2024-2025 Regular Season Game 70: Houston Rockets (44-25) at Orlando Magic (32-37) - 7pm

[KillMonger]

JI had 3 rebounds and 3 stocks in 8 minutes... and Mosley decides his defense wasn't needed in the 2nd half. Brilliant.

We're still playing 11 right? By now that rotation is tight but we're still tinkering and injuries isn't helping.

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[ogmagicfan]

There’s just no way we keep WCJr next year. Goga has clearly outplayed him, and most likely we keep Mo Wag. But Goga had a HUGE game. He was the reason we even had any chance. He made his impact immediately upon re-entry. When will coach know and acknowledge Goga>>>WCJr??? Look at tonight’s comparison on the box score alone. Pretty much sums it up….

Coach was looking for any reason to sneak WCJ back ahead of Goga in the rotation, and that concussion (or whatever it was) back in January was the perfect catalyst. You see how much Goga outplayed him tonight and yet he still ended up with only 4 more minutes played.

As poorly as WCJ has been this season. Since the end of Dec/beginning of Jan, Goga's energy & effort has fallen off a cliff. Then he had the concussion and it got worse.

When Paolo plays, you need a big who can switch out the guard the perimeter and potentially make a 3. WCJ in theory should be able to do that, Goga cant. That's why he starts. Also Goga struggles defensively against certain matchups alot more than WCJ does.

Goga played well tonight, and I hope it continues, but there's a reason why WCJ is starting. The solution at starting Center isnt WCJ or Goga, its a new center

[KillMonger]

There’s just no way we keep WCJr next year. Goga has clearly outplayed him, and most likely we keep Mo Wag. But Goga had a HUGE game. He was the reason we even had any chance. He made his impact immediately upon re-entry. When will coach know and acknowledge Goga>>>WCJr??? Look at tonight’s comparison on the box score alone. Pretty much sums it up….

Coach was looking for any reason to sneak WCJ back ahead of Goga in the rotation, and that concussion (or whatever it was) back in January was the perfect catalyst. You see how much Goga outplayed him tonight and yet he still ended up with only 4 more minutes played.

As poorly as WCJ has been this season. Since the end of Dec/beginning of Jan, Goga's energy & effort has fallen off a cliff. Then he had the concussion and it got worse.

When Paolo plays, you need a big who can switch out the guard the perimeter and potentially make a 3. WCJ in theory should be able to do that, Goga cant. That's why he starts. Also Goga struggles defensively against certain matchups alot more than WCJ does.

Goga played well tonight, and I hope it continues, but there's a reason why WCJ is starting. The solution at starting Center isnt WCJ or Goga, its a new center

Need a big that can do both legitimately but who's out there?

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[Knightro]

JI had 3 rebounds and 3 stocks in 8 minutes... and Mosley decides his defense wasn't needed in the 2nd half. Brilliant.

I have to assume there’s something physical going on with Isaac for him to have this many single digit minute games this month.

He basically plays one stretch and then doesn’t come back in. It’s like his body can’t warm back up or something?

I sincerely hope it’s not because Mosley wants to play an 11 man rotation.

[pepe1991]

Meh.

Goga played well. Franz had way too many TOs, Paolo was good on offense but very bad on defense.

Isaac thing. For 6 years 95% of fanbase overhyped him for little role had . Play defense and exist on offense. He neither rebounds that well for player who should be defensive anchor nor his defense is any more as eye popping, and his offense is him looking like 7 foot Elfrid Payton on perimeter.

In March he made 3 threes in 8 games. Those 3 threes also make 30% of all shots he made in 8 games ( 10 shots made total). I'm sorry but even Biyombo was bigger treat to score than this. And he also can't pass so once ball ends up in his hands it's TO or missed shot.

NBA left those onedimensional woods 20 years ago behind. Why can't we? He looks like i don't know, 2002 Steven Hunter with irrational desire to shoot 3s like he is i don't know, Bargnani, but can't shoot at all.


One thing i admire Houston for is fact they had no issue benching Jabari for Tari. 3rd overall pick? Tough luck, either play better or suffer cosenquences.
Said it after last Hoston game, will repeat again, not getting after Vleet but investing in that bum Fultz will hunt us for years.

[SloNick Russia]

Whatever we do at C we muat adress Paolo rebounding in summer. He needs a rebounding coach to learn positioning, jump timing, etc. He is never going to be quick enough on feet to guard one on one but with his size, weight and jumping ability he must rebound better. Like it should be his main focus in defense. Many times in games you see WCJ or Goga contesting a jumpshot but Paolo not in a position to rebound or to box out to secure the rebounding area. We are not getting another PF to do this job.

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[cedric76]

I decided to skip this game and watch game 1 between the Bulls and Knicks in the 1996 playoffs. The quality of basketball being played is many, many levels higher than what the NBA offers today. I'm sure I'll regret not witnessing us shoot less than 30 percent from three, again, but I'll get over it.

I miss that basketball

[GelbeWand09]

Man Paolo is trying

Paolo just wants to win.

Man, our guards give us nothing.

That he wants to win stops the second the opponent got the ball. Again, as long as he defends and rebounds like this, he better becomes a top 3-5 offensive player in the leaque.
With his physical negatives on defense (footspeed, quick jump, wingspan...) he can't afford to play that lazy on defense and at the same time showing bad Def. Bball iq too.

[thelead]

Man Paolo is trying

Paolo just wants to win.

Man, our guards give us nothing.

