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I was looking at some stats for the team, and just noticed some things.

1. last 10 games with WCJ playing, we are 5-5.

2. He was horrible from 3 in the 7 games of Oct.- 20% , but in Nov. shot 46%!

3. His Nov. numbers were awesome, 18.8pts, 9rebs, 3.6Ast, 56% from the field, 46% from 3 and 87% FT., 4-4 record.

4. we've noticed his effect on the glass too, everyone's numbers are down with him out.

It's both because WCJ is a solid player, but also that his replacement is one of the worst and laziest rotation players in the NBA.

I think it's important to remember that WCJ isn't a star player so you can't expect great numbers every single game. He had stretches last year when he looked pretty bad, didn't look like he could play center at all, wasn't rebounding well. Then he had a stretch late in the season where he played great. It's just something we're going to have to accept with him, at least near-term.

Either way, he's very important to our team as currently constructed. When he plays well, the team does well.

He is the most impactful big that the Magic have by a mile.

Look no further than the Magic's DRTG when he plays versus their DRTG when he doesn't play.

JBSouthpaw wrote:I was looking at some stats for the team, and just noticed some things.

1. last 10 games with WCJ playing, we are 5-5.

2. He was horrible from 3 in the 7 games of Oct.- 20% , but in Nov. shot 46%!

3. His Nov. numbers were awesome, 18.8pts, 9rebs, 3.6Ast, 56% from the field, 46% from 3 and 87% FT., 4-4 record.

4. we've noticed his effect on the glass too, everyone's numbers are down with him out.

WCJr is underrated by a lot of people here. He’s still young and has bad games, but without his defense and rebounding Magic aren’t in close games.

His contract is an absolute steal for what he provides. I’d much rather they pay him than what 90% of other starting Centers are making to play defense and rebound.

MagicMatic wrote:

JBSouthpaw wrote:I was looking at some stats for the team, and just noticed some things.

1. last 10 games with WCJ playing, we are 5-5.

2. He was horrible from 3 in the 7 games of Oct.- 20% , but in Nov. shot 46%!

3. His Nov. numbers were awesome, 18.8pts, 9rebs, 3.6Ast, 56% from the field, 46% from 3 and 87% FT., 4-4 record.

4. we've noticed his effect on the glass too, everyone's numbers are down with him out.

WCJr is underrated by a lot of people here. He’s still young and has bad games, but without his defense and rebounding Magic aren’t in close games.

His contract is an absolute steal for what he provides. I’d much rather they pay him than what 90% of other starting Centers are making to play defense and rebound.

Agreed. I had him pegged as our second best player last year behind Franz. That said, I would like to find a big that would challenge him for minutes just based on rebounding, defense, and setting screens. That’s not to say I don’t like WCJ, I would just like to have an additional bruiser that plays physical to mix it up when needed. I’m also not 100% sure he works with Paolo as well as we would like but I’d like to see more before coming to that conclusion.

Our defensive scheme simply doesn't work without him. He is our only centre that can play successfully in a switch heavy defense.

On offense he's quite nice to have too, especially when his shot from 3 is falling.

We know his defensive impact, but his offense is even more impactful for how we are constructed. We run a ton of hand offs and both Bamba and Bol are pretty much clueless on both sides of the ball. Plays around Wagner and Carter are about 3/4 of our offense. No wonder we started to get blown by when WCJ went down.

He definitely has his young player moments but he's very solid. And he's a great example of being a good defender but not a big time shotblocker. He is far better defensively than Bamba or Bol but they will outblock him any day. And offensively he's smart, makes crisp passes, can shoot and be aggressive around the basket.

Great dude, I find him fitting nicely into our frontcourt where we have 4 rotational players now and in future.

WCJ's impact is magnified 100x when he's out. ORL is absolutely helpless defensively when he's not there. The MIN game was a defensive travesty...the interior defense was like a welcome mat saying "dunk on me-you might even get to the line too". It's never been more apparent how insignificant shot-blocking can look without legit defensive positioning and strength. I didn't think Robin Lopez would be missed but...

I’m bumping this thread because of how pertinent it is.

Bol Bol and Paolo playing together without WCJ next to them - 120 DRTG.

Bol Bol and Paolo playing together with WCJ next to them - 106.4 DRTG.

This is basically the difference between the best defense in the league and the worst.

Let's all agree to remember this the next time he phones in a bad game or jacks too many 3s. He's not perfect, but the alternative with this roster is complete and utter misery.

Bergmaniac wrote:Bol Bol and Paolo playing together without WCJ next to them - 120 DRTG.

Bol Bol and Paolo playing together with WCJ next to them - 106.4 DRTG.

This is basically the difference between the best defense in the league and the worst.

Whew baby this is wild.

I hope this is more tank moves, because otherwise WCJ just cannot stay healthy

I'm just hoping he can learn to play starting SG, given that that is the Magic's core need.

tiderulz wrote:I hope this is more tank moves, because otherwise WCJ just cannot stay healthy

We need a legit back-up/sometimes starter if we have any desire to be competitive next year.

JBSouthpaw wrote:

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WCJ certainly helps make us more competitive, but our other guys need to step up with effort/focus(as Coach shared last night) on every play. They need to have a desire to box out and rebound that basketball from 1-5.

I like coach Mosely and I see what they're trying to do but I miss how prepared our team was defensively under Coach Cliff. When those guys were dialed in under Cliff, it was a thing of beauty to watch them become a top 5 defensive team.