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Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I

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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2481 » by Bergmaniac » Mon Mar 31, 2025 1:24 pm

Idiosyncratic wrote:Though I will say Isaac's defensive rating is still really good, so maybe my eyes are wrong here and maybe some team would still be willing to trade for him. Could be in part because he was playing more minutes when we were good. Goga, Mo and Suggs defensive ratings are still really good for instance, but my eyes could definitely be wrong too.

Regardless I still think his overall impact this year is below average.

His defensive rating is still really good but he is also playing with stronger defensive teammates. His value last year was largely because he was able to keep lineups with two or even three out of Ingles, Moe and Cole in them elite or near defensively which is an incredible feat and allowed our bench to usually dominate with their combo of good offense and great defense. This year 70% of his minutes are with Black, Ingles is gone, he has played much fewer minutes with Cole, etc.

But his impact is lower also because he has been a disaster on offense, he has never been a good offensive player, but last year he was decent on that end because he was making 3s at a good clip. This year he is shooting 26% from 3 despite almost always being wide open in the corner, that's killing our spacing. The fact that he never passes the ball doesn't help either, he did this last year too but then we had Ingles who knew not to pass him unless he wanted him to take the shot so it was less of an issue.
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2482 » by Kent » Mon Mar 31, 2025 4:44 pm

Looking at the final 7 games for the Magic, they're all very winnable.

I feel like the Pacers game in Indy is the toughest, followed by the last game in ATL.
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2483 » by Fortune Teller » Mon Mar 31, 2025 4:50 pm

eyriq wrote:
pepe1991 wrote:
eyriq wrote:We have too much depth in forwards and bigs and not enough in guards.


3 ppg
0,4 apg
2,5 rpg

34% FG, 10 made shots in 11 games.

That's Isaac in March :crazy:
His defense is still good enough to compensate

No it's not, which is why he's moving toward unplayable.
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2484 » by ORLMagicGirl15 » Mon Mar 31, 2025 5:30 pm

If Isaac’s defense have taken a nose dive, than, I believe, something has to be going on with him personally. Even as a rookie, he was a great defender. I get that he gained weight but it wouldn’t make him this bad.
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2485 » by drsd » Mon Mar 31, 2025 8:39 pm

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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2486 » by Kent » Mon Mar 31, 2025 9:59 pm

ORLMagicGirl15 wrote:If Isaac’s defense have taken a nose dive, than, I believe, something has to be going on with him personally. Even as a rookie, he was a great defender. I get that he gained weight but it wouldn’t make him this bad.


Anything we could say would be pure speculation. There may not be a reason even JI is aware of.

For example, maybe in his conditioning since last year he's learned a new of way moving or he's just being more mindful of his movement to decrease likelihood of injury.

All I know is he's played 65 out of 75 possible games so far, and could reach 70 by season's end. That is something, and I'll take it.
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2487 » by CZ Eddie » Tue Apr 1, 2025 2:59 am

My thing about Isaac is he had like a combined three years to do nothing but work on his shot.
He should have come out of that with over one million corner three point attempts and a .700 average.

WTF was he doing all that time? Playing video games?
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2488 » by pepe1991 » Tue Apr 1, 2025 4:08 am

CZ Eddie wrote:My thing about Isaac is he had like a combined three years to do nothing but work on his shot.
He should have come out of that with over one million corner three point attempts and a .700 average.

WTF was he doing all that time? Playing video games?


I use this argument every time when people set unrealistic expetations from development.
Jump shot accuracy is like any gun shooting, darts, foot shooting accuracy. It's natural born skill.
You can't workout yourself into Steph Curry type of player no matter how much you work out

I often watch kids practices & games as i live near playground. Among 10 kids at age of 10, 2 can shoot like it's nothing, few can handle the ball like they have glue on their hands, and most can't do jack s***. This is just base talent, some have crazy high, some have very low.
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2489 » by drsd » Tue Apr 1, 2025 7:06 am

pepe1991 wrote:I use this argument every time when people set unrealistic expetations from development.
Jump shot accuracy is like any gun shooting, darts, foot shooting accuracy. It's natural born skill.
You can't workout yourself into Steph Curry type of player no matter how much you work out

I often watch kids practices & games as i live near playground. Among 10 kids at age of 10, 2 can shoot like it's nothing, few can handle the ball like they have glue on their hands, and most can't do jack s***. This is just base talent, some have crazy high, some have very low.


