Cole World: Orlando Magic Select Cole Anthony at #15

[Skin]

I think it's safe to say we HIT on that 16th pick!

Wow, WeHam. Wow. I was a doubter on this one. It was always low risk, high reward, but he's sinking his shots and that's been a beautiful thing. The kind of moves winning organizations need to make.

I hope all the Suggs Debbie Downers look at Cole's progress as an example of not giving up on a young player's potential.

[IllMagic04]

I just don't get why its a bad thing that people are excited with his development. I never looked at Cole as a guy with star potential. Off the bench mircorwave guy was my expectation. Those shots he was taking and making in that Wolves and Jazz game got me excited and thinking MAYBE he can more than I thought. Some of the playmaking hes shown makes me think MAYBE he can be more than I thought. He has plenty if bad moments too but hes shown lots of flashes of parts of his game I didnt think he had in him at all. And its only year 2. Lets just wait and see.

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[p0peye]

So, ever since Anthony joined, the projection on him is that he can only succeed as a scorer. He started his rookie year badly, but kept improving and in rather short time he seems capable of fulfilling that role. Why are we putting him down or crying about it now?

Is he a starter or not? Yes, on this team, that is given. I mean, take your pink glasses off people. Would that role change if we had a real team? Duh. If his shooting percentages remain good, I see no reason why Anthony wouldn't be able to have the same role as JJ Redick.

Redick is one of the game's all-time best players in terms of moving without the ball and figuring out how to get open without actually dribbling the basketball.

Cole Anthony is most certainly not that. He hasn't shown at any level - high school, college, summer league or NBA - that he's effective whatsoever without the basketball in his hands.

And if he can't be effective without the basketball in his hands, that means he's going to have to play point guard, and several people (myself included) don't think he has the natural playmaking or the defense to be a starting point guard on a good team.

That doesn't mean he's a bad player. It doesn't mean he can't have a role on a good team.

You are right, that was really bad example from my side. Jameer Nelson better comp? I have to upgrade as my original comp I was hoping Anthony might turn into was DJ Augustin.

[IllMagic04]

Imagine being a fan of building a team around CJ McCollum or Jordan Clarkson and letting them handle the rock the majority of time he's on the court

And by the way, if calling Cole a CJ McCollum/Clarkson level player is hate, I think I might be done on this forum

Too early to say that hes Clarkson or McCollum. Too early to say we are building around him. He handles the ball alot cause we don't have any other options. May turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

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[MagicFan101]

do you really think anybody is considering him the savior or future leader of this team? He's doing great in an absence of leaders. He might be a bigger piece than we all imagined but nobody's calling him MVP and meaning it...All good.

The MVP chanters are just enjoying the game. Sure. But we do have many people who believe Cole is solidifying himself as the long term starter. This baffles me. They see volume scoring and can’t see the flaws in his game. These are likely they same people who always called for Ross to start.

Cole has value for us and can be a key piece to our rebuild. But let’s be realistic about where he fits in the long term plan!

The flaws in Cole’s game can be improved upon. He’s not a finished product by any means.

Here are two scenarios …

Isaac can continue being the guy he is today and simply make the same shots he already takes at a higher rate.

Cole can complete change his entire mind set and approach to basketball. His entire philosophy of the game will change and he will see that game is a way he has never chosen to despite living his entire life as the son of an NBA player, being coached by top junior coaches, by a UNC staff and now NBA coaches for over a year. None of them got through to him but he will still soon see the light and change who he is for the better.

Yes, young players develop and change.

Both of the above are possible yet neither is likely at this stage. Still, which would you gamble on?

[Rainwater]

Imagine being a fan of building a team around CJ McCollum or Jordan Clarkson and letting them handle the rock the majority of time he's on the court

And by the way, if calling Cole a CJ McCollum/Clarkson level player is hate, I think I might be done on this forum

Man, even calling Cole CJ McCollum at this point is a bit much for me, lol.

[Rainwater]

I just don't get why its a bad thing that people are excited with his development. I never looked at Cole as a guy with star potential. Off the bench mircorwave guy was my expectation. Those shots he was taking and making in that Wolves and Jazz game got me excited and thinking MAYBE he can more than I thought. Some of the playmaking hes shown makes me think MAYBE he can be more than I thought. He has plenty if bad moments too but hes shown lots of flashes of parts of his game I didnt think he had in him at all. And its only year 2. Lets just wait and see.

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It's just that we have been through this 100 times already with guys like Victor, Harris, AG, Vuc, Mo and so on. Guys who are decent and really don't help the team win but are hyped up like stars.

Yes, I understand fans being fans and being excited about certain young players but just because you score a lot points on a bad team doesn't make you a superstar player.

[thelead]

Imagine being a fan of building a team around CJ McCollum or Jordan Clarkson and letting them handle the rock the majority of time he's on the court

And by the way, if calling Cole a CJ McCollum/Clarkson level player is hate, I think I might be done on this forum

Man, even calling Cole CJ McCollum at this point is a bit much for me, lol.

100%. If he keeps up this level of efficiency, then sure but we haven't seen that sustained long enough. I'm talking about ceiling from the flashes we've seen. His efficiency could fall off a cliff and a lot of the chatter around here would stop. I don't hope for that but we don't know if he can sustain this or not.

[pepe1991]

Damn people turned against him after year and half

[thelead]

Damn people turned against him after year and half

Not everyone. A few us weren't excited from day 1. Hell, the post right above yours I was pointing out how fans were going way too crazy for a few weeks of hot shooting.

