Preseason Game 1: Orlando Magic (0-0) at Philadelphia 76ers (1-0)

[BadMofoPimp]

Offense is what we need, but teams are loading up on defense now, especially long guys who can switch, so they can defend the positionless style of play. So the good news is we have guys like that now, and now we need the scoring. NBA is trending towards defense because it is ther only way to compete with the Rockets and Warriors. You simply will not outscore them, so you need to be able to make key stops.

I saw this because it’s not like the new FO is drafting or signing guys who don’t fit the modern NBA. They just are having trouble purging the roster of guys who need to go. I think once they can do that, we will see a SL that makes a little more sense.

Hell, maybe we can get Rozier now. If it takes trading Evan and Vuc, I would do it. We would need to start Ross, but maybe he can handle those minutes, who knows. Rozier/Ross/JI/AG/Bamba would be fun stuff. DJ/Simmons/Iwundu (maybe Frazier gets this job)/Martin and Birch all makes sense on the floor.

That would be heart and hustle part 2, except with young guys who could develop. We know DJ will probably miss some games so Briscoe would have his chance to show what he can do, and Amile Jefferson would probably get some chances as well.

We may be able to still be lotto bad as well - bonus. Or this team plays hard and focused D every night and turns things around and makes a playoff run. Either way, I think it would be more enjoyable to watch.

Good take. From a strategic standpoint I wouldn't trade Vuc/Evan for a Rozier type of player for a few reasons.

- Rozier and Ross could leave in a year. A valid concern considering the state of where the team would be then. Equally important is the number of teams that will have money next year. Ross however might have some value.

- Bamba in no way can man the 5 right now. Young bigs foul a lot and we don't know how the rigors of the NBA are going to affect him physically. A lot of unknowns. I'm for re-signing Vuc because we need depth at every position. Those 2 could be great however I can see the other side of it as well. Vuc is good enough to help win games that affect the draft. Could we cover the 5 using Gordon/JI in small ball situations like some teams are doing? With health for sure.

There are still so many unknowns but I think a lot of us believe that JI is a 4 and Gordon is the likely trade bait. I'm sure it's in their sphere of thinking however in an ideal situation that they can all play together extremely well. We don't even know if JI can play half a season yet.

I get the Vuc haters that use one side of the view I laid out above but he's not the problem for the bulk of the haters I see. He's just the guy that's been there the longest and an easy button to point to. However, he's the only guy that's been consistent, one of THE most important desires of any NBA coach.

Vooch provem em all wrong!!!

[MagicStarwipe]

I wouldn't give two sh*ts about Vuc's offense if he wasn't such a lazy and soft player on both ends. That's the biggest issue. Praise him all you want for his skill level, but let's get some reality in here too please.

Birch may not have the skill level, but he has hustle and athleticism for days. And he's no Biyombo skill wise either. He plays smart and within himself. He can spark the team with his defense and energy. Give me that over Vuc 100 times out of 100.

[RickB-Orlando]

I just want us to get rid of Vuc so I can enjoy this board again. Game threads are unbearable right now with the level of personal frustrations with certain players

Game threads won't be any better if the team scores 80 points per game

I think you could argue that Vuc doesn't really make the offense any better.

I think you could argue that if you don't actually watch the games.

[Magic4champ]

Good pre season. Bamba is our modern center moving forward. Love his shooting and fearless attack at Embiid. Ross had a nice shooting stroke within the flow of the game. AG should be more aggresive attacking as he can make great passes and decesions. Love the development of Isaac should see it by the regular season. Briscoe was a great pg for us. Hopefully he becomes a consistent contributor and eventually a starter.
I am looking forward for the reg season game wuth the developing rivalry if bamba and Embiid. Should be war the next time they meet

[Knightro]

Grant is going to get the first crack at it, but since he's only on a 1 year deal, I really hope Clifford can find time for Briscoe as the backup PG if he continues to play well in preseason and practice.

Grant looks the part, but Briscoe plays the part.

[Def Swami]

Let Briscoe Be Great

Watch on YouTube

;feature=youtu.be

[Tarheel]

Let Briscoe Be Great

Watch on YouTube

;feature=youtu.be

#FreeZay

[PennytoShaq]

Let Briscoe Be Great

Watch on YouTube

;feature=youtu.be

I think this guy is as good or better than any of the 2nd round PGs we didn’t draft. This may very well be why they took a crack on Jackson (possibly a legit backup stretch 4 once healthy) and Frazier ( a dice roll, but a player with serious potential as a switch defender).

