Free Cole Anthony!

[SHAQ32]

I think he's ready to turn the corner, and I am not prepared to give up on the 24-year-old!

[MasterGMer]

I am also not sure why Cole Anthony is not part of lots of yall plans for the team in the near future?

Dude was literally Sixth man of the year candidate and instant buckets.

I am hoping for the best of his success and now with Franz and Paolo out. I really hope he steps up and it is his opportunity

[SHAQ32]

I am also not sure why Cole Anthony is not part of lots of yall plans for the team in the near future?

Dude was literally Sixth man of the year candidate and instant buckets.

I am hoping for the best of his success and now with Franz and Paolo out. I really hope he steps up and it is his opportunity

Think there's a secret agenda against him on this board. Some posters likely with ties to the organization. The way they threw him to the side this year and last in favor of Black who hasn't come close to matching his production in previous years is mind-boggling.

[shadrock]

His production has been terrible since he changed his hair. The data on that would be absolutely wild im sure.

But in all seriousness, i just dont think he is the right type of PG for this team. For him to be successful, he needs to become a player i dont want, which is someone who has the greenest of green lights to shoot and a full creative licence from the coaching staff to do whatever he wants with the ball. If we give that to him, we are destined to fail. If we dont, he will look like he does now, which is a half version of himself.

In the early rebuild, it was fine to have him be this player, as we had less direction as a team and he was at least some production. I think back then he also had better standing with the team, and was actually the more skilled and more experienced player a lot of the time, so him talking more made sense. Now, we have players who need the ball in their hands and he stops that from happening. Our prototypical PG should be a defensive first PG with 3pt range and veteran savvy skills. Suggs is getting to be very close to this, and i felt Cory Joseph would be too but hes not getting burn for some unknown reason.

We are in this weird scenario where to me it feels like even his good games are going to be bad long-term, as it will just increase the green light Cole gets, which will be an overall detriment to the team. Green light Cole is a player who attempts hero plays, who takes ill timed threes, who tries to do way too much. There is nothing veteran about the way he plays. And on the other end, he tries but is just not a good defender.

One other big issue i have with Cole is her perceived "leadership", which really boils down to him being the annoying hype guy and having the most to say. Honestly, the routine feels a little old now, and id question whether the current guys care for it. Would it be better to give some of this stage time to one of the other guys who are going to be here deep into the future.

I have done my best to write this in an objective manner. Its obvious im not a Cole guy. He drives me nuts on the court. But at least ive tried to provide a few reasons why i think it doesnt work.

[MasterGMer]

His production has been terrible since he changed his hair. The data on that would be absolutely wild im sure.

But in all seriousness, i just dont think he is the right type of PG for this team. For him to be successful, he needs to become a player i dont want, which is someone who has the greenest of green lights to shoot and a full creative licence from the coaching staff to do whatever he wants with the ball. If we give that to him, we are destined to fail. If we dont, he will look like he does now, which is a half version of himself.

In the early rebuild, it was fine to have him be this player, as we had less direction as a team and he was at least some production. I think back then he also had better standing with the team, and was actually the more skilled and more experienced player a lot of the time, so him talking more made sense. Now, we have players who need the ball in their hands and he stops that from happening. Our prototypical PG should be a defensive first PG with 3pt range and veteran savvy skills. Suggs is getting to be very close to this, and i felt Cory Joseph would be too but hes not getting burn for some unknown reason.

We are in this weird scenario where to me it feels like even his good games are going to be bad long-term, as it will just increase the green light Cole gets, which will be an overall detriment to the team. Green light Cole is a player who attempts hero plays, who takes ill timed threes, who tries to do way too much. There is nothing veteran about the way he plays. And on the other end, he tries but is just not a good defender.

One other big issue i have with Cole is her perceived "leadership", which really boils down to him being the annoying hype guy and having the most to say. Honestly, the routine feels a little old now, and id question whether the current guys care for it. Would it be better to give some of this stage time to one of the other guys who are going to be here deep into the future.

I have done my best to write this in an objective manner. Its obvious im not a Cole guy. He drives me nuts on the court. But at least ive tried to provide a few reasons why i think it doesnt work.

I think Cole's minutes been down is more due to the growth of AB than himself.

That also speaks the narrative why Markelle Fultz was not resigned by the team.

I agree, Cole's efficiency is down. But I just do not get why he, all of a sudden, is completely out of the rotation. I think the biggest nod on that is his efficiency. He needs to get buckets and make his 3s. But as early part of the season, he didn't do it effectively.

But I can still see his presence on this team even with Paolo and Franz back. Coach Mose can mix it up a bit with the rotation. Tbh, I wish Cole the best!

