to contest the shot? On mid-range jumpers too? It's really a bizarre thing. Vuc doesn't even attempt to come up on half the screens and sits there and stares at the shooter with his hands down. If Vuc is being coached to do that then that is a big issue. Those clips happen consistently.

In my opinion, dropping back is *exactly* what Vucevic is being coached to do defensively in the pick and roll.

Defensively, you want to encourage your opponents to shoot midrange jumpers. It's entirely a percentage play. We all know Vucevic is slow footed. So if he steps up too far, the ball handler will blow right past him into the lane for a shot at the rim or FTs. If the Magic hit the first rotation properly, the ball handler will just dump the ball off to a big at the rim for a dunk/layup. If the Magic hit the SECOND rotation properly, the ball handler hits a kick out to the corner for an open 3.

Think about it this was...

Of all the scenarios that could happen, Hill and Smith shooting midrange jumpers are pretty much the most appealing outcome for the defense.

George Hill is a career .379 shooter from midrange. He's .801 from the FT line. He's a .652 shooter at the rim and a career .432 shooter from floater/runner range. The least efficient shot he could take in that scenario is the one he took.

JR Smith same thing. Better shooter at the rim and from the FT line than he is from midrange.

Now if you want to call out Vucevic for completely and utterly refusing to contest midrange jumpers after he drops back, that's perfectly acceptable.

But the case could be made that if he does contest too hard, he'll likely be out of position for a defensive rebound.

Wow, wrote my response and then realised you essentially said the same thing I did. My bad.

We killing it in Ast/TO: 1.88 (5th of 30) and Opp FTA: 20.6 (3rd of 30). Keep making them fear shooting Free Throws!!!

PrimeThyme wrote:Yeah see if their strategy was to lay back on certain guys and force mid-range jumpers or a shot they aren't comfortable taking, that would be one thing but Vuc has done it just as often to more than capable 3pt shooters and gave up a three which is why I don't think thats the case.

In my opinion, this cant happen in 2018:

Spoiler:

If Clifford's gameplan going into this game was to let a guy that is shooting 48% from 3 have that shot, then we have big problems. Kemba and Lillard also were given that exact same shot and Vuc did the same thing in the pick and roll. You can go watch the Charlotte and Portland game again to see countless evidence of that. Whether it's Vuc or Clifford at fault here, it needs to be corrected imo if they want to be taken seriously.

I know that Vuc struggles as a PnR defender but he has to at least come up and attempt to contest that and hope that somebody rotates over for the rebound. His man is out setting the pick so it isn't like he is a threat for an offensive board or somebody Vuc has to box out.

That's how it's being coached.

We can certainly debate the merits if that's a good strategy in 2018-2019, but generally speaking Clifford has always - dating back to his Charlotte days - been a coach that would rather give up an open or even wide open jump shot off the dribble in pick and roll than give up a shot at the rim, give up free throws or give up a wide open catch and shoot off jumper off dribble penetration.

I know the game has changed and guys are more willing to pull threes off the bounce than ever before, but it's still a percentage play. The vast majority of players shoot threes better on catch and shoot than they do off the dribble.

In a perfect world, next season Clifford will have a guy like Rozier who is more capable of fighting over screens and can give a better effort contesting from behind and from the side at the head of the pick and roll defense and a longer, more mobile defender in Bamba who can contest those jumpers a little better with his length while also having the mobility to recover back into a position for rebounds.

Lot of things Magic are good at,that Clifford is preaching,have zero co-relations with wins.

Assit percentage
Last year best team Warriors, last year bottom 5 teams: Pacers, Blazers , Suns and OKC.
So 3 out of 4 teams were playoff teams despite it.

Assist to turnover ratio
Much like assists percentage, some of worst teams last year were Blazers ( worst) and 5th worst Rockets , who had best regular season record.

Not fouling ( opponents FTs)
Cavs were 29# defense in nba and 5th best at stopping teams from FT line.
OKC was really solid defensive team yet allowed second most FT per game in whole league, again int that category Rockets were 8th worst as well.


