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Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup?

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Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#1 » by Horcy » Sat Nov 6, 2021 10:21 pm

I guess we all agree that the lineup with Bamba and WCJ worked better than we expected.
The thing is that when none of them is on the court we suffer a lot.
I don't really care who of them starts (I would start Mo) but I believe is the moment to start Okeke at PF. That would leave one of them to come off the bench and help the second unit that has been atrocious lately, particularly in the paint.
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#2 » by Knightro » Sun Nov 7, 2021 12:27 am

I would not, no.

When Isaac comes back, it's a discussion worth having. But Okeke's such a poor rebounder that he's more of a 3/4 tweener than a starting caliber PF anyway.

I love Okeke as a 20-25 MPG guy playing both backup 3 and backup 4.
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#3 » by Xatticus » Sun Nov 7, 2021 1:04 am

Okeke gives a bit of rim protection. He had a couple blocks last game, but he is a one-jump guy and doesn't help on the glass. People have griped about our rebounding, but the first unit's rebounding has been fine. We've gotten mugged when the second unit is on the floor and Okeke is a part of that.

What we really need is a healthy Isaac. We don't really have any other fours on the roster.
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#4 » by anothermagicfan » Sun Nov 7, 2021 1:30 am

Xatticus wrote:Okeke gives a bit of rim protection. He had a couple blocks last game, but he is a one-jump guy and doesn't help on the glass. People have griped about our rebounding, but the first unit's rebounding has been fine. We've gotten mugged when the second unit is on the floor and Okeke is a part of that.

What we really need is a healthy Isaac. We don't really have any other fours on the roster.


The first unit is doing good with rebounding, with 2 centers?
So inserting Okeke into the starting lineup would allow bringing wcj or bamba off the bench to help the rebounding of the second unit. Wierd.
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#5 » by fendilim » Sun Nov 7, 2021 2:19 am

Why fix something aint broke? We’re trying to lose games.
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#6 » by MasterGMer » Sun Nov 7, 2021 3:56 am

I think Okeke's ability to shoot will help the playing unit.

In today's NBA, who cares about defense.

I am just kidding
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#7 » by RookieStar » Sun Nov 7, 2021 4:48 am

Why not?? After all this is the time to experiment... although to be honest.. i prefer it is JI as the starting PF
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#8 » by zaymon » Sun Nov 7, 2021 10:04 am

I dont know what is the reason to play Carter and Bamba together. If Anthony doesnt hit all of his off the dribble threes we have NO offense. Our pick and roll is non existent. Bamba is the worst roller in the whole league 0 PERCENTILE !!! Carter is almost twice as good which happens to be in the 20 percentile in the league..... thats awful.
Okeke would bring more ball handling and good decision making to the starting lineup. Our point guards are not p&r maestros but i doubt Chris Paul would thrive with Bamba. Mo is either not looking or not catching or fumbling the ball. I dont know why they even bother to pass to him. Chuma understood that last game.
I know we should try to raise Bamba value but is it really worth it ?? We will frustrate all players who try to play team ball becouse you really shouldnt pass to Mo Bamba unless its open 3.
I liked when we played Anthony/Ross/Wagner/Okeke/Carter. The sample size is small but it worked quite well (+35 in 12 minutes)
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#9 » by Optimus_Steel » Sun Nov 7, 2021 1:35 pm

zaymon wrote:I dont know what is the reason to play Carter and Bamba together. If Anthony doesnt hit all of his off the dribble threes we have NO offense. Our pick and roll is non existent. Bamba is the worst roller in the whole league 0 PERCENTILE !!! Carter is almost twice as good which happens to be in the 20 percentile in the league..... thats awful.
Okeke would bring more ball handling and good decision making to the starting lineup. Our point guards are not p&r maestros but i doubt Chris Paul would thrive with Bamba. Mo is either not looking or not catching or fumbling the ball. I dont know why they even bother to pass to him. Chuma understood that last game.
I know we should try to raise Bamba value but is it really worth it ?? We will frustrate all players who try to play team ball becouse you really shouldnt pass to Mo Bamba unless its open 3.
I liked when we played Anthony/Ross/Wagner/Okeke/Carter. The sample size is small but it worked quite well (+35 in 12 minutes)
Back to the Miami game, I was watching the Heat broadcast and Tross tried a pick and roll with Bamba who was completely oblivious, didn't roll and we turned the ball over. The Miami announcer said "Bamba with no awareness at all" and I feel like that's a microcosm of his career. He doesn't understand the nuances of basketball, and he is in year 4. I don't want to hear the he hasn't played alot excuse. I wouldn't extend him, find a trade and move on.

