2023-2024 Regular Season Game 36: Atlanta Hawks (14-20) at Orlando Magic (20-15) - 6pm

[SOUL]

Mose wet the bed with his rotations after the solid start.

People have swore to me up and down for months and months that it isn't a big deal that the Magic have 3 point guards and 3 centers that all deserve minutes because inevitably there will be injuries.

And while there's certainly an element of truth to that, you're seeing tonight (and in the Miami and Milwaukee losses last month when Goga lost his spot) what happens when all these guys actually are healthy.

There's not enough room and trying to just play mismatched combinations to get everybody minutes just ain't it.

This is an extremely cherry-picked example though, it's compounded by the fact that we have zero wings available so that it's forcing 3 guard lineups. If it happened more when Franz, Harris, Ingles, Isaac are healthy, then it holds more weight, IMO.

[basketballRob]

Trae's flopping neutered Suggs aggressiveness a bit. NBA officiating needs to be the top priority whenever Silver is replaced.

They automatically give Trae the call. He even threw a pass to himself, and they didn't call anything.

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[IllMagic04]

Main adjustment we need to make is attack the paint and attack Trae. Lets get Trae in some pick and rolls and see if they switch. We still can win this

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[richi_v25]

Flutz looked good running the point but he forgot how to shoot again so he's not helping us much, would rather have Suggs/AB then Cole/Queen out there.

[T-Cat]

Fultz looks like he's a long way from 100%.

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Only a reincarnation will bring him back to 100%.

Fultz is damaged goods. Been saying it since last year. Its been like 7 years since hid shot has been broken.

People have to stop being a hopeless romantic.

Why doesn't Fultz have surgery on his shoulder for TOS?

Who in the organization changed his shot and they give him the green light to play basketball with that TERRIBLE double pump jump shot!

PATHETIC!!

[KillMonger]

Need Franz man

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[Knightro]

I mean we can bitch about rotations but he only has guards available. Literally. Queen/Fultz/Cole/Black are all guards, unless we're clamoring for Schofield lol.

It's that the 3 guard lineup gets exposed, and it would require not playing one of Cole, Black or Fultz which just opens another can of worms.

He started 0 point guards and brought 3 of them off the bench though. So this whole 3 guard lineup was at least somewhat avoidable with just a different starting lineup.

[SOUL]

We just need better offense. This Hawks team has let teams score 100+ points for like 80+ games or something crazy, maybe more, and we may not hit that.

[fateis007]

I am not sure how people can sit here and say, Fultz is playing good, he just has no shot. That just isn't going to fly in this league anymore, let alone a guy making 20 mill a year. I made a post a few months ago, when I first saw the hitch back. It's very clear his shoulder is absolutely shot, and this is a huge problem. Atleast last year when he draws contact, he could hit FTs at decent clip.

[Audi]

That bench rotation we put out there completely disjointed the game.

Also I can't stand Trae Young or Murray.

My wife on Trae: “this guy is the most punchable face I’ve ever seen in these games”

[Knightro]

This is an extremely cherry-picked example though, it's compounded by the fact that we have zero wings available so that it's forcing 3 guard lineups. If it happened more when Franz, Harris, Ingles, Isaac are healthy, then it holds more weight, IMO.

When more guys are healthy, the minutes/roster crunch is going to become even MORE problematic though.

And the guys they're inevitably going to choose to play...

[Rainwater]

Fultz is getting up and down the court fine but..... The shot....

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I completely agree. He doesn’t look done, he just can’t shot or make a free throws and thar killed the magic. Left 4 points off the board. But other than that he was ok. He has a pass that led to a dunk and drove to basket pretty easily. He just can’t shot.

yeah, he’s not done playing in the local rec league.

Guy is done in the nba. Lol

Fultz defenders like yoyojw make it sound like Fultz’ situation is easy to manage lol we’re lucky his tos is acting up again early in the season, not in thenplayoffs. At least now, we still have time to adjust.