[Residual-Heat]

Cole seems like a great person and teammate, so I hate to say this but I think he's just too inconsistent to be the guy we need. When you have a back court of Suggs, KCP and Black you need a more consistent offensive player.

[fendilim]

Great teammate and all. But he is a liability on the court if he can’t score.

[RichCollab]

I would love to see old Cole back when he was solid off the bench. We need offense.

This is a chance to show up again.

I’m not a believer he is back though.

[jezzerinho]

I've maybe been one of Cole's biggest defenders over the years, largely on the basis that - despite his flaws - he was constantly getting better.

Well, it's been a year since that was the case. During that time, he hasn't just stalled, he's gone backwards in several respects.

Doesn't have to be the case that his regression is permanent or irreversible. But, whereas it was hard before convincing people on here he was a valuable piece in the roster, now it's practically impossible.

He watched for a year how useful and productive Joe Ingles was in the bench unit. He saw first hand what kind of game-saving offense you can generate with field vision, ball movement and - above all - a PnR rapport with Moe.

I don't see any real signs that Cole learned any of those lessons, outside of a couple of exceptional plays here and there. Cole is determined to be Cole and when that works for him you can at least say individually he's been good. When it isn't working, he's neither productive nor team-friendly.

Bad combo. Cole needs to open his eyes - on and off the court. With the new cap, guys who are relatively expensive vs their production, dont significantly make teammates better, and who aren't kids with "potential upside" are not the most highly sought after prizes.

Cole needs to see that and to start moulding his game in more team-friendly directions, IMHO.

[Tarheel]

His production has been terrible since he changed his hair. The data on that would be absolutely wild im sure.

JackNicholsonNodding.gif

[Mad Guru]

I like Cole Anthony, but acting like he hasn't either completely stalled in his growth, or just straight up become a worse player over the last year, you are deluding yourself.

He was dribbling the ball off his foot half the time when he checked in. He makes bad mental mistakes constantly, and his outside shot completely abandoned him, making him a minus on both sides of the ball.

That said, he has been a lot better the last few games, and maybe he'll be able to turn the corner mentally and get back to being that instant offense off the bench for the team that they desperately need.

[SloNick Russia]

The primary skill for Mosley is defense, if you can't defend you will not play. Sure not if you a guard. This is why he keeps on going to Harris over Jett and others. Cole is not a good defender, average shooter and playmaker. He can dribble and create shots, not great shots but he has some bad shots making ability in him.
The problem is that Paolo and Franz can create good shots and make them so Cole's role became less and less important. For next few weeks Cole may shine some, but in a long run he just doesn't have a valid court role on this team.


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[anothermagicfan]

Cole hasn't gotten worse. He's actually improved a decent amount on the defensive side of the ball. He doesn't dribble the ball until the last few seconds of the shot clock and pass a ticking time bomb to a teammate anymore.

With that said he's still not a very good defender. A possession here and there but not often.

He's not a good 3 point shooter. He had 1 really good year % wise and that's it. He can handle the. He can get to the rim. He can get points. He can make good passes. He just doesn't do it all the time.

Cole hasn't gotten worse it's just that the magic have gotten that much better and can't afford the mistakes and bad plays. The more the magic win overall the less and less Cole plays.

It's not that I don't want Cole as a member of the magic. I do like Cole. Just at the end of the bench and for a much smaller part of the cap.

[Rainwater]

Love Cole but don't know how he remains on this team. His days same numbered, feels like a Fultz situation. We knew he was a goner.

[eyriq]

NOOOOOOOO

[Magicman125]

Cole is going to continue to have a longer leash than he's had at any point this season during this stretch of games, but he'll still have nights like tonight where he just doesn't have his shot. When that's the case, he gets too down on himself to keep his composure to be an effective playmaker either. Then he's not doing anything on offense, and he's almost always a negative on defense.

I'd like to move on from him. I was reluctant because it's clear how good of a locker room presence he's been for us and he's shown flashes, but I think his time has run its course.

[thelead]

Free Cole like we freed RJ Hampton

[MasterGMer]

When Franz went down, I was hoping Cole's offense could carry the team somehow.

I am very disappointed in his game today. He just seemed off of rhythm entire season now. Some of those shots were usually falling for him but not this year.

I think we need to hand the keys to AB now

[RichCollab]

Time to cut Cole.

[CZ Eddie]

His production has been terrible since he changed his hair.

Terrible is being dramatic.
But the haircut was definitely when I noticed a decline in his confidence.
Give him enough minutes and he'll get it back by the end of the year.