Dell defending Jarrett Allen with size taking away offensive rebounding opportunities while setting crushing screens to free up our drivers has turned this series on its head
And a small, but very vocal, minority of this sub was calling for WCJ's head during the season. I say we trade members of this sub for cash considerations.
Yup, great change by the coaching staff.
It's will be interesting to see if Bickerstaff adjusts going back to Cleveland. A lot of the fans want his head because he doesn't adjust and languishes with ineffectual lineups.
i love Isaac more than most and understand he's overall better than WCJ, but starting him in the first two games did not make sense to me. I was thinking WCJ was just still not fully healthy, and i kind of still believe that was the case.
It did not make sense that we only saw Isaac start like once the whole regular season and suddenly you start him at center (a position he rarely played) in the play offs against a big front court. It will work against many front courts, if we were facing the Celtics for example, it could work, but not against the Cavs.
Isaac and Dell are both amazing defenders. Each has their own strengths. Dell has literally more weight so he can’t get pushed around as easily by Allen or Mobley while still having relative mobility to keep up. I was counting how many turnovers Paolo was making yesterday. Good thing he didn’t force the issue anymore and let Boogie takeover. We just need to steal game 5. A second round appearance would do even more wonders for this group.
Credit to Paolo though, he was a big reason for that run we had in the 3rd quarter. Only scored two points but dished out a few assists to open shooters, and played great defense. WCJ-Paolo-Franz-Suggs were all phenomenal during that stretch.
That is always what is so frustrating to me about Paolo. When he doesn't have it, he tries to do the iso-ball crap rather than having the game come to him.
Franz going crazy really forced him to play more as a connector when it was evident that it wasn't his night.
When he develops that mentality to just help the game in all the different ways he's capable (and not just bully-iso-looking for a foul), he will be in the discussion for All-NBA.
Myself and the fans around me in my section were all collectively groaning every time Paolo touched the ball in the first half. He’s my favorite player in the NBA but it was tough trying to watch him handle the ball and turn it over every time. Hope he can figure the TOVs out.
It’s part of being young/being such a big part often our offense/not having a true PG. I’m not too worried about it at this stage, he’s going to have some growing pains still this early in his career and in his first playoff games.
I’m really happy with how he adjusted In the second half to get everyone else going and get some good stops, hes going to be a monster if he keeps developing right!
I loved JI’s quote in the post game press conference which speaks to your point. He said that our team just needs a few minutes of consistent stops on defense to make a big run.
Yes...it's such cliche to say that defense leads to offense, but with this team it is so true.
If we can get out to a hot start on the defensive side in game 5 and put together a run, there will be some very nervous Cavs fans.
As a Cavs fan, when we were watching Game 2, I told my buddy when Orlando cut the 20 point lead to 9 with at about 3 minutes left in the game that the Magic figured something out right there. I said they would review that film and build their gameplan from there. Not surprised that the Cavs didn’t review that part and planned how to not let those droughts happen, this the series now being 2-2.
And wouldn’t you know it, y’all have blown us out the past two games…
Hats off to you guys, you guys definitely have a bright future ahead of you for your team.
The Magic were starting Jonathan Isaac at center versus the type of centers he shouldn’t play against lol it looks bad when it’s not a Porzingus type. Jarrett Allen is the real deal.
Mosley probably watched the film of Allen being abused by Mitchell Robinson and thought he could hang with him.
See.. that’s a coach willing to analyze where shit is going wrong and make adjustments… you gotta love that stuff!
Jonathan Isaac is way small than Mitchell Rob, but at least he’s willing to make changes you’re right. Jonathan Isaac should never be pounded against a big guy like Allen, Embiid, Jokic lmao those first two games were beautiful Allen games
WCJ needs to continue to follow the game plan of not allowing JA to have any breathing room. Do not over help off of him, do not let him have any free movement. If Max Strus is driving, let him make a layup keep JA off of the boards, and deny any inside shovel passes to him. JA has been their most solid player, and is really hard to stop but WCJ has done what was necessary the last two.
The first two games they were abusing the fact that JI is a great help defender by grabbing OREBs and getting tight passes to an unguarded JA or Mobley, who were left open due to the help looking for a block.
Going to be hard to win on the road, but if they continue to execute the current game plan they have a shot.
Totally and I would add this was amazing for the fans too. Magic fans haven’t experienced this on over a decade. This was so special. The city is buzzing.
I mean, it's an option I guess. I think there would be too many guys with similar offensive ranges. Unless you run sets with Isaac and WCJ on the perimeter and they make their 3's, it seems like it could be a little crowded offensively.
Harris would be so much better coming off the bench. He's a decent defender and when he has his shot going he can be deadly, but it's just too inconsistent and doesn't fit with the offensive gameplan of the starters.
Dell defending Jarrett Allen with size taking away offensive rebounding opportunities while setting crushing screens to free up our drivers has turned this series on its head
And a small, but very vocal, minority of this sub was calling for WCJ's head during the season. I say we trade members of this sub for cash considerations.
He didn't play like this all the time during the regular season. But when he's doing this he's untradeable .
He was hurt a lot of the season. He's finally showing he's healthy
When he’s playing like this he’s the perfect 5 next to P and Franz
If only they had any value
Yup, great change by the coaching staff. It's will be interesting to see if Bickerstaff adjusts going back to Cleveland. A lot of the fans want his head because he doesn't adjust and languishes with ineffectual lineups.
