25th Anniversary season Game 1: Magic vs Pacers

[JBSouthpaw]

Indy is in their prime, returned their starting 5 from the playoffs. All 5 starters have been in their role for a minimum of 2 years. Of Course they're better than us.

I don't like to bash a coach, because what we see during a game(especially the 1st game) is such a small part of what the coach is basing his decisions on.

BUT I hope JV had a learning moment and will not make the same mistake with Nicholson, or another player in the future.

[Last Guardian]

On a normal day I would agree with keeping Maxiell in for defensive reasons against West. But this was no normal day for Nicholson....he was scorching hot. You get him in the game no matter who he has to guard.

Forgetting that for a moment, when Nicholson did come back, we didn't even run a play for him. Not sure what this teams strategy is...but clearly feeding the hot hand is not a bullet point on the chalk board.

[NickAnderson]

Nicholson looked winded when he got taken out in the second so I agree with JV there but I don't understand waiting to put him back in until the 4th with him having plenty of rest at halftime.

[Optimus_Steel]

Also for the people wanting Stan back, he is a terrible motivator and in a situation like we are in now with all the young talent you have to be good at motivating. Plus he hardly ever played rookies and second year players. Y'all would be in for a treat if he was here.

Sent from my LG-LS970 using RealGM Forums mobile app

That's not accurate. He always had this team prepared to play and he put the collective parts of the team in position to max their potential. He sure motivated Gortat, JJ, Ryan and others to get better, got the best out of Courtney Lee. They all give Stan major props for helping them develop and how often do you hear NBA players say that a head coach help them develop their game? Hardly ever.

I do agree that for right now he is not the right coach for the team but when the team is on the cusp of making playoff runs he is a fantastic choice.

[Optimus_Steel]

On a normal day I would agree with keeping Maxiell in for defensive reasons against West. But this was no normal day for Nicholson....he was scorching hot. You get him in the game no matter who he has to guard.

Forgetting that for a moment, when Nicholson did come back, we didn't even run a play for him. Not sure what this teams strategy is...but clearly feeding the hot hand is not a bullet point on the chalk board.

Not only that but he was playing alert defense. He was moving and putting a body on people. He was playing well on the defensive end and that was always his question mark. He earned more time in the 2nd half, no doubt. He should have come in halfway thru the 3rd. In what world does Jason Maxiell deserve to play an entire quarter 3rd quarter? Then he comes in and they don't give him the ball or run some plays for him when we desperately need points. I just think that JV over thought it and went with match-ups bla bla bla. Really JV had no excuse for that one. You got a guy busting his ass and he doesn't get rewarded with playing time, its a slap in the face.

[NickAnderson]

Also for the people wanting Stan back, he is a terrible motivator and in a situation like we are in now with all the young talent you have to be good at motivating. Plus he hardly ever played rookies and second year players. Y'all would be in for a treat if he was here.

Sent from my LG-LS970 using RealGM Forums mobile app

That's not accurate. He always had this team prepared to play and he put the collective parts of the team in position to max their potential. He sure motivated Gortat, JJ, Ryan and others to get better, got the best out of Courtney Lee. They all give Stan major props for helping them develop and how often do you hear NBA players say that a head coach help them develop their game? Hardly ever.

I do agree that for right now he is not the right coach for the team but when the team is on the cusp of making playoff runs he is a fantastic choice.

I disagree, consistently bashing your players in the media and screaming like a lunatic is not motivating your players. If he does that in the media imagine what he does when the cameras aren't around.

Sure he helped develop some players but what about all the others? Does no one remember the poll from NBA players that said about 80% would not want to play for SVG?

[lucky777s]

Just came in here to find an explanation for why Nicholson had 18 at the half and finished with 18. Stats showed it was not because he went cold so I thought he may have been hurt. Minutes were low.

But it seems like it was just a strange coaching decision.

[BadMofoPimp]

Wait. How is Vaughn developing players? By limiting their minutes and taking them out when they have high confidence and are playing well?

Vaughn must be a patsy until Stan comes back.

[mad-man]

I understand you guys are rebuilding, but why then limit Oladipo and Nicholson's minutes?

[Optimus_Steel]

Also for the people wanting Stan back, he is a terrible motivator and in a situation like we are in now with all the young talent you have to be good at motivating. Plus he hardly ever played rookies and second year players. Y'all would be in for a treat if he was here.

Sent from my LG-LS970 using RealGM Forums mobile app

That's not accurate. He always had this team prepared to play and he put the collective parts of the team in position to max their potential. He sure motivated Gortat, JJ, Ryan and others to get better, got the best out of Courtney Lee. They all give Stan major props for helping them develop and how often do you hear NBA players say that a head coach help them develop their game? Hardly ever.

I do agree that for right now he is not the right coach for the team but when the team is on the cusp of making playoff runs he is a fantastic choice.

