2020-2021 Regular Season Game 27: Orlando Magic (9-17) at Sacramento Kings (12-12)

[JBSouthpaw]

[basketballRob]

Not bad for Alex Len.

Len needed a team that would give him a bunch of usage for 10 years.

[Optimus_Steel]

Now, Ennis pulls his groin.

You can't make this stuff up.

Heard the Magic are going to hold tryouts at the local YMCA to have some bodies next to Vuc. Time to warm up guys!

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[Optimus_Steel]

Another master class game from Vuc. I will be disappointed if he doesn't get picked for the all star game, he truly deserves it. It's like Vuc finally realized how skilled he is and has to be aggressive.

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[MaKiaVeLi7]

I didn't follow the SAC game live thread, have not read anything. Just watched a full replay of the game and I feel inspired by the Magic players performance. Really really proud of the guys.

They just continue to tough it out and try to win for Cliff (yeah yeah yeah, not good for the tank, but it's impossible to lose all of the games).

Just wanted to say this: I'm fed up with all the cry babies on this forum and all the whining and complaining about Cliff's rotations and Bamba not playing. I'm fed up with reading constant crying that Clifford is the worst coach ever and should be fired. Is it too hard for all of those haters to understand that our rotations are not good because we simply DO NOT HAVE HEALTHY BODIES thus WE DO NOT HAVE ANY KIND OF ROTATIONS.

Cliff did a good job in the last few road games with the banged-up squad of players he has to work with. Despite all the missing players and the depleted roster, we were in all of the games and did not let the opponents blow us out (just for comaprison - remember how the games ended when we were "competing" with Frank Vogel and his rotations minus the injuries we have now; so many countless blowouts ).

The game against Sacramento was well executed and perfectly coached by Cliff.

Please stop crying and hating on Cliff! Just go find something new, something else to complain about.
Just a few hints: try with Alex 'Greasy-Master' Martins; WeHam; Devos; Trump; Disney; Adam Silver; Hennigan; Vaughn; Kamala Harris; Elon Musk; Putin... whatever you feel like

As far as Bamba's play, it's good to see him on the floor and getting minutes, but maaan... If any of his blind supporters is at least trying to be fair in his judgment, this last game was a perfect example of why an experienced coach is always going to prefer playing a hustler and reliable contributor like Khem Birch - always in the right spot, always making the right decision and making it on time; always setting hard screens; always playing within himself; always affecting the game on Offense & Defense on every single possession he's on the floor; always hustling and sprinting back & forth on the court; fighting for any loose ball and every hopeless rebound; taking hard charges on D and playing like a grown man.

Can't say the same for Bamba. Actually, he's almost exactly the opposite. We saw some glimpses of improvement, but he still needs to be awakened. How many times he just stops thinking or just falls asleep on the floor? Yesterday he got robbed of the ball a few times like every single game actually. And on one possession he just walked over to the SAC player and handed him the ball over. WTH????

There you go... for anyone who still cries about SLOW MO's minutes and why Khem is the coach's favorite and has earned his trust over Bamba...that's why: CONSTANT HUSTLE & POSITIVE EFFECT ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL !!!

Bamba is not a better player than Khem right now. Birch outplays him easily. I fully support Cliff's coaching style in terms of distributing playing time: you just gotta make these young players prove their worth and earn their minutes by outplaying the competition, anything else is counterproductive and leads to locker room tension and rightfully so unhappy players.

Just watch the replay and the performance by Birch vs. SAC and be true to yourself.

Yes, we all wished for a game-changer when Mo was drafted, but the truth is that he's not ready yet, might never be a top player in this league.
Bamba is still very young though and will have plenty of opportunities to prove himself. If he's not happy with his NBA minutes he might go play in the G-League, nothing wrong with that. If he stays with the 1st team though, he gotta man up and outplay Birch. Unfortunately, SLOW MO seems to be too soft to do that. Hope he gets better, we need Bamba as a valuable trade asset at least.

GOOD WIN for the team's morale, they really needed a win after the recent strong performances despite all the injuries.
BAD WIN for the tank.

[BCS]

We were up 12 in the 3rd qtr when I went to sleep. Was hoping for a Magic surprise when waking up but that was wishful thinking with the way Sac was playing and without Fox. Looking at the standings the Cavs have come back to reality and are coming strong. It will be tough to end top 3 imo but I am hoping for at least 4. Det and Cle seem locked for a top 3. Hopefully with Towns back, Min can start winning some games, OKC still worries me as well and Washington I knew would suck, overall they are just not a good team.

I personally at least want a top 3 pick in this draft to ensure we get at least one of Kuminga, Green or Cade. Fit wise, Cade and Green are my top picks. But I have a feeling Kuminga might end up being the best player of the draft, Green might end up being the least successful out of the top players, at least for now. Suggs looks really good as well but fit wise for us he is last.

[MaKiaVeLi7]

We were up 12 in the 3rd qtr when I went to sleep. Was hoping for a Magic surprise when waking up but that was wishful thinking with the way Sac was playing and without Fox. Looking at the standings the Cavs have come back to reality and are coming strong. It will be tough to end top 3 imo but I am hoping for at least 4. Det and Cle seem locked for a top 3. Hopefully with Towns back, Min can start winning some games, OKC still worries me as well and Washington I knew would suck, overall they are just not a good team.

I personally at least want a top 3 pick in this draft to ensure we get at least one of Kuminga, Green or Cade. Fit wise, Cade and Green are my top picks. But I have a feeling Kuminga might end up being the best player of the draft, Green might end up being the least successful out of the top players, at least for now. Suggs looks really good as well but fit wise for us he is last.

