2024-2025 Regular Season Game 76: Los Angeles Clippers (42-32) at Orlando Magic (36-39) - 7pm

[Ducklett]

Make it 3 frps, KCP and Jett for Sexton and Walker Kessler...what a summer that would be?

Then sprinkle a dash of Jingles and a pinch of shooting. Maybe take AJ Griffin off of the scrap heap for a glorious renenwal. Ship out WCJ or Isaac for a more reliable contributor like Portis or some shooting depth...

It wouldn't take 2 months of watching Sexton and Kessler on a non-tanking team for this board to say the trade was awful, everyone knew it was bad before it happened, etc just like KCP's signing this summer. Even if they were fine at the end of the year after acclimating to a new team. Everything has to be now now now and never later around these parts. Lets be honest.

Even if you are right, the price is Caldwell-Pope and four players that will probably be marginal in the league. Come on dude: don't overvalue low FRPs and really don't overvalue Howard, a guy that won't be in the NBA in a couple years.

From an asset management perspective, the proposed trade improves the Magic.

See, the issue I guess is that I don't think the trade is bad, i'm not saying the trade is bad, and Sexton would certainly make the team better. But just like how no one liked the KCP signing (which is hilarious), no matter if the trade was good or not, many posters here would immediately think its wrong bad two months in. That was my point. Many posters want immediate results from everything. Suggs was going to be out of the league after his second contract just a mere 20 months ago, now Black is the dude that is already bust. KCP has played with our 3 best players like 80 minutes and we know he is useless and bad, even though he has 2 rings and was a 40% 3 point shooters for the last 5 years, he has a Magic logo on his chest now so he is worthless.

It blows my mind how we just glob onto a take and then just ride it into oblivion. We got people who think Suggs still sucks. Tristan is 4 years older than AB and gets a pass and is much, MUCH worse than AB. Like the internal consistency is loosey goosey as hell.

[Bensational]

What’s the root cause of this season’s regression?

Several things.

1. The team expected a combination of Suggs/Black/Cole/Franz/Paolo to be able to assume the playmaking duties they lost when Fultz and Ingles departed in free agency. This is ultimately why they chose to double down on 3&D by retaining Harris and signing KCP rather than pursuing a point guard with their cap space. To date, none of the five players listed above have been able to replicate those playmaking responsibilities effectively and the offense has not progressed forward in the way the front office expected it to. In fact, it's regressed somewhat significantly.

2. Isaac gained a bunch of weight in an extremely misguided effort to play more center and has regressed significantly year-over-year. His defense is still very good, but last year he was statistically the most impactful defender in the entire NBA. And his offense absolutely cratered.

3. KCP simply has not shot the basketball nearly as well as they expected him to shoot it. KCP over the last 5 years combined (which includes playing WITHOUT Jokic and WITHOUT LeBron, so you can't chalk it all up to those MVP caliber players spoonfeeding him open shots) has shot 40.3% from 3PT. He's at 33% this year. If he was shooting 40.3% this year, he'd have 125 3PT makes instead of 102. Those 23 extra three point makes would equal 69 more points for the Magic. 69 more points for the Magic would 0.9 more points per game, which would raise the Magic two spots on the PPG and ORTG lists just on that alone.

4. Paolo and Franz have simply not progressed enough as 3PT shooters. The two guys on the team with over 30 USG% shooting 29% and 31% from 3PT just isn't going to work.

5. Mosley has not been able to get the players to play with the same consistent energy and effort he did last season. Of all the things, you can chalk at least some of this one up to Suggs' injury, but if the energy and effort level is impacted that severely by missing one player then the system is probably too flimsy overall. And Mosley very obviously has zero juice from an X's and O's perspective, especially on the offensive end. So it's not like there's tactical acumen that can overcome a lack of effort and hustle.

Yes, injuries are a factor, but to suggest they are the primary factor is disingenuous. Even fully healthy (which isn't realistic) the Magic would still have a lot of the same problems from my list 1 thru 4.

Those are all accurate issues the team has had, but the team might have been able to overcome them without so many severe injuries to so many of our core guys. Injuries have been gasoline doused over the embers of these issues. It can't be ignored that our 3 best players have played a total of 6 games together, and the team is 4-2 over that span.

