Markelle Fultz Updates Thread

[pepe1991]

So, at Oct. 5th is first preseason game huh.
Not going to put too much stock into all this hype videos as you can see MCW making every single jumpshot as well. That's what pros do.

Just have to wait for real games to see where is he at. His interview and hype videos both were dropped at once, just few days after player's option is picked, well orchestrated PR move by Magic. If only court isn't orange.

[Tarheel]

Absolutely fantastic news. Looking forward to seeing him on the court next week.

Anyone know if the pre-season games are on League Pass? I remember some weren't last year.

[MagicFrenchie]

Man he looks huge for a point guard.

[fbeye343]

I want to say that I’m very happy for Markelle as both a player and as a 21 year old person. I can only imagine how difficult the past few years have been for him.

But, as a Magic fan, can anyone tell me why his shooting motion looks so awkward (release way out in front of his body, leaning back, head tilted to the side, side spin rotation etc)? If he has full range of motion, as he says, then why does he shoot the way he does? It leads me to one of a few possible conclusions.

1. He has the yips
2. It hurts his shoulder to shoot normally
3. The magic haven’t yet focused on his shooting form and have prioritized getting his mind and body in a good place first

[thelead]

I want to say that I’m very happy for Markelle as both a player and as a 21 year old person. I can only imagine how difficult the past few years have been for him.

But, as a Magic fan, can anyone tell me why his shooting motion looks so awkward (release way out in front of his body, leaning back, head tilted to the side, side spin rotation etc)? If he has full range of motion, as he says, then why does he shoot the way he does? It leads me to one of a few possible conclusions.

1. He has the yips
2. It hurts his shoulder to shoot normally
3. The magic haven’t yet focused on his shooting form and have prioritized getting his mind and body in a good place first

The shot looks a bit different from college but he has always had a similar form (releases the ball in front of his body).

[dsg2021]

I want to say that I’m very happy for Markelle as both a player and as a 21 year old person. I can only imagine how difficult the past few years have been for him.

But, as a Magic fan, can anyone tell me why his shooting motion looks so awkward (release way out in front of his body, leaning back, head tilted to the side, side spin rotation etc)? If he has full range of motion, as he says, then why does he shoot the way he does? It leads me to one of a few possible conclusions.

1. He has the yips
2. It hurts his shoulder to shoot normally
3. The magic haven’t yet focused on his shooting form and have prioritized getting his mind and body in a good place first

Agreed on the first paragraph. As a human being, I’m just really happy that he was able to make this big step into Training Camp. I’m rooting for him forever on every up and down, every step of the way, big and small.

I think the shooting form is a reformation against TOS flare-ups more than anything else. We literally heard him, he has to do extra, specialized rehab work on many days that other players just don’t. There is constant work to keep the soreness down.
Imo, if he needs specialized rehab, sessions, and a 68 game, 30 minute cap every year, but gives us 1-2 All-Star years later on in his career, then I’m really happy myself. #F2G

[fendilim]

I want to say that I’m very happy for Markelle as both a player and as a 21 year old person. I can only imagine how difficult the past few years have been for him.

But, as a Magic fan, can anyone tell me why his shooting motion looks so awkward (release way out in front of his body, leaning back, head tilted to the side, side spin rotation etc)? If he has full range of motion, as he says, then why does he shoot the way he does? It leads me to one of a few possible conclusions.

1. He has the yips
2. It hurts his shoulder to shoot normally
3. The magic haven’t yet focused on his shooting form and have prioritized getting his mind and body in a good place first

The shot looks a bit different from college but he has always had a similar form (releases the ball in front of his body).

yeah, i think the shot now is more of going about the tos. perhaps if he raises it higher thats where it kicks in? idk..


my observation with Fultz shot now vs Washington days is Fultz shot now is he releases it on the way up (like Steph curry) unlike during Washington days when he is releasing it at the peak of the jumper.. whatever works for him...

I'm just glad we're seeing improvement now.

[Knightro]

Jeff Weltman on "Open Mike" with Mike Bianchi in a couple minutes (8:30am).

https://969thegame.iheart.com/

[pepe1991]

I want to say that I’m very happy for Markelle as both a player and as a 21 year old person. I can only imagine how difficult the past few years have been for him.

But, as a Magic fan, can anyone tell me why his shooting motion looks so awkward (release way out in front of his body, leaning back, head tilted to the side, side spin rotation etc)? If he has full range of motion, as he says, then why does he shoot the way he does? It leads me to one of a few possible conclusions.

