2021-2022 Regular Season Game 14: Orlando Magic (3-10) at Atlanta Hawks (5-9) - 11/15/21 at 7:30pm ET

[3ddman23]

Solid game from franz & Carter
Cole had a solid offensive game poor defensive
As many know I've been done with bamba for quite a long time. I've wanted him gone for a long time and now everyone can see why... just cant deal with him.
Rj needs to play a bit more( please for the love of God get Harris out of the rotation)
Just another blah game brijg on the next blah game on Wednesday lol

[MagicFan101]

Yeah this is why Cole cannot be our starting PG for now. With his skillset, he can take over the bench by providing us with scoring and no rival to him hogging the ball. Plus defensively speaking, he wont be forced to defend the top offensive threats of the other teams anymore.

Thank you.

If all we care about is 4 guys standing around watching one guy score a lot in a losing effort then alright, mission accomplished.

If we care about winning basketball games then Cole as he plays today (and has always played) is not fit to be a long term starter.

[JTG_92940618]

Please, please, please watch Cole on defense. He is having a hell of a game on offense but 70% is not sustainable and his defense is atrocious.

I beg of you, stop watching just the flashy stuff.

In general, Cole is not good at defence but is Fultz so good on D to make up for being a non-shooter?

The Fultz V Cole debate is not cut and dried, partly because they both have developing to do but also because Fultz isn't even playing.

The playmaking that we're seeing from Cole tonight, that everyone is complementing, is what Fultz does every night. So no, it's not just the defense but to me it's a big part of it.

I'm not convinced that Fultz is the playmaker he's being hyped up to be but I want to be proven wrong on that.

Fultz is a better playmaker than Cole though. That's undeniable.

[RichCollab]

11 assists. Who is the last Magic player with 11 assist?

[Last Guardian]

So Cole dropped 27 and 11 and we are still criticizing him? Am I in the twilight zone?

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We criticized Vuc while he was getting 20/10 in his sleep. It’s not about stats all the time, it’s about winning basketball.

However, I think Cole was actually good this game on offense as far as picking his spots. As a gunner he’s better than Ross who just jacks up whatever he can.

[BlueBalls]

Still a lot of Bamba bashing. So strange to me.

[thelead]

Cole was actually running the offense well in the first half... then that went to hell in the second half as the deficit grew from 4 to 18.

[thelead]

In general, Cole is not good at defence but is Fultz so good on D to make up for being a non-shooter?

The Fultz V Cole debate is not cut and dried, partly because they both have developing to do but also because Fultz isn't even playing.

The playmaking that we're seeing from Cole tonight, that everyone is complementing, is what Fultz does every night. So no, it's not just the defense but to me it's a big part of it.

I'm not convinced that Fultz is the playmaker he's being hyped up to be but I want to be proven wrong on that.

Fultz is a better playmaker than Cole though. That's undeniable.

Here's the truth: If Fultz doesn't have a fixed jumper, he's a 6th man too.

That's why I wanted to give Suggs ALL of the PG reps he could handle right now. There are not enough reps for everyone here.

[FFBlitzace]

I mean, did we not expect Bamba to be up and down? He was on and off the court for 3 years, never really had offseasons, was in and out of rotations. This is his first time playing significant minutes every night and being relied on. He was never going to be good every game. He's farther along than a rookie, obviously, but I essentially have him in that same group of young guys I expect to be up and down all year. It's not making excuses, it's just what it is.

[thelead]

I mean, did we not expect Bamba to be up and down? He was on and off the court for 3 years, never really had offseasons, was in and out of rotations. This is his first time playing significant minutes every night and being relied on. He was never going to be good every game. He's farther along than a rookie, obviously, but I essentially have him in that same group of young guys I expect to be up and down all year. It's not making excuses, it's just what it is.

100%. The only thing that I don't like is how easy he allows himself to get pushed around. He just doesn't fight in the paint (or just lacks the lower body strength to move anybody). I don't love all the 3's he takes but I put that on my first complaint and on the coaching staff for not telling him to get his tall behind in the paint. He has a good hookshot and nice touch around the rim. He should be rim running early in possessions and posting up deep. Oh well... I guess this stuff is too hard to teach...

[IllMagic04]

So Cole dropped 27 and 11 and we are still criticizing him? Am I in the twilight zone?

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We criticized Vuc while he was getting 20/10 in his sleep. It’s not about stats all the time, it’s about winning basketball.

However, I think Cole was actually good this game on offense as far as picking his spots. As a gunner he’s better than Ross who just jacks up whatever he can.

Your right alot of us did. And that was stupid too lol.

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[Optimus_Steel]

Poor Mo... He's had a horrible game...

I'm done feeling bad for Mo. He's still committing boneheaded fouls, can't catch/handle half the passes thrown his way, still for some unknown freaking reason can't finish around the rim in traffic like a 7 footer should, etc...etc... What's crazy is he was hailed as this super smart kid coming out of college but so many of his mistakes are mental lapses. Kinda ironic....and sad for a magic fan.