Injuries took both of the team's top 2 guys alternatively, took their 3rd option, and took the team's best PnR and scoring big. I mean, for a team hoping 4 guys on rookie contracts could orchestrate the offense, those are some pretty disruptive issues to throw on top of a steep learning curve. Add in that the Monstars took the soul of Cole Anthony's game until January and they didn't even have a microwave scorer to take the pressure off.

2 and 3 can be rolled together into overall 'player regression', IMO. KCP, Isaac, WCJ, Cole have all regressed significantly this season - although most have shown significantly improved performances over the past month or so - as the team has started to get healthier and stabilise in rotations and roles.

Shooting has been a team-wide issue, and IMO it's interlinked with your first point - no capable playmaker who can consistently hit players in their spots and in rhythm.

I think Mosley can keep the team together, but he is missing his on-court ambassadors in Suggs and Moe. Heart & Hustle are on the injured list for the rest of the season, and nobody else has been able to step up and fill that void.

[eyriq]

See, the issue I guess is that I don't think the trade is bad, i'm not saying the trade is bad, and Sexton would certainly make the team better. But just like how no one liked the KCP signing (which is hilarious), no matter if the trade was good or not, many posters here would immediately think its wrong bad two months in. That was my point. Many posters want immediate results from everything. Suggs was going to be out of the league after his second contract just a mere 20 months ago, now Black is the dude that is already bust. KCP has played with our 3 best players like 80 minutes and we know he is useless and bad, even though he has 2 rings and was a 40% 3 point shooters for the last 5 years, he has a Magic logo on his chest now so he is worthless.

It blows my mind how we just glob onto a take and then just ride it into oblivion. We got people who think Suggs still sucks. Tristan is 4 years older than AB and gets a pass and is much, MUCH worse than AB. Like the internal consistency is loosey goosey as hell.

This is a great issue to highlight. I think of them as the "grass is greener" and "optimism is homerism" crowd. They fail to contextual performance and set ridiculous expectations.

[VFX]

I like that the last page of this game thread turned into a "all takes here are inconsistent because context no longer means anything" series of posts.

[Knightro]

I like that the last page of this game thread turned into a "all takes here are inconsistent because context no longer means anything" series of posts.

Don’t worry bro it’s all injuries and when they run it back next year, it’ll all be good.

[Knightro]

It blows my mind how we just glob onto a take and then just ride it into oblivion. We got people who think Suggs still sucks. Tristan is 4 years older than AB and gets a pass and is much, MUCH worse than AB. Like the internal consistency is loosey goosey as hell.

Tristan was drafted 19th.

Black was drafted 6th.

The expectation level of what you are looking to get from a player in those draft slots matters a lot.

[Knightro]

Several things.

1. The team expected a combination of Suggs/Black/Cole/Franz/Paolo to be able to assume the playmaking duties they lost when Fultz and Ingles departed in free agency. This is ultimately why they chose to double down on 3&D by retaining Harris and signing KCP rather than pursuing a point guard with their cap space. To date, none of the five players listed above have been able to replicate those playmaking responsibilities effectively and the offense has not progressed forward in the way the front office expected it to. In fact, it's regressed somewhat significantly.

2. Isaac gained a bunch of weight in an extremely misguided effort to play more center and has regressed significantly year-over-year. His defense is still very good, but last year he was statistically the most impactful defender in the entire NBA. And his offense absolutely cratered.

3. KCP simply has not shot the basketball nearly as well as they expected him to shoot it. KCP over the last 5 years combined (which includes playing WITHOUT Jokic and WITHOUT LeBron, so you can't chalk it all up to those MVP caliber players spoonfeeding him open shots) has shot 40.3% from 3PT. He's at 33% this year. If he was shooting 40.3% this year, he'd have 125 3PT makes instead of 102. Those 23 extra three point makes would equal 69 more points for the Magic. 69 more points for the Magic would 0.9 more points per game, which would raise the Magic two spots on the PPG and ORTG lists just on that alone.

4. Paolo and Franz have simply not progressed enough as 3PT shooters. The two guys on the team with over 30 USG% shooting 29% and 31% from 3PT just isn't going to work.

5. Mosley has not been able to get the players to play with the same consistent energy and effort he did last season. Of all the things, you can chalk at least some of this one up to Suggs' injury, but if the energy and effort level is impacted that severely by missing one player then the system is probably too flimsy overall. And Mosley very obviously has zero juice from an X's and O's perspective, especially on the offensive end. So it's not like there's tactical acumen that can overcome a lack of effort and hustle.