[pepe1991]

Damn people turned against him after year and half

Not everyone. A few us weren't excited from day 1. Hell, the post right above yours I was pointing out how fans were going way too crazy for a few weeks of hot shooting.

This was my third comment on him and as usual i got incredible amount of heat for being "hater"

Man stop right there.
If you are hurt, does that mean you have to chuck shots, make wrong decisions, turn the ball over and show zero trust in your teammates?
He is playmaker who doesn't make anybody around him better nor he even tries to engage rest of a team into team offense. Guy in 22 games took 142 three point attemps on 88 assists. He doesn't care about anything but his own shots. And it shows.

Just look for example amount of shots to amount of assists he made AS PLAYMAKER.

Haliburton 242 shots- 142 assists
Lewis ( also trigger happy) 449 FGA- 162 assists
Maxey - 351 shots- 99 assists
Prichard 442 shots- 172 assists

Cole Anthony - 345 shots- 88 assists

From all point guards in first round that was selected, he has worst offensive rating. Once again, mostly because he is point guard who just hogs ball and doesn't run offense well.

I don't care, 15# pick is a wash, but before draft i said that i would not tuch player who is only interested into hoisting jumpshots. That strenghts vs weaknesses picture where for point guard only strenght is rebounding is as laughable as it gets.

Thing is, people pretend they love somebody until somebody else comes and plays same role so they turn against him ( Cole- Suggs, Oladipo- Evan, Gordon- Harris, Isaac- Gordon, Bamba- Vuc) . There is always very little objectivity and reality about them in comments, there is always over a top love for xy player followed by irrational hate for yx player. Been that way since i started reading this forum , around 2013,2014 can't even remember any more.

Anyway, issue here is simply not being realistic from day one about what you got. Cole Anthony was college chucker. Period.
Odds of having player capable at age of 18,19,20 going through complete behavior change are always slim. People are creatures of habbit. If, in this case, you drafted shoot first, shoot second point guard, his whole existence in basketball world, and in his head will be about him shooting and playing hero ball. Because that's what made him sucessful in past and that's how he views himself.
Same works for RJ Hampton , Suggs, Fultz and everybody else.

Same goes for other Magic young players. Same is reason why Isaac, college second offensive banana to Dwayne Bacon didn't turn into potent nba scorer, same is reason why RJ Hampton 2 years into nba still tries to outrun opponents for no reason, same is reason why Oladipo was copy past same player for 4 years until he met workhorse Westbrook that changed his apporach to nba. Same reason why Gordon needed 7 years to mature as player and start playing to his strenghts, opposite of playing how he feels he should be used (here ). Same is reason why Bamba can't just "tune effort on".

Player behavior is very hard to change. Yet every year whenever Magic draft somebody or sign somebody people write stuff like " he just needs to do this and that". Well, if he "just needed to do this and that" he would be doing it already. Cole Anthony won't wake up one day and change everything that turned him into nba player to that date. Suggs won't magically wake up one day and start making shots like he is good player. Bamba won't wake up one day and channel inner Rodman. You won't wake up one day and decide to become olympic sprinter or serial killer. Because everything you experienced in your life molded you into person you are. On and off the court.
Only reason why i brought this topic to live is to show how people keep expecting something that isn't expectable or objective, than get but**** about player not doing execlly what they wanted, despite all the evidences always pointed out he will never become what they want him to be.

Year and half of Cole, 95% of board wants him off a team for being same player they were thrilled about during draft night and rookie season. Hypocricy at it's finest. Why ? Because he "didn't develop" into player they wanted

[drsd]

Year and half of Cole, 95% of board wants him off a team for being same player they were thrilled about during draft night and rookie season. Hypocricy at it's finest. Why ? Because he "didn't develop" into player they wanted

This is the same 95% that thinks Jaden Ivey or Jabari Smith are the saviours. Either would create a massive roster problem.

Look: Anthony is a clear backup capable NBA PG. No more and no less. He is worth a 4 year 20M extension. But he also should be part of any trade package requested.


..

[pepe1991]

Year and half of Cole, 95% of board wants him off a team for being same player they were thrilled about during draft night and rookie season. Hypocricy at it's finest. Why ? Because he "didn't develop" into player they wanted

This is the same 95% that thinks Jaden Ivey or Jabari Smith are the saviours. Either would create a massive roster problem.

Look: Anthony is a clear backup capable NBA PG. No more and no less. He is worth a 4 year 20M extension. But he also should be part of any trade package requested.


..

BPA & FIT are interchangeable things. If i'm bringing my imaginary BPA ( let's call him Ben and his imaginary second name is Simmons) to my roster that has : Seth Curry ( not steph) , Miles Turner, Lonzo Ball and few other shooters than he will play his game, play his role, dish ball, keep dribble, let them spot up and look like million bucks.

If my same imaginary player, Ben, ends up on team with Isaiah Stewart, THT, Eric Bledsoe and Isaac Okoro and he will find himself in situation where his whole game will look like trash and fact that he can't do single thing (shoot) will throw his whole game.

This is Scottie Barnes. Sottie Barnes is former 4th overall pick drafted because of alleged playmaking and passing. Scottie Barnes team figured he can't dribble nor run offense today in nba. Scottie Barnes team plays glorified Biyombo role.
Raptors don't care. Raptors know he can't do more today. Scottie is happy camper. Scottie just scored 28 points on 12 layups. Be more like Scotty less like Jalen with color in his name, who is aslo a rookie.

[drsd]

BPA & FIT are interchangeable things.

Sure, but I was reflecting on your notion that Mr. #16 Anthony was viewed as a roster saviour. He is not. Nor will any rookie the Magic drafts be a positive-player for the next couple years.