Regular Season Game 76: Orlando Magic (37-38) at Detroit Pistons (37-37)

[swarlesbarkley]

Rough loss. Winning streak had to end at some point and Detroit was just on fire tonight.

Unfortunately I feel like if we make the playoffs, this is the type of Vuc we will get. Bullied on defense and unable to assert himself on offense. Drummond was 9/9 from the field while Vuc was 4-12 when I turned it off. Hope I'm wrong though.

[Rainwater]

We had 6 straight wins. Doom and gloom after 1 loss on the road to a team with a better record than us.

Go Magic?

Sent from my SM-G930V using RealGM mobile app

You wouldn’t trade our roster for that young roster? BTW, Atlanta started tanking last year and have more wins than we had last year (year 6 of our rebuild).

We can only hope that Fultz, Bamba and JI take us to a championship level... and there are people on this board that don’t think Fultz will ever recover and that Bamba was straight up trash.

I don't count the Vogel years as rebuild years. He was trying to get us into the playoffs, he just had no clue of what he was doing.

ATL has some nice pieces but we have to see how they will fit longterm. They are off to a good start, so yes, the future looks bright for them.

Same for us. We have already achieved our highest win total since the Dwight years.

I'm high on our young guys...Isaac, Fultz, and Bamba. All of them can become elite talents. This year we will either make the playoffs or get a lottery pick, so we are trending in the right direction.

Sent from my SM-G930V using RealGM mobile app

I really don't think this season will serve any purpose going forward, playoffs or not. So the win total this year means very little and that is not a bad thing.

The reason I say this is because unlike Atl the 3 main young guys for the magic JI, Mo, and Fultz have not really been given the keys yet. This team is still being led by the old guard of Vuc, AG, and Evan and, unless you believe the magic will resign Vuc which would be insanity for so many reasons, I fully expect a roster change next year with 1 if not all three of these guys being gone. So until the young guys take over and the older guys are removed I don't think it is fair to compare the talent of the Hawks to the talent of the Magic, especially when we really haven't seen the young guys for the magic play together. But with that being said I am excited about the young guys the magic have and their future.

[pepe1991]

Only way how Magic can win is when Vučević is having monster game. Been story of a season.

Don't get why people get mad at Gordon for this one, he has been low BBIQ player and piss poor decision maker since 2014.

[Skin]

We had 6 straight wins. Doom and gloom after 1 loss on the road to a team with a better record than us.

Go Magic?

Sent from my SM-G930V using RealGM mobile app

You wouldn’t trade our roster for that young roster? BTW, Atlanta started tanking last year and have more wins than we had last year (year 6 of our rebuild).

We can only hope that Fultz, Bamba and JI take us to a championship level... and there are people on this board that don’t think Fultz will ever recover and that Bamba was straight up trash.

I don't count the Vogel years as rebuild years. He was trying to get us into the playoffs, he just had no clue of what he was doing.

ATL has some nice pieces but we have to see how they will fit longterm. They are off to a good start, so yes, the future looks bright for them.

Same for us. We have already achieved our highest win total since the Dwight years.

I'm high on our young guys...Isaac, Fultz, and Bamba. All of them can become elite talents. This year we will either make the playoffs or get a lottery pick, so we are trending in the right direction.

Sent from my SM-G930V using RealGM mobile app

We are not trending in the right direction. We've reached our final fricken destination. We are stuck in the NBA abyss. Too good to be terrible, too bad to be good and we don't develop our lottery picks before we know exactly what they are which leaves us in the "we can't lose him for nothing" guessing game... and when we do overpay or find out he doesn't fit, then we trade them away for bad value. Rinse and repeat.

[pepe1991]

Watch on YouTube

There are most FGM for both teams.
Gordon would benefit from team that runs more transitions. Kings, Hawks, Nuggets...
Always thought trade Nuggets for combination of their guards would help both teams.

[MagicFrenchie]

Predictible loss
Knew Griffin and Dre would've been a nightmare for vooch.

[zaymon]

You wouldn’t trade our roster for that young roster? BTW, Atlanta started tanking last year and have more wins than we had last year (year 6 of our rebuild).

