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So are we seeing him play tonight? Lol

Hope he's getting close....I want to see him and RJ blaze around the court with a green light (this year)

Clifford said about 10 days ago he was still "ways away" from returning back to game action. In the meantime, I saw a report he started doing shooting drills.

Despite being with the team and supporting his teammates on a nightly basis from the sidelines, I think Cole is a few weeks away from seeing him back on the court. The next step for him should be being cleared for basketball activities and if everything is going as planned and no pain or injury reappears, he should be then cleared for full contact training, which is the last step before re-joining the team in uniform and being listed as available. From then on it all depends on coach's decision and trust to play him if he's back to playing form by that time. In this line of thought, I am skeptical Cole plays any minutes in the current west coast trip.

I wish we see Cole back in play as soon as possible in order for him to start building that chemistry with the new guys and especially with our future backcourt of Gary Harris/RJ Hampton, including Markelle Fultz when he's back. Also, the recent explosion of Okeke is nice to see and I think Cole would be able to set him up for good 3pt attempts on a regular basis and better compared to Randle and MCW. Adding another capable perimeter shooting threat would help create even better opportunities for open shots for both of them. Gary Harris will also appear at some point in the rest of this season.

Note: Can't wait to see Cole in a Magic uniform, I'm seriously tired of seeing him in street clothes ("street" is a generous term for the stuff he wears usually). Those melon-colored pajamas or teddybear plush hoodies he's wearing recently are just ridiculous.

Steve Clifford on his media availability on Monday says he thinks Cole will be back playing when the Magic return home from this West Coast road trip on April 7th.

So four more games out.

Skybox wrote:Hope he's getting close....I want to see him and RJ blaze around the court with a green light (this year)

Orlando's bench next year could be: Anthony/Hampton/Ross/Okeke/Bamba. That would be fast and fun.

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I really hope he comes back and after a few games unseats MCW from the starting role. I'd love to see how he goes with this less established core and style around him. With his attitude and demeanor, especially off the court, he's quickly become a favourite

drsd wrote:

Skybox wrote:Hope he's getting close....I want to see him and RJ blaze around the court with a green light (this year)

Orlando's bench next year could be: Anthony/Hampton/Ross/Okeke/Bamba. That would be fast and fun.

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At this point Okeke should be penciled in as the starter at SF next to Isaac next year. Outside of Kuminga all of the players in the Top 5 of the draft are PG/SG or Mobley who is a PF/C... And no one outside of the Top 5 will be a starter to begin the season.

Hoopslife wrote:

drsd wrote:

Skybox wrote:Hope he's getting close....I want to see him and RJ blaze around the court with a green light (this year)

Orlando's bench next year could be: Anthony/Hampton/Ross/Okeke/Bamba. That would be fast and fun.

..

At this point Okeke should be penciled in as the starter at SF next to Isaac next year. Outside of Kuminga all of the players in the Top 5 of the draft are PG/SG or Mobley who is a PF/C... And no one outside of the Top 5 will be a starter to begin the season.

Im cool with Okeke being the starting 3 when JI comes back fully healthy. I cant see Okeke full time as the PF anyway, he looks physically smaller than the other PFs. He also has the 3pt range and dribbling skills to be an effective SF, it's probably only his first step to blow by defenders that is limiting him.

Also correct, on OUR team, no one outside the top-5 can be considered as starter material next season.

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No way Okeke is benched next season with the level of play he's showing right now and the steady improvement we see from game to game.
I can see him starting at the 3. He can guard forwards effectively and hit the 3s. He's improving his handling and his drives to the basket are really impressive these last games. Also having JI covering for any mistakes behind him will boost his confidence and we can expect his defensive stats to go up in terms of getting steals and blocks.

WCJ at the center is a lock and they can switch whenever it's needed with Isaac. If we draft Suggs or Jalen Green or Dante Cunningham, we are set. Cole and RJ from the bench with Ross as a scoring threat would be fire.

MaKiaVeLi7 wrote:No way Okeke is benched next season with the level of play he's showing right now and the steady improvement we see from game to game.
I can see him starting at the 3. He can guard forwards effectively and hit the 3s. He's improving his handling and his drives to the basket are really impressive these last games. Also having JI covering for any mistakes behind him will boost his confidence and we can expect his defensive stats to go up in terms of getting steals and blocks.