We were up 72-92 late in the 3rd quarter. mind-boggling

The Kings did not show up tonight and were playing without any desire for some odd reason. Maybe D. Fox is the team's heart & energy, dunno.

[Furinkazan]

They cant even tank right.

[KillMonger]

They cant even tank right.

tell me about it....it's really interesting though...the dichotomy...you have the people that understand what this season is and is ok with tanking because of what it could mean for the future......then you have the people not really on board with tanking but the interesting thing is about these people is i have yet to see any one of these guys offer a solution.....i mean it's obvious why people want to tank....but why do people want to stay on the treadmill?

[pepe1991]

They cant even tank right.

tell me about it....it's really interesting though...the dichotomy...you have the people that understand what this season is and is ok with tanking because of what it could mean for the future......then you have the people not really on board with tanking but the interesting thing is about these people is i have yet to see any one of these guys offer a solution.....i mean it's obvious why people want to tank....but why do people want to stay on the treadmill?

Bro, in whole league only T wolves, Pistons and Wizards won less games.
We good. Still in tanking waters , troat deep.

Even if you play with tankathon, in 4 out of 5 spins we draft in top 5

[ChosenSavior]

So I decided to watch this game without participating in a game thread for once so that I would not go make any emotional response that I would regret saying. Vuc balled out last night, period. Sacramento's defense was laughable but credit to Vuc for taking advantage especially when he was on the block. I would like to see him get a better understanding on how defenses are playing him and be aggressive when the mismatch is there. He put on a clinic doing just that.

Having a competent floor general does make life a lot easier for the other players and that is exactly what MCW brought to the table last night. Not having to go against Fox certainly helps but MCW definitely set the tone in that 2nd half which allowed the other Magic players to play with more confidence. The perimeter defense looks slightly better with him on the floor as well.

I didn't really care for the minutes distribution in this game between the players but Cliff at least had a solid game plan against whatever Luke Walton was trying to do. The back and forth about Bamba on this forum highlights the fact that Orlando should have never drafted him in the first place (Personally I am still high on him as a prospect in the league). It is an absolute waste of an asset as it is clear we have no plan for him in terms of development. I am not quite sure what the endgame is with the FO in Orlando in general.

I took a good look at the standings on both Tankathon and in the NBA and with the way the East is, it would not surprise me one bit if Orlando is hovering around qualifying for the play-in game. I wouldn't necessarily care about that aspect if Orlando had another draft pick asset we could mine from another team that would be in the lottery like the Thunder have thanks to the Westbrook trade but we only have our draft pick to use and have to hope that it lands within the top 5 to get a blue-chip talent on this roster. The odds drop significantly if we fall out of the top 7. I know that Orlando on paper has the hardest remaining schedule but this NBA season is not like any other normal season. The lack of home court advantage for essentially all the teams kind of makes it like these games are played on neutral sites. At some point, we are going to get healthier and pick up wins in spots where we are not favored to win.

It isn't in my nature to cheer for losses but I also am not the type of fan who wants to see his team mired in mediocrity (I am living in it still as a long time Dallas Cowboys fan). The continued lack of direction from the Magic is reaching its boiling point with me. I want Orlando to compete for championships and not just be a participant in the playoffs. I want this roster, FO, coaching staff, strength & conditioning staff, etc to all be on the same page and actually make sense. I want the Magic to actually take risks on towards improving this roster.

[ChosenSavior]

They cant even tank right.

tell me about it....it's really interesting though...the dichotomy...you have the people that understand what this season is and is ok with tanking because of what it could mean for the future......then you have the people not really on board with tanking but the interesting thing is about these people is i have yet to see any one of these guys offer a solution.....i mean it's obvious why people want to tank....but why do people want to stay on the treadmill?

Bro, in whole league only T wolves, Pistons and Wizards won less games.
We good. Still in tanking waters , troat deep.

Even if you play with tankathon, in 4 out of 5 spins we draft in top 5

If we can stay in the top 7, the odds are not too big of a gap. After that though, there is a significant drop off. How bad the Eastern Conference is though within the middle of the back has me nervous though.

[Def Swami]

I couldn't even be upset. The Kings played awful. You can only do so much to tank. It takes the other team doing their part too.

Nice bounce back game by Vucevic. There was a lot of slander in the last thread. Coaches might vote him in on the all-star team this year despite how bad the record is.

[Furinkazan]

They cant even tank right.

tell me about it....it's really interesting though...the dichotomy...you have the people that understand what this season is and is ok with tanking because of what it could mean for the future......then you have the people not really on board with tanking but the interesting thing is about these people is i have yet to see any one of these guys offer a solution.....i mean it's obvious why people want to tank....but why do people want to stay on the treadmill?

Bro, in whole league only T wolves, Pistons and Wizards won less games.
We good. Still in tanking waters , troat deep.

Even if you play with tankathon, in 4 out of 5 spins we draft in top 5

every time i spin we draft 8-9

[Skybox]

I have to wonder if all of the Vuc minutes are an attempt to help him get All-Star consideration? That would make some sense from upper management-that kind of recognition is good for the team's profile, could be seen as a "reward" to loyal Vuc, etc...if nothing else, it could be a way for Cliff to rationalize running him into the ground during this lost season...we'll see if usage changes after the All-Star rosters are announced...I'm really hoping Vuc gets it but I hope he gets a lot of minutes on the bench after.