Thing about Briscoe is he is playing veteran ball out there. The next step is to see how he does against rotation players and how he handles the pressure of regular season. But with our lack of talent at PG, I think he has a real chance to move up the chart.

[DiplomaticMagic]

Let Briscoe Be Great

Watch on YouTube

;feature=youtu.be

I think this guy is as good or better than any of the 2nd round PGs we didn’t draft. This may very well be why they took a crack on Jackson (possibly a legit backup stretch 4 once healthy) and Frazier ( a dice roll, but a player with serious potential as a switch defender).

That is certainly the reason why we passed on 2nd round PG's because a poster on here (forgot who) said we were signing Briscoe before the draft even happened

[Magicalltheway]

Any link to the full game?

I think they have free league pass during the offseason.

thank you.

[magicman112]

Let Briscoe Be Great

Watch on YouTube

;feature=youtu.be

He does what a PG should do, keep his dribble alive and make something happen. Too many make one move then run back up top or pick up their dribble too early.

[Def Swami]

Let Briscoe Be Great

Watch on YouTube

;feature=youtu.be

He does what a PG should do, keep his dribble alive and make something happen. Too many make one move then run back up top or pick up their dribble too early.

He's the only one of our point guards that looks and plays like a point guard.

[magicman112]

Let Briscoe Be Great

Watch on YouTube

;feature=youtu.be

He does what a PG should do, keep his dribble alive and make something happen. Too many make one move then run back up top or pick up their dribble too early.

He's the only one of our point guards that looks and plays like a point guard.

Very true, I thought that Payton would finally be the true PG that we've been missing for years.

[Skin]

Offense is what we need, but teams are loading up on defense now, especially long guys who can switch, so they can defend the positionless style of play. So the good news is we have guys like that now, and now we need the scoring. NBA is trending towards defense because it is ther only way to compete with the Rockets and Warriors. You simply will not outscore them, so you need to be able to make key stops.

I saw this because it’s not like the new FO is drafting or signing guys who don’t fit the modern NBA. They just are having trouble purging the roster of guys who need to go. I think once they can do that, we will see a SL that makes a little more sense.

Hell, maybe we can get Rozier now. If it takes trading Evan and Vuc, I would do it. We would need to start Ross, but maybe he can handle those minutes, who knows. Rozier/Ross/JI/AG/Bamba would be fun stuff. DJ/Simmons/Iwundu (maybe Frazier gets this job)/Martin and Birch all makes sense on the floor.

That would be heart and hustle part 2, except with young guys who could develop. We know DJ will probably miss some games so Briscoe would have his chance to show what he can do, and Amile Jefferson would probably get some chances as well.

We may be able to still be lotto bad as well - bonus. Or this team plays hard and focused D every night and turns things around and makes a playoff run. Either way, I think it would be more enjoyable to watch.

Good take. From a strategic standpoint I wouldn't trade Vuc/Evan for a Rozier type of player for a few reasons.

- Rozier and Ross could leave in a year. A valid concern considering the state of where the team would be then. Equally important is the number of teams that will have money next year. Ross however might have some value.

- Bamba in no way can man the 5 right now. Young bigs foul a lot and we don't know how the rigors of the NBA are going to affect him physically. A lot of unknowns. I'm for re-signing Vuc because we need depth at every position. Those 2 could be great however I can see the other side of it as well. Vuc is good enough to help win games that affect the draft. Could we cover the 5 using Gordon/JI in small ball situations like some teams are doing? With health for sure.

There are still so many unknowns but I think a lot of us believe that JI is a 4 and Gordon is the likely trade bait. I'm sure it's in their sphere of thinking however in an ideal situation that they can all play together extremely well. We don't even know if JI can play half a season yet.

I get the Vuc haters that use one side of the view I laid out above but he's not the problem for the bulk of the haters I see. He's just the guy that's been there the longest and an easy button to point to. However, he's the only guy that's been consistent, one of THE most important desires of any NBA coach.

I tend to agree with you a lot, but in this case, I have a different take. You make good points, but allow me to counter.

- If we traded for Rozier, we would get his RFA tag. So if he left it would be on our own accord... most likely a S&T. More than likely though, is that we trade for him with the intent on matching his best offer or giving him an offer that we can both agree on.

