Official 2025-2026 Regular Season Thread

[Skybox]

There are reasons no posters would actually work within a Professional sports organization. Panicking and flipping out are the biggest ones. The TEAM will work out the kinks as the NBA is a very long season. Just hilarious to read peoples thought in less than 10 games into an 81 game season. Fantastic entertainment on par with SNL. I really like Mose, but do agree if he won't get an offensive coach to run the team, he won't be here next season for sure.

They already GOT him in house and it looks twice as ugly...and destroyed the defense...falling back to tried and true Mose game plan rights the ship quickly but slaps a hard ceiling on this team's aspirations, imo. A dramatic offensive change was needed and we are watching a failed attempt to make the offensive change and just hope the defense holds (it obviously hasn't)...the idea of a one-way Head Coach having an Assistant Coach filling in the holes in his abilities is a tough thing to pull off...might still come together.

I'm afraid Mose is one of those perfect Assistant Coaches that players love, but just might not have the X and O muscle to be a great Head Coach.

I really want to be wrong...but it doesn't look like a work in progress, it just looks really bad.

It has been only 8 games. We can come back All-Star break and if this same problem persists, then you can panic.

I can only speak for myself - but I'm not panicking, I'm just recognizing that many previous concerns are continuing to manifest or even get clearer. I'm kind of tired of "patiently" flushing seasons away, especially without a frp. My version of a GM works every week of the year.

[BadMofoPimp]

They already GOT him in house and it looks twice as ugly...and destroyed the defense...falling back to tried and true Mose game plan rights the ship quickly but slaps a hard ceiling on this team's aspirations, imo. A dramatic offensive change was needed and we are watching a failed attempt to make the offensive change and just hope the defense holds (it obviously hasn't)...the idea of a one-way Head Coach having an Assistant Coach filling in the holes in his abilities is a tough thing to pull off...might still come together.

I'm afraid Mose is one of those perfect Assistant Coaches that players love, but just might not have the X and O muscle to be a great Head Coach.

I really want to be wrong...but it doesn't look like a work in progress, it just looks really bad.

It has been only 8 games. We can come back All-Star break and if this same problem persists, then you can panic.

I can only speak for myself - but I'm not panicking, I'm just recognizing that many previous concerns are continuing to manifest or even get clearer. I'm kind of tired of "patiently" flushing seasons away, especially without a frp. My version of a GM works every week of the year.

No worries as I am sure Bane can be traded away for a top 10 protected 1st down the road.

[Orlando Dawg]

Bane=Steve Francis

[Orlando Dawg]

If Jonathan Isaac can figure out he needs the afro
then Wendell Carter can figure out he needs the goggles

[MartinsIzAfraud]

If Jonathan Isaac can figure out he needs the afro
then Wendell Carter can figure out he needs the goggles

Isaac needs to figure out how to shoot the basketball or gtfo.

[zuppafly]

I think that after the next two games with Boston, and because of the very very unfortunate speech about these 7 past games being "drafts", Mose will be gone.

I am hoping already for Taylor Jenkins. Not Malone, like many have mentioned here, please.

[SOUL]

I think that after the next two games with Boston, and because of the very very unfortunate speech about these 7 past games being "drafts", Mose will be gone.

I am hoping already for Taylor Jenkins. Not Malone, like many have mentioned here, please.

How's it unfortunate? He's saying the way everyone wanted us to play last year that now people are screaming to abandon and go back to something people were clearly unhappy with last year is still a work in progress.

Makes complete sense.

[Magic_Johnny12]

I am hoping already for Taylor Jenkins. Not Malone, like many have mentioned here, please.

Why not Malone? Just curious to hear your reasoning.

Seems like exactly the kind of coach this iteration of the Magic needs.

[zuppafly]

I think that after the next two games with Boston, and because of the very very unfortunate speech about these 7 past games being "drafts", Mose will be gone.

I am hoping already for Taylor Jenkins. Not Malone, like many have mentioned here, please.

How's it unfortunate? He's saying the way everyone wanted us to play last year that now people are screaming to abandon and go back to something people were clearly unhappy with last year is still a work in progress.

Makes complete sense.

