2/4/24 3PM EST Orlando Magic @ Zollner Pistons

[Tigeraholic1]

[casimir]

I believe that Zollner Piston would fit in well with the current Piston (lack of) defense.

[Tigeraholic1]

6 hours ago, casimir said:

I believe that Zollner Piston would fit in well with the current Piston (lack of) defense.

The property my kids go to high school was donated by Fred Zollner. The football field is called Zollner Stadium. There is a trophy case with a bunch of Pistons stuff that was displayed at the War Memorial Coliseum (Ft Wayne Komets home ice) when they played there. I will try to remember to snap some pics next time I am over there.

[Deleterious]

Might have just saved us.

 

[Deleterious]

Or Troy is now thinking, Discount!

[buddha]

nobody wanted lavine so he decided to have surgery.

the bulls have done so much better without him.  FOR A REASON!  he's a cancer.  a bad player.  a selfish suck on the team.

do.  not.  trade.  for.  lavine.

[casimir]

This is the last home game before a 5 game trip out west and southwest leading into the all star break.  Looking at February schedule, it’s looking highly likely they don’t win this month.  Today’s home game is one of only 3 home games this month with the final one being another hosting of the Magic.  Maybe they steal one at Portland or at Chicago, but it’s looking like another long losing streak.

[Betrayer]

15 hours ago, buddha said:

nobody wanted lavine so he decided to have surgery.

He thought he might get traded to the Pistons, so he decided surgery was a better idea.

[Deleterious]

Bojan is just as bad on defense as Thompson is on offense.

[Deleterious]

Cade going under the screen with Wagner as the ball handler is a big mistake.  

[Deleterious]

 

[Deleterious]

Thompson having a quarter.   Made 3PT.  Putback dunk.  Offensive rebound and quick dish to Ivey for the easy 2.  Now the nice and one when he slipped the screen setting the pick.

[Deleterious]

Another putback dunk for Thompson.  

Also notice they seem to use him as the roll man a lot more lately.

[Deleterious]

Mistake by Duren there.  Cade did an excellent job keeping Banchero in front of him and Duren still helped.  Left Wagner wide open for the the three. 

[Deleterious]

Cade just did the same thing!  Banchero was defended well and Cade came off Wagner who of course drilled the open three again.  

[Hart]

I still think Cade is deferring too much.  The assist numbers are nice but I would rather have him be more aggressive as a scorer the first three quarters of games.  

[Deleterious]

Stats wont say it but that was a bad game from Ivey and Cade.

Ivey started hot and had 16 at the half, finished with 18.  More TO"s(4) than assists(3).  Just disappeared in the 2nd half.

Cade was a bit better with only 1 TO but it came down the stretch with the game on the line.  Didn't do much to take over either.  

Both of those guys need to go hard the last 8 minutes of a single digit game and neither one did.  

[casimir]

50 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

Stats wont say it but that was a bad game from Ivey and Cade.

Ivey started hot and had 16 at the half, finished with 18.  More TO"s(4) than assists(3).  Just disappeared in the 2nd half.

Cade was a bit better with only 1 TO but it came down the stretch with the game on the line.  Didn't do much to take over either.  

Both of those guys need to go hard the last 8 minutes of a single digit game and neither one did.  

The Cunningham turnover seemed terribly lackadaisical from my perspective.  So, the timing of it stunk, but it was the unforced nature of it that draws my ire.  And, yes, it was his only turnover.  But he didn’t shoot well, he had some assists and rebounds, but the game was there for him to take over.

They kept in the game until the final few minutes.  It crept away from them in the 3rd, but they closed out the quarter down 3, so that was good to see.  Unfortunately this season seems to be more about moral victories than anything else.

[Deleterious]

2 hours ago, casimir said:

The Cunningham turnover seemed terribly lackadaisical from my perspective.  So, the timing of it stunk, but it was the unforced nature of it that draws my ire.  And, yes, it was his only turnover.  But he didn’t shoot well, he had some assists and rebounds, but the game was there for him to take over.

They kept in the game until the final few minutes.  It crept away from them in the 3rd, but they closed out the quarter down 3, so that was good to see.  Unfortunately this season seems to be more about moral victories than anything else.

Cade gets away with it against most defenders.  Look how fast his left hand pokes it away.  Just a good play by a very good defender.  

 

[casimir]

36 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

Cade gets away with it against most defenders.  Look how fast his left hand pokes it away.  Just a good play by a very good defender.  

 

Not as lackadaisical as I thought in live time, but still shouldn’t have occurred.

[Sports_Freak]

1 hour ago, casimir said:

Not as lackadaisical as I thought in live time, but still shouldn’t have occurred.

It looks like he dribbled it off his leg. Not a good defensive play, it's an ugly turnover.

[NYLion]

16 hours ago, Hart said:

I still think Cade is deferring too much.  The assist numbers are nice but I would rather have him be more aggressive as a scorer the first three quarters of games.  

The lack of progression in Cade's game, and in fact some regression, is probably the most disheartening thing about this season since he's the biggest key to their future because it's looking more and more like he's not going to be the franchise player that he was drafted to be. Scottie Barnes is looking like a significantly better player, who would have ever thought that?

Edited February 5, 2024 by NYLion

[Deleterious]

Cade had a great December before the injury. Something like 25/5/7 on 35% from three 60% TS%.

He will be fine.

[NYLion]

Isn't that the thing though? He's always injured.

Also, those are nice numbers but there's also some stat padding in there when games were out of reach. He's been poor in clutch situations most of the season. Not all on him but he just doesn't have that ability, it appears, to elevate and carry a team when they really need him. I saw more of that ability in him in his rookie season and he seems to have lost his way in the important moments since.

Edited February 5, 2024 by NYLion

[casimir]

2 hours ago, NYLion said:

Isn't that the thing though? He's always injured.

Also, those are nice numbers but there's also some stat padding in there when games were out of reach. He's been poor in clutch situations most of the season. Not all on him but he just doesn't have that ability, it appears, to elevate and carry a team when they really need him. I saw more of that ability in him in his rookie season and he seems to have lost his way in the important moments since.

The injury thing is what would bother me the most right now.  If he can stay healthy, he can improve on the court.  It doesn't mean that he will improve if he does stay healthy, but if he can't stay healthy, improvement is less likely.

That said, he's played in 40 of 49 games this season.  He was likely held out of the end of last season in order to (1) protect him and (2) add ping pong balls to the lottery.  So while it was a significant injury last season, there were some shenanigans with some of the DNPs.