2024-2025 Regular Season Game 45: Orlando Magic (23-21) vs Toronto Raptors (10-32) 7:30PM

[Idiosyncratic]

My lord the Queen and Caleb Houston minutes were bad. But they aren't rotation players, what can you do. This is an extreme level of injuries.

This would be my only gripe, because it’s not like these injuries snuck up on us, they hit the team all at once. When they knew they were only going to have 1 center for a couple of weeks they could’ve signed any big body like Robin Lopez to fill a 10 game run. Could’ve signed a shooter instead of giving Houstan chance after chance.

I think management got a little too confident off some of the surprise wins and thought the team could coast without extra additions. I’m just talking about able and capable bodies to fill in, not even making a big move for a scorer.

Yeah I agree with this. No clue how at least a big hasn't been signed to a 10 day contract.

[Redwood]

Never traded a player on a rookie deal, always re-ups injured players, never traded a first (I think), punts on seconds routinely, never a buyer in trades, has whiffed on every pick outside of the top 10 (hopefully TdS changes this trend), consistently ignores shooting

He’s on auto pilot

One of the easiest jobs in the league. No media pressure.

The DeVos family really doesn’t care about anything other than fighting for the playoffs and attendance

Thank you, it’s time people starting turning up the heat on the DeVos family. They are the reason nothing at all is being done.

The Devos sure love to spend their time dismantling public education…

Well, in this country dismantling public education would be an improvement to it. With the roster I think the same case can be made.

We again shoot over 30 three's, we again shoot terribly, we again lose.

It's only one game, though. Right?

[KillMonger]

“Out” as in .. I have a difficult time buying he’s a starter especially on this roster and with who they will pay.

Hes a good backup off the bench until he can prove he can prove otherwise.

That's fine.... but what I don't get is why does he have to show that right now though? What kind of timeline do you think we're on? People may realize we're further away than we thought...i don't have an issue with people wanting to see more, I just think people shouldn't expect a jump until year 3 or 4.... This is year 2

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How long did Mobley/Garland have to wait before Cleveland got them Mitchell? How long did Ant have to wait before Minnesota got him Gobert? Tatum and Brown got to play alongside and learn from all-stars like Kyrie and Kemba before they retooled and gave them a super team.

The point is, patience is important but dynamics can change very quickly. For example, JI was a DPOY type of player last year. He looks like a shell of himself this year. WCJ looked like he would be, at worst, a sixth man big just last year. He also looks like a shell of his former self too.

We're not asking for the team to trade all of their picks for an all-star level player that wrecks our cap. We're just looking for a couple of Cam Johnson/Simons/Sexton level players to fill in the bench and provide some much needed offense to go with the defense that we know the starting lineup brings. This can be done by trading a few picks and dead-weight contracts that would be expirings for the receiving team.

That's a different conversation, we're talking about development but team building and ultimately winning should be the the goal.....now weltman has been collecting chips that at some point he should cash in because we're at a talent deficit......But this front office is very adept at kicking the can down the road using injuries as an excuse.....but in terms of AB I'm fine with what he's showing, he can create looks but ultimately the players got to knock the shots down and we don't have the personnel.... We could have John Stockton and he couldn't do much in this offense

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[Orlando Dawg]

This was the game that:
Wendell became Ike Austin
Grady Dick became the better pick than Jett Howard
A commercial for Scientology played.
The season was officially over.
Any players the Magic would trade are untradeable.

[eyriq]

It's only one game, though. Right?

For real though, it's only one game.

[thelead]

It's only one game, though. Right?

For real though, it's only one game.

every game is just one game... however, this is the 4th blowout loss in a row. We've also lost 6 of the last 7. Those aren't just one game stats.

[ogmagicfan]

This was hands down WCJ worst game this year

He cant finish at the rim, and doesnt finish with dunks. He's lacking touch. He's fouling more. And cant make a jumpshot. Which is the most puzzling because he was making 3s last year with a fractured hand and wearing a brace. Maybe that **** up his jumpshot? idk. but its insane to watch.

If he's still hirt and the foot injury is bothering him, he needs to sit out

TDS also has also been playing horrendous basketball. Really thought a 23 year old would be a bit more NBA ready than what he's shown

Caleb Houstan needs to be cut from this roster. I've seen enough. Lets try someone out from the G League.