I didn't hear it that way. I heard a coach stating that a full training camp + preseason wasn't enough to improve the flaws of last year and incorporate a new very good player into the starting 5.
I heard a coach telling his FO that he treats regular season games, games that the FO translates into Costs of Goods Sold in their P&L, games that we learned over the last few years will mean getting into the playoffs or not, or getting HCA or not, as drafts. As if they don't matter. That is, in my view, unprofessional.
I could not tell my manager, in my job, such a thing about a release to production.

It sounded as a poor excuse to a "dunno, lets hope the guys gel"

[zuppafly]

I am hoping already for Taylor Jenkins. Not Malone, like many have mentioned here, please.

Why not Malone? Just curious to hear your reasoning.

Seems like exactly the kind of coach this iteration of the Magic needs.

Don't like his style at all. Don't like his offense and to be honest I feel that any average coach would achieve what he did with the best player on the universe that year.

Taylor had a top 3 offense with the Grizzlies, even (in particular) with Ja out a long time. Bane excelled, JJJ looked a star. Their offense didn't rely on pick and roll (out players are bad at it), and way more on off ball movement when the game slowed. They went fast on transition but were always under control. He left because Ja kind of owns that franchise and wanted to be even more of a heliocentric piece in it.

[SOUL]

I think that after the next two games with Boston, and because of the very very unfortunate speech about these 7 past games being "drafts", Mose will be gone.

I am hoping already for Taylor Jenkins. Not Malone, like many have mentioned here, please.

How's it unfortunate? He's saying the way everyone wanted us to play last year that now people are screaming to abandon and go back to something people were clearly unhappy with last year is still a work in progress.

Makes complete sense.

I didn't hear it that way. I heard a coach stating that a full training camp + preseason wasn't enough to improve the flaws of last year and incorporate a new very good player into the starting 5.
I heard a coach telling his FO that he treats regular season games, games that the FO translates into Costs of Goods Sold in their P&L, games that we learned over the last few years will mean getting into the playoffs or not, or getting HCA or not, as drafts. As if they don't matter. That is, in my view, unprofessional.
I could not tell my manager, in my job, such a thing about a release to production.

It sounded as a poor excuse to a "dunno, lets hope the guys gel"

Of course you'd love to hit the ground running, but it does take time. Did for much better teams (LeBron's Heatles started .500 through 18 games), is for Cam Johnson with Jokic right now, etc.

Doesn't explain the **** on defense and boneheaded mistakes that should be cleaned up, but as far as incorporating Bane and Bane feeling completely comfortable with a new system/teammates, I understand.

[Bensational]

We all mostly agreed we needed a PG, but we were throwing around the realistic options like Simons, Sexton and Poole and players like that. None of those guys would have changed this (do think Sexton made the most sense in retrospect) , but at least they would have been cheaper. That's why I could kind of understand going for Bane since the PG options stunk and they just grabbed the best shooter they could that they thought could fit on defense.

But regardless, let's say this doesn't improve for the entire season and we still need a PG. Who would even be out there that makes sense? Just seems like all the guys who can actually transform your offense are not going to be available. Maybe Kyrie or Fox in the offseason or deadline if you are willing to trade one of our big 4 (really 2 because I don't think you move Paolo/Franz for guys like that).

I think it’s gotta be a bigger discussion than that, if it reaches that point. If the team needs a star ballhandler, it means we don’t have as much need for the current versions of Paolo and Franz.

Keep in mind that it took Boston a few seasons of cycling through backcourt partners for Tatum and Brown, too. Kemba, Smart, IT, Kyrie, Brogdon, and finally ending on White, JRue and Pritchard. Milwaukee went through Knight, Bledsoe and Brogdon until they got JRue.

Maybe JRue is the answer, since he’s been the crowning addition for 2 championship teams already, and he really seems to have helped flip Portland into a playoff team. Giddey has always been a dream target of mine. Would love to see him on this team, I think he could get a whole lot more out of Franz, Bane and Suggs than Mosley currently is.

Bane and Suggs really do fit the profile of a White/JRue type of guard, so on paper we should be gelling a lot better than we are.

[Bensational]

How's it unfortunate? He's saying the way everyone wanted us to play last year that now people are screaming to abandon and go back to something people were clearly unhappy with last year is still a work in progress.

Makes complete sense.

