The Mario Thread 2016-17

Post #1 » by **Bensational** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 3:45 pm

Seems concerns about him are a big talking point right now. May as well have one big thread to consolidate it all into one place.

We've just had our first taste of the new team under a new coach in preseason, and Mario hasn't had a strong showing.

He still seems to be adjusting to the speed of the game. His handles still seem shaky. His shooting is off. His defense still needs work.

I'd encourage people to be patient with him. There are a lot of factors at play here. The team is still figuring out pecking orders and structure, not to mention lineups. Vuc went from our top option to our 5th option amongst the starters. We've got veterans now who are better at controlling the pace and knowing who to feed the ball to. We've got new plays which either aren't getting Mario in his sweet spots yet, or he's not getting there at the right time.

But he'll get better. I'm very confident that by the season's end, people won't be concerned with his development anymore as he'll take big strides between now and then. Let's give him time to settle back in and for Vogel and Forcier to work some magic with him.

Either way, feel free to air all concerns and praises for him here.

cedric76 · Post #2 » by **cedric76** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 4:02 pm

Went for MEGA MEGA Over Rated to Under rated

People on this board always Over rate rookies.

fendilim · Post #3 » by **fendilim** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 4:21 pm

Not worried about his shooting at all. Mario's pretty much streaky last year. Whenever he makes his first shot, he plays well. But if he misses, you know you're in for a roller coaster ride.

Now his handling is obviously a concern, adjusting to the game speed as well.

Dgbarnes · Post #4 » by **Dgbarnes** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 4:28 pm

The biggest concern for me is not his loose dribbling, lack of movement without the ball, or decision making.

The biggest concern for me is his attitude. I'm afraid he just doesn't "get it". It's almost like he's a child out on the court. Every call that doesn't go his way is matched with a look of disbelief. If he had any respectable numbers to justify his attitude (think Deangelo Russell), then we wouldn't even be talking about it but he's just not producing.

OrlChamps2030 · Post #5 » by **OrlChamps2030** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 4:38 pm

fendilim wrote:Not worried about his shooting at all. Mario's pretty much streaky last year. Whenever he makes his first shot, he plays well. But if he misses, you know you're in for a roller coaster ride.

Now his handling is obviously a concern, adjusting to the game speed as well.

He needs to improve upon moving without the ball. If you can't create for yourself as a shooter you need to master the fundamentals of spacing, cutting, and rubbing off screens. He needs to watch film of JJ and Korver. We didn't draft him at #5 to be a James Jones type of role player. I do not expect him to see much time on the court this year. He may lose his spot to Meeks/Wilcox

OrlChamps2030 · Post #6 » by **OrlChamps2030** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 4:39 pm

Dgbarnes wrote:The biggest concern for me is not his loose dribbling, lack of movement without the ball, or decision making.

The biggest concern for me is his attitude. I'm afraid he just doesn't "get it". It's almost like he's a child out on the court. Every call that doesn't go his way is matched with a look of disbelief. If he had any respectable numbers to justify his attitude (think Deangelo Russell), then we wouldn't even be talking about it but he's just not producing.

His demeanor is concerning.. Very early but I'd hate to see a Rudy Fernandez/JCN situation

Magic_Johnny12 · Post #7 » by **Magic_Johnny12** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 5:22 pm

Ultimately I think he needs to be on a team that gives him free rein (ex. Philly, Nets) something like Oladipo had here in his first couple of years. Unfortunately, we are currently not built to give him such freedom and are expecting too much from him at this stage of his career.

This is what happy/confident/free rein Mario looks like.

Watch on YouTube

I still genuinely have hope for him and don't believe ANYONE can call him a bust just after 1 full rookie season that he barely played in and a few pre season games. I just honestly don't think he will reach is true potential on this team how it's currently constructed.

Orlwillbeback · Post #8 » by **Orlwillbeback** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 5:31 pm

Magic_Johnny12 wrote:Ultimately I think he needs to be on a team that gives him free rein (ex. Philly, Nets) something like Oladipo had here in his first couple of years. Unfortunately, we are currently not built to give him such freedom and are expecting too much from him at this stage of his career.

This is what happy/confident/free rein Mario looks like.

Watch on YouTube

I still genuinely have hope for him and don't believe ANYONE can call him a bust just after 1 full rookie season that he barely played in and a few pre season games. I just honestly don't think he will reach is true potential on this team how it's currently constructed.

You're talking about an all star game... this setting is completely different.

EAS Law · Post #9 » by **EAS Law** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 5:33 pm

Magic_Johnny12 wrote:Ultimately I think he needs to be on a team that gives him free rein (ex. Philly, Nets) something like Oladipo had here in his first couple of years. Unfortunately, we are currently not built to give him such freedom and are expecting too much from him at this stage of his career.

This is what happy/confident/free rein Mario looks like.

Watch on YouTube

I still genuinely have hope for him and don't believe ANYONE can call him a bust just after 1 full rookie season that he barely played in and a few pre season games. I just honestly don't think he will reach is true potential on this team how it's currently constructed.

We NEED this type of player on our team so badly.

I really hope that he comes back and plays like he's capable of.

fendilim · Post #10 » by **fendilim** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 5:45 pm

Zmill wrote:
fendilim wrote:Not worried about his shooting at all. Mario's pretty much streaky last year. Whenever he makes his first shot, he plays well. But if he misses, you know you're in for a roller coaster ride.

Now his handling is obviously a concern, adjusting to the game speed as well.