Magic example: Aaron Gordon would brag that in the off-season he was hitting 60%+ from behind the arc (unguarded) in practice. He once claimed to hit 100 in a row (doubtable, but still possible).

The puts on Magic blue. Get tired and beat up, sweat on his hands - i.e. in-game reality. Aaron Gordon was a 30% threeball shooter for Orlando.
His percentages have gone up in Denver becasue his usage dropped - a lot. And taking "easy" threeballs, he is still not good.

Let's guess that Aaron Gordon has taken 100,000 practice threes. That got him to "Career 33.1% shooter"


EDIT: wherever Kon Knueppel and Tre Johnson get drafted, it will be too low. Shooting matters.
And Ace Bailey's ability to hit shots with a hand in his face should also translate to the NBA nicely. He could be his class' robot.

Can the Magic please get Kennard or Huerter so we can stop arguing about shooting?
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2490 » by drsd » Tue Apr 1, 2025 7:18 am

After today,

The Magic is 1 game back of the 7 and 1 1/2 games up on the 9.

Heat is surging and Bulls slumping.

Toronto can no longer catch the Magic; Orlando is a postseason team officially.

...

Orlando needs two more home wins in two final home games to finish with a winning home record: Atlanta and Boston.
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2491 » by pepe1991 » Tue Apr 1, 2025 7:29 am

drsd wrote:
pepe1991 wrote:I use this argument every time when people set unrealistic expetations from development.
Jump shot accuracy is like any gun shooting, darts, foot shooting accuracy. It's natural born skill.
You can't workout yourself into Steph Curry type of player no matter how much you work out

I often watch kids practices & games as i live near playground. Among 10 kids at age of 10, 2 can shoot like it's nothing, few can handle the ball like they have glue on their hands, and most can't do jack s***. This is just base talent, some have crazy high, some have very low.


Magic example: Aaron Gordon would brag that in the off-season he was hitting 60%+ from behind the arc (unguarded) in practice. He once claimed to hit 100 in a row (doubtable, but still possible).

The puts on Magic blue. Get tired and beat up, sweat on his hands - i.e. in-game reality. Aaron Gordon was a 30% threeball shooter for Orlando.
His percentages have gone up in Denver becasue his usage dropped - a lot. And taking "easy" threeballs, he is still not good.

Let's guess that Aaron Gordon has taken 100,000 practice threes. That got him to "Career 33.1% shooter"


EDIT: wherever Kon Knueppel and Tre Johnson get drafted, it will be too low. Shooting matters.
And Ace Bailey's ability to hit shots with a hand in his face should also translate to the NBA nicely. He could be his class' robot.

Can the Magic please get Kennard or Huerter so we can stop arguing about shooting?



Gordon shoots 46% for 3 this year :lol:

After shooting 29% last year.

It's just reality, even when you get really hot for long period of time, due some invisible limitations, you will crush sooner or later. That's why i don't believe in one year-shooting-hit -wonders, nor i believe that career elite shooter can "forget" how to shoot after one bad year. It's natural born ability, you either have one, or don't. I play ball with guy who doesn't touch basketball for months, with cigar hanging from his mouth guy will walk on court and make 15-16 out of 20 threes. Something-something-eye-something-brain-something-hand -something accuracy. It's impossible to rationalize and explain, just like guys on darts hit triple-20 for 3 shots in a row and i can hardly hit board :rofl:


In entire nba history, only 50 men shot 40% for career. That's how rare that crazy accuracy is.
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2492 » by drsd » Tue Apr 1, 2025 7:40 am

pepe1991 wrote:In entire nba history, only 50 men shot 40% for career. That's how rare that crazy accuracy is.


In 1980-81, Mike Bratz led the league in made three-pointers. He made 57 for the season on a 33.7% rate.

Simpler times!
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2493 » by pepe1991 » Tue Apr 1, 2025 7:59 am

drsd wrote:
pepe1991 wrote:In entire nba history, only 50 men shot 40% for career. That's how rare that crazy accuracy is.


In 1980-81, Mike Bratz led the league in made three-pointers. He made 57 for the season on a 33.7% rate.

Simpler times!


Flipping script
In 1992 Dražen Petrović made 123 threes on 44% accuracy


In 2024-25 not a single Magic player will make 123 threes and nobody will even shoot 40% :lol:
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2494 » by magik9113 » Tue Apr 1, 2025 5:37 pm

Pretty sure if we were able to sign Steph Curry right now, he'd forget how to shoot on the flight over to Orlando
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2495 » by drsd » Wed Apr 2, 2025 8:37 am

Today's standings.

