2022-2023 Regular Season Game 15: Minnesota Timberwolves (6-8) at Orlando Magic (4-10) - 7pm

[jonbob17]

I am not a fan of the court and of the jerseys.

I am writing it after every game, but we need to be patient with Suggs. What is comforting is that he becomes more of a 50/50 guy and not 10/90. Maybe basketball is not his favourite game, but its obvious he loves sport and competition overall. He has a lot of courage attempting all those tough shots after all those misses, he is similar to Smart in that regard. It seemed like he played better on sprained ankle becouse he was more focused. Still his speed crossing over Towns was remarkable.

Both Bol and Bamba are drop bigs not switch bigs. System we are running hurts their impact, but i guess they are not the most important pieces. Bol is so fun to watch, but he needs strong players like WCJ and Banchero next to him to cover his weakness.

Hampton was meh. I dont know why people defend him so fiercly. He is at best 4th guard on a roster. His hot shooting start is starting to fade, he makes a crap ton of defensive mistakes, he is average passer at best. Houstan is more impactful already and coach sees it.

I like Houstan long term, but i wouldn't call him impactful. 35% FG. Per 36 7 points 4 rebounds 1 assist 0.4 steals. It's abysmal.

Assist rate 3.8%. Shadeon Sharpe is worst in the league at 2.9%.

Hampton per 36 17/4/3 1.8 steals 0.8 blocks. TS% 68%. Obvioiusly the shooting is going to come down.

Hampton plays good defense. I haven't seen a ton of mistakes like you are suggesting, the team makes a ton of mistakes, but I am not usually singling hampton out.

None of it really matters, he's not getting playing time because we can't retain him...end of story

[NavalAviator94]

Reading up on guard development data this week. Guards growth levels out dramatically after year 3.


Sent from my iPad using RealGM Forums

I'd be interested to read more, what are you reading? Is there a difference between one-and-done guards vs 4 yr college guards?

Here's an interesting thread on Reddit that takes the 5 skills a guard or wing needs to be successful at that position and how they advance over time. https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/famrc5/oc_which_advanced_positions_take_the_most_time_to/

[Optimus_Steel]

Really impressive series of moves by Bol. Its crazy a guy his size looks fluid like that. I appreciate the fight in getting the game down to 8 but it was an embarrassment that WeHam had that depleted team on the floor last night. Really pathetic.

I also agree with the feeling that the new court and uniforms are crap. Looks terrible and why are we trying to mimic the Nets?

[zaymon]

I am not a fan of the court and of the jerseys.

I am writing it after every game, but we need to be patient with Suggs. What is comforting is that he becomes more of a 50/50 guy and not 10/90. Maybe basketball is not his favourite game, but its obvious he loves sport and competition overall. He has a lot of courage attempting all those tough shots after all those misses, he is similar to Smart in that regard. It seemed like he played better on sprained ankle becouse he was more focused. Still his speed crossing over Towns was remarkable.

Both Bol and Bamba are drop bigs not switch bigs. System we are running hurts their impact, but i guess they are not the most important pieces. Bol is so fun to watch, but he needs strong players like WCJ and Banchero next to him to cover his weakness.

Hampton was meh. I dont know why people defend him so fiercly. He is at best 4th guard on a roster. His hot shooting start is starting to fade, he makes a crap ton of defensive mistakes, he is average passer at best. Houstan is more impactful already and coach sees it.

I like Houstan long term, but i wouldn't call him impactful. 35% FG. Per 36 7 points 4 rebounds 1 assist 0.4 steals. It's abysmal.

Assist rate 3.8%. Shadeon Sharpe is worst in the league at 2.9%.

Hampton per 36 17/4/3 1.8 steals 0.8 blocks. TS% 68%. Obvioiusly the shooting is going to come down.

Hampton plays good defense. I haven't seen a ton of mistakes like you are suggesting, the team makes a ton of mistakes, but I am not usually singling hampton out.

None of it really matters, he's not getting playing time because we can't retain him...end of story

He is more impactful in my eyes becouse he is a movement shooter with very fast realease. Percentages are not there yet, but i have no doubt Caleb is better shooter than RJ. Houstan is also bigger. Maybe i focues on Hamptons defensive mistakes too much becouse i am not the biggest fan of his.

