Official 2025-2026 Regular Season Thread

[Knightro]

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[thelead]

Just wait till Suggs get 100% healthy and Moe comes back. Our bench is going to get scary. Haha

Some of Moe's effectiveness, when it comes to team impact, hinges on JI. Those two desperately need each other to cover their flaws.

[Darth Magic]

[x]

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?t=Nfk3gNSWXtoc-cj8g5NW9w&s=19 [/x]

Thoughts?

[Idiosyncratic]

[x]

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?t=Nfk3gNSWXtoc-cj8g5NW9w&s=19 [/x]

Thoughts?

Sounds like they want to get away from the iso ball. Long term it probably is the right answer though there have been and will continue to be some growing pains. I mean you see it with Paolo, they've clearly told him to look to pass more. It is hard to argue with trying to functionally change this offense a bit given how bad it has been. I still think they could have Franz with the ball in his hands more making decisions, but we'll see how things shake out.

[thelead]

Going after the coaching for the lack of offensive creativity (at the 56:00):

Watch on YouTube

;t=3360s

[fendilim]

Just wait till Suggs get 100% healthy and Moe comes back. Our bench is going to get scary. Haha

Some of Moe's effectiveness, when it comes to team impact, hinges on JI. Those two desperately need each other to cover their flaws.

I agree, and most definitely the reason why JI hasnt been getting minutes in previous game. Goga and JI is a terrible terrible fit.

[RookieStar]

Just wait till Suggs get 100% healthy and Moe comes back. Our bench is going to get scary. Haha

Some of Moe's effectiveness, when it comes to team impact, hinges on JI. Those two desperately need each other to cover their flaws.

I agree, and most definitely the reason why JI hasnt been getting minutes in previous game. Goga and JI is a terrible terrible fit.

Goga and Moe might be effective. But we won't know till we see it happen

[basketballRob]

Penda may be an answer at center. Collin Murray Boyles is playing center for the Raptors tonight, and he's smaller than Penda.

At around the 2:00 mark, they played Penda at the 5, Isaac at the 4, Franz at the 3, TDS at the 2, and Tyus at the 1. For 4 minutes, and had a +33 net rating. I think they found something with this lineup.

https://youtu.be/xviCurNn8OU?si=YfvfXSZgH-Qe4FMz


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[Ducklett]

GB back to **** on us for the Bane deal.

[KillMonger]

GB back to **** on us for the Bane deal.

TF cares what they think

[basketballRob]

We've had 2 sets of 3 games in 4 nights. Chicago, NY, and Milwaukee haven't had a b2b yet.

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[basketballRob]

I just noticed Bane shot 35/24/68 with 10.6 ppg in November last season. He ended with almost a 50/40/90 with 19.2 ppg.

Hopefully, he's just in a lull that he sometimes gets into.

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[bigdogdylan5]

I just noticed Bane shot 35/24/68 with 10.6 ppg in November last season. He ended with almost a 50/40/90 with 19.2 ppg.

Hopefully, he's just in a lull that he sometimes gets into.

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I think we are just so traumatized by our lack of shooting in last 10 years that we think a good shooter shoots 60% from 3 as we watch the games all the time. Even the elite shooters are susceptible to being streaky. Throw in new team and our passes to shooters not being the best there was bound to be an adjustment period. Again not worried about Bane because even when he is not shooting well he is finding ways to attack and be productive.

[VFX]

GB back to **** on us for the Bane deal.

Are they wrong though?

The deal was questionable at the time and it doesn’t look great despite early data.

[Idiosyncratic]

I'm not even worried about Bane's percentages so much as the process. He needs to be launching 3s. A lot of times he has enough space for one and kind of just bowling balls into the paint and gets blocked or turns it over. He's had some good moments driving too don't get me wrong, but that should be secondary to hitting 3s IMO.

Run more set plays for him as well, but man, just let it fly with no conscience. That is the kind of player we need to complement Paolo and Franz. Even if he shoots 37% (would be career low) instead of his career 41% the positive impact it would have on our offense would be immense I have to imagine. He's at 4.7 3s per game. I want 7+. I know we have less creation than what he had in Memphis, but he's gotten up 7 3s a game at 40% in his games without Ja, so I don't think he isn't capable.