I am not a Fultz guy and really think the Magic should trade the dude, he no longer fits. But to say he is done is a bit far. His problem is that he can do everything well except shot the ball. If he can find a team that can hide this issue he could still play in this league. However, to your point, with how this league is going, it will be difficult to find a team that can use his skill sets.

[SOUL]

He started 0 point guards and brought 3 of them off the bench though. So this whole 3 guard lineup was at least somewhat avoidable with just a different starting lineup.

That starting lineup also got us into a good lead though with spacing.

IDK man, we can do a lot of "what ifs" but somewhere the lineup is going to be leaking oil in terms of available players positionally tonight. Like I said, it would require straight up not playing guys that have been in our rotation.

Also.. the Hawks play very small at times. It's just that their three guards have skills lol.

[ChosenSavior]

If they are gonna keep switching their big onto Paolo, he's gotta be more decisive and attack. Can't let them get away with that.

[thelead]

Fultz shot is broken and we all see it. He doesn't have knee tendinitis. His TOS must have flared up. He shouldn't be playing.

[richi_v25]

I mean we can bitch about rotations but he only has guards available. Literally. Queen/Fultz/Cole/Black are all guards, unless we're clamoring for Schofield lol.

It's that the 3 guard lineup gets exposed, and it would require not playing one of Cole, Black or Fultz which just opens another can of worms.

He started 0 point guards and brought 3 of them off the bench though. So this whole 3 guard lineup was at least somewhat avoidable with just a different starting lineup.

I guess bc AB is still under the weather but that lineup didn't work and i hope to never see it again. Would rather see AB start with Suggs and Houstan since Franz is out.

[SOUL]

When more guys are healthy, the minutes/roster crunch is going to become even MORE problematic though.

And the guys they're inevitably going to choose to play...

Yeah, but the problem becomes "Who should be playing?" more than "What sort of weird lineup is this?" - the latter has Mose's hand forced more tonight. He has done three guard lineups before but only sparingly, and it has had mixed results, usually not great.

[Bensational]

Mose wet the bed with his rotations after the solid start.

People have swore to me up and down for months and months that it isn't a big deal that the Magic have 3 point guards and 3 centers that all deserve minutes because inevitably there will be injuries.

And while there's certainly an element of truth to that, you're seeing tonight (and in the Miami and Milwaukee losses last month when Goga lost his spot) what happens when all these guys actually are healthy.

There's not enough room and trying to just play mismatched combinations to get everybody minutes just ain't it.

But even tonight we’re relying on depth because the team has a freakish amount of injuries to our bigs. What do you want them to do?

Black is really more of a connector piece defensive wing whether he plays with the starters or with Cole and Fultz.

It looks like Fultz is cooked with that shooting form. Probably should’ve kept going with Queen instead - but he’s another guard.

[ogmagicfan]

I mean we can bitch about rotations but he only has guards available. Literally. Queen/Fultz/Cole/Black are all guards, unless we're clamoring for Schofield lol.

It's that the 3 guard lineup gets exposed, and it would require not playing one of Cole, Black or Fultz which just opens another can of worms.

We shouldnt be playing Fultz then and play with a shorter rotation

[Knightro]

He started 0 point guards and brought 3 of them off the bench though. So this whole 3 guard lineup was at least somewhat avoidable with just a different starting lineup.

That starting lineup also got us into a good lead though with spacing.

IDK man, we can do a lot of "what ifs" but somewhere the lineup is going to be leaking oil in terms of available players positionally tonight. Like I said, it would require straight up not playing guys that have been in our rotation.

Also.. the Hawks play very small at times. It's just that their three guards have skills lol.

The starting lineup was fine. But by doing that Mosley created a situation where he had three point guards and Mo available off the bench. One begat the other.

And Queen is listed 6-6, 190 and he's clearly more physical defensively than Houstan. Calling him a guard... I dunno about that. He can defend wings.