He needs to improve upon moving without the ball. If you can't create for yourself as a shooter you need to master the fundamentals of spacing, cutting, and rubbing off screens. He needs to watch film of JJ and Korver. We didn't draft him at #5 to be a James Jones type of role player. I do not expect him to see much time on the court this year. He may lose his spot to Meeks/Wilcox

Wellm to be honest, I think he moves pretty well without the ball, but more often than not, you could see that his role on our offensive sets was basically to stand at the corner.

thelead · Post #11 » by **thelead** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 5:57 pm

I'm still not worried about his shot. I have concerns in other areas but not his shot. To be honest, he's looked decent on defense at times so at least there's that.

Nyce_1 · Post #12 » by **Nyce_1** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 6:12 pm

Magic_Johnny12 wrote:Ultimately I think he needs to be on a team that gives him free rein (ex. Philly, Nets) something like Oladipo had here in his first couple of years. Unfortunately, we are currently not built to give him such freedom and are expecting too much from him at this stage of his career.

This is what happy/confident/free rein Mario looks like.

Watch on YouTube

I still genuinely have hope for him and don't believe ANYONE can call him a bust just after 1 full rookie season that he barely played in and a few pre season games. I just honestly don't think he will reach is true potential on this team how it's currently constructed.

This is what playing vs no defense looks like.

3ddman23 · Post #13 » by **3ddman23** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 6:27 pm

Zmill wrote:
Dgbarnes wrote:The biggest concern for me is not his loose dribbling, lack of movement without the ball, or decision making.

The biggest concern for me is his attitude. I'm afraid he just doesn't "get it". It's almost like he's a child out on the court. Every call that doesn't go his way is matched with a look of disbelief. If he had any respectable numbers to justify his attitude (think Deangelo Russell), then we wouldn't even be talking about it but he's just not producing.

His demeanor is concerning.. Very early but I'd hate to see a Rudy Fernandez/JCN situation

I said this in the general thread... Mario reminds me so much of Rudy Fernandez in their game and the way they carried themselves. I'm telling you guys now, if something doesn't change whether it's from mario or the team giving him more reign. He is gonna bolt back to Europe the first opportunity he gets. I can just feel it.

Tayswagzzz · Post #14 » by **Tayswagzzz** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 6:40 pm

Not even worried about Mario at this time. Give him another season or two.

VFX · Post #15 » by **VFX** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 6:41 pm

I think Mario will be ok. He just needs to adjust to his role on the team. We desperately need him to be aggressive on offense and shoulder the 2/3 positions.

Meeks will definitely take Marios minutes when he comes back if Mario isn't capable of beating him out.

Skin · Post #16 » by **Skin** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 6:48 pm

Forced to like Mario more now that he's on the Magic, but gon' funnit... we botched the #5 pick overall. Knew it then... Voiced it then... Was bashed then... Now folks are starting to see it. I feel some redemption over it... but I wish he proved me wrong.

Oh well, he's with us now. We gotta cheer for him. He doesn't even have good trade value. I do think he'll be fine by the time 2019 rolls around, but with the #5 pick, you're expecting an impact much much sooner... like PHX has with Devin Booker.

I drafted him in fantasy this year so I'm definitely pulling for him. I need the guy with the attitude to say "Messi needs to come watch my games" to show up.

JF5 · Post #17 » by **JF5** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 8:38 pm

He'll turn it around... (Only preseason)...

But my goodness if he doesn't pan out this team is screwed.

VFX · Post #18 » by **VFX** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 9:23 pm

Skin wrote:Forced to like Mario more now that he's on the Magic, but gon' funnit... we botched the #5 pick overall. Knew it then... Voiced it then... Was bashed then... Now folks are starting to see it. I feel some redemption over it... but I wish he proved me wrong.

Oh well, he's with us now. We gotta cheer for him. He doesn't even have good trade value. I do think he'll be fine by the time 2019 rolls around, but with the #5 pick, you're expecting an impact much much sooner... like PHX has with Devin Booker.

I drafted him in fantasy this year so I'm definitely pulling for him. I need the guy with the attitude to say "Messi needs to come watch my games" to show up.

Booker wasn't even on our radar and nobody was predicting we would take him.

Who would you have taken then? If I remember correctly you were pulling for Kristaps .... well he wasn't an option at our pick. Let me guess.. Turner or Winslow then? Considering they are the only two we didn't draft that are starter quality at this point.

It's easy to say we misdrafted mario, but to be fair he is exactly what this team needs now - still. He just hasn't been showing what we know he can do yet, for whatever reason.

basketballRob · Post #19 » by **basketballRob** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 10:06 pm

MagicMatic wrote:
Skin wrote:Forced to like Mario more now that he's on the Magic, but gon' funnit... we botched the #5 pick overall. Knew it then... Voiced it then... Was bashed then... Now folks are starting to see it. I feel some redemption over it... but I wish he proved me wrong.

Oh well, he's with us now. We gotta cheer for him. He doesn't even have good trade value. I do think he'll be fine by the time 2019 rolls around, but with the #5 pick, you're expecting an impact much much sooner... like PHX has with Devin Booker.

I drafted him in fantasy this year so I'm definitely pulling for him. I need the guy with the attitude to say "Messi needs to come watch my games" to show up.

Booker wasn't even on our radar and nobody was predicting we would take him.

Who would you have taken then? If I remember correctly you were pulling for Kristaps .... well he wasn't an option at our pick. Let me guess.. Turner or Winslow then? Considering they are the only two we didn't draft that are starter quality at this point.

It's easy to say we misdrafted mario, but to be fair he is exactly what this team needs now - still. He just hasn't been showing what we know he can do yet, for whatever reason.

Booker just had more of an opportunity, he's not better than Mario.

Optimus_Steel · Post #20 » by **Optimus_Steel** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 10:51 pm

Im officially worried but realize that its only preseason and it's a long season. He can without a doubt play much better than this. I no longer see star level potential though because he lacks confidence. Get ur head straight Mario.

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