The end result didnt surprise me, we were playing with only 8 players. Our bench is 3 players who are the end of the bench.

Paolo had a good game outside his FTs.

KCP played well. AB was atleast aggressive, couldnt get anything to fall in the 2nd half though. He needs to change how he shoots the ball badly, it looks more set shot ish than to start the season. His feet are too close to each other.

[eyriq]

It's only one game, though. Right?

For real though, it's only one game.

every game is just one game... however, this is the 4th blowout loss in a row. We've also lost 6 of the last 7. Those aren't just one game stats.

This run is an extreme outlier, no doubt. You are right to be alarmed, this run is driven by what you can call “special causes”. This isn’t the random up and down of a typical season for a team of our particular strength. However the drivers are easily identifiable. We are injured and sick. End of story. So on one hand it isn’t just one game, it’s an extreme result. However, since we can easily identify the cause and we know the solution, it’s just one game.

[pepe1991]

First quarter:
37 points
14 FGA made on 23 shots.
5/9 for 3 point line


Rest of a game (36 min):
56 points scored
21/62 FG (33%)
4/22 for 3 (18%)

But most painful part of this game was watching Banchero and Carter defend 2 v 2 game. They just don't get it. Okey, i can live with notion Westbrook and Jokić are too smart for them, but how do you allow guys like Brown, Barrett , Shead ( wtf who is this dude? ) outsmart you on pretty much every set play?
Not that others did any better job on give and go action, whole team worked hard to make Kelly Olynyk look like Kevin McHale and at times watching Brown felt like i'm watching prime Joe Dumars.

Toronto entered this game as team with 3rd worst record in nba, "behind " Washington Hogwarts and Utah's mountain of picks.

All star break can't come fast enough.

[GelbeWand09]

80% of our defensive implosion is Franz, Jalen & Goga missing but 20% is Paolo coming back.

[paperboymafia]

Stayed up to watch the game (that's a lie, I couldn't sleep so I thought why not). What a .... show. Not seen many games this year and am normally very calm and realistic about the game of basketball but as soon as JI bricked that 3 when he came into the game I got this feeling in my stomach that one can only get after decades of watching basketball. 28 minutes for Caleb Houstan? If he's not hitting half his 3s he does deserve a single minute in the game. Also, WCJ passing up open 3s? No matter how bad your % is nowadays you still take that shot and by not taking it you're just waving the white flag and telling everyone that you do not need to be defended, which to be fair, Poetl got the memo and was already about 50 feet away. I have other gripes but I'll leave it there. Just needed a quick vent.

[Redwood]

For real though, it's only one game.

every game is just one game... however, this is the 4th blowout loss in a row. We've also lost 6 of the last 7. Those aren't just one game stats.

This run is an extreme outlier, no doubt. You are right to be alarmed, this run is driven by what you can call “special causes”. This isn’t the random up and down of a typical season for a team of our particular strength. However the drivers are easily identifiable. We are injured and sick. End of story. So on one hand it isn’t just one game, it’s an extreme result. However, since we can easily identify the cause and we know the solution, it’s just one game.

It's not the end of story. What you're saying here is that our roster, save for 3-4 players, is filled out with non-NBA players. We've essentially been rebuilding since Dwight left and this is what we have?

If you're in the NBA you need to know how to make open shots, contested shots, create your own shots, etc. We have only a couple of people who can do that. We have D-League players. We have no depth. We're flirting with being, historically, the worst shooting team of all time.

It's not "one game", it's a period of many years where most of our decisions have been bad decisions. That has all culminated in what you're watching out there. Fortunately for the Magic, the NBA is in a dreadful state and competition is the worst it has ever been, this is allowing us to remain in the playoff picture even though we clearly don't have NBA players filling out our roster. Any other era this team is getting bludgeoned virtually every single night and would be lucky to win 15 games.