- Ross could leave, sure. We actually might want that. We still have Jonathon Simmons and next year's draft is loaded with Wing talent.

- Agreed Bamba is raw, will commit fouls and there are unknowns how it would affect him. I WOULD carefully handle his minutes, but I wouldn't overly protect him either. He needs minutes and he needs to be given time to work through his mistakes. We don't need Vuc imo, because we I actually think our depth is fine without him.... We have Mozgov and Birch... and if we went small ball Isaac and Gordon.

We need a culture change and new faces for the franchise. Vuc is kinda like Meer in Dipo's rookie year. Awkward transition in the changing of the guard. In order to smoothen that out, the GM has to make the move.

[NavalAviator94]

Offense is what we need, but teams are loading up on defense now, especially long guys who can switch, so they can defend the positionless style of play. So the good news is we have guys like that now, and now we need the scoring. NBA is trending towards defense because it is ther only way to compete with the Rockets and Warriors. You simply will not outscore them, so you need to be able to make key stops.

I saw this because it’s not like the new FO is drafting or signing guys who don’t fit the modern NBA. They just are having trouble purging the roster of guys who need to go. I think once they can do that, we will see a SL that makes a little more sense.

Hell, maybe we can get Rozier now. If it takes trading Evan and Vuc, I would do it. We would need to start Ross, but maybe he can handle those minutes, who knows. Rozier/Ross/JI/AG/Bamba would be fun stuff. DJ/Simmons/Iwundu (maybe Frazier gets this job)/Martin and Birch all makes sense on the floor.

That would be heart and hustle part 2, except with young guys who could develop. We know DJ will probably miss some games so Briscoe would have his chance to show what he can do, and Amile Jefferson would probably get some chances as well.

We may be able to still be lotto bad as well - bonus. Or this team plays hard and focused D every night and turns things around and makes a playoff run. Either way, I think it would be more enjoyable to watch.

Good take. From a strategic standpoint I wouldn't trade Vuc/Evan for a Rozier type of player for a few reasons.

- Rozier and Ross could leave in a year. A valid concern considering the state of where the team would be then. Equally important is the number of teams that will have money next year. Ross however might have some value.

- Bamba in no way can man the 5 right now. Young bigs foul a lot and we don't know how the rigors of the NBA are going to affect him physically. A lot of unknowns. I'm for re-signing Vuc because we need depth at every position. Those 2 could be great however I can see the other side of it as well. Vuc is good enough to help win games that affect the draft. Could we cover the 5 using Gordon/JI in small ball situations like some teams are doing? With health for sure.

There are still so many unknowns but I think a lot of us believe that JI is a 4 and Gordon is the likely trade bait. I'm sure it's in their sphere of thinking however in an ideal situation that they can all play together extremely well. We don't even know if JI can play half a season yet.

I get the Vuc haters that use one side of the view I laid out above but he's not the problem for the bulk of the haters I see. He's just the guy that's been there the longest and an easy button to point to. However, he's the only guy that's been consistent, one of THE most important desires of any NBA coach.

I tend to agree with you a lot, but in this case, I have a different take. You make good points, but allow me to counter.

- If we traded for Rozier, we would get his RFA tag. So if he left it would be on our own accord... most likely a S&T. More than likely though, is that we trade for him with the intent on matching his best offer or giving him an offer that we can both agree on.

- Ross could leave, sure. We actually might want that. We still have Jonathon Simmons and next year's draft is loaded with Wing talent.

- Agreed Bamba is raw, will commit fouls and there are unknowns how it would affect him. I WOULD carefully handle his minutes, but I wouldn't overly protect him either. He needs minutes and he needs to be given time to work through his mistakes. We don't need Vuc imo, because we I actually think our depth is fine without him.... We have Mozgov and Birch... and if we went small ball Isaac and Gordon.

We need a culture change and new faces for the franchise. Vuc is kinda like Meer in Dipo's rookie year. Awkward transition in the changing of the guard. In order to smoothen that out, the GM has to make the move.

Good Post. I don't disagree with anything you are saying either, I think they are all reasonable and realistic points.

- If Isaac can stay healthy this year we won't need Vuc and most likely he'll get a multi year offer from someone. The likelihood is he'll leave but if he's super cheap(as most centers are right now), I would love to have his depth but agree, that may be a tough pill to swallow when you add small ball into play.