Yes, injuries are a factor, but to suggest they are the primary factor is disingenuous. Even fully healthy (which isn't realistic) the Magic would still have a lot of the same problems from my list 1 thru 4.

1. Fultz (12th in minutes, 6th in assists, and 9th in turnovers) and Ingles (8th in minutes, 5th in assists, and 7th in turnovers) were not high impact players nor primary playmakers for this offense. Our team's turnover% actually has improved over last season, from #25 to #19. Playmaking is not the main issue with our offensive decline nor is losing Fultz and Ingles a legit cause of our overall decline.

2. JI was 11th in minutes and 8th in win shares last season, this season he is 9th in minutes and 6th in win shares. JI's performance is not a root cause of our decline.

3. KCP is #1 in minutes. We are overexposed to KCP... because of injuries. He's still an upgrade at a starting guard spot over Harris and AB from last season.

4. Paolo and Franz are both much better this season vs last season. Franz '24 PER was 17.6, this season it is 20.0. Paolo '24 PER was 17.1, this season it is 20.1. Problem is they were both seriously injured and missed a lot of time.

5. This is BS. Our defense is actually better this season than last season. We are -4.6 points better defensively than the league average this season compared to -4.0 last season.

Injuries are the story here, brother. Its as clear as day. Your analysis will result in throwing the baby out with the bath water.

This response is all I need to know that you don’t actually understand what you’re watching and are just regurgitating advanced stats that you don’t really understand.

[drsd]

It blows my mind how we just glob onto a take and then just ride it into oblivion. We got people who think Suggs still sucks. Tristan is 4 years older than AB and gets a pass and is much, MUCH worse than AB. Like the internal consistency is loosey goosey as hell.

Tristan was drafted 19th.

Black was drafted 6th.

The expectation level of what you are looking to get from a player in those draft slots matters a lot.

Mr #6 is supposed to be mid-range starter by year 3. Will Black be that next year; doubtful.

Mr #19 is supposed to be marginal rotational player / 3rd stringer in year 2. da Silva looks to be that perfectly, for next year.

[eyriq]

Several things.

1. The team expected a combination of Suggs/Black/Cole/Franz/Paolo to be able to assume the playmaking duties they lost when Fultz and Ingles departed in free agency. This is ultimately why they chose to double down on 3&D by retaining Harris and signing KCP rather than pursuing a point guard with their cap space. To date, none of the five players listed above have been able to replicate those playmaking responsibilities effectively and the offense has not progressed forward in the way the front office expected it to. In fact, it's regressed somewhat significantly.

2. Isaac gained a bunch of weight in an extremely misguided effort to play more center and has regressed significantly year-over-year. His defense is still very good, but last year he was statistically the most impactful defender in the entire NBA. And his offense absolutely cratered.

3. KCP simply has not shot the basketball nearly as well as they expected him to shoot it. KCP over the last 5 years combined (which includes playing WITHOUT Jokic and WITHOUT LeBron, so you can't chalk it all up to those MVP caliber players spoonfeeding him open shots) has shot 40.3% from 3PT. He's at 33% this year. If he was shooting 40.3% this year, he'd have 125 3PT makes instead of 102. Those 23 extra three point makes would equal 69 more points for the Magic. 69 more points for the Magic would 0.9 more points per game, which would raise the Magic two spots on the PPG and ORTG lists just on that alone.

4. Paolo and Franz have simply not progressed enough as 3PT shooters. The two guys on the team with over 30 USG% shooting 29% and 31% from 3PT just isn't going to work.

5. Mosley has not been able to get the players to play with the same consistent energy and effort he did last season. Of all the things, you can chalk at least some of this one up to Suggs' injury, but if the energy and effort level is impacted that severely by missing one player then the system is probably too flimsy overall. And Mosley very obviously has zero juice from an X's and O's perspective, especially on the offensive end. So it's not like there's tactical acumen that can overcome a lack of effort and hustle.

Yes, injuries are a factor, but to suggest they are the primary factor is disingenuous. Even fully healthy (which isn't realistic) the Magic would still have a lot of the same problems from my list 1 thru 4.