He's actually a very smart kid from what I've seen... but that doesn't mean that he loves the game. Andrew Bynum comes to mind with these types of bigs. I used to wonder how so many 7 footers can be so bad at basketball but then you remember that they're likely playing just because they were lucky enough to have the physical tools and it pays them very well. He doesn't have the fire to fight in the paint but he has the skills. In a season like this, I see no reason to give up on him yet but if I were running the club I would want to know what his actual desires are with basketball. We can't get stuck paying him on a decent contract if there is no desire to improve. It will be interesting to see how the season develops with him.

It's time to cut bait on Bamba before tying up money to keep him. He's in year 4, not some rookie. And yes he has been injured a chunk of that time but what he is bringing seems rather replaceable with a late 1st or 2nd round pick. Heck we got Dedmon as a lowly free agent, Gortat as a 2nd rounder trade, and compare their games.... Then you see how a rookie in Franz showing so much understanding and awareness a month into his career... compare that to Bamba's lack overall lack of awarenesses in year 4, questionable desire to play NBA basketball, it's a pretty easy decision. He seems like a good guy, but not worth investing long term when his production can be replaced.

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[thelead]

So Cole dropped 27 and 11 and we are still criticizing him? Am I in the twilight zone?

Sent from my SM-G970U using RealGM mobile app

We criticized Vuc while he was getting 20/10 in his sleep. It’s not about stats all the time, it’s about winning basketball.

However, I think Cole was actually good this game on offense as far as picking his spots. As a gunner he’s better than Ross who just jacks up whatever he can.

Your right alot of us did. And that was stupid too lol.

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Vuc is the 4th best bull so far... it wasn't stupid. Cole has time to prove us wrong but I don't see a winning basketball player. Now, if you expect him to be an efficient 25ppg/8apg guy, then I guess his defense doesn't matter as much but I highly doubt he can be a Harden/Curry level player to ignore his defense

[pepe1991]

Our interior defense is simply awful, every team that has funcional big kills us. Atlanta has 2 bigs we couldn't defend, so they combined for 46 points (and + 50 points in paint allowed, again )... Few nights ago Harrell looked like Hakeem, week ago 86 years old Aldrige kept doing same move for season high...before that Gobert scored 21 point on 7-9 FG, dinosaur Horford almost got triple double in 25 min...

We just can't defend pick&roll, and in same time we can't play pick&roll. Our eFG as team in pick&roll is 39,2%
But this isn't really suprising. We have no funcional point guard nor high quality big to execute it. Match made in heaven for top 5 worst offense ( that also happends to be 3rd worst defense ).

Thankfully Franz is good reminder why talent doesn't take half of decade to show and why most great players are great very early.

[cedric76]

We ll be so much better when Fultz and Ji come back

Cole will become the perfect 6th man

Front court Franz /ji /wcj will be great to watch

[KillMonger]

Our interior defense is simply awful, every team that has funcional big kills us. Atlanta has 2 bigs we couldn't defend, so they combined for 46 points (and + 50 points in paint allowed, again )... Few nights ago Harrell looked like Hakeem, week ago 86 years old Aldrige kept doing same move for season high...before that Gobert scored 21 point on 7-9 FG, dinosaur Horford almost got triple double in 25 min...

We just can't defend pick&roll, and in same time we can't play pick&roll. Our eFG as team in pick&roll is 39,2%
But this isn't really suprising. We have no funcional point guard nor high quality big to execute it. Match made in heaven for top 5 worst offense ( that also happends to be 3rd worst defense ).

Thankfully Franz is good reminder why talent doesn't take half of decade to show and why most great players are great very early.

[drsd]

The officials lost control of the game a long time ago.

Orlando's 27 personal fouls equates to one foul committed ever 1 minute and 46 seconds. That's Ridiculous!


..

[drsd]

Anthony bested Young and F-Wagner, Harris, and Cater held their own against Bogdanovic, Collins and Huerter. And then benches where similar in the end.

This loss is on Bamba. He got schooled by Capela.


..

[drsd]

We ll be so much better when Fultz and Ji come back

Cole will become the perfect 6th man

Front court Franz /ji /wcj will be great to watch

Orlando might not win another game in November. When Fultz and Isaac come back, the roster and strength of schedule from mid-December and onward favours Orlando to work out a reasonable rotation.

As to Anthony, having him play next to Ross will be interesting for both.

..

[basketballRob]

We ll be so much better when Fultz and Ji come back

Cole will become the perfect 6th man

Front court Franz /ji /wcj will be great to watch

Orlando might not win another game in November. When Fultz and Isaac come back, the roster and strength of schedule from mid-December and onward favours Orlando to work out a reasonable rotation.

As to Anthony, having him play next to Ross will be interesting for both.

..

Just noticed they moved back Fultz's come backdate to December 30th. Isaac's remained on December 3rd.

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