I'm probably more stuck on Rozier being the right guy. I'm not there yet but it will be interesting to see how he plays this year and what Boston actually does with him. It will be very interesting to see what Boston does before the trade deadline if they have health. Kyrie's health would scare me as the GM, especially when I have a good chance to make the finals.

[MagicMadness]

Promising to hear about Bamba.

Also, relieved to hear Issac's ankle injury is mild, and that he's already practicing again. They need to be careful, though.

[Skin]

Good take. From a strategic standpoint I wouldn't trade Vuc/Evan for a Rozier type of player for a few reasons.

- Rozier and Ross could leave in a year. A valid concern considering the state of where the team would be then. Equally important is the number of teams that will have money next year. Ross however might have some value.

- Bamba in no way can man the 5 right now. Young bigs foul a lot and we don't know how the rigors of the NBA are going to affect him physically. A lot of unknowns. I'm for re-signing Vuc because we need depth at every position. Those 2 could be great however I can see the other side of it as well. Vuc is good enough to help win games that affect the draft. Could we cover the 5 using Gordon/JI in small ball situations like some teams are doing? With health for sure.

There are still so many unknowns but I think a lot of us believe that JI is a 4 and Gordon is the likely trade bait. I'm sure it's in their sphere of thinking however in an ideal situation that they can all play together extremely well. We don't even know if JI can play half a season yet.

I get the Vuc haters that use one side of the view I laid out above but he's not the problem for the bulk of the haters I see. He's just the guy that's been there the longest and an easy button to point to. However, he's the only guy that's been consistent, one of THE most important desires of any NBA coach.

I tend to agree with you a lot, but in this case, I have a different take. You make good points, but allow me to counter.

- If we traded for Rozier, we would get his RFA tag. So if he left it would be on our own accord... most likely a S&T. More than likely though, is that we trade for him with the intent on matching his best offer or giving him an offer that we can both agree on.

- Ross could leave, sure. We actually might want that. We still have Jonathon Simmons and next year's draft is loaded with Wing talent.

- Agreed Bamba is raw, will commit fouls and there are unknowns how it would affect him. I WOULD carefully handle his minutes, but I wouldn't overly protect him either. He needs minutes and he needs to be given time to work through his mistakes. We don't need Vuc imo, because we I actually think our depth is fine without him.... We have Mozgov and Birch... and if we went small ball Isaac and Gordon.

We need a culture change and new faces for the franchise. Vuc is kinda like Meer in Dipo's rookie year. Awkward transition in the changing of the guard. In order to smoothen that out, the GM has to make the move.

Good Post. I don't disagree with anything you are saying either, I think they are all reasonable and realistic points.

- If Isaac can stay healthy this year we won't need Vuc and most likely he'll get a multi year offer from someone. The likelihood is he'll leave but if he's super cheap(as most centers are right now), I would love to have his depth but agree, that may be a tough pill to swallow when you add small ball into play.

I'm probably more stuck on Rozier being the right guy. I'm not there yet but it will be interesting to see how he plays this year and what Boston actually does with him. It will be very interesting to see what Boston does before the trade deadline if they have health. Kyrie's health would scare me as the GM, especially when I have a good chance to make the finals.

I could very well be wrong about Rozier, but I do love the player. I'm not too good at hiding who I like and dislike. hahaha Passion!

But yeah... Jonathan Isaac is really starting to worry me in terms of his durability. The one thing we shouldn't forget is that this game is very taxing on human beings in general....and when you're talking about tall skinny guys, we shouldn't get too surprised when they get hurt... That said, I thought he was really starting to bulk up, but I guess he's still got a long road ahead in terms of filling out.

[PerkinsFor3]

[MagicStarwipe]

He loves pulling out these crazy layups during pre-season. This one was from a few pre-seasons ago. Probably even more crazy.

Watch on YouTube

[j-ragg]

He loves pulling out these crazy layups during pre-season. This one was from a few pre-seasons ago. Probably even more crazy.

Watch on YouTube

If there is ever a "highlights you don't commonly see" type of thread on here or another forum I always post that play.

Also last year when a preseason game wasn't televised her took off from almost the free throw line when Yogi Ferrell was in front of him. Always thought if that was LeBron it'd be etched in everyone's mind from seeing it so much.