Kobblehead wrote:mjkvol wrote:Kobblehead wrote:Why is Franz Wagner escaping blame?
The biggest issue with Orlando right now is that both Banchero and Wagner are way too similar in that they stuff the statsheet but shoot like garbage.
76ciology spelled it out statistically, but just the eye test watching them is like night and day.
Most of the plus minus stuff is circumstantial based on the ancillary lineups Wagner is apart of.
Ultimately, both Banchero and Wagner have been bad #1s and unsupportive #2s (because they can't shoot).
I think Franz unfairly escapes a lot of the blame here. He has not developed to where he needs to be.
Why is Franz Wagner shooting 30% from three in year four? That's just unacceptable. He's dropping the ball.
I think the plus-minus issue goes beyond just lineup combinations. There were stretches where the Magic played without Paolo and others where they played without Franz.
Most teams have a player who runs the offense when the defense is relaxed—Franz Wagner fills that role for Orlando. Then there’s the guy the team leans on when the defense tightens up—that’s Banchero. Most time its a lengthy guy who can shoot over his defender.
You might ask why Banchero doesn’t take on more of Wagner’s role, but the reality is he can’t. Wagner is simply way better playmaker, on top of being an elite finisher (which calls for the defense to send help more often). Defenses also don’t feel the need to send as much help against Banchero because of his 53 TS%.
Like Carmelo, DeRozan, and LaMarcus Aldridge, Banchero thrives in the midrange. That has value, especially in crunch time, but if it becomes a major part of a team’s offense, it’s not an efficient shot diet.
Now, bringing Embiid into the conversation—he falls into the same category as these guys, but with one key difference: his efficiency is much higher. His ability to get to the line has often made his scoring even more effective than the high-volume perimeter scorers we’ve seen over the past two seasons.
But here’s the problem—his bad knee is limiting his trips to the free-throw line. Without that, he’s starting to trend to becoming an inefficient scorer. And looking ahead, if he can’t return to the level he was at in the past two seasons (he’s still averaging 8 FTAs per game), the concerns get even bigger. We’d be looking at a player who’s not efficient enough to be a #1 option in today’s NBA and POSSIBLY defensive liability with a compromised knee.
There’s never been a time in history when we look back and say that the people who were censoring free speech were the good guys.
