I'm Just Gonna Say It

seeingstars · Post #1 » by **seeingstars** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 9:56 am

Mario Hezonja has the highest upside I have seen from a player in a long long time. Dudes only 20 years old and already has such a polished offensive game. His only real weaknesses are his ball handling at times (easy to tighten, and it looks like Skiles is developing that nicely) and typical rookie mistakes.

The guys fearless and looks like he's always looking to make the defender pay. On a team stacked with defensive studs, this guy will have supreme reign as he hits his prime.

What's scary is how efficient he already is. How much better is he going to get? His passing skills have been on display lately and has actually managed to stack up some decent assist numbers in limited time. The past few games a lot of his passes led to missed jumpshots but those went in last night.

He has excellent body control and never looks to be disrupted by the defense when getting off his shot. True, he'll get the ball stripped from time to time but that's his handles, I'm talking about primarily his focus. It's razor sharp. You can just tell this kids shot millions of baskets. I've said it before, he has that dude almost looks to comfortable shooting the Basketball that Steph Curry has. Remember he's 20. He doesn't have to develop an offensive go to move because he's already great around the basket and can shoot it from anywhere.

He looks to be the epitome of a "shooting guard" paired with all the desirable aspects of today's ever expanding NBA game:passing skills, uptempo, uber confident intensity.

If the dude progresses as he should I've got to say it, and please don't take this as purely Homer bias, dude has Superstar potential. The rest of the league will see that as well soon enough.

seeingstars · Post #2 » by **seeingstars** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:19 am

https://youtu.be/3I0YBSCU-Ao

Post #3 » by **SOUL** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:25 am

+1, his defense will improve as well.

I think some of us overreact over his defense because Skiles has a quick yank. Watch any of these other rookies this year that gets more minutes than he does and watch how many mistakes they have on either offense or defense -- it just looks bad when he has back to back horrible plays but if you watch Mudiay or Okafor or even Johnson or Winslow they'll make tons of mistakes on both ends. I still think he should be used more at his natural position.. just make him a playmaking guard. He shouldn't be tasked to guard PGs.

The Real Dalic · Post #4 » by **The Real Dalic** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:52 am

He definitely has the potential, just needs to reach it. That's the hard part. There are many players that have the potential to be a star but fall short of it. I'm hoping he's one of the few that can break through.

Post #5 » by **SOUL** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 11:20 am

The Real Dalic wrote:He definitely has the potential, just needs to reach it. That's the hard part. There are many players that have the potential to be a star but fall short of it. I'm hoping he's one of the few that can break through.

This is true, but the team will need to believe in him as well. Hopefully all the tough love that Skiles is showing Hezonja and AG at times will translate towards future success with the team -- mismanagement of assets plays just as big of a part in creating a star. You need talent, the will to work towards being one of the best, and being put in the position to succeed.

j-ragg · Post #6 » by **j-ragg** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 1:53 pm

I haven't seen anything wrong with his man defense. When he's off the ball he loses his guy sometimes then tries to make some athletic play to get back in it.

But I'm high on him too. Wish we'd let him have some plays instead of watch Victor dribble for 22 seconds with the second unit.

rcklsscognition · Post #7 » by **rcklsscognition** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 2:20 pm

Screens are really his issue on defense. Everything else is fine.

OrlChamps2030 · Post #8 » by **OrlChamps2030** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 2:37 pm

Idk about having the highest upside in a while that's a bit homer but the improvements he's been showing defensively and in play making has been huge and exciting. If he can become our Klay suddenly a lot of questions about the fit of this roster are answered.

seeingstars · Post #9 » by **seeingstars** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 2:54 pm

Zmill wrote:Idk about having the highest upside in a while that's a bit homer but the improvements he's been showing defensively and in play making has been huge and exciting. If he can become our Klay suddenly a lot of questions about the fit of this roster are answered.

There's been no one near as talented as him offensively drafted at the 2/3 in quite some time.