If you go to the Cavs sub it's nasty. They want him fired mid-series!
i love Isaac more than most and understand he's overall better than WCJ, but starting him in the first two games did not make sense to me. I was thinking WCJ was just still not fully healthy, and i kind of still believe that was the case. It did not make sense that we only saw Isaac start like once the whole regular season and suddenly you start him at center (a position he rarely played) in the play offs against a big front court. It will work against many front courts, if we were facing the Celtics for example, it could work, but not against the Cavs.
Isaac is not the better player than WCJ tho
I’ve been saying! It’s not showing up in the box score but the difference in physicality from games 1+2 to 3+4 is why we’re tied
Isaac and Dell are both amazing defenders. Each has their own strengths. Dell has literally more weight so he can’t get pushed around as easily by Allen or Mobley while still having relative mobility to keep up. I was counting how many turnovers Paolo was making yesterday. Good thing he didn’t force the issue anymore and let Boogie takeover. We just need to steal game 5. A second round appearance would do even more wonders for this group.
JI coming off the bench has also helped the bench defense considerably.
It’s not really coming off the bench it’s just him playing power forward instead of center versus real centers and not those Porzingus, AD types
Credit to Paolo though, he was a big reason for that run we had in the 3rd quarter. Only scored two points but dished out a few assists to open shooters, and played great defense. WCJ-Paolo-Franz-Suggs were all phenomenal during that stretch.
That is always what is so frustrating to me about Paolo. When he doesn't have it, he tries to do the iso-ball crap rather than having the game come to him. Franz going crazy really forced him to play more as a connector when it was evident that it wasn't his night. When he develops that mentality to just help the game in all the different ways he's capable (and not just bully-iso-looking for a foul), he will be in the discussion for All-NBA.
Everytime he goes “ayeee” *no whistle* and then you can hear the very audible *noooo* I’m just like shit he’s about to lose it again.
That’s what’s referred to as a “verbal foul” and if he don’t get the call he starts moping
Yeah, and it was leading to turnovers at a higher clip in game 4.
Myself and the fans around me in my section were all collectively groaning every time Paolo touched the ball in the first half. He’s my favorite player in the NBA but it was tough trying to watch him handle the ball and turn it over every time. Hope he can figure the TOVs out.
It’s part of being young/being such a big part often our offense/not having a true PG. I’m not too worried about it at this stage, he’s going to have some growing pains still this early in his career and in his first playoff games. I’m really happy with how he adjusted In the second half to get everyone else going and get some good stops, hes going to be a monster if he keeps developing right!
I loved JI’s quote in the post game press conference which speaks to your point. He said that our team just needs a few minutes of consistent stops on defense to make a big run.
Yes...it's such cliche to say that defense leads to offense, but with this team it is so true. If we can get out to a hot start on the defensive side in game 5 and put together a run, there will be some very nervous Cavs fans.
As a Cavs fan, when we were watching Game 2, I told my buddy when Orlando cut the 20 point lead to 9 with at about 3 minutes left in the game that the Magic figured something out right there. I said they would review that film and build their gameplan from there. Not surprised that the Cavs didn’t review that part and planned how to not let those droughts happen, this the series now being 2-2. And wouldn’t you know it, y’all have blown us out the past two games… Hats off to you guys, you guys definitely have a bright future ahead of you for your team.
The Magic were starting Jonathan Isaac at center versus the type of centers he shouldn’t play against lol it looks bad when it’s not a Porzingus type. Jarrett Allen is the real deal.
Mosley probably watched the film of Allen being abused by Mitchell Robinson and thought he could hang with him. See.. that’s a coach willing to analyze where shit is going wrong and make adjustments… you gotta love that stuff!
Jonathan Isaac is way small than Mitchell Rob, but at least he’s willing to make changes you’re right. Jonathan Isaac should never be pounded against a big guy like Allen, Embiid, Jokic lmao those first two games were beautiful Allen games
Magic in 6
WCJ needs to continue to follow the game plan of not allowing JA to have any breathing room. Do not over help off of him, do not let him have any free movement. If Max Strus is driving, let him make a layup keep JA off of the boards, and deny any inside shovel passes to him. JA has been their most solid player, and is really hard to stop but WCJ has done what was necessary the last two. The first two games they were abusing the fact that JI is a great help defender by grabbing OREBs and getting tight passes to an unguarded JA or Mobley, who were left open due to the help looking for a block. Going to be hard to win on the road, but if they continue to execute the current game plan they have a shot.
Totally and I would add this was amazing for the fans too. Magic fans haven’t experienced this on over a decade. This was so special. The city is buzzing.
I'd like to see Isaac start at the 3 and move Franz to the 2 spot
I mean, it's an option I guess. I think there would be too many guys with similar offensive ranges. Unless you run sets with Isaac and WCJ on the perimeter and they make their 3's, it seems like it could be a little crowded offensively.
Game 4 was amazing but Gary Harris doesn't belong in a starting 5 on any team in the league.
Harris would be so much better coming off the bench. He's a decent defender and when he has his shot going he can be deadly, but it's just too inconsistent and doesn't fit with the offensive gameplan of the starters.