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Watching this season, does he look like a player that can have an explosive scoring game like Lou Williams?

Our team is really missing a dominant guard...both DJ and Markell have moments, but neither are selfish enough to dominate.

Thoughts?

We need to help Vuc

We need to help vuc by trading him to a real contender and starting a rebuild with new guys

As for Fultz, i want to believe hes THE GUY, our franchise player, our go-to guy thats going to put the team on his back, but really only seen him do that once (against the lakers in january)

I know he has the skill to do it, but he needs to learn to take charge and not be so passive. I dont know if thats a coaching thing, or a mental thing or what, but until he overcomes that, hes just "a guy"

It's up to the coach to put him in the right position (i.e. not stand in a corner) and he needs to embrace being a scorer. I suspect he won't have the confidence until his pull-up 3pt shot is fixed, if ever.

Forgot the "e" in Markelle.

I hate this team so much that now I've become a spelling nazi on the message boards.

I'm not ready to call it quits on him if that's the question.

I'm equating this season as his rookie season. First full season. First season in Orlando. ...and the same age Oladipo was in his rookie year.

Patience people, patience.

I'm still very neutral on Fultz. Next season, I'm expecting him to push me one way or the other. If he has a similar season to this one where he is still reluctant to shoot I think I'd be ready to move on. If he shows real improvement with his shot and begins to take on a more alpha scoring mentality he could certainly push me in the opposite direction.

I just don't quite know which it will be. My bet would be on a more similar season to this one.

If this were Year 1 out of college we would be much more excited. Fultz showed a lot of good things things year.

Unfortunately, the #1 thing we need from him remains an issue ... and this is NOT year one.

So he needs to improve his shooting quick. I want to see a noticeable uptick next season or my loyalty to Fultz starts fading quick. I need to see he is putting in the work.

The kid lacks aggression and an alpha mentality

Therefore, he needs a coach that gives him confidence and pushes him to take the reigns

If we keep Clifford, the kid will never reach his potential.

There's a lot to like and a lot to not like about Markelle Fultz.

Good
-He's got great size for a point guard and good strength on the offensive end of the floor
-He's a willing passer with good vision
-He's great in transition both as a passer and attacker
-He's a very good ball handler capable of getting to any spot on the floor with hesitations, fakes and ball control
-He's improved a LOT as a FT shooter and midrange shooter (+25% from the line from year 1 to year 3, +17.6% from midrange from year 1 to year 3)
-When he's locked in, he is a capable defender

Bad
-He's still a poor shooter from the 3PT line with an awkward, uncomfortable form that looks nothing like his very solid midrange form.
-He's an unwilling shooter from distance, only taking shots when he's absolutely wide open.
-He's a passive player offensively because of a lack of confidence in his jumper, content to fade into the background to his older, more selfish teammates
-He's relatively turnover prone considering to his low usage
-He's quite lazy defensively, particularly when it comes to navigating ball screens.

If he could shoot at all, he'd have all-star capability. The rest of his game is more than good enough. But unfortunately the shooting is such an issue that it drags everything else down with it.

J-Mezzy wrote:If we keep Clifford, the kid will never reach his potential.

I really think this is our 2nd biggest issue

Clifford is not the right kind of coach for a team like this.

We need a coach that can develop young players and get them to their potential, so far the only guy that has improved under him is Vuc, everyone else has regressed

I think it's worth giving him another season to see if he can put it together. If his jumper never comes around after another season, I think you have to move on.

Def Swami wrote:I think it's worth giving him another season to see if he can put it together. If his jumper never comes around after another season, I think you have to move on.

He has one more rookie contract season so there is really nothing to think about or consider. It is what it is. He has exactly one more year to show more.

As I said, he did show much more this year than he did in Philly. I was very happy with much of what I saw. We just didn’t see the one thing we need most. He need to show us more of that next year. He doesn’t need to be Steph but he need to show REAL growth or we probably have to make a change.

He was prohibited from practicing 3pt shooting last summer and has progressed over the season. In his last 14 games he's shooting 425 from 3.

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basketballRob wrote:He was prohibited from practicing 3pt shooting last summer and has progressed over the season. In his last 14 games he's shooting 425 from 3.

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The statement about practicing might be worth notice.

However, the second part is misleading. While clearly he is improved all around over his Philly days he only attempts WIIIIIDE open 3’s right now. Other than that he avoids deep shots like the plague. He needs to attack that shot with more confidence and more consistency or hype numbers you throw at us is fools gold.

MagicFan101 wrote:

basketballRob wrote:He was prohibited from practicing 3pt shooting last summer and has progressed over the season. In his last 14 games he's shooting 425 from 3.

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The statement about practicing might be worth notice.

However, the second part is misleading. While clearly he is improved all around over his Philly days he only attempts WIIIIIDE open 3’s right now. Other than that he avoids deep shots like the plague. He needs to attack that shot with more confidence and more consistency or hype numbers you throw at us is fools gold.

I don't think anythings wrong with taking wide open shots. He just needs to shoot every time he's open. Plus for appearance sake he should stop shooting heaves. If you subtract the 1-8 heaves for the year, including playoffs, he's shooting 29%.

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He needs to be more aggressive. iirc he was elite at getting to the basket in college. Not sure if he can truly shine when he’s the 4th option.

Anti Chalmers wrote:He needs to be more aggressive. iirc he was elite at getting to the basket in college. Not sure if he can truly shine when he’s the 4th option.

Stop putting DJ on the floor with him and he ll become a beast

If Fultz gets a 35% three-ball on 4+ attempts per game, then he could be a marginal all-star.

basketballRob wrote:

MagicFan101 wrote:

basketballRob wrote:He was prohibited from practicing 3pt shooting last summer and has progressed over the season. In his last 14 games he's shooting 425 from 3.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

The statement about practicing might be worth notice.

However, the second part is misleading. While clearly he is improved all around over his Philly days he only attempts WIIIIIDE open 3’s right now. Other than that he avoids deep shots like the plague. He needs to attack that shot with more confidence and more consistency or hype numbers you throw at us is fools gold.

I don't think anythings wrong with taking wide open shots. He just needs to shoot every time he's open. Plus for appearance sake he should stop shooting heaves. If you subtract the 1-8 heaves for the year, including playoffs, he's shooting 29%.

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The problem is he gets the shots because the opponent currently allows him to. They don’t respect his shot.

If he starts hitting those wide open shots more regularly they have complete control over the situation, not Fultz. They can change their strategy and guard him, taking away his one deep shot entirely.

What does he do then?

MagicFan101 wrote:

basketballRob wrote:

MagicFan101 wrote:
The statement about practicing might be worth notice.

However, the second part is misleading. While clearly he is improved all around over his Philly days he only attempts WIIIIIDE open 3’s right now. Other than that he avoids deep shots like the plague. He needs to attack that shot with more confidence and more consistency or hype numbers you throw at us is fools gold.

I don't think anythings wrong with taking wide open shots. He just needs to shoot every time he's open. Plus for appearance sake he should stop shooting heaves. If you subtract the 1-8 heaves for the year, including playoffs, he's shooting 29%.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

The problem is he gets the shots because the opponent currently allows him to. They don’t respect his shot.

If he starts hitting those wide open shots more regularly they have complete control over the situation, not Fultz. They can change their strategy and guard him, taking away his one deep shot entirely.

What does he do then?

If they start to guard him then he can use his hesi dribble style to get to the rim or pull up from midrange. It also makes more room for cutting teammates.