[SOUL]

Stayed up to watch the game (that's a lie, I couldn't sleep so I thought why not). What a .... show. Not seen many games this year and am normally very calm and realistic about the game of basketball but as soon as JI bricked that 3 when he came into the game I got this feeling in my stomach that one can only get after decades of watching basketball. 28 minutes for Caleb Houstan? If he's not hitting half his 3s he does deserve a single minute in the game. Also, WCJ passing up open 3s? No matter how bad your % is nowadays you still take that shot and by not taking it you're just waving the white flag and telling everyone that you do not need to be defended, which to be fair, Poetl got the memo and was already about 50 feet away. I have other gripes but I'll leave it there. Just needed a quick vent.

We had 8 healthy players and Paolo still on minute restriction to an extent and none taller than 6'5 off the bench. I agree with the rest but he had to play simply because we had nobody else.

[SOUL]

It's not the end of story. What you're saying here is that our roster, save for 3-4 players, is filled out with non-NBA players. We've essentially been rebuilding since Dwight left and this is what we have?

The team (when healthy) has improved 12 games the last three years from 22, 34 to 47 and was on pace for 50+ wins until these last two weeks of injuries.

So yes, having "that" is pretty solid. Not perfect and still needing trades, but certainly not bad enough to doom post every post. Injuries have derailed this team.

Feel like that isn't really a homer take at all for a team this young that still has all of its assets.

[paperboymafia]

Stayed up to watch the game (that's a lie, I couldn't sleep so I thought why not). What a .... show. Not seen many games this year and am normally very calm and realistic about the game of basketball but as soon as JI bricked that 3 when he came into the game I got this feeling in my stomach that one can only get after decades of watching basketball. 28 minutes for Caleb Houstan? If he's not hitting half his 3s he does deserve a single minute in the game. Also, WCJ passing up open 3s? No matter how bad your % is nowadays you still take that shot and by not taking it you're just waving the white flag and telling everyone that you do not need to be defended, which to be fair, Poetl got the memo and was already about 50 feet away. I have other gripes but I'll leave it there. Just needed a quick vent.

We had 8 healthy players and Paolo still on minute restriction to an extent and none taller than 6'5 off the bench. I agree with the rest but he had to play simply because we had nobody else.

Yeah I know. I just needed the vent. It just sucked.

[SOUL]

Yeah I know. I just needed the vent. It just sucked.

Hopefully the next few weeks as we get healthier symbols the end of Houstan playing time

[shadrock]

This was hands down WCJ worst game this year

He cant finish at the rim, and doesnt finish with dunks. He's lacking touch. He's fouling more. And cant make a jumpshot. Which is the most puzzling because he was making 3s last year with a fractured hand and wearing a brace. Maybe that **** up his jumpshot? idk. but its insane to watch.

If he's still hirt and the foot injury is bothering him, he needs to sit out

TDS also has also been playing horrendous basketball. Really thought a 23 year old would be a bit more NBA ready than what he's shown

Caleb Houstan needs to be cut from this roster. I've seen enough. Lets try someone out from the G League.

The end result didnt surprise me, we were playing with only 8 players. Our bench is 3 players who are the end of the bench.

Paolo had a good game outside his FTs.

KCP played well. AB was atleast aggressive, couldnt get anything to fall in the 2nd half though. He needs to change how he shoots the ball badly, it looks more set shot ish than to start the season. His feet are too close to each other.

The one day of the year we really REALLY need WCJ to step up, he folds like origami and fouls out. Sums him up pretty well.

[I Rasharted]

Freefall mode activated.

[eyriq]

Man, those bench minutes were something.

[basketballRob]

First quarter:
37 points
14 FGA made on 23 shots.
5/9 for 3 point line


Rest of a game (36 min):
56 points scored
21/62 FG (33%)
4/22 for 3 (18%)

But most painful part of this game was watching Banchero and Carter defend 2 v 2 game. They just don't get it. Okey, i can live with notion Westbrook and Jokić are too smart for them, but how do you allow guys like Brown, Barrett , Shead ( wtf who is this dude? ) outsmart you on pretty much every set play?
Not that others did any better job on give and go action, whole team worked hard to make Kelly Olynyk look like Kevin McHale and at times watching Brown felt like i'm watching prime Joe Dumars.

Toronto entered this game as team with 3rd worst record in nba, "behind " Washington Hogwarts and Utah's mountain of picks.

All star break can't come fast enough.

2 games in a row that we were short-handed. They played well early in both games and then ran out if gas.

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