I didn't hear it that way. I heard a coach stating that a full training camp + preseason wasn't enough to improve the flaws of last year and incorporate a new very good player into the starting 5.
I heard a coach telling his FO that he treats regular season games, games that the FO translates into Costs of Goods Sold in their P&L, games that we learned over the last few years will mean getting into the playoffs or not, or getting HCA or not, as drafts. As if they don't matter. That is, in my view, unprofessional.
I could not tell my manager, in my job, such a thing about a release to production.

It sounded as a poor excuse to a "dunno, lets hope the guys gel"

Of course you'd love to hit the ground running, but it does take time. Did for much better teams (LeBron's Heatles started .500 through 18 games), is for Cam Johnson with Jokic right now, etc.

Doesn't explain the **** on defense and boneheaded mistakes that should be cleaned up, but as far as incorporating Bane and Bane feeling completely comfortable with a new system/teammates, I understand.

This isn’t a newly constructed team though? Mosley literally has 90% of the same core players from the past 2-3 seasons. We swapped KCP for Bane, but Mosley has already 3+ seasons of experience with Paolo, Franz, Suggs and WCJ. For all the advantages Mosley has had with a consistent roster it’s made no difference to his ability to make successful changes to the game plan.

I’ve used the example plenty before of Kenny Atkinson taking over a 48 win Cleveland team and turning the exact same roster into a 64 win team.

I’m not calling for Mosley’s head, but come on now, let’s be real for a minute - he was given a loaded team and he has failed to make it as good as it should be. He can’t even live up to his own prior standards. That’s a concerning start and I think every fan has a right to be looking at Mosley with a “sort your **** out, or get out” expression right now.

[SOUL]

I didn't hear it that way. I heard a coach stating that a full training camp + preseason wasn't enough to improve the flaws of last year and incorporate a new very good player into the starting 5.
I heard a coach telling his FO that he treats regular season games, games that the FO translates into Costs of Goods Sold in their P&L, games that we learned over the last few years will mean getting into the playoffs or not, or getting HCA or not, as drafts. As if they don't matter. That is, in my view, unprofessional.
I could not tell my manager, in my job, such a thing about a release to production.

It sounded as a poor excuse to a "dunno, lets hope the guys gel"

Of course you'd love to hit the ground running, but it does take time. Did for much better teams (LeBron's Heatles started .500 through 18 games), is for Cam Johnson with Jokic right now, etc.

Doesn't explain the **** on defense and boneheaded mistakes that should be cleaned up, but as far as incorporating Bane and Bane feeling completely comfortable with a new system/teammates, I understand.

This isn’t a newly constructed team though? Mosley literally has 90% of the same core players from the past 2-3 seasons. We swapped KCP for Bane, but Mosley has already 3+ seasons of experience with Paolo, Franz, Suggs and WCJ. For all the advantages Mosley has had with a consistent roster it’s made no difference to his ability to make successful changes to the game plan.

I’ve used the example plenty before of Kenny Atkinson taking over a 48 win Cleveland team and turning the exact same roster into a 64 win team.

I’m not calling for Mosley’s head, but come on now, let’s be real for a minute - he was given a loaded team and he has failed to make it as good as it should be. He can’t even live up to his own prior standards. That’s a concerning start and I think every fan has a right to be looking at Mosley with a “sort your **** out, or get out” expression right now.

But the argument isn't whether it's a newly constructed team though, it's if they are trying to incorporate an entirely new style with a new high usage player, both of which are true, despite the rest of the team being the same.

IMO it's very easy to win 1-2 more uninspiring games and be 5-3 with a system we know worked but was something 99% of fans were saying still needs to be upgraded/modernized to be able to compete to the ECF. People wanted the ball out of Franz/Paolo hands more and wanted a higher pace with more offense focus and less defense. All of that is happening and it's taking time to adjust to it.

It's if what they're trying to do can be duplicated after a rough start but gives us a higher ceiling offensively, then you take that trade-off 10/10 times.

Most fans are too reactionary. It's the easiest thing in the world to be completely out on everything about this team when we're losing and just be like "record bad, team bad" when there's context and nuance behind everything. The coaches need to plan better, the players need to execute better, the FO has to be smart with the moves they make and the players they bring in, and the fans need to not swing wildly in emotion from game to game (for their own health).

Hell, just on X today people were ripping Mose's "lineups without our big 4" only for the data to show our top 15 lineups all had one of Bane/Suggs/Franz/Paolo in it and what people freaked out about were an all bench lineup that went -1 in ONE minute of gameplay before Franz came back, where Bane was in foul trouble and Suggs on minute restrictions.