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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#10 » by Skybox » Sun Nov 7, 2021 1:57 pm

Optimus_Steel wrote:
zaymon wrote:I dont know what is the reason to play Carter and Bamba together. If Anthony doesnt hit all of his off the dribble threes we have NO offense. Our pick and roll is non existent. Bamba is the worst roller in the whole league 0 PERCENTILE !!! Carter is almost twice as good which happens to be in the 20 percentile in the league..... thats awful.
Okeke would bring more ball handling and good decision making to the starting lineup. Our point guards are not p&r maestros but i doubt Chris Paul would thrive with Bamba. Mo is either not looking or not catching or fumbling the ball. I dont know why they even bother to pass to him. Chuma understood that last game.
I know we should try to raise Bamba value but is it really worth it ?? We will frustrate all players who try to play team ball becouse you really shouldnt pass to Mo Bamba unless its open 3.
I liked when we played Anthony/Ross/Wagner/Okeke/Carter. The sample size is small but it worked quite well (+35 in 12 minutes)
Back to the Miami game, I was watching the Heat broadcast and Tross tried a pick and roll with Bamba who was completely oblivious, didn't roll and we turned the ball over. The Miami announcer said "Bamba with no awareness at all" and I feel like that's a microcosm of his career. He doesn't understand the nuances of basketball, and he is in year 4. I don't want to hear the he hasn't played alot excuse. I wouldn't extend him, find a trade and move on.

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Bamba is clueless on both ends. WCJ is a solid but mediocre starter. Cole is an inefficient chucker. Suggs is disappointing and off to a slow start. Two of our best starters are out...My eyes agree with both of you...but how is our starting lineup rated as being so effective?
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#11 » by zaymon » Sun Nov 7, 2021 3:18 pm

Skybox wrote:
Optimus_Steel wrote:
zaymon wrote:I dont know what is the reason to play Carter and Bamba together. If Anthony doesnt hit all of his off the dribble threes we have NO offense. Our pick and roll is non existent. Bamba is the worst roller in the whole league 0 PERCENTILE !!! Carter is almost twice as good which happens to be in the 20 percentile in the league..... thats awful.
Okeke would bring more ball handling and good decision making to the starting lineup. Our point guards are not p&r maestros but i doubt Chris Paul would thrive with Bamba. Mo is either not looking or not catching or fumbling the ball. I dont know why they even bother to pass to him. Chuma understood that last game.
I know we should try to raise Bamba value but is it really worth it ?? We will frustrate all players who try to play team ball becouse you really shouldnt pass to Mo Bamba unless its open 3.
I liked when we played Anthony/Ross/Wagner/Okeke/Carter. The sample size is small but it worked quite well (+35 in 12 minutes)
Back to the Miami game, I was watching the Heat broadcast and Tross tried a pick and roll with Bamba who was completely oblivious, didn't roll and we turned the ball over. The Miami announcer said "Bamba with no awareness at all" and I feel like that's a microcosm of his career. He doesn't understand the nuances of basketball, and he is in year 4. I don't want to hear the he hasn't played alot excuse. I wouldn't extend him, find a trade and move on.

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Bamba is clueless on both ends. WCJ is a solid but mediocre starter. Cole is an inefficient chucker. Suggs is disappointing and off to a slow start. Two of our best starters are out...My eyes agree with both of you...but how is our starting lineup rated as being so effective?


Cole Anthony is the best off the dribble scorer in the world right now, and all three of Bamba, Carter and Wagner shot above their carrier marks from 3. Its propably not sustainable. The most stable part of our offense was Wagner off ball movement to be honest. I would like if we could implement more Okeke/Carter p&r. They had good chemistry last year and WCJ was catching the ball at least.
My money is on Banchero going number 1 !
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#12 » by paperboymafia » Sun Nov 7, 2021 4:53 pm

Why not? Get WCJ back at C as Bamba plays like a (soft) guard anyway.