[basketballRob]

I just listened to an old locked on Magic, and he was talking about the Tuesday, October 21st practice was fiery and just like a game.

I don't understand Mosely's practice schedule. Why would you do a mock game the day before you played 3 games in 4 nights? Mosely has always had these weird schedules so they can have weekends off.

I do think some of the shooting woes have been due to Mosely's lack of awareness.

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[VFX]

I'm not even worried about Bane's percentages so much as the process. He needs to be launching 3s. A lot of times he has enough space for one and kind of just bowling balls into the paint and gets blocked or turns it over. He's had some good moments driving too don't get me wrong, but that should be secondary to hitting 3s IMO.

Run more set plays for him as well, but man, just let it fly with no conscience. That is the kind of player we need to complement Paolo and Franz. Even if he shoots 37% (would be career low) instead of his career 41% the positive impact it would have on our offense would be immense I have to imagine. He's at 4.7 3s per game. I want 7+. I know we have less creation than what he had in Memphis, but he's gotten up 7 3s a game at 40% in his games without Ja, so I don't think he isn't capable.

I'm also not too worried about Bane - the player. His skillset was never under question of what he's capable of doing within the context of a system that emphasizes those abilities. That's kind of the point about criticism of the original acquisition that I think is lost on most of this board and Magic fandom in general (not saying you in particular, I think you get it).

Yes, he needs to be shooting. The question isn't volume. Good players don't really think this way when they are on the court within the context of a game. Bane is a smart player. He isn't Cam Thomas or Jordan Poole. He is going to make the best play on the court that makes the most sense at the time.

So, yet again, it really that boils down to the system as a whole. It's just not conducive to anyone outside of Paolo and Franz unless the opposing team has a traffic cone back court. This is just to assume we start seeing more games where Paolo or Franz have 7-8+ assists and not putting up 16-20 fga's each. Wishful thinking. I don't think Mosely is smart enough on that side of the court to reign that in. He's basically given Paolo the green light to do whatever he's wanted to do since he stepped on an NBA floor.

The issue now becomes that for Bane to live up to the gravity of that trade he will need to hit on shots more often at lesser volume. Either that, or Franz and Paolo have to play entirely differently than they have up to this point. Only one of those scenarios seem more likely, which is why taking the ball out of their hands and utilizing them off ball made more sense than acquiring a guy that needs volume and possessions to be efficient up to this point in his career.

It's kinda setting him up for failure unless you expect Paolo and Franz to play differently than absolutely everything we have seen including college. In a 6 game sample size, Suggs leads the team in APG at 4.3 and Paolo isnt far behind at 4. Thats terrible considering how often Paolo has the ball and the amount of touches he gets as a starter averaging 35mpg running a system that implies he's the "Point Forward Wing-Hub" without acquiring a true starting point guard. I'm not sure how people are coping with that up to this point outside of "its early this was expected"... yeah what if it was always the trend that was pointed out years ago? What then?

[zaymon]

I'm not even worried about Bane's percentages so much as the process. He needs to be launching 3s. A lot of times he has enough space for one and kind of just bowling balls into the paint and gets blocked or turns it over. He's had some good moments driving too don't get me wrong, but that should be secondary to hitting 3s IMO.

Run more set plays for him as well, but man, just let it fly with no conscience. That is the kind of player we need to complement Paolo and Franz. Even if he shoots 37% (would be career low) instead of his career 41% the positive impact it would have on our offense would be immense I have to imagine. He's at 4.7 3s per game. I want 7+. I know we have less creation than what he had in Memphis, but he's gotten up 7 3s a game at 40% in his games without Ja, so I don't think he isn't capable.

I'm also not too worried about Bane - the player. His skillset was never under question of what he's capable of doing within the context of a system that emphasizes those abilities. That's kind of the point about criticism of the original acquisition that I think is lost on most of this board and Magic fandom in general (not saying you in particular, I think you get it).

Yes, he needs to be shooting. The question isn't volume. Good players don't really think this way when they are on the court within the context of a game. Bane is a smart player. He isn't Cam Thomas or Jordan Poole. He is going to make the best play on the court that makes the most sense at the time.

