Regular Season Game 17: Orlando Magic (6-10) at Cleveland Cavaliers (5-12) - 7pm ET

[J-Mezzy]

With our poor 3 point shooting, we have to run some plays for bamba 3s. Get the kid involved and if he draws the big men to the 3 point line, Fultz can attack the rim

[basketballRob]

Fultz and DJ shouldn't be playing together and if they have to in no way shape or form should Fultz be playing OFF-BALL.....i was like....."what am i looking at?" Fultz playing off ball? if anything put the ball in Fultz hands and let DJ be off-ball at least you'd think DJ could hit a spot up 3 pointer

1000% agree

I think it's by design because Cliff doesn't completely trust Fultz.

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[basketballRob]

With our poor 3 point shooting, we have to run some plays for bamba 3s. Get the kid involved and if he draws the big men to the 3 point line, Fultz can attack the rim

I wish he'd pop more than rolling to the rim. He clogs the whole middle up.

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[Bergmaniac]

I've noticed that Fournier seems to lose his legs by the 4th quarter this season, and that's when his shots stop falling, and ends up dribbling into walls of people. Not much we can do whilst he's the focal point of the offense, but Cliff should really be managing that by allowing him to play off the ball more in the 4th so he can steal some rest every other play. Take Ross out early in the 4th and bring him back in at the 4 or 5 minute mark.

He was fine in the 4th quarter before Vucevic got injured, but now he plays a lot more minutes and has to do more, so gets tired late. 39 minutes is really not ideal for him, especially when he's asked to be the first option. But there aren't many other scoring options, unfortunately.

Anyway, solid win. Evan's scoring was huge, DJ actually did well as a PG for most of the game on offense (though his defence was terrible), Bamba finally hit some 3s and put more of an effort on both ends, Ross did well on D and scoring wise, Fultz and Isaac were solid. It would have been easier if our rebounding wasn't terrible, but we still got the W.

[Bensational]

I've noticed that Fournier seems to lose his legs by the 4th quarter this season, and that's when his shots stop falling, and ends up dribbling into walls of people. Not much we can do whilst he's the focal point of the offense, but Cliff should really be managing that by allowing him to play off the ball more in the 4th so he can steal some rest every other play. Take Ross out early in the 4th and bring him back in at the 4 or 5 minute mark.

He was fine in the 4th quarter before Vucevic got injured, but now he plays a lot more minutes and has to do more, so gets tired late. 39 minutes is really not ideal for him, especially when he's asked to be the first option. But there aren't many other scoring options, unfortunately.

Nah, even when Vuc was playing, the 4th quarter was still his worst for efficiency. He averaged 48.7% FG and 44.9% from 3 for those 13 games, playing 28.9mpg but the by quarter breakdown looks like:

1st - 54.1%fg / 53.8% 3fg
2nd - 43.2 %fg / 33.3% 3fg
3rd - 54.5%fg / 52.2% 3fg
4th - 42.5%fg / 38.1% 3fg

Over the last 3 games he's averaged 42.6%fg and 33.3% 3fg, over 37mpg, and by quarter it looks like:

1st - 50%fg / 66.7% 3fg
2nd - 38.9 %fg / 25% 3fg
3rd - 57.1%fg / 50% 3fg
4th - 26.7%fg / 14.3% 3fg

So in both the trends are clear, he gets gassed in the 2nd and 4th quarters from all the running leading up to those points.

It's not a criticism by any stretch, just something Cliff should try to help him with, with how much of a break he's able to give him to help him get his legs back. Fournier has done well to still remain as efficient as he has with the increased usage and being the primary focal point of defenses now. I've actually been enjoying his game a lot more in this role than I did as part of buddy ball.