That he wants to win stops the second the opponent got the ball. Again, as long as he defends and rebounds like this, he better becomes a top 3-5 offensive player in the leaque.
With his physical negatives on defense (footspeed, quick jump, wingspan...) he can't afford to play that lazy on defense and at the same time showing bad Def. Bball iq too.

He put up 31/6/5 on 63 TS%… that is top 5 offensive player range. I will call him out for his transition defense though. That does need to be better.

Also, he is averaging 29.5/7.3/4.4 on 59.5 TS% since the all-star break. Pretty damn good actually.

[SloNick Russia]

Man Paolo is trying

Paolo just wants to win.

Man, our guards give us nothing.

That he wants to win stops the second the opponent got the ball. Again, as long as he defends and rebounds like this, he better becomes a top 3-5 offensive player in the leaque.
With his physical negatives on defense (footspeed, quick jump, wingspan...) he can't afford to play that lazy on defense and at the same time showing bad Def. Bball iq too.

Take Jokic, the best offensive player in the NBA. He is slow, doesn't move well on defense, can't jump at all. Yet he is a dominant rebounder because of positioning and ball awareness. It allows Denver guards to turn offense immidiately because Joker will not only secure a rebound but will also make a first pass on a break leading to easy offense options.
Paolo is a good passer, he would be a great fast break starter too if only he could make himself a decent rebounder. Instead our guards have to help on boards all the time which hurts game pace for us.
Franz just doesn't have the body and jump to be a good rebounder, but Paolo has that.
Just have to focus on game another aspect to benefit the team outside of scoring.
Challenge him to average like 9 rpg next season, bring in coaches to teach him fundamentals.
May start with coach Dwight after LAL game.

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[pepe1991]

Paolo just wants to win.

Man, our guards give us nothing.

That he wants to win stops the second the opponent got the ball. Again, as long as he defends and rebounds like this, he better becomes a top 3-5 offensive player in the leaque.
With his physical negatives on defense (footspeed, quick jump, wingspan...) he can't afford to play that lazy on defense and at the same time showing bad Def. Bball iq too.

He put up 31/6/5 on 63 TS%… that is top 5 offensive player range. I will call him out for his transition defense though. That does need to be better.

Also, he is averaging 29.5/7.3/4.4 on 59.5 TS% since the all-star break. Pretty damn good actually.

Bit context

post all star:

7th worst record (4-12)
8th worst offensive rating
12th defensive rating
11th worst net rating

Like, we are worst than Wizards. By two wins.

His stats don't translate into anything. Neither we win, nor our offense is good. It's just him playing for numbers.

[eyriq]

Dunce Cap goes to Anthony Black with -5.0 net points.

Harris and KCP round out the dunce podium.

Paolo, Franz, Goga were all positive.

All three combined to shoot 2-13 from three.

[eyriq]

Rotations need to hide our bench more. Without Cole it lacks a primary scorer. If AB and TDS are missing shots it's going to provide very little offensively. One of Paolo and Franz have to be on the court at all times.

[Audi]

“Paolo really needs to get better at simultaneously running the offense, taking the shot, rebounding the shot, and then preventing the shot on the other end” is something no other fans would say about their star players because they have a coherent basketball team assembled around them.

[Skybox]

“Paolo really needs to get better at simultaneously running the offense, taking the shot, rebounding the shot, and then preventing the shot on the other end” is something no other fans would say about their star players because they have a coherent basketball team assembled around them.

Paolo also needs to call better plays and make a few sensible personnel moves while he's at it...and sell popcorn

[T-Cat]

Man Paolo is trying

Paolo just wants to win.

Man, our guards give us nothing.

That he wants to win stops the second the opponent got the ball. Again, as long as he defends and rebounds like this, he better becomes a top 3-5 offensive player in the leaque.
With his physical negatives on defense (footspeed, quick jump, wingspan...) he can't afford to play that lazy on defense and at the same time showing bad Def. Bball iq too.

I agree! He even said in the interviews, he wants to be a Top 5 player in the league.

With that said, he needs to compete at a high level on BOTH ends! No excuses

[ORLMagicGirl15]

That he wants to win stops the second the opponent got the ball. Again, as long as he defends and rebounds like this, he better becomes a top 3-5 offensive player in the leaque.
With his physical negatives on defense (footspeed, quick jump, wingspan...) he can't afford to play that lazy on defense and at the same time showing bad Def. Bball iq too.

He put up 31/6/5 on 63 TS%… that is top 5 offensive player range. I will call him out for his transition defense though. That does need to be better.

Also, he is averaging 29.5/7.3/4.4 on 59.5 TS% since the all-star break. Pretty damn good actually.

Bit context

post all star:

7th worst record (4-12)
8th worst offensive rating
12th defensive rating
11th worst net rating

Like, we are worst than Wizards. By two wins.

His stats don't translate into anything. Neither we win, nor our offense is good. It's just him playing for numbers.

Yeah, it’s definitely Paolo. Every last loss, it is definitely all his fault. It’s not the fact that some games our role players gave us nothing on offense.

[ORLMagicGirl15]

Here is a fun stat for you guys, Paolo is averaging 25 points, Franz is averaging 24 points, no one else on the team still playing is averaging more than 9.6 points. Yes, that’s right, we have 11 players on this team all averaging single digits.

[BadMofoPimp]

Don't worry. AB will have his next good night in 4 or 5 games while that one should be a victory!

[eyriq]

Don't worry. AB will have his next good night in 4 or 5 games while that one should be a victory!

This kind of exposure will be good for AB in the long-run.