[Bensational]

Of course you'd love to hit the ground running, but it does take time. Did for much better teams (LeBron's Heatles started .500 through 18 games), is for Cam Johnson with Jokic right now, etc.

Doesn't explain the **** on defense and boneheaded mistakes that should be cleaned up, but as far as incorporating Bane and Bane feeling completely comfortable with a new system/teammates, I understand.

This isn’t a newly constructed team though? Mosley literally has 90% of the same core players from the past 2-3 seasons. We swapped KCP for Bane, but Mosley has already 3+ seasons of experience with Paolo, Franz, Suggs and WCJ. For all the advantages Mosley has had with a consistent roster it’s made no difference to his ability to make successful changes to the game plan.

I’ve used the example plenty before of Kenny Atkinson taking over a 48 win Cleveland team and turning the exact same roster into a 64 win team.

I’m not calling for Mosley’s head, but come on now, let’s be real for a minute - he was given a loaded team and he has failed to make it as good as it should be. He can’t even live up to his own prior standards. That’s a concerning start and I think every fan has a right to be looking at Mosley with a “sort your **** out, or get out” expression right now.

But the argument isn't whether it's a newly constructed team though, it's if they are trying to incorporate an entirely new style with a new high usage player, both of which are true, despite the rest of the team being the same.

IMO it's very easy to win 1-2 more uninspiring games and be 5-3 with a system we know worked but was something 99% of fans were saying still needs to be upgraded/modernized to be able to compete to the ECF. People wanted the ball out of Franz/Paolo hands more and wanted a higher pace with more offense focus and less defense. All of that is happening and it's taking time to adjust to it.

It's if what they're trying to do can be duplicated after a rough start but gives us a higher ceiling offensively, then you take that trade-off 10/10 times.

Most fans are too reactionary. It's the easiest thing in the world to be completely out on everything about this team when we're losing and just be like "record bad, team bad" when there's context and nuance behind everything. The coaches need to plan better, the players need to execute better, the FO has to be smart with the moves they make and the players they bring in, and the fans need to not swing wildly in emotion from game to game (for their own health).

Hell, just on X today people were ripping Mose's "lineups without our big 4" only for the data to show our top 15 lineups all had one of Bane/Suggs/Franz/Paolo in it and what people freaked out about were an all bench lineup that went -1 in ONE minute of gameplay before Franz came back, where Bane was in foul trouble and Suggs on minute restrictions.

I don’t think you can call it reactionary to a coach we’ve got a large sample size on already with largely the same roster. When does Mosley actually have to be responsible for the product he is coaching on the court? Last season he was excused due to injuries, before that it was youth. But today the FO has gone all in, our players are ready to win, and we added a new third best player to the team - and we got worse. Adjustments shouldn’t be this hard when he has a healthy team and a crap load of individually talented guys. Watching the on court product right now suggests he wasted training camp and preseason because professional athletes shouldn’t be struggling to adjust or no where they should be - unless the adjustments aren’t being handled correctly.

Again, we’ve got examples of other coaches improving other teams which preserved makeup (Cleveland). We’ve got coaches who had managed to have new additions fit quickly and become a winning product (Portland). Mosley had some of the most advantage relative to most other coaches and the team’s record and performance does not indicate he’s made the most of that. Fans wanting and expecting better is entirely reasonable, but continuing to excuse his failures is running out of runway fast.

[SOUL]

I don’t think you can call it reactionary to a coach we’ve got a large sample size on already with largely the same roster. When does Mosley actually have to be responsible for the product he is coaching on the court? Last season he was excused due to injuries, before that it was youth. But today the FO has gone all in, our players are ready to win, and we added a new third best player to the team - and we got worse. Adjustments shouldn’t be this hard when he has a healthy team and a crap load of individually talented guys. Watching the on court product right now suggests he wasted training camp and preseason because professional athletes shouldn’t be struggling to adjust or no where they should be - unless the adjustments aren’t being handled correctly.