1. Fultz (12th in minutes, 6th in assists, and 9th in turnovers) and Ingles (8th in minutes, 5th in assists, and 7th in turnovers) were not high impact players nor primary playmakers for this offense. Our team's turnover% actually has improved over last season, from #25 to #19. Playmaking is not the main issue with our offensive decline nor is losing Fultz and Ingles a legit cause of our overall decline.

2. JI was 11th in minutes and 8th in win shares last season, this season he is 9th in minutes and 6th in win shares. JI's performance is not a root cause of our decline.

3. KCP is #1 in minutes. We are overexposed to KCP... because of injuries. He's still an upgrade at a starting guard spot over Harris and AB from last season.

4. Paolo and Franz are both much better this season vs last season. Franz '24 PER was 17.6, this season it is 20.0. Paolo '24 PER was 17.1, this season it is 20.1. Problem is they were both seriously injured and missed a lot of time.

5. This is BS. Our defense is actually better this season than last season. We are -4.6 points better defensively than the league average this season compared to -4.0 last season.

Injuries are the story here, brother. Its as clear as day. Your analysis will result in throwing the baby out with the bath water.

This response is all I need to know that you don’t actually understand what you’re watching and are just regurgitating advanced stats that you don’t really understand.

That’s adorable. Stay hating

[byeganyo]

Several things.

1. The team expected a combination of Suggs/Black/Cole/Franz/Paolo to be able to assume the playmaking duties they lost when Fultz and Ingles departed in free agency. This is ultimately why they chose to double down on 3&D by retaining Harris and signing KCP rather than pursuing a point guard with their cap space. To date, none of the five players listed above have been able to replicate those playmaking responsibilities effectively and the offense has not progressed forward in the way the front office expected it to. In fact, it's regressed somewhat significantly.

2. Isaac gained a bunch of weight in an extremely misguided effort to play more center and has regressed significantly year-over-year. His defense is still very good, but last year he was statistically the most impactful defender in the entire NBA. And his offense absolutely cratered.

3. KCP simply has not shot the basketball nearly as well as they expected him to shoot it. KCP over the last 5 years combined (which includes playing WITHOUT Jokic and WITHOUT LeBron, so you can't chalk it all up to those MVP caliber players spoonfeeding him open shots) has shot 40.3% from 3PT. He's at 33% this year. If he was shooting 40.3% this year, he'd have 125 3PT makes instead of 102. Those 23 extra three point makes would equal 69 more points for the Magic. 69 more points for the Magic would 0.9 more points per game, which would raise the Magic two spots on the PPG and ORTG lists just on that alone.

4. Paolo and Franz have simply not progressed enough as 3PT shooters. The two guys on the team with over 30 USG% shooting 29% and 31% from 3PT just isn't going to work.

5. Mosley has not been able to get the players to play with the same consistent energy and effort he did last season. Of all the things, you can chalk at least some of this one up to Suggs' injury, but if the energy and effort level is impacted that severely by missing one player then the system is probably too flimsy overall. And Mosley very obviously has zero juice from an X's and O's perspective, especially on the offensive end. So it's not like there's tactical acumen that can overcome a lack of effort and hustle.

Yes, injuries are a factor, but to suggest they are the primary factor is disingenuous. Even fully healthy (which isn't realistic) the Magic would still have a lot of the same problems from my list 1 thru 4.

1. Fultz (12th in minutes, 6th in assists, and 9th in turnovers) and Ingles (8th in minutes, 5th in assists, and 7th in turnovers) were not high impact players nor primary playmakers for this offense. Our team's turnover% actually has improved over last season, from #25 to #19. Playmaking is not the main issue with our offensive decline nor is losing Fultz and Ingles a legit cause of our overall decline.

2. JI was 11th in minutes and 8th in win shares last season, this season he is 9th in minutes and 6th in win shares. JI's performance is not a root cause of our decline.

3. KCP is #1 in minutes. We are overexposed to KCP... because of injuries. He's still an upgrade at a starting guard spot over Harris and AB from last season.

4. Paolo and Franz are both much better this season vs last season. Franz '24 PER was 17.6, this season it is 20.0. Paolo '24 PER was 17.1, this season it is 20.1. Problem is they were both seriously injured and missed a lot of time.

5. This is BS. Our defense is actually better this season than last season. We are -4.6 points better defensively than the league average this season compared to -4.0 last season.