[tleikheen]

Bol is so fun to watch, but he needs strong players like WCJ and Banchero next to him to cover his weakness.

And Bol covers up their weaknesses , Carter and Banchero are ground bound and aren't rim protectors and never will be. As it is now in a huge minutes difference ,Bol has 30 blocks ,Carter has 8 blocks and Banchero has 10 blocks

[jonbob17]

I am not a fan of the court and of the jerseys.

I am writing it after every game, but we need to be patient with Suggs. What is comforting is that he becomes more of a 50/50 guy and not 10/90. Maybe basketball is not his favourite game, but its obvious he loves sport and competition overall. He has a lot of courage attempting all those tough shots after all those misses, he is similar to Smart in that regard. It seemed like he played better on sprained ankle becouse he was more focused. Still his speed crossing over Towns was remarkable.

Both Bol and Bamba are drop bigs not switch bigs. System we are running hurts their impact, but i guess they are not the most important pieces. Bol is so fun to watch, but he needs strong players like WCJ and Banchero next to him to cover his weakness.

Hampton was meh. I dont know why people defend him so fiercly. He is at best 4th guard on a roster. His hot shooting start is starting to fade, he makes a crap ton of defensive mistakes, he is average passer at best. Houstan is more impactful already and coach sees it.

I like Houstan long term, but i wouldn't call him impactful. 35% FG. Per 36 7 points 4 rebounds 1 assist 0.4 steals. It's abysmal.

Assist rate 3.8%. Shadeon Sharpe is worst in the league at 2.9%.

Hampton per 36 17/4/3 1.8 steals 0.8 blocks. TS% 68%. Obvioiusly the shooting is going to come down.

Hampton plays good defense. I haven't seen a ton of mistakes like you are suggesting, the team makes a ton of mistakes, but I am not usually singling hampton out.

None of it really matters, he's not getting playing time because we can't retain him...end of story

He is more impactful in my eyes becouse he is a movement shooter with very fast realease. Percentages are not there yet, but i have no doubt Caleb is better shooter than RJ. Houstan is also bigger. Maybe i focues on Hamptons defensive mistakes too much becouse i am not the biggest fan of his.

Houstan does have a really nice stroke and it does seem super fast. I fully believe he will eventually be a very good shooter with nice size and length. That is exactly what this core will need, but yah, he's a weak link out there at the moment, which i guess is fine in management's eyes/goals.

[Rainwater]

Billups didn’t follow this data and neither will Fultz who’s career reminds me of how Billups started

There are very, very few players that turn out like Billups, and I will be shocked if Fultz becomes anything close to Billups.

And when they do it’s always the big point guards

Who are these big point guards, after a few years of wandering, that become all stars?

[DSN1423]

The Magic injury list is a phenomenon that, if legitimate, would probably happen to a team once every 20 years on average. The injuries to Isaac and Fultz alone would be a major story in Boston or L.A., because they are the two highest-paid players on new contracts. That's a combined $33.9 million that is going to nothing.

Now consider that this is the third consecutive year of this. Now it is fair to ask the front office what the hell is going on. It just isn't plausible. Yes, just because you're pain-free doesn't mean you're in NBA game shape. But that's not unique to the Magic, so it does nothing to explain the disparity between our injuries and the rest of the league's. Everyone here who has broken a toe knows that Fultz missing 2+ months is ridiculous. We've been watching Gary Harris run and shoot baskets since training camp and still no timeline. I believe Isaac is physically unable to play and doubt he'll ever play, but that's a different fair question to ask -- why did Welt re-sign him for $17.4 million per year?

Fans who think this will work are drinking Welt-flavored Kool-Aid. The young players aren't developing or learning, they can't possibly respect the franchise they're playing for, they're getting their heads kicked in on the court, and they'll leave as soon as they can without ever COMPETING. Sports is about competition. This is not competition.

We dont know exactly what is going on behind the medical tent so to speculate is silly, we all can agree we dont like the secrecy and the lack of up-to-date info but that is the way they are handling it.

Noone on here knows if what the FO is doing is going to work in the long run or not. What we do know is that we are in a great position to have it work out in our favor. 2 young star players, 3-4 solid role players to possibly keep around, future draft capital, some nice expiring contracts etc, is a great starting point for successful run for the next 5-8 years.