But head coaches are not singular entities that cause struggle or success, especially in 8 games. There are assistant coaches, trainers, and players that all have say in how they attack their offseasons and putting work in, implementing schemes, really learning the systems and making sure everyone is on the same page. Head coaches are the figurehead who take the brunt of the criticism as part of their job title. If Prunty came out and said that the entire new offense is something he's installed and Mose is only responsible for getting people in there to execute it, suddenly the finger pointing becomes less obvious although I still think it would be about the same blame.

And most people were excited for the preseason and there certainly wasn't hand-wringing about struggling or adjustment issues then - it was the opposite where people were jumping way off the cliff saying how we'd start 8-1 or something. I was saying to pump the brakes because there's still an adjustment period and preseason is way different than regular season.

I wish I could find the image I just saw on X, I refreshed and lost it, but we're basically a bang average defensive and offensive team right now. It's not inspiring, but if that's our "floor" with us looking what many are considering our worst right now, then that's way better than the alternative. Of course, the quality of opponents hasn't been the greatest in our losses, so that also matters, but it could be way worse than people are making out.

But I feel like your reply frames accountability and responsibility as a multi-year negative when in reality we've been a team that jumped from 22 to 34 to 47 to a 16-7 record last year before injuries to our best four offensive hubs last year and having to play 'Cory Joseph' (out of the league) and 'Caleb Houstan' (not getting minutes), BOTH somehow being our most steady guard and best shooter, is not exactly a ringing endorsement of the front office helping at all. If we had become the 2nd youngest team without any MVP candidates that somehow was a good offensive team and top 3 defense we'd be on an OKC trajectory with even younger stars and Mose would be massively outperforming as a coach lol.

"Assigning blame" is just a human instinct that isn't actually anything more than fanfare, as are fans who want coaches to rip their players publicly when there is no real knowledge of locker room dynamics, accountability, chastising, or insight into what is happening behind the scenes. Most basketball teams work to make sure things turn around and get better quietly while we dream up scenarios where one coach makes all the difference or one player comes in and completely makes us chug with no issues, when in reality it's just much more busy and messy before we see the results we all hoped for and expected.

Yes, if we massively under-perform the entire year with Bane and some offensive upgrades/healthier players/players hopefully internally improving, we should move on from Mose because it means that we've stagnated and we would need a new voice. My point is that struggling this early isn't all just on the HC, and attributing bad offenses from previous years can go back 10-15 years and over 4-5 coaches, with most of it being roster related.

[SOUL]

And there can be multiple truths at bad offense/play:

- The pace increase may be a sticker shock situation where players are getting used to not playing slow, causing a lot of different issues initially, despite most of the roster being the same.

- Our initial actions may be good, but if they get snuffed out, our secondary actions may need improving.

- Players may be trying to play the "right way" by overpassing and not taking the initial good shot.

- Fans may not care if the process is good if shots aren't going in. I think rarely you would see someone going, "Damn, we're running some great sets but we're just missing easy shots/bunnies."

- There is no recipe for making open shots. You either hit them or you don't and that's not on the head coach. I think OKC the first 5 games was shooting the worst percentage from three in the league and still finding ways to beat teams. Daigneault wasn't saying for them to miss lol.

- We should use our players in tons of different ways that we might not have explored yet, but we also have to maybe come to grips that Franz/Paolo might just feel most comfortable as iso players rather than them being "forced" into it.

Jason Kidd said this last night, with his league worse offense:

“I thought it was really good — we just bricked a lot of ‘em, and that’s been pretty much the season for us: we haven’t shot well as a team. We might’ve had one person shoot well, but the rest haven’t. We’ve got a lot of 0-fers, and that can’t happen.”

And people might think it's just deflection or it can never be the head coach's fault which is not what I'm trying to get at, it's just sometimes as simple as that. It's that last year when we missed shots, our defense was picking us up.

[Magic_Johnny12]

I am hoping already for Taylor Jenkins. Not Malone, like many have mentioned here, please.

Why not Malone? Just curious to hear your reasoning.

Seems like exactly the kind of coach this iteration of the Magic needs.

Don't like his style at all. Don't like his offense and to be honest I feel that any average coach would achieve what he did with the best player on the universe that year.

Taylor had a top 3 offense with the Grizzlies, even (in particular) with Ja out a long time. Bane excelled, JJJ looked a star. Their offense didn't rely on pick and roll (out players are bad at it), and way more on off ball movement when the game slowed. They went fast on transition but were always under control. He left because Ja kind of owns that franchise and wanted to be even more of a heliocentric piece in it.