Injuries are the story here, brother. Its as clear as day. Your analysis will result in throwing the baby out with the bath water.

This response is all I need to know that you don’t actually understand what you’re watching and are just regurgitating advanced stats that you don’t really understand.

even worse, he is just cherry picking them...

injuries are a factor of course, but its abundantly clear that we have hit some kind of wall, there is no need for this type of constant toxic positivity, i just kinda hope eyriq is related to weltman somehow, it will help it make sense.

[eyriq]

Imagine thinking losing ingles and fultz is the root cause. Imagine thinking kcp is the root cause. Imagine thinking Paolo and Franz three point shooting is the root cause. Imagine thing Mosley’s defense is the root cause. Imagine not thinking injuries are the root cause.

Oh well

[Knightro]

Imagine thinking losing ingles and fultz is the root cause. Imagine thinking kcp is the root cause. Imagine thinking Paolo and Franz three point shooting is the root cause. Imagine thing Mosley’s defense is the root cause. Imagine not thinking injuries are the root cause.

Oh well

I’ll give you one guess on who was first and second on the Magic in net rating last year.

Just because players didn’t play a lot of minutes doesn’t mean they weren’t wildly positively impactful in those minutes.

[Ducklett]

It blows my mind how we just glob onto a take and then just ride it into oblivion. We got people who think Suggs still sucks. Tristan is 4 years older than AB and gets a pass and is much, MUCH worse than AB. Like the internal consistency is loosey goosey as hell.

Tristan was drafted 19th.

Black was drafted 6th.

The expectation level of what you are looking to get from a player in those draft slots matters a lot.

Mr #6 is supposed to be mid-range starter by year 3. Will Black be that next year; doubtful.

Mr #19 is supposed to be marginal rotational player / 3rd stringer in year 2. da Silva looks to be that perfectly, for next year.

Our history of picking at 5/6 is washed out/playing in Europe in 5-6 years, so he is on track to be that. What do you mean AB isn't meeting expectations!

Realistically, we picked a 24 year old rookie because he was supposed to be a good and finished product and he isn't better than the 4 years his junior dude that was picked to be a boom-bust home run attempt. The 6th pick historically sucks. The two best players picked 6th in the last 30 years are Lillard (Really good) and Smart (A journeyman defensive specialist).

[eyriq]

Imagine thinking losing ingles and fultz is the root cause. Imagine thinking kcp is the root cause. Imagine thinking Paolo and Franz three point shooting is the root cause. Imagine thing Mosley’s defense is the root cause. Imagine not thinking injuries are the root cause.

Oh well

I’ll give you one guess on who was first and second on the Magic in net rating last year.

Just because players didn’t play a lot of minutes doesn’t mean they weren’t wildly positively impactful in those minutes.

Actually, minutes played tends to correlate with game impact. Ideally you ramp up good players and ramp down bad players. Low minute players just don’t have a huge impact on a team’s overall performance. Expecting to be able to explain changes in overall team performance by focusing in on low minute contributors implies that there’s been very little variance in team performance. If that’s the focus of your analysis you’re in a much more mature teambuilding phase than we are and are trying to optimize role players around a stable core.

That’s not our situation at all. For starters, all three of our core players have missed serious time this year due to the injuries. Hardly a case of mistakes at the margins undermining our success.

[byeganyo]

Imagine thinking losing ingles and fultz is the root cause. Imagine thinking kcp is the root cause. Imagine thinking Paolo and Franz three point shooting is the root cause. Imagine thing Mosley’s defense is the root cause. Imagine not thinking injuries are the root cause.

Oh well

you are contradicting yourself constantly - if paolo and franz are much better this season compared to the last and if not replacing ingles and fultz is irrelevant, then why the team is sub .500 when franz and paolo are both playing?? you cant have it both ways...you cant clain there is no problem at all and other are deluded for having some kind of expectations, when you were the one expecting 50+ wins and second round at least...

ps do you think orlando is the only team with injuries in the league?

ps2 paolo and franz true shooting is bellow league average, just saying.

[eyriq]

Imagine thinking losing ingles and fultz is the root cause. Imagine thinking kcp is the root cause. Imagine thinking Paolo and Franz three point shooting is the root cause. Imagine thing Mosley’s defense is the root cause. Imagine not thinking injuries are the root cause.