Wiggins isn't the shooter Mario is and he went #1 in what people touted as the deepest draft since 2003

Optimus_Steel · Post #10 » by **Optimus_Steel** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 2:57 pm

Zmill wrote:Idk about having the highest upside in a while that's a bit homer but the improvements he's been showing defensively and in play making has been huge and exciting. If he can become our Klay suddenly a lot of questions about the fit of this roster are answered.

Def homerific statement, however he does has enormous potential because he is a skilled shooter and scorer with great athleticism and good size, and great self confidence. He will be a very good player in this league when he gets experience and gets more comfortable, learns the nuances of the NBA game. The kid is a big time shot maker. He can be one of the best perimeter scorers in the league at some point, meaning multiple allstar games.

OrlChamps2030 · Post #11 » by **OrlChamps2030** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:03 pm

seeingstars wrote:
Zmill wrote:Idk about having the highest upside in a while that's a bit homer but the improvements he's been showing defensively and in play making has been huge and exciting. If he can become our Klay suddenly a lot of questions about the fit of this roster are answered.

There's been no one near as talented as him offensively drafted at the 2/3 in quite some time.

Wiggins isn't the shooter Mario is and he went #1 in what people touted as the deepest draft since 2003

didnt know you were only talking about 2/3s, because I think Towns has the highest upside i've seen in a while, he has best player in the league upside

melasdas · Post #12 » by **melasdas** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:13 pm

He has potential and all the tool to be a very good player, but he needs to remain confident. When you want to develop a player, you need to trust on him, letting him to make errors, that's the only way to improve, going through the errors that you make.

So please, Skiles, let him grow as a player, let him make errors and trust on him, he will be very good.

Sorry if my english is not very accurate. I'm a fan from Spain.

seeingstars · Post #13 » by **seeingstars** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:14 pm

Zmill wrote:
seeingstars wrote:
Zmill wrote:Idk about having the highest upside in a while that's a bit homer but the improvements he's been showing defensively and in play making has been huge and exciting. If he can become our Klay suddenly a lot of questions about the fit of this roster are answered.

There's been no one near as talented as him offensively drafted at the 2/3 in quite some time.

Wiggins isn't the shooter Mario is and he went #1 in what people touted as the deepest draft since 2003

didnt know you were only talking about 2/3s, because I think Towns has the highest upside i've seen in a while, he has best player in the league upside

Sorry, I should of clarified, my bad. That's really high praise of him though man. I can't remember when the last time was that a big man was considered the best player in the league. Not sure of Tim Duncan ever was, maybe shaq after Jordan retired?

seeingstars · Post #14 » by **seeingstars** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:17 pm

melasdas wrote:He has potential and all the tool to be a very good player, but he needs to remain confident. When you want to develop a player, you need to trust on him, letting him to make errors, that's the only way to improve, going through the errors that you make.

So please, Skiles, let him grow as a player, let him make errors and trust on him, he will be very good.

Sorry if my english is not very accurate. I'm a fan from Spain.

Thanks for posting, your English is great, no worries

When it comes to Skiles development time for players I have no idea what language I'm speaking but I doubt its Latin based

MagicFan32 · Post #15 » by **MagicFan32** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:18 pm

realgm told me he is a bust, because there is clearly no learning curve to playing in the nba

this post however is going too far the other way. I think Mario can be a great player as he continues to adjust, he can shoot, he can finish, and he can dish. playing some pg right now could help him long term with his handles. it's not a matter of if, but when he becomes the starting 2. and i think it won't be that long

OrlChamps2030 · Post #16 » by **OrlChamps2030** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:30 pm

seeingstars wrote:
Zmill wrote:
seeingstars wrote:
There's been no one near as talented as him offensively drafted at the 2/3 in quite some time.