1. He has the yips
2. It hurts his shoulder to shoot normally
3. The magic haven’t yet focused on his shooting form and have prioritized getting his mind and body in a good place first

The shot looks a bit different from college but he has always had a similar form (releases the ball in front of his body).

yeah, i think the shot now is more of going about the tos. perhaps if he raises it higher thats where it kicks in? idk..


my observation with Fultz shot now vs Washington days is Fultz shot now is he releases it on the way up (like Steph curry) unlike during Washington days when he is releasing it at the peak of the jumper.. whatever works for him...

I'm just glad we're seeing improvement now.

From nothing but shooting mechanics perspectvie only, i noticed that lot of players when they enter NBA change shot because they jump too high when they shoot.
It was huge problem with Rose and Westbrook, their leaping was crazy during jumpshots, and in reality they really didn't need that much vertical - just to shoot. I'll show you in pics






now look how Curry, KLay, Bogdanovic ,Hield are shooting









Bogdanovic is notorious when it comes to shooting, in half of the cases he does not jump at all. Other Bogdanovic ( Kings one) does similar thing. If player is far away, he flat out won't jump during jumpshot.

Overall athletic guards mentioned above where Fultz also belongs, tend to overjump and it's hard to be focused on shooting form when you already use so much force to just leave the ground ,and once you stop and pop your jumpshot wont' be the same as you would catch and shoot , because you won't have strenght to always jump as high you normally do.

There was one whole in depth article why Westbrook should stop jumping like kangaroo when he shoots. I just can't find it now.

[Knightro]

Jeff Weltman on "Open Mike" with Mike Bianchi Recap

Before Weltman comes on, Bianchi lays it on thick and calls Fultz "the greatest trade acquisition in Magic history" which is also a column he wrote in today's Orlando Sentinel. Bianchi and Reardon say they are both hoping that Fultz can have a Jameer Nelson type impact on a team that is already a playoff team.

Read on Twitter

Bianchi: Jeff, we appreciate you joining us. Thank you!
Weltman: I didn’t know we had our own song (in reference to the Orlando Magic fight song they always play on Open Mike)
Bianchi: Oh yeah, we play it after every victory.
Weltman: I hope we hear it a lot this season.

Bianchi: What made picking up Markelle Fultz's option for 2020-2021 a "no brainer"?
Weltman: A combination of things. We really like who Markelle is as person combined with who he could become as player. We look at how hard he's worked. He's a guy who really values winning. The development curve he's on will take however long it takes, but it really wasn’t a difficult decision. He's made great strides.

Bianchi: If Markelle wasn’t such a hard worker, would you guys have taken the chance on him anyway?
Weltman: You cant separate the person from the player. We always look for guys with good work ethics who understand winning comes above all else. Those are guys who win in this league. Every player has different strengths and weaknesses. But the question you have to ask is "does this player put you in a position to win?" Because that’s all that matters. That is always a big factor in acquisitions we decide to make.

Bianchi: Why were you guys so secretive about him this whole time?
Weltman: I don’t like to think of it as secretive. He is a very young guy, drafted at 18 years old, who has been through so much already. You have to understand the microscope he's been under. We really felt like he needed some time away from that public scrutiny to just do his work. He's gonna have a good day and then a bad day and then a good day and then a bad day. That’s how you get better. That’s called working. He started to turn the corner where he had more and more good days. Best day yet. Best day yet. That progression doesn’t play out as easily when everything you do is scrutinized publicly. We gave him the breathing space to go to work and get better.

Bianchi: I thought his shot looked good. Has he had to change his mechanics? How do you think they look?
Weltman: His mechanics look great. He's not shooting with a hitch and more important, he's shooting with confidence. Guys are gonna go under screens and make him prove it and his mentality is “bring it on”. Yesterday wasn’t about makes or misses, it was about shooting with a smooth stroke. We really cant lose sight on what a tremendous basketball player he is. Tremendous talent, tremendous basketball IQ. Two-way player with tremendous size for position. He's feeling comfortable on the court first time in a while. He's excited to start his career. He's only played 33 games. To put that in context, in two years he's played less than Mo (Bamba). We look at this as his rookie season. He's gotta learn Coach Clifford, learn his teammates and where they like to get the ball. He's just beginning. We think he's gonna get better and better as the year goes on. We're preaching patience and not putting a timeline on it.

Bianchi: How does fultz fit into Coach Clifford's system?
Weltman: There's not many systems that Markelle wouldn't fit in. Specifically with Coach Clifford, Markelle wants to win and really cares about winning. That’s No. 1. He's a two-way player. That's No. 2. He can be a tremendous defender. He has great size, quick feet, he's long and he has anticipation. No. 3 - One of the things the whole league values and it was an issue for us last year was getting the ball into the paint from the perimeter and that’s something we think Markelle can do very well. Coach Clifford is very excited about him.