Oh well

you are contradicting yourself constantly - if paolo and franz are much better this season compared to the last and if not replacing ingles and fultz is irrelevant, then why the team is sub .500 when franz and paolo are both playing?? you cant have it both ways...you cant clain there is no problem at all and other are deluded for having some kind of expectations, when you were the one expecting 50+ wins and second round at least...

ps do you think orlando is the only team with injuries in the league?

ps2 paolo and franz true shooting is bellow league average, just saying.

Paolo took a while to get back to 100% and was downright terrible for a while. They also have missed Suggs. That said, I think they are about as good now as they were last season. Regardless, their efficiency issues are not new and cannot be used to differentiate this season from last season. Their availability issues are new and can be used to differentiate this season from last season.

[Knightro]

constant toxic positivity

Genuinely the best way I’ve seen it described.

There’s a handful of posters who actively turn a lot of others posters off with a level of positivity that is not at all reflective of what’s actually happening.

Sometimes it’s about specific players.

Sometimes it’s about the team at large.

But it definitely exists and it really induces a lot of groaning eye rolls.

[byeganyo]

Imagine thinking losing ingles and fultz is the root cause. Imagine thinking kcp is the root cause. Imagine thinking Paolo and Franz three point shooting is the root cause. Imagine thing Mosley’s defense is the root cause. Imagine not thinking injuries are the root cause.

Oh well

you are contradicting yourself constantly - if paolo and franz are much better this season compared to the last and if not replacing ingles and fultz is irrelevant, then why the team is sub .500 when franz and paolo are both playing?? you cant have it both ways...you cant clain there is no problem at all and other are deluded for having some kind of expectations, when you were the one expecting 50+ wins and second round at least...

ps do you think orlando is the only team with injuries in the league?

ps2 paolo and franz true shooting is bellow league average, just saying.

Paolo took a while to get back to 100% and was downright terrible for a while. They also have missed Suggs. That said, I think they are about as good now as they were last season. Regardless, their efficiency issues are not new and cannot be used to differentiate this season from last season. Their availability issues are new and can be used to differentiate this season from last season.

but 20 minutes ago you said they were better now?

frankly i dont know what is happening - some things look obvious, but need very careful evaluation, franz got higher usage and is having his worst season efficiency wise. it could be just who he is, it could be injuries, it could be inept offensive coachning... but people in this organization should know better and not sit on their hands

[Ducklett]

constant toxic positivity

Genuinely the best way I’ve seen it described.

There’s a handful of posters who actively turn a lot of others posters off with a level of positivity that is not at all reflective of what’s actually happening.

Sometimes it’s about specific players.

Sometimes it’s about the team at large.

But it definitely exists and it really induces a lot of groaning eye rolls.

LOL You can't be serious. Eyriq might be the only positive poster on this forum and only about AB. I think Gary Harris is actively the worst player on the planet and I there is about 3 people on the team I wouldn't trade. It is one thing when people are pointing out a new negative wrinkle. For example: the USG vs how bad Franz and Paolo are at 3 point shooting. That is a relatively new and interesting discussion in the last week or two and is certainly negative. You know what isn't? Game 70+ of "Our team is suck at 3s". Yes, we all know and agree. Does ANYONE on here think we aren't the worst 3 point shooting team ever? Anyone?

[eyriq]

you are contradicting yourself constantly - if paolo and franz are much better this season compared to the last and if not replacing ingles and fultz is irrelevant, then why the team is sub .500 when franz and paolo are both playing?? you cant have it both ways...you cant clain there is no problem at all and other are deluded for having some kind of expectations, when you were the one expecting 50+ wins and second round at least...

ps do you think orlando is the only team with injuries in the league?

ps2 paolo and franz true shooting is bellow league average, just saying.

Paolo took a while to get back to 100% and was downright terrible for a while. They also have missed Suggs. That said, I think they are about as good now as they were last season. Regardless, their efficiency issues are not new and cannot be used to differentiate this season from last season. Their availability issues are new and can be used to differentiate this season from last season.

but 20 minutes ago you said they were better now?

frankly i dont know what is happening - some things look obvious, but need very careful evaluation, franz got higher usage and is having his worst season efficiency wise. it could be just who he is, it could be injuries, it could be inept offensive coachning... but people in this organization should know better and not sit on their hands

“They are about as good as they were last season” where “they” are the team. I can see why that would be confusing though