Wiggins isn't the shooter Mario is and he went #1 in what people touted as the deepest draft since 2003

didnt know you were only talking about 2/3s, because I think Towns has the highest upside i've seen in a while, he has best player in the league upside

Sorry, I should of clarified, my bad. That's really high praise of him though man. I can't remember when the last time was that a big man was considered the best player in the league. Not sure of Tim Duncan ever was, maybe shaq after Jordan retired?

yea being the best player is more his absolute upside but being top 5/top 10 is more likely. id say early 3-peat shaq and Hakeem during MJ's retirement were the best players in the league. Peak Dwight, Peak Dirk, and Peak Duncan were probably top 3 players at some point. between AD and KAT big men are definitely coming back. interesting to think about just how good the elite big men of this era have been

melasdas · Post #17 » by **melasdas** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:33 pm

seeingstars wrote:
melasdas wrote:He has potential and all the tool to be a very good player, but he needs to remain confident. When you want to develop a player, you need to trust on him, letting him to make errors, that's the only way to improve, going through the errors that you make.

So please, Skiles, let him grow as a player, let him make errors and trust on him, he will be very good.

Sorry if my english is not very accurate. I'm a fan from Spain.

Thanks for posting, your English is great, no worries

When it comes to Skiles development time for players I have no idea what language I'm speaking but I doubt its Latin based

Thanks!!

I support Orlando since Grant Hill and Tmac era but I never felt confident to write in english until now haha. Now I think thats it's a good oportunity to share my feelings about Magic things and to improve my english, so I'm glad to be here.

I think Skiles is "only" trying to do his best to get victories. I think he's not thinking too much about develop Mario or Aaron. Maybe Skiles was signed to make playoffs this years, and this is his main goal, but I'm pretty sure that we can get into playoffs with Mario or Aaron playing a bigger role. Players are so much better when they feel that his coach is trusting on them. I feel very sad when I see that Skiles bench them when they make errors. I think that he is sending not a good message to his players. I hope they'll get more time playing as season advances

Post #18 » by **Def Swami** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:36 pm

I agree. His offensive talent is apparent and I like his upside more than any of our past draft picks in the previous 3 years. He has such good offensive awareness and his shot is gorgeous. We have to use him in more plays on offense. He can't just be camped out in a corner for 16 seconds of a play. He's probably the best shooter on the team and he has be getting at least 3-4 3 point attempts a game.

Going forward, I fully anticipate him to be a starter on this team when the rebuild is complete. He complements Payton so well.

OrlandoDream · Post #19 » by **OrlandoDream** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:38 pm

His defense is what is holding him back but what do you expect? He is a rookie and veterans exploit that. He just needs to be smarter on defense. Stop making those silly fouls that give the team more opportunities. I still think he is nervous out there and just wants to impress coach too much at times. He is a good player so far but needs to be smarter on the defensive end. Offensively? He has more upside then anymore else on this team.

Optimus_Steel · Post #20 » by **Optimus_Steel** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:38 pm

melasdas wrote:
seeingstars wrote:
melasdas wrote:He has potential and all the tool to be a very good player, but he needs to remain confident. When you want to develop a player, you need to trust on him, letting him to make errors, that's the only way to improve, going through the errors that you make.

So please, Skiles, let him grow as a player, let him make errors and trust on him, he will be very good.

Sorry if my english is not very accurate. I'm a fan from Spain.

Thanks for posting, your English is great, no worries

When it comes to Skiles development time for players I have no idea what language I'm speaking but I doubt its Latin based

Thanks!! I support Orlando since Grant Hill and Tmac era but I never felt confident to write in english until now haha. Now I think thats it's a good oportunity to share my feelings about Magic things and to improve my english, so I'm glad to be here.

I think Skiles is "only" trying to do his best to get victories. I think he's not thinking too much about develop Mario or Aaron. Maybe Skiles was signed to make playoffs this years, and this is his main goal, but I'm pretty sure that we can get into playoffs with Mario or Aaron playing a bigger role. Players are so much better when they feel that his coach is trusting on them. I feel very sad when I see that Skiles bench them when they make errors. I think that he is sending not a good message to his players. I hope they'll get more time playing as season advances

Some people don't agree with me but I am ok with that. I want to win games and that is what Skiles is doing. The main goal this year is to get back to the playoffs and Skiles is putting this team on that path. Getting this team to be more serious and instill a toughness on them is actually beneficial to these young players. Plus is not like they are not actually playing, they are playing. I get people like rookies and young players to get tons of playing time but they can wait, they are both 20, they got plenty of NBA years ahead of them, there is no rush.