That said, I'm also kind of fine with him starting as this year is basically a learning/tanking year ie; raise his value with inflated numbers and hopefully dupe another team into a trade where we come off the winner.
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#13 » by The Effect » Mon Nov 8, 2021 3:48 am

Skybox wrote:
Optimus_Steel wrote:
zaymon wrote:I dont know what is the reason to play Carter and Bamba together. If Anthony doesnt hit all of his off the dribble threes we have NO offense. Our pick and roll is non existent. Bamba is the worst roller in the whole league 0 PERCENTILE !!! Carter is almost twice as good which happens to be in the 20 percentile in the league..... thats awful.
Okeke would bring more ball handling and good decision making to the starting lineup. Our point guards are not p&r maestros but i doubt Chris Paul would thrive with Bamba. Mo is either not looking or not catching or fumbling the ball. I dont know why they even bother to pass to him. Chuma understood that last game.
I know we should try to raise Bamba value but is it really worth it ?? We will frustrate all players who try to play team ball becouse you really shouldnt pass to Mo Bamba unless its open 3.
I liked when we played Anthony/Ross/Wagner/Okeke/Carter. The sample size is small but it worked quite well (+35 in 12 minutes)
Back to the Miami game, I was watching the Heat broadcast and Tross tried a pick and roll with Bamba who was completely oblivious, didn't roll and we turned the ball over. The Miami announcer said "Bamba with no awareness at all" and I feel like that's a microcosm of his career. He doesn't understand the nuances of basketball, and he is in year 4. I don't want to hear the he hasn't played alot excuse. I wouldn't extend him, find a trade and move on.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using RealGM mobile app


Bamba is clueless on both ends. WCJ is a solid but mediocre starter. Cole is an inefficient chucker. Suggs is disappointing and off to a slow start. Two of our best starters are out...My eyes agree with both of you...but how is our starting lineup rated as being so effective?


I'd say to just trade everyone, but from reading this board I've come to learn that everyone on the team is so trash that we couldn't even trade them all and would have to give up multiple draft picks to get anyone to take any of these guys
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#14 » by JBSouthpaw » Mon Nov 8, 2021 2:42 pm

Read on Twitter
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#15 » by drsd » Mon Nov 8, 2021 3:11 pm

fendilim wrote:Why fix something aint broke? We’re trying to lose games.


The starters are playing quite well. The narrative is if Carter went to the bench would the Magic i) starters still play competitively and ii) would Carter on the bench make the Magic second unit not-suck.

Your answer does not seem to suggest you like the idea of a rotation that wins games, so maybe you do want Okeke to start to destabilise the starters.


..
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#16 » by drsd » Mon Nov 8, 2021 3:15 pm

JBSouthpaw wrote:
Read on Twitter





Holy crap: the Cavs is 7-4. If the season ended now, they wold be outright in the playoffs.

Cleveland has a better record than the Knicks, Raptors, Hornets, Bucks, Hawks, Pacers, and quite surprising for me personally, the Magic.





..
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#17 » by jezzerinho » Mon Nov 8, 2021 3:22 pm

Maybe it's just me but i find Okeke a very meh player. He needs time to get back up to speed but what exactly is that speed?

He kind of the personification of the Orlando Magic over the last decade. Squint hard and you can see a good player but in reality his ceiling looks kinda league-average, he has an injury history, he doesn't convince as a shooter, he can't break down anyone off the dribble. He's not a top tier athlete nor a defensive savant.

He's OK.
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#18 » by TwoStarz » Mon Nov 8, 2021 3:25 pm

When is Isaac coming back? Its impossible to find any updates on the guy.
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#19 » by Magic_Kingdom » Mon Nov 8, 2021 3:40 pm

I would move Okeke into the starting lineup for Bamba for a couple of reasons:

1) I think Chuma would play better with the starters than he does off the bench with Ross and Harris.

2) After a decent start to the season, Bamba is already regressing to the old Bamba.

3) I think getting Bamba out of the starting lineup will help the rookies, especially Suggs. Mo is such a low IQ player there is no way his presence is helping them.

4) Why not?
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Re: Should the Magic start Okeke at the PF position and go back to a more traditional lineup? 

Post#20 » by pepe1991 » Mon Nov 8, 2021 3:41 pm

jezzerinho wrote:Maybe it's just me but i find Okeke a very meh player. He needs time to get back up to speed but what exactly is that speed?

He kind of the personification of the Orlando Magic over the last decade. Squint hard and you can see a good player but in reality his ceiling looks kinda league-average, he has an injury history, he doesn't convince as a shooter, he can't break down anyone off the dribble. He's not a top tier athlete nor a defensive savant.

He's OK.


He had like string of 8 games last year, ofc, after i opened thread how bad he is where he played good basketball. Than reverted back to his -before opened thread- mediocre / borderline invisible ways.

He is like Trevor Ariza -bench version. You put him in for 15 min, he won't do anything speical, but also won't cost you game.
He is also kind a always hurt. This should have been his third season, instad, it's second because of injury, and he already missed a lot of games.

:dontknow:

Basically, reminds me of tall Gary Harris. Is in his 20s, on floor plays like he is 38.
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