Bianchi: How has team progressed in the off season?
Weltman: We've had a good summer. I don’t know what the next step is going to be yet, but we had a really good summer and the players generated a lot of excitement among themselves. I can tell you they really enjoyed the experience and how much fun that last month of the season was. But really that doesn’t mean a whole lot now. What we have to do is find that style, sense of purpose and urgency from the end of last season at the beginning of this season. The goal is to get it back as soon as possible, that’s what we're focused on right now.

[fendilim]

The shot looks a bit different from college but he has always had a similar form (releases the ball in front of his body).

yeah, i think the shot now is more of going about the tos. perhaps if he raises it higher thats where it kicks in? idk..


my observation with Fultz shot now vs Washington days is Fultz shot now is he releases it on the way up (like Steph curry) unlike during Washington days when he is releasing it at the peak of the jumper.. whatever works for him...

I'm just glad we're seeing improvement now.

From nothing but shooting mechanics perspectvie only, i noticed that lot of players when they enter NBA change shot because they jump too high when they shoot.
It was huge problem with Rose and Westbrook, their leaping was crazy during jumpshots, and in reality they really didn't need that much vertical - just to shoot. I'll show you in pics






now look how Curry, KLay, Bogdanovic ,Hield are shooting









Bogdanovic is notorious when it comes to shooting, in half of the cases he does not jump at all. Other Bogdanovic ( Kings one) does similar thing. If player is far away, he flat out won't jump during jumpshot.

Overall athletic guards mentioned above where Fultz also belongs, tend to overjump and it's hard to be focused on shooting form when you already use so much force to just leave the ground ,and once you stop and pop your jumpshot wont' be the same as you would catch and shoot , because you won't have strenght to always jump as high you normally do.

There was one whole in depth article why Westbrook should stop jumping like kangaroo when he shoots. I just can't find it now.

Doesn't matter if he jumps high or too low, if he has good upper body, its going to be easy for him. What matters is if Fultz will be a respectable shooter or not, the videos are a step towards the right direction (no hitches).

[magicman112]

I don't really care how his shot looks as long as it goes in that's what counts. And his ability to get to the basket is the main thing for him if he can do that.

[Blue_and_Whte]

People need to understand the difference between taking shots in practice vs in game situations. Its obvious that he was working on his release in the most recent videos not really elevating. Compare it to the video from last month where the Magic trainers were defending him. He was actually elevating more and his release looked good. People just want to put everything he does under a microscope.

Watch on YouTube

This is probably what his jumper will look like during the season.

[fendilim]

Man he looks huge for a point guard.

Apart from noticing his awkward looking shot, he actually seem to have a huge ass....

[Knightro]

Read on Twitter

[MoMM]

Doesn't matter if he jumps high or too low, if he has good upper body, its going to be easy for him. What matters is if Fultz will be a respectable shooter or not, the videos are a step towards the right direction (no hitches).

So Westbrook doesn't have a good upper body?

[Knightro]

So Westbrook doesn't have a good upper body?

I don't want to speak for him, but I don't think he meant physically like muscles.

As best I could tell, he was talking a smooth, repeatable shot form from the waist up.

[NavalAviator94]

Jeff Weltman on "Open Mike" with Mike Bianchi Recap

Before Weltman comes on, Bianchi lays it on thick and calls Fultz "the greatest trade acquisition in Magic history" which is also a column he wrote in today's Orlando Sentinel. Bianchi and Reardon say they both hoping that Fultz could have a Jameer Nelson type impact on a team that is already a playoff team.

Read on Twitter

Bianchi: Jeff, we appreciate you joining us. Thank you!
Weltman: I didn’t know we had our own song (in reference to the Orlando Magic fight song they always play on Open Mike)
Bianchi: Oh yeah, we play it after every victory.
Weltman: I hope we hear it a lot this season.

Bianchi: What made picking up Markelle Fultz's option for 2020-2021 a "no brainer"?
Weltman: A combination of things. We really like who Markelle is as person combined with who he could become as player. We look at how hard he's worked. He's a guy who really values winning. The development curve he's on will take however long it takes, but it really wasn’t a difficult decision. He's made great strides.

Bianchi: If Markelle wasn’t such a hard worker, would you guys have taken the chance on him anyway?
Weltman: You cant separate the person from the player. We always look for guys with good work ethics who understand winning comes above all else. Those are guys who win in this league. Every player has different strengths and weaknesses. But the question you have to ask is "does this player put you in a position to win?" Because that’s all that matters. That is always a big factor in acquisitions we decide to make.