Chicago can no longer catch the Bucks nor be cuaght by the Raptors. This means: Toronto is in the lottery 100% and Chicago is a play-in team 100%, currently the 10-seed.

With the Hawks losing (badly) to the Blazers at home, with the Magic win, Orlando is now 7 again, with Atlanta at 8.

Miami sill working hard from 9.


p.s. only 4-1 needed to get to parity!
@Washington
Atlanta
Boston
@Indiana
@Atlanta

My inner Homer sees 4 wins in those five games!
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2496 » by KillMonger » Wed Apr 2, 2025 9:12 am

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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2497 » by drsd » Wed Apr 2, 2025 12:24 pm

basketballRob wrote:AB has played PG in every game that Cole was out. Joseph and AB split minutes. The Magic went 6-4 with AB playing PG. He will be a PG in the future. AB looks better with the ball in his hands.


Yes or no: Black is the starter opening night of the 2025/26 season?

Context for year-3 6th-selection picks:
2022: Bennedict Mathurin started 48/67 this year; did not start opening night. Was a regular starter from game-6 on.
2021: Josh Giddey started 80/80 in year-3. Started opening night!
2020: Onyeka Okongwu, started 18/80 in year-3. Did not start opening night
2019: Jarrett Culver. 0/37 in year-3. Obviously did no start opening night
2018: Mo Bamba, started 5/46 in year-3. Did not start on opening night (was injured first half of year)
2017: Jonathan Isaac. Started 32/34 in year-3. Started opening night!
2016: Buddy Hield. Started 18/25 in year-3. Started opening night!
2015: Willie Cauley-Stein, started 57/73 in year-3. Started opening night!
2014: Marcus Smart. Started 24/79. Did not start on opening night.

Big shoes for Black expectations wise. This coming season is the season Mr. #6's are meant to be mid-level Starters. I bet if we ran a poll here, it would be below 50% of us see him as "Starting PG for the 2025/26 Magic".
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2498 » by Idiosyncratic » Wed Apr 2, 2025 12:54 pm

drsd wrote:
basketballRob wrote:AB has played PG in every game that Cole was out. Joseph and AB split minutes. The Magic went 6-4 with AB playing PG. He will be a PG in the future. AB looks better with the ball in his hands.


Yes or no: Black is the starter opening night of the 2025/26 season?

Context for year-3 6th-selection picks:
2022: Bennedict Mathurin started 48/67 this year; did not start opening night. Was a regular starter from game-6 on.
2021: Josh Giddey started 80/80 in year-3. Started opening night!
2020: Onyeka Okongwu, started 18/80 in year-3. Did not start opening night
2019: Jarrett Culver. 0/37 in year-3. Obviously did no start opening night
2018: Mo Bamba, started 5/46 in year-3. Did not start on opening night (was injured first half of year)
2017: Jonathan Isaac. Started 32/34 in year-3. Started opening night!
2016: Buddy Hield. Started 18/25 in year-3. Started opening night!
2015: Willie Cauley-Stein, started 57/73 in year-3. Started opening night!
2014: Marcus Smart. Started 24/79. Did not start on opening night.

Big shoes for Black expectations wise. This coming season is the season Mr. #6's are meant to be mid-level Starters. I bet if we ran a poll here, it would be below 50% of us see him as "Starting PG for the 2025/26 Magic".


No, partially because they need a guard that can shoot better to balance Paolo and Franz. That being said if AB is good they can easily find him near starter level minutes spelling the PG and Suggs so it doesn't really matter. There will be more than enough minutes if he deserves them.
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2499 » by eyriq » Wed Apr 2, 2025 4:00 pm

drsd wrote:Image


Looks like 40 wins is needed for the 7th seed.
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Re: Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I 

Post#2500 » by drsd » Wed Apr 2, 2025 4:58 pm

eyriq wrote:Looks like 40 wins is needed for the 7th seed.



Orlando needs to win the Hawks split, both games, in my opinion. Records won't/don't matter becasue of these two games.

Stats guys can work out if that is correct logic. But I think it;s true: Atlanta wins two against Orlando, the Hawks is the 7 seed. Orlando wins two against Orlando, the Hawks is the 7 seed.
No other games matter.

The question is: what is there is a split.

Well:
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