What is mindblowing is how they are one of best teams at making hard,contested shots, witch means that it's objective to expect even worst offense in near future when that balances out. They lead almost all categories in contested shots made

I agree with conclusion that Clifford's offense isn't THAT bad and lot of struggles are simply product of bad players shooting shots, but it's not like Clifford has history of having great offense to being with . Two things combined result 29#th ranked offence in nba with wohle roster healthy.

Last year lot of Hornets writers pointed out that his team flat out blows on perimeter defense, that also translated for all the wrong reasons.

Despite 4-6 record this team is still pretty ugly collection of misfits . Problem with tanking this year is how others already paced themselfs to win 20 games and tank race already started, where Magic will be,as usual, late to the party.

In general it does not really matter who will coach teams if coaches will be fired every year and used as scapegoats whenever front office fails at their job.
5 coaches in 6 years with roster not really that much better than it was few years back.
I got intrigued with Suns situation and their fans who call for Kokoškov job already, fans have unrealistic expetations , it seems like owners have too, so they put it all on coach and kick him out. I still find it funny how one of longest active coaches for same team is Brown who had 10 wins season with 76ers.

pepe1991 wrote:What is mindblowing is how they are one of best teams at making hard,contested shots, witch means that it's objective to expect even worst offense in near future when that balances out. They lead almost all categories in contested shots made

Stands to reason that as the tough shots stop falling, the easy shots will start falling, no?

Fournier is 3-28 on the season on open threes.

Last year he was 32.4%, the year before he was 36.5%, the year before he was 37.5%.

It stands to reason that he's about a 35% shooter on open threes.

If Fournier alone was hitting 35% of his open threes, that would be 7 additional three pointers made. That would be 21 more points scored.

That would increase the Magic's points per game from 1018 from 101.8 to 103.9.

Small sample size of course, but literally one guy shooting below his capabilities has cost the Magic 2 full points per game so far.

PrimeThyme wrote:Yeah see if their strategy was to lay back on certain guys and force mid-range jumpers or a shot they aren't comfortable taking, that would be one thing but Vuc has done it just as often to more than capable 3pt shooters and gave up a three which is why I don't think thats the case.


In my opinion, this cant happen in 2018:

Spoiler:

If Clifford's gameplan going into this game was to let a guy that is shooting 48% from 3 have that shot, then we have big problems. Kemba and Lillard also were given that exact same shot and Vuc did the same thing in the pick and roll. You can go watch the Charlotte and Portland game again to see countless evidence of that. Whether it's Vuc or Clifford at fault here, it needs to be corrected imo if they want to be taken seriously.

I know that Vuc struggles as a PnR defender but he has to at least come up and attempt to contest that and hope that somebody rotates over for the rebound. His man is out setting the pick so it isn't like he is a threat for an offensive board or somebody Vuc has to box out.

This example is different from the first two you gave because this one is a more efficient shot. And I agree that we can't be in the habit of giving up that shot in the current era, but I would guess that Cliff's answer is that the ball defender is supposed to get over the screen well enough to contest. Or, in this case, because the screen was set several steps beyond the arc, DJ should have recognized that and gone under.

In general, I think it's more realistic to ask our ball defenders to fight over screens better than it is to ask Vooch or Bamba to simultaneously take away the jumper, defend the roll man, and control the defensive rebound. Very few NBA centers can do that. The vast majority cannot, including several who are better defenders than Vooch is.

I don’t know if that’s the scheme or bad defense but it pretty much lost our Charlotte game and Philly game. Kemba and JJ killed us over and over.

Years the Magic was 4-6 at game 10 of this rebuild: 2013, 2014, 2016. Years 2015 and 2017 were actually better years. Only in year-1, 2012, was the Magic worse than 4-6 at the 10-game mark.

Historically the wheels come off around games 15-20.

..