We can only hope that Fultz, Bamba and JI take us to a championship level... and there are people on this board that don’t think Fultz will ever recover and that Bamba was straight up trash.

I don't count the Vogel years as rebuild years. He was trying to get us into the playoffs, he just had no clue of what he was doing.

ATL has some nice pieces but we have to see how they will fit longterm. They are off to a good start, so yes, the future looks bright for them.

Same for us. We have already achieved our highest win total since the Dwight years.

I'm high on our young guys...Isaac, Fultz, and Bamba. All of them can become elite talents. This year we will either make the playoffs or get a lottery pick, so we are trending in the right direction.

Sent from my SM-G930V using RealGM mobile app

We are not trending in the right direction. We've reached our final fricken destination. We are stuck in the NBA abyss. Too good to be terrible, too bad to be good and we don't develop our lottery picks before we know exactly what they are which leaves us in the "we can't lose him for nothing" guessing game... and when we do overpay or find out he doesn't fit, then we trade them away for bad value. Rinse and repeat.

cmon Skin dont be so pessimistic. We basically lack one or two creators its arguably is easier to aquire than 4-5 good role players. If you have a star and dont have a team you are not going anywhere. I would be worried if we didnt have young talented guys to develop but we have and we have good coaching staff.
Center: Allstar i hope we resign, Bamba(young freak)
PF: Gordon (asset)
SF:ji(young freak), ross (possible asset)
SG: Fournier (solid starter), Frazier( reserve potential)
PG: Fultz (young Freak), dj solid starter, Briscoe( good reserve).

We need sg/sf creator/ distributor. It really doesnt look that bad.

[Skybox]

Fultz is SOOOO critical to our offseason priorities and future in general. Changes everything if his ceiling is no longer Dante Exum but closer to triple-double-trouble. Enjoying the playoff battle but THIS

[paperboymafia]

Some post loss comments after a 6 game winning streak are pretty ****ing depressing; still got 6 games, more than enough to reach the playoffs. I'm staying positive. I'm not expecting a deep playoff run. Or any miracle. I'm just enjoying the recent hustle and I want it to continue.

[Optimus_Steel]

This was 3rd game in 4 nights so perhaps that had something to do with it. Also we we're not gonna go on a 10+game winning streak. No excuses at this point but there is still time. I also have a feeling the Nets ate gonna wobble in their remaining games.

[drsd]

Really hope we can regroup on Saturday.

All of the postgame interviews after this Detroit game where about ultra-focus on the Pacers road contest.

Laser focus on a needed win, I expect the Magic to play much better than in this one.

That said: the Magic lost on the road to a better team, can anyone really be surprised by that?


..

[swarlesbarkley]

Gordon would benefit from team that runs more transitions. Kings, Hawks, Nuggets...
Always thought trade Nuggets for combination of their guards would help both teams.

Right. Or we just could've traded Vuc since he's really the only player holding us back from being a run-and-gun team. That's where I get conflicted on Vuc. He's keeping us in the mix because he is somewhat reliable on offense, but he's also keeping us from playing to our young core's strength.

[pepe1991]

Gordon would benefit from team that runs more transitions. Kings, Hawks, Nuggets...
Always thought trade Nuggets for combination of their guards would help both teams.

Right. Or we just could've traded Vuc since he's really the only player holding us back from being a run-and-gun team. That's where I get conflicted on Vuc. He's keeping us in the mix because he is somewhat reliable on offense, but he's also keeping us from playing to our young core's strength.

Playing fast doesn't mean anything in terms of quality. 4 out of top 5 fastest pace teams are not playoff teams.
Just like that one year Nets were shooting most 3s in nba and were still top 3 worst team.
It's not about style but about substance for that style.

Also it's not Vučević who slowed down pace but Clifford. His teams never play fast . Magic last year were 12# in pace, this year they are top 5 slowest. Nuggests are another team that slowed down pace to boost W column.

[swarlesbarkley]

Gordon would benefit from team that runs more transitions. Kings, Hawks, Nuggets...
Always thought trade Nuggets for combination of their guards would help both teams.