Thanks! My only rebuttal would be is that this team has a lot of strong personalities and a few players that think they’re better than they actually are.

I would prefer to bring someone in that isn’t so a “players coach” and has the cojones and pedigree to back it up to tell Paolo to his face that if he takes another heavily contested fade away long 2 jumper that he will be yanked immediately.

I personally think Malone would and could be that person.

Regardless if you think Jokic had more to do with their success than Malone, he is still considered a champion. He is still widely regarded as one of the best coaches on the market and highly respected throughout the league which means something to these players

I honestly don’t think he would accept even if offered.

I would put my money on Bud or Jenkins if Mose was let go.

[Bensational]

I don’t think you can call it reactionary to a coach we’ve got a large sample size on already with largely the same roster. When does Mosley actually have to be responsible for the product he is coaching on the court? Last season he was excused due to injuries, before that it was youth. But today the FO has gone all in, our players are ready to win, and we added a new third best player to the team - and we got worse. Adjustments shouldn’t be this hard when he has a healthy team and a crap load of individually talented guys. Watching the on court product right now suggests he wasted training camp and preseason because professional athletes shouldn’t be struggling to adjust or no where they should be - unless the adjustments aren’t being handled correctly.

But head coaches are not singular entities that cause struggle or success, especially in 8 games. There are assistant coaches, trainers, and players that all have say in how they attack their offseasons and putting work in, implementing schemes, really learning the systems and making sure everyone is on the same page. Head coaches are the figurehead who take the brunt of the criticism as part of their job title. If Prunty came out and said that the entire new offense is something he's installed and Mose is only responsible for getting people in there to execute it, suddenly the finger pointing becomes less obvious although I still think it would be about the same blame.

And most people were excited for the preseason and there certainly wasn't hand-wringing about struggling or adjustment issues then - it was the opposite where people were jumping way off the cliff saying how we'd start 8-1 or something. I was saying to pump the brakes because there's still an adjustment period and preseason is way different than regular season.

I wish I could find the image I just saw on X, I refreshed and lost it, but we're basically a bang average defensive and offensive team right now. It's not inspiring, but if that's our "floor" with us looking what many are considering our worst right now, then that's way better than the alternative. Of course, the quality of opponents hasn't been the greatest in our losses, so that also matters, but it could be way worse than people are making out.

But I feel like your reply frames accountability and responsibility as a multi-year negative when in reality we've been a team that jumped from 22 to 34 to 47 to a 16-7 record last year before injuries to our best four offensive hubs last year and having to play 'Cory Joseph' (out of the league) and 'Caleb Houstan' (not getting minutes), BOTH somehow being our most steady guard and best shooter, is not exactly a ringing endorsement of the front office helping at all. If we had become the 2nd youngest team without any MVP candidates that somehow was a good offensive team and top 3 defense we'd be on an OKC trajectory with even younger stars and Mose would be massively outperforming as a coach lol.

"Assigning blame" is just a human instinct that isn't actually anything more than fanfare, as are fans who want coaches to rip their players publicly when there is no real knowledge of locker room dynamics, accountability, chastising, or insight into what is happening behind the scenes. Most basketball teams work to make sure things turn around and get better quietly while we dream up scenarios where one coach makes all the difference or one player comes in and completely makes us chug with no issues, when in reality it's just much more busy and messy before we see the results we all hoped for and expected.

Yes, if we massively under-perform the entire year with Bane and some offensive upgrades/healthier players/players hopefully internally improving, we should move on from Mose because it means that we've stagnated and we would need a new voice. My point is that struggling this early isn't all just on the HC, and attributing bad offenses from previous years can go back 10-15 years and over 4-5 coaches, with most of it being roster related.

I don’t know if it’s just due to so many back and forths on the topic that you’ve entrenched yourself in this opinion but what you’re essentially saying is that Mosley is free of any expectations of doing his job because we can always point to someone else to blame for failure. You’re happy to credit him for past success, but criticism is a complete no-no.

Here’s the thing, if Mosley isn’t responsible for things not working now, then he can’t be given credit for what worked before - especially when he’s no longer working any more (high level defense). Coaches aren’t paid millions of dollars to be figureheads, they’re paid to bring strategy and management to a roster of players. He has a job and it comes with responsibility, he shouldn’t be treated like a CEO who can blow up a company and bail with a golden parachute at the end.

