Going to do a play-by-play of our defensive possessions (besides most of the 4th cause the game was already over) and see who was at fault tonight for pourous defense, since it's easy to just look at things and blame random people.
1st QuarterFirst basket, Fournier is on Rubio.. is doing okay but forcing him down the baseline. Vuc cuts him off and then sort of fake stunts at Favors, Favors hits open shot.
Fault: Vuc.2nd basket, Mitchell gets the ball with screen from Favors.. Ross cut off from chasing Mitchell, Vuc is now on Mitchell and Vuc gets scored on for the layup. Payton swipes at the ball as it goes by him as well. This is where Vuc's body works against him, that shouldn't be a layup since he was in front of him and has a good 6-7 inches over him. Vuc was in position, Payton probably could've impeded more but it would've been a foul.
Fault: Slightly Vuc, slightly Payton, slightly Ross.3rd basket, Jerebko gets the ball and takes it against AG. AG is in position with his hand up, Payton swipes at the ball to disrupt him a little, Jerebko gets a tough shot over Gordon.
Fault: No one.4th basket, Rubio has the ball with Payton guarding him. Favors comes up and sets a half-assed screen, Payton's feet get tripped up a bit, Vuc is there to come up on Rubio but gives him too much space and Rubio hits a jumper.
Fault: Vuc and Payton.5th basket, Ingles drives and has 3 Magic players collapse on him, Gordon is on Rubio and loses him for a second. Gives him a little too much space.
Fault: Gordon.6th basket, Mitchell has the ball and Favors sets a screen to get him free. It's a bad screen and Payton should've been able to impede the progress, Vuc is there but Mitchell smartly puts it high off the backboard for Favors to get it.
Fault: Payton.7th basket, Mitchell hits a 3 with Fournier guarding him. Favors sets a screen and Fournier goes under the screen.
Fault: Fournier.8th basket, Hood gets free from Fournier and receives a pass from the basket. Vuc collapses to help Fournier being beaten and Hood finds an open Favors (who Fournier should've guarded once he got beat).
Fault: Fournier.9th basket, Neto gets open from a player screening DJ, Biyombo there but gives him way too much space for a jumper.
Fault: Biyombo.10th basket, Hood has the ball with AG guarding him. Udoh screens AG and Augustin and Biyombo both fake stunt at Hood who hits an open shot.
Fault: Augustin and Biyombo.2nd Quarter11th basket, Neto finds Sefolosha open on a 3 after getting free from DJ/Biyombo cuts him off. Hezonja impedes Biyombo's man for a second and tries to get back to Sefolosha but is too late. Hezonja could've been closer to Sefolosha as he gave him half a second to think about shooting it, but Hezonja made the right read in stopping Biyombo's man from getting an open lane.
Fault: Hezonja, slightly.12th basket, Neto, Hood and Burks hit each other with nice passes. Hood gets cut off by Hezonja from an open lane, finds Burks open at the 3 point line.. DJ overruns him and he gets an easy runner.
Fault: Augustin.13th basket, Neto drives past DJ too easily who is on the side of him, Hezonja is in the paint but instead of holding his ground he jumps and lets Sefolosha get easy position for and And1 opportunity from a Neto pass.
Fault: Hezonja, Augustin.14th basket, Sefolosha finds Neto wide open under the basket after Udoh screens DJ. DJ hangs onto Udoh for a second afterwards for no reason after being screened, Biyombo is standing behind Hezonja for no reason and doesn't guard Neto underneath.
Fault: Biyombo, slightly Augustin.15th basket, Hood open 3 in transition. DJ is pointing at Mario to guard Hood and is late in getting to him. Hezonja has to have way better awareness on plays like these when he's jogging back and a player is already guarded by somebody else.
Fault: Hezonja.16th basket, easy transition dunk for Udoh. Afflalo, Fournier, and Simmons all get mixed up on who should stop him.
Fault: Fournier, Simmons, Afflalo.17th basket, Hood hits a shot over DJ and Biyombo. They played decent enough defense here for it to not be anybody's fault.
Fault: No one.18th basket, Fournier gets screened and Vuc comes to help. Favors gets easy rebound from the miss and puts it up. AG should've boxed out Favors in this possession since he was in position.
Fault: Gordon.19th basket, Ingles open 3. Payton helps too far inside the paint and Ingles receives a nice pass for an easy 3.
Fault: Payton.20th basket, Favors easy 2. Ingles hits AG with a nice move, Vuc finds himself in no man's land, Fournier doesn't impede Favors progress.
Fault: Gordon, Vuc, Fournier.21st basket, Payton gets screened by Favors, Vuc helps too much again, Ross doesn't impede Vuc's man. Payton could've did a little more against that screen, and Vuc again is way too far for the help man to notice he needs help. Needs to be communication on this end.
Fault: Payton, Vuc, Ross.22nd basket, Hood drives past AG who halfheartedly swipes at the ball, Vuc who is back and has a chance to react doesn't, and weakly contests him at the rim as he hits a reverse layup.
Fault: Gordon, Vuc.23rd basket, Ingles hits AG with a nice move and hits a 3 over him. Gordon was there, but the shot was better.
Fault: No one.24th basket, Fournier loses Mitchell for a second and Vuc is there to stop him. However, Mitchell then bobbles the ball and Vuc stares at him for a second while Favors is wide open. Vuc doesn't get back to his man and it's an open shot to end the half.
Fault: Vuc.3rd Quarter25th basket, AG is on Rubio but jumps for no reason and Rubio hits a shot and gets fouled.
Fault: Gordon.26th basket, Jerebko playing with Vuc and gets free after hitting him with a pump fake into a pass. Jerebko gets past Vuc and scores over him. Vuc was there for most of this posession but is just too slow/unathletic to disrupt it.
Fault: Vuc, slightly.27th basket, Ross loses Mitchell and Vuc comes over to help. He hits the ball away, Mitchell gets it back and misses, Favors gets the rebound over Vuc and scores. Ross just floated away for no reason on this play, Payton was trying to box out Favors but is too small, and Vuc swipes at the ball but can't get it over Favors.
Fault: Ross, slightly Vuc (for being bad at rebounding).28th basket, Ingles finds Mitchell on a 3. Vuc, Fournier, and Ross did what they were supposed to on this play but the shot was better.
Fault: No one.29th basket, Favors hits jumper over Vuc. At this point Vuc has to be quicker to react. Gives him too much space.
Fault: Vuc.30th basket, Simmons gets beat on a backdoor cut.
Fault: Simmons.31st basket, Sefolosha gets a tough shot over Gordon, Payton, and Fournier. All were in position, but Sefolosha made a nice move.
Fault: No one.Conclusion: All of the starting lineup was responsible for bad defense. Payton has to fight through screens better, Fournier and Ross need to step into Vuc's man more when he helps, Vuc needs to stop unneedingly helping and staring at players and needs to rebound better. Gordon makes some overeager plays at times that lead to the defense breaking down. Augustin is really bad on this end for the amount of time he played. Hezonja had some good moments but also some puzzling ones.