Right. Or we just could've traded Vuc since he's really the only player holding us back from being a run-and-gun team. That's where I get conflicted on Vuc. He's keeping us in the mix because he is somewhat reliable on offense, but he's also keeping us from playing to our young core's strength.

Playing fast doesn't mean anything in terms of quality. 4 out of top 5 fastest pace teams are not playoff teams.
Just like that one year Nets were shooting most 3s in nba and were still top 3 worst team.
It's not about style but about substance for that style.

Absolutely agree. But how many of our guys excel in the half court set? Vuc and maybe Evan? I think we've got more substance for a faster paced team than we do a slower team. When we get Bamba back, we could actually be a fast team that also plays solid defense with Gordon, JI, and Bamba.

But you are right, the coach determines the pace and right now going through Vuc is working (well, working to be almost a .500 team). Edited to add - this comment isn't meant to sound snarky but just that we've been so bad for so long that our bar for success is quite low now.

[Last Guardian]

Really hope we can regroup on Saturday.

All of the postgame interviews after this Detroit game where about ultra-focus on the Pacers road contest.

Laser focus on a needed win, I expect the Magic to play much better than in this one.

That said: the Magic lost on the road to a better team, can anyone really be surprised by that?


..

I don't think we need to overrate Detroit to justify losing. They are barely clinging to making the playoffs in the East, they are not very good. Most of their team performed way over there abilities last night, it happens and our team does the same to other teams once in a while.

[drsd]

I don't think we need to overrate Detroit to justify losing. They are barely clinging to making the playoffs in the East, they are not very good. Most of their team performed way over there abilities last night, it happens and our team does the same to other teams once in a while.

I agree. But I also add that winning on the road in the NBA is not easy. Orlando losing this game is an expected result.


..

[The Real Dalic]

Really hope we can regroup on Saturday.

All of the postgame interviews after this Detroit game where about ultra-focus on the Pacers road contest.

Laser focus on a needed win, I expect the Magic to play much better than in this one.

That said: the Magic lost on the road to a better team, can anyone really be surprised by that?


..

I don't think we need to overrate Detroit to justify losing. They are barely clinging to making the playoffs in the East, they are not very good. Most of their team performed way over there abilities last night, it happens and our team does the same to other teams once in a while.

Yep, there bums just managed to hit shots and Drummond was Drummond.

[OrlandoSaban]

Really hope we can regroup on Saturday.

All of the postgame interviews after this Detroit game where about ultra-focus on the Pacers road contest.

Laser focus on a needed win, I expect the Magic to play much better than in this one.

That said: the Magic lost on the road to a better team, can anyone really be surprised by that?


..

They did not lose to a better team. They just got manhandled and out hustled. I have never watched a game where there were so many in and out shots by our guys (I counted at least 10+ times this happened) - In addition, Detroit will NEVER EVER shoot like that again.

[NavalAviator94]

Right. Or we just could've traded Vuc since he's really the only player holding us back from being a run-and-gun team. That's where I get conflicted on Vuc. He's keeping us in the mix because he is somewhat reliable on offense, but he's also keeping us from playing to our young core's strength.

Playing fast doesn't mean anything in terms of quality. 4 out of top 5 fastest pace teams are not playoff teams.
Just like that one year Nets were shooting most 3s in nba and were still top 3 worst team.
It's not about style but about substance for that style.

Absolutely agree. But how many of our guys excel in the half court set? Vuc and maybe Evan? I think we've got more substance for a faster paced team than we do a slower team. When we get Bamba back, we could actually be a fast team that also plays solid defense with Gordon, JI, and Bamba.

But you are right, the coach determines the pace and right now going through Vuc is working (well, working to be almost a .500 team). Edited to add - this comment isn't meant to sound snarky but just that we've been so bad for so long that our bar for success is quite low now.

The important thing to remember about playing fast is that coaches do this to cut down on young teams turnovers, thus you see the younger teams do this. I like the fact we can do both but what we honestly need is more consistent offense from the younger guys. They are playing great defense but lack the skill set we need around offense. I expect those guys to get better though.

[NickAnderson]

One take away from this game — Blake griffin is one ugly mf