I disagree, consistently bashing your players in the media and screaming like a lunatic is not motivating your players. If he does that in the media imagine what he does when the cameras aren't around.

Sure he helped develop some players but what about all the others? Does no one remember the poll from NBA players that said about 80% would not want to play for SVG?

Honestly I think thats mostly a misconception due mainly to Shaq and Dwight. Except Shaq pretty much has trashed every coach he's had, he even trashed Pat Riley, and Dwight- the one that kept making fun of him and saying that he wanted Stan to treat him like a puppy and not be so harsh- now he asks Stan for advice lol. The fact that Stan was able to keep Dwight focused as long as he did given his childish personality is pretty damm impressive.

Sometimes he screams too much, but his positives far out weight his negatives, and the grand majority of his players respect him. Lets be honest, Dwight needed Stan to chew his ass out. I really appreciate his honestly, when most coaches just sugarcoat everything.

[OrlandO]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/395377077618106368[/tweet]

sweet, another record set against us

[Just Plain Mark]

It was brutal watching the Magic's offense last night, but maybe this will force JV to rethink keeping Tobias on the bench since it wasn't the bench that needed a scoring punch but rather the starters. Also, nobody in the starting 5 last night could create their own shot so Harris not only adds scoring, he adds it in a way that's very complimentary to Nelson, Afflalo and Vuc.

It was also brutal watching the lack of variety from the offense - there were far too few high pick and rolls/pick and pops are far too many plays run with Vuc at the top of the key being the distributor of the offense - that's not an impressive or inventive methodology. Vuc had 5 TO's and the Magic had a 1/1 Assist to TO ratio.

The decision to keep Maxiell on the floor for his good defense was nonsensical given the Magic's scoring woes and defensive lapses in the third quarter (the Pacers best offensive quarter of the game). Even more strangely, Scola was 4-7 so it wasn't like Nicholson was playing great defense when he was guarding Scola (for comparison, West was 4-11). Also, surprisingly, Nicholson rebound just as well as Maxiell - an area where the Magic got killed and an area where Maxiell is supposed to offer superiority to Nicholson. IMO, though, perhaps worse than the decision to sit Nicholson was JV's tone in response - don't act like its still a good idea after the fact when the move clearly didn't pay off. Maxiell was a -15 and Nicholson was a 0 for plus minus for the game. Just admit that it wasn't a good idea.

I'm also disappointed by the decision to play Moore for 26 minutes - that's 3 min more than Dipo and 5 minutes less than Nelson (who had a decent game distributing the ball). I know the Magic are without a back up SF with Harris out, but Harkless ended up with 4 fouls so he could've played more (or Dipo more). This is also a curious situation as a result of cutting Osby (I may have missed the discussion about this) since a 4th string PF/C isn't very helpful when you don't have a true back up SF.

[OrlandO]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meO8XTH4OyE[/youtube]

[BayAreaMadSkill]

I will say that I'm really excited about Victor Oladipo. I love a player that is so willing to drive to the hoop hard and attempt to score and/or get fouled. It opens up things so much for a player, and his shot will continue to move along. He's uper athletic and just gives us so much hope for the future.

Having said that; Nelson needs to be traded soon. He makes our offense so stagnant, especially when Afflalo is in there too. HATE SEEING NELSON OUT THERE. Dipo was LITERALLY STANDING IN THE CORNER for 5+ straight possessions. As a decoy? He didn't move. JV is an idiot!

How do you sit Nicholson that long? It makes me think he's being told to do it by the higher ups, but it cant be that synical. IDK. I'm already done watching basketball. It seems the refs have their own agenda this season with all of the bull they were calling, and until we get a new coach, this will be rough.

I dont care about winning. AT ALL. I want Dipo, Nicholson, etc to get good minutes and plenty of opportunity.

[BadMofoPimp]

Honestly I think thats mostly a misconception due mainly to Shaq and Dwight. Except Shaq pretty much has trashed every coach he's had, he even trashed Pat Riley, and Dwight- the one that kept making fun of him and saying that he wanted Stan to treat him like a puppy and not be so harsh- now he asks Stan for advice lol. The fact that Stan was able to keep Dwight focused as long as he did given his childish personality is pretty damm impressive.

Sometimes he screams too much, but his positives far out weight his negatives, and the grand majority of his players respect him. Lets be honest, Dwight needed Stan to chew his ass out. I really appreciate his honestly, when most coaches just sugarcoat everything.

People also seem to forget how emotional Stan was. He defended his players and went to battle for his guys. Sometimes, it seemed he was about in tears when he was defending his teams play. He was hard on them, but he only did that to get the most out of them. You could tell how much he loved his team. Stan had passion and that is something that Vaughn misses entirely. I don't think Vaughn commands respect like Stan did. And, without respect for your coach on that level where you go above and beyond like the 2009 Magic, you are not going to build a great team. This team may develop, but won't go far with Vaughn. But, a developed team could go further with Stan.