WCJ at the center is a lock and they can switch whenever it's needed with Isaac. If we draft Suggs or Jalen Green or Dante Cunningham, we are set. Cole and RJ from the bench with Ross as a scoring threat would be fire.

yeah, i don't need ross taking all the shots away from the young guys.....hopefully he's gone this summer

Looks like a great bench cheerleader and teammate. I'm less convinced of his basketball ability. So far he seems to me like an undersized SG with spotty shooting and not much playmaking ability.

MagicStarwipe wrote:Looks like a great bench cheerleader and teammate. I'm less convinced of his basketball ability. So far he seems to me like an undersized SG with spotty shooting and not much playmaking ability.

Shooting Guard? Anthony’s eFG is lower right now then EPs has been any year of his career and he is shooting under 37% overall. I’m going to suggest to you that is not good. I’m not saying he works at the 1 either but I really don’t see him at the 2.

NBlue wrote:

MagicStarwipe wrote:Looks like a great bench cheerleader and teammate. I'm less convinced of his basketball ability. So far he seems to me like an undersized SG with spotty shooting and not much playmaking ability.

Shooting Guard? Anthony’s eFG is lower right now then EPs has been any year of his career and he is shooting under 37% overall. I’m going to suggest to you that is not good. I’m not saying he works at the 1 either but I really don’t see him at the 2.

Doesn’t Cole take far more shots from distance than EP though?

I'm glad Cole is back and recovered from his injury. But...he doesnt need to catch up on all his missed shots as quickly as he can. someone has to get in his ear to stop shooting every time he has the ball. practice some shot selection

Best comparison is Brandon Jennings without passing chops.

tiderulz wrote:I'm glad Cole is back and recovered from his injury. But...he doesnt need to catch up on all his missed shots as quickly as he can. someone has to get in his ear to stop shooting every time he has the ball. practice some shot selection

Yeah, it looks like ball movement has really stopped since he's been back.
Don't get me wrong, this is the season to for him to figure out how to finish in traffic, but I'd like to see him move the ball a bit more.
I told myself I wasn't going to watch last night with Okeke out, but I couldn't resist.
should have.

Tank commander!

You’re seeing why Anthony was low on so many draft boards. I went back and checked and I had him 30th on my big board last year.

He’s not nearly as bad of a 3PT shooter as he’s shown in the last three games. I expect that to tick back up as things progress, but that isn’t really what his biggest issues are anyway.

He’s a one position defender because of his size, but he’s just not a natural point guard. So because of his size, if he’s going to start or play heavy minutes, then he has to do it on the ball. But the problem is he’s a very limited passer. He can make basic reads, but if those aren’t there he just shoots. There’s no advanced point guard feel whatsoever. I guess on the bright side is that he’s low turnover because he has limited vision.

But the biggest issue for him by a mile IMO is his complete inability to finish against any sort of contest. For someone who is clearly very athletic when he is able to load up, he just has no explosiveness when there’s people in the way.

He appears to be scared of getting blocked at the rim which has led to him throwing up a ton of UGLY floaters and runners that he clearly never really had to attempt before he got into the NBA. The issue with those shots, in addition to being low percentage, is that it’s nearly impossible to draw fouls as well.

Knightro wrote:Tank commander!

You’re seeing why Anthony was low on so many draft boards. I went back and checked and I had him 30th on my big board last year.

He’s not nearly as bad of a 3PT shooter as he’s shown in the last three games. I expect that to tick back up as things progress, but that isn’t really what his biggest issues are anyway.

He’s a one position defender because of his size, but he’s just not a natural point guard. So because of his size, if he’s going to start or play heavy minutes, then he has to do it on the ball. But the problem is he’s a very limited passer. He can make basic reads, but if those aren’t there he just shoots. There’s no advanced point guard feel whatsoever. I guess on the bright side is that he’s low turnover because he has limited vision.

But the biggest issue for him by a mile IMO is his complete inability to finish against any sort of contest. For someone who is clearly very athletic when he is able to load up, he just has no explosiveness when there’s people in the way.

He appears to be scared of getting blocked at the rim which has led to him throwing up a ton of UGLY floaters and runners that he clearly never really had to attempt before he got into the NBA. The issue with those shots, in addition to being low percentage, is that it’s nearly impossible to draw fouls as well.

except he wasnt low on so many draft boards. Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, SB Nation, USA Today all had him at #14.

He will be what he was supposed to be, a spark from the bench.

He is a 8th man

I m happy with that