[SOUL]

I don’t think you can call it reactionary to a coach we’ve got a large sample size on already with largely the same roster. When does Mosley actually have to be responsible for the product he is coaching on the court? Last season he was excused due to injuries, before that it was youth. But today the FO has gone all in, our players are ready to win, and we added a new third best player to the team - and we got worse. Adjustments shouldn’t be this hard when he has a healthy team and a crap load of individually talented guys. Watching the on court product right now suggests he wasted training camp and preseason because professional athletes shouldn’t be struggling to adjust or no where they should be - unless the adjustments aren’t being handled correctly.

But head coaches are not singular entities that cause struggle or success, especially in 8 games. There are assistant coaches, trainers, and players that all have say in how they attack their offseasons and putting work in, implementing schemes, really learning the systems and making sure everyone is on the same page. Head coaches are the figurehead who take the brunt of the criticism as part of their job title. If Prunty came out and said that the entire new offense is something he's installed and Mose is only responsible for getting people in there to execute it, suddenly the finger pointing becomes less obvious although I still think it would be about the same blame.

And most people were excited for the preseason and there certainly wasn't hand-wringing about struggling or adjustment issues then - it was the opposite where people were jumping way off the cliff saying how we'd start 8-1 or something. I was saying to pump the brakes because there's still an adjustment period and preseason is way different than regular season.

I wish I could find the image I just saw on X, I refreshed and lost it, but we're basically a bang average defensive and offensive team right now. It's not inspiring, but if that's our "floor" with us looking what many are considering our worst right now, then that's way better than the alternative. Of course, the quality of opponents hasn't been the greatest in our losses, so that also matters, but it could be way worse than people are making out.

But I feel like your reply frames accountability and responsibility as a multi-year negative when in reality we've been a team that jumped from 22 to 34 to 47 to a 16-7 record last year before injuries to our best four offensive hubs last year and having to play 'Cory Joseph' (out of the league) and 'Caleb Houstan' (not getting minutes), BOTH somehow being our most steady guard and best shooter, is not exactly a ringing endorsement of the front office helping at all. If we had become the 2nd youngest team without any MVP candidates that somehow was a good offensive team and top 3 defense we'd be on an OKC trajectory with even younger stars and Mose would be massively outperforming as a coach lol.

"Assigning blame" is just a human instinct that isn't actually anything more than fanfare, as are fans who want coaches to rip their players publicly when there is no real knowledge of locker room dynamics, accountability, chastising, or insight into what is happening behind the scenes. Most basketball teams work to make sure things turn around and get better quietly while we dream up scenarios where one coach makes all the difference or one player comes in and completely makes us chug with no issues, when in reality it's just much more busy and messy before we see the results we all hoped for and expected.

Yes, if we massively under-perform the entire year with Bane and some offensive upgrades/healthier players/players hopefully internally improving, we should move on from Mose because it means that we've stagnated and we would need a new voice. My point is that struggling this early isn't all just on the HC, and attributing bad offenses from previous years can go back 10-15 years and over 4-5 coaches, with most of it being roster related.

I don’t know if it’s just due to so many back and forths on the topic that you’ve entrenched yourself in this opinion but what you’re essentially saying is that Mosley is free of any expectations of doing his job because we can always point to someone else to blame for failure. You’re happy to credit him for past success, but criticism is a complete no-no.

Here’s the thing, if Mosley isn’t responsible for things not working now, then he can’t be given credit for what worked before - especially when he’s no longer working any more (high level defense). Coaches aren’t paid millions of dollars to be figureheads, they’re paid to bring strategy and management to a roster of players. He has a job and it comes with responsibility, he shouldn’t be treated like a CEO who can blow up a company and bail with a golden parachute at the end.

Idk bro if that's what you got out of my post it's not worth debating because I didn't say that at all. If you believe that this bad start is solely on Mose and me saying otherwise is me entrenching an opinion that he should be devoid of criticism, then my point isn't getting across - it's literally that he isn't solely responsible as most people seem to willingly parrot/agree with. He's part of a bigger issue.

I understand why coaches get the brunt of the criticism, I just don't agree with it. Neither do other coaches clearly whenever coaches get fired you always hear them speak their mind.