[woosah]

50+ pages?
Afflalo hate?
Questions (debates) about rotations?
JV smiling?

yaaaaaaaaay! It's back to normal and Magic basketball is back!

[Optimus_Steel]

Honestly I think thats mostly a misconception due mainly to Shaq and Dwight. Except Shaq pretty much has trashed every coach he's had, he even trashed Pat Riley, and Dwight- the one that kept making fun of him and saying that he wanted Stan to treat him like a puppy and not be so harsh- now he asks Stan for advice lol. The fact that Stan was able to keep Dwight focused as long as he did given his childish personality is pretty damm impressive.

Sometimes he screams too much, but his positives far out weight his negatives, and the grand majority of his players respect him. Lets be honest, Dwight needed Stan to chew his ass out. I really appreciate his honestly, when most coaches just sugarcoat everything.

People also seem to forget how emotional Stan was. He defended his players and went to battle for his guys. Sometimes, it seemed he was about in tears when he was defending his teams play. He was hard on them, but he only did that to get the most out of them. You could tell how much he loved his team. Stan had passion and that is something that Vaughn misses entirely. I don't think Vaughn commands respect like Stan did. And, without respect for your coach on that level where you go above and beyond like the 2009 Magic, you are not going to build a great team. This team may develop, but won't go far with Vaughn. But, a developed team could go further with Stan.

Thanks for bringing that up. Yea he chewed people out, but he was also the first one to go out of his way to praise his players when they played great. Like you said, he was hard on them, but to get the best out of them. And he always had his players back. When there were some bad calls by the refs, he was the first one to stick up for his guys. Remember how he used to petition on the hard fouls on Dwight.

[tranjSAIC]

Just went through ALL 58 pages before I start my work day...lol

Magic are not that popular in Orlando, unless we are good. I went to Gators Dockside right at game time, they had a crap load of huge tvs there, but not a single one was on the Magic game. Crazy for a sports bar to do that on opening night.

I really hope this current line up is because Henny wants to showcase our vets. If I have to watch this all year I will kill someone. I don't mind Meer here, but I would prefer him backing up Oladipo. I want Afflalo gone as soon as possible. I would trade his ass for ANYTHING at this point.

I really wish we gotten Brad Stevens instead, he strikes me as a good young coach I would want to build my team with. If we continue our tanking route and getting high quality players like OKC, I hope to god we don't keep JV. JV imo is a lot like Scotty Brooks in OKC. OKC should have upgraded coaches once their young talents gotten better, once our young talent gets better we better get a real coach in here.

[BadMofoPimp]

People also seem to forget how emotional Stan was. He defended his players and went to battle for his guys. Sometimes, it seemed he was about in tears when he was defending his teams play. He was hard on them, but he only did that to get the most out of them. You could tell how much he loved his team. Stan had passion and that is something that Vaughn misses entirely. I don't think Vaughn commands respect like Stan did. And, without respect for your coach on that level where you go above and beyond like the 2009 Magic, you are not going to build a great team. This team may develop, but won't go far with Vaughn. But, a developed team could go further with Stan.

Thanks for bringing that up. Yea he chewed people out, but he was also the first one to go out of his way to praise his players when they played great. Like you said, he was hard on them, but to get the best out of them. And he always had his players back. When there were some bad calls by the refs, he was the first one to stick up for his guys. Remember how he used to petition on the hard fouls on Dwight.

Stan always stood up for Dwight even right after the trade and every day since. He was probably the one person that was hardest on Dwight in his entire life which probably made Dwight the player he became. But, in the end was still his staunchest defender too. Even after Dwight threw him under the bus. I am pretty sure Dwight apologized to him many times behind closed doors.

[BadMofoPimp]

Just went through ALL 58 pages before I start my work day...lol

Magic are not that popular in Orlando, unless we are good. I went to Gators Dockside right at game time, they had a crap load of huge tvs there, but not a single one was on the Magic game. Crazy for a sports bar to do that on opening night.

I really hope this current line up is because Henny wants to showcase our vets. If I have to watch this all year I will kill someone. I don't mind Meer here, but I would prefer him backing up Oladipo. I want Afflalo gone as soon as possible. I would trade his ass for ANYTHING at this point.

I really wish we gotten Brad Stevens instead, he strikes me as a good young coach I would want to build my team with. If we continue our tanking route and getting high quality players like OKC, I hope to god we don't keep JV. JV imo is a lot like Scotty Brooks in OKC. OKC should have upgraded coaches once their young talents gotten better, once our young talent gets better we better get a real coach in here.

I hit Gators Dockside often because it is near my sisters house and my father only wants to go there. They hardly never show the Magic and will even bounce the freaking Dolphins game (actually turn it off) to show UFC. I can't stand that place, but I been going there for a decade due to family and know some of the staff.

As far as coaches, the Magic will get a real good coach in a year or two after the patsy tanks this team enough.

And, I sure hope showcasing AA is the real reason he is out there at all.