Bianchi: Why were you guys so secretive about him this whole time?
Weltman: I don’t like to think of it as secretive. He is a very young guy, drafted at 18 years old, who has been through so much already. You have to understand the microscope he's been under. We really felt like he needed some time away from that public scrutiny to just do his work. He's gonna have a good day and then a bad day and then a good day and then a bad day. That’s how you get better. That’s called working. He started to turn the corner where he had more and more good days. Best day yet. Best day yet. That progression doesn’t play out as easily when everything you do is scrutinized publicly. We gave him the breathing space to go to work and get better.

Bianchi: I thought his shot looked good. Has he had to change his mechanics? How do you think they look?
Weltman: His mechanics look great. He's not shooting with a hitch and more important, he's shooting with confidence. Guys are gonna go under screens and make him prove it and his mentality is “bring it on”. Yesterday wasn’t about makes or misses, it was about shooting with a smooth stroke. We really cant lose sight on what a tremendous basketball player he is. Tremendous talent, tremendous basketball IQ. Two-way player with tremendous size for position. He's feeling comfortable on the court first time in a while. He's excited to start his career. He's only played 33 games. To put that in context, in two years he's played less than Mo (Bamba). We look at this as his rookie season. He's gotta learn Coach Clifford, learn his teammates and where they like to get the ball. He's just beginning. We think he's gonna get better and better as the year goes on. We're preaching patience and not putting a timeline on it.

Bianchi: How does fultz fit into Coach Clifford's system?
Weltman: There's not many systems that Markelle wouldn't fit in. Specifically with Coach Clifford, Markelle wants to win and really cares about winning. That’s No. 1. He's a two-way player. That's No. 2. He can be a tremendous defender. He has great size, quick feet, he's long and he has anticipation. No. 3 - One of the things the whole league values and it was an issue for us last year was getting the ball into the paint from the perimeter and that’s something we think Markelle can do very well. Coach Clifford is very excited about him.

Bianchi: How has team progressed in the off season?
Weltman: We've had a good summer. I don’t know what the next step is going to be yet, but we had a really good summer and the players generated a lot of excitement among themselves. I can tell you they really enjoyed the experience and how much fun that last month of the season was. But really that doesn’t mean a whole lot now. What we have to do is find that style, sense of purpose and urgency from the end of last season at the beginning of this season. The goal is to get it back as soon as possible, that’s what we're focused on right now.

It is so damn exciting to be an Orlando Magic fan right now.

[Last Guardian]

Looking good. Love this boards predicitions of him never coming back or missing most of the season....next day, he's fully participating in training camp

[Skybox]

I want to say that I’m very happy for Markelle as both a player and as a 21 year old person. I can only imagine how difficult the past few years have been for him.

But, as a Magic fan, can anyone tell me why his shooting motion looks so awkward (release way out in front of his body, leaning back, head tilted to the side, side spin rotation etc)? If he has full range of motion, as he says, then why does he shoot the way he does? It leads me to one of a few possible conclusions.

1. He has the yips
2. It hurts his shoulder to shoot normally
3. The magic haven’t yet focused on his shooting form and have prioritized getting his mind and body in a good place first

The shot looks a bit different from college but he has always had a similar form (releases the ball in front of his body).

yeah, i think the shot now is more of going about the tos. perhaps if he raises it higher thats where it kicks in? idk..


my observation with Fultz shot now vs Washington days is Fultz shot now is he releases it on the way up (like Steph curry) unlike during Washington days when he is releasing it at the peak of the jumper.. whatever works for him...

I'm just glad we're seeing improvement now.

I saw (a while back) some great analysis of Trae Young/Steph Curry jumper form. The classic Ray Allen "perfect" form is different and involves jumping straight up and "landing in your footprints"...Young and Curry shoot on the way up, so there is a lot more leg strength behind it, so the great range is more realistic. The main thing is how repeatable the form is, even when fatigued. Ray Allen's jumper was a thing of beauty, but fatigue could definitely be a factor in it looking the same late in the game. His conditioning was legendary, so it never became a noted issue...A lower release makes sense to me for Fultz as it relates to minimizing shoulder trauma...and he's big enough that he should still be able to get it off. The big question about Trae was that he wouldn't be able to get that shot off against longer, faster NBA defenders - he obviously can...not to spray all over, but I think Fultz's form is not "weird" but it could serve him well and be repeatable. Fultz only needs to be a good enough shooter to keep defenses honest - then he can use his length and athleticism to get to the hole, collapse the D, and finish or dish...Very exciting to see Magic news being in the top 5 national stories for a change.