So, yet again, it really that boils down to the system as a whole. It's just not conducive to anyone outside of Paolo and Franz unless the opposing team has a traffic cone back court. This is just to assume we start seeing more games where Paolo or Franz have 7-8+ assists and not putting up 16-20 fga's each. Wishful thinking. I don't think Mosely is smart enough on that side of the court to reign that in. He's basically given Paolo the green light to do whatever he's wanted to do since he stepped on an NBA floor.

The issue now becomes that for Bane to live up to the gravity of that trade he will need to hit on shots more often at lesser volume. Either that, or Franz and Paolo have to play entirely differently than they have up to this point. Only one of those scenarios seem more likely, which is why taking the ball out of their hands and utilizing them off ball made more sense than acquiring a guy that needs volume and possessions to be efficient up to this point in his career.

It's kinda setting him up for failure unless you expect Paolo and Franz to play differently than absolutely everything we have seen including college. In a 6 game sample size, Suggs leads the team in APG at 4.3 and Paolo isnt far behind at 4. Thats terrible considering how often Paolo has the ball and the amount of touches he gets as a starter averaging 35mpg running a system that implies he's the "Point Forward Wing-Hub" without acquiring a true starting point guard. I'm not sure how people are coping with that up to this point outside of "its early this was expected"... yeah what if it was always the trend that was pointed out years ago? What then?

If we can find positives than Paolo moving the ball vs Hornets shows fan pressure have some sense. He played bad basketball for most of his time here but maybe he can adapt.
Even if he adapts his game we still have same old problems. No players to create advantage and make good decisions after that.
Suggs can create advantage with his strength and speed but he makes too many mental lapses.
Paolo can create advantage with his size but his handle is good only for a forward not for consistent driving to the rim. he also doesnt have good touch and often makes decision what to do before a play.
Wagner is not crazy explosive and also not crazy creative as a passer. Plays safe and efficient. Best option we have but also its hard to drive all game as a 6'10 guy. Same applies to Paolo.
Bane is not explosive, relies on screens which needs time to develop chemistry (that gives us hope) and cant space for himself when he has the ball.
Unless Suggs/Black shoot 40% from 3, Paolo moves the ball and Wagner takes more offensive usage we will have a problem. I am not even starting on WCJ.

[eyriq]

Interesting to see how the new BPI projections (which now include early-season results) are stacking up against the initial pre-season betting market expectations (which were based on O/U win totals).

BPI Rank vs. Pre-Season Market Rank

Cavs: 1 (Market: 1) [ 0] —
Knicks: 2 (Market: 2) [ 0] —
76ers: 3 (Market: 6) [+3] ↑
Bucks: 4 (Market: 7) [+3] ↑
Heat: 5 (Market: 10) [+5] ↑
Hawks: 6 (Market: 4) [-2] ↓
-------------------------------------
Celtics: 7 (Market: 8) [+1] ↑
Pistons: 8 (Market: 5) [-3] ↓
Magic: 9 (Market: 3) [-6] ↓
Bulls: 10 (Market: 12) [+2] ↑
--------------------------------------
Raptors: 11 (Market: 9) [-2] ↓
Pacers: 12 (Market: 11) [-1] ↓
Hornets: 13 (Market: 13) [ 0] —
Wizards: 14 (Market: 14) [ 0] —
Nets: 15 (Market: 15) [ 0] —

A few takeaways from this:

BPI is clearly reacting to the Heat's hot start, vaulting them 5 spots past their pre-season market rank.

The model is heavily punishing the Magic for their slow start. The market was very high on them (3rd), but BPI has dropped them all the way to 9th.

Conversely, BPI is keeping the faith with the Cavs (1st) and Knicks (2nd) despite their .500 (or worse) starts, trusting the model over the early noise.

BPI is not buying the Bulls' undefeated start, still projecting them as a play-in team (10th), which is only a slight bump from their pre-season rank (12th).

It's also high on the 76ers (3rd) and Bucks (4th), projecting them well ahead of their initial market expectations.

[thelead]

Stolen from reddit. I think this was before the Hornets game. Still, very sad: