2024 NBA Playoffs Round 1 Game 7: (5) Orlando Magic at (4) Cleveland Cavaliers - Series Tied 3-3

[ibraheim718]

They all finished the regular season relatively healthy which is great.

I’ll give my bullet points.

Paolo needs to continue to work on his handles and his J. He needs to learn the nuances of the game for a guy in his position. Take care of the teammates first then shut the door in the 4th. Fitness and stamina look good.

Franz I would hope take some time off this summer to work on his individual skills. Needs to keep working on the J and has to develop and in between game.

Overall the team needs to run way more which will help Franz.

Suggs is going to continue to get better but he needs to work on his in between game also specially his floater. I would like to see him put on more muscle to help him handle the physicality he plays with.

Carter I’m bringing back. Just keep working on shooting and in the gym work on his explosiveness. He’s not a good second jumper.


Cole needs to learn how to turn it on and off more consistently. He could get better as a shooter also.

Mo needs to convince good brother to take the summer off lol.


Fultz is gone.

Harris is probably gone too.

Ingles I might bring back at the vet minimum.


Black needs to lock himself in the gym with the shooting coach.

Howard needs to work on his footwork and foot speed so he can become an average defender.

Not sure what you can do with Isaac except leave him in the anchor role defensively with the second unit.

Defense and getting out in the open court is this teams identity. I hope they get the personnel to help them run more.

They need a point guard who can set the table in the pick and roll and someone who takes care of the ball and get them good shots in tight games.


The home run swing is getting Paul George.


A triple would be going after Murray if Atlanta is open to trading him.


The front office has to make at least one bold move of not two.


I also like Kevin Huerter as a secondary move. He kind of is lost out there in Sacramento but that happens to a lot of players.

[bigdogdylan5]

It’s easy to say get a star guard without giving names. It’s tough because right now are our options Monk George or Klay Thompson? I prefer Monk on a big 2 year deal I think but he is more of a bench scorer. We need a guy who can take some of the playmaking pressure off Paolo.

[SOUL]

BTW NBA fans are awful.. 30% of it is about sportsbetting or parlays and the rest just troll relentlessly and talk **** and then complain about the product or any addition that makes the game interesting.. just really insufferable lol. Add onto that the super homers and emotional fans that doom all the time... I'm glad even though we have moments here that at least we can have discussions

[eyriq]

BTW NBA fans are awful.. 30% of it is about sportsbetting or parlays and the rest just troll relentlessly and talk **** and then complain about the product or any addition that makes the game interesting.. just really insufferable lol. Add onto that the super homers and emotional fans that doom all the time... I'm glad even though we have moments here that at least we can have discussions

We have excellent mods like you that shape the culture of the board. Appreciate you brother

[SOUL]

We have excellent mods like you that shape the culture of the board. Appreciate you brother

*deletes every snarky comment I had in my past about eyriq* jk jk .. game threads here can get intense but I think for the most part when emotions clear, we have a lot of level-headed posters.. Just after visiting the GB, my appreciation for our fans on here has gone way up lol.. you can tell there are guys that just exist to hate on other teams or be angry as a schtick.

[Bergmaniac]

The shooting numbers for our away games in this series are just brutal outside of Paolo, Mo and Fultz. Suggs and Franz both shot 27% from the field in Cleveland and Suggs was a brutal 12% from 3. Wendell shot 38% from the field. Isaac 36%. Gary Harris shot 30% (but weirdly 35% from 3). Cole shot 20% from the field and 0% from 3. Ingles was 30% from the field.

[Ducklett]

The worst part about losing to the Cavs is hearing my friend in Akron talk trash about this all summer.

[Blue_and_Whte]

Franz shat the bed. Plain and simple.1-15 ?! Got to better than that. I was worried about someone like LaVert or Merrill getting hot. I’m disappointed that we lost but for the first time I’m weirdly not mad about it because we have so much to look forward to. We need a third scorer with range. More guys that can curl off of screens and hit threes. Movement shooters. There’s room for improvement but this time around we seem to have the resources to bolster the roster. They exceeded my expectations.

[Fortune Teller]

Paolo played well enough in all facets to win this game on the road. If just one of the other 9 guys stepped up we could’ve won. None did.

[Blue_and_Whte]

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Watch on YouTube

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Our Former Gator giving us the bright side of things

Yep, at the end of the day they (fans and everyone involved with the Cavs themselves) still have to live in Cleveland.

Yeah…I lived in Cleveland for a few months dating this girl and it is an awful city. I remember it being old, broke down, dirty, and cold…

[RookieStar]

1-15??? Yikes...

Franz better remember this next season's playoffs!

[PrimeThyme]

Franz 6 assists, zero turnovers. HIGHEST ASSIST NUMBER THIS GAME. Yes we need more scoring 38 points from isolation Paolo not enough i guess.

Man...Franz goes 1-15 in a playoff game while Paolo has 38 points for the second straight road game, and we're pointing to Paolo's isolation playstyle as the problem.

The cognitive dissonance some have with Franz is kind of incredible...is it the Euro bias? I'm not sure. I love Franz as a prospect, but Paolo just firmly and unequivocally asserted himself as the number one player on this team going forward.

Franz is going to have an uphill battle to show that he can be a 2 again. We lost this game because of his inability to shoot or score the basketball. We were still in it because of "Isolation" Paolo.

Whatever that means.

[MagicMatic]

I've loved Franz as a player, but I'm just wanting to address the elephant in the room.

I'm racking my brain at people discussing our **** 7th man or Paolo as a first option after what we just watched this season and in this series.

Franz without a 3pt shot drastically changes this team's ceiling. This wasn't a series, this was an entire season. I just feel that we need to be thinking more about what this means for us going forward.

I agree that Franz needs to step up if the Magic are going to pay him like a real option.

However, I agree with pepe somewhat. Isaac was coddled all season and played very well in specific games. Not sure you can justify being an elite defensive option as a #1 highest paid guy on a team if you aren’t playing very much in a playoff series.

Not really worth building him up for seasons at a time and bringing him steadily along in limited minutes if he’s barely going to impact Orlando’s first playoff series. Guy has more experience than just about anyone as well.

[SHAQ32]

Trade Franz now before the league realizes he's not a big game player

[SOUL]

Iso scoring isn't a bad thing, I think people use it as a negative connotation because that alone isn't conducive to winning, but the best scorers in the league all have that in their game and score like that, even if it's more out of necessity at times than spamming it. It's just a fact that our best two players feel most comfortable with that right now, thus we need to bring in some more guys that can diversify our offense while hoping they improve in other areas too

[DiplomaticMagic]

I do worry about Franz, he struggles against good defenses. Its not just a playoff thing, its all year. When teams focus on him, he cant really break down anything. Im worried hes not a number 2 guy.

[mattyBoi]

Franz has the skills that you can't really teach. If he improves his shot he's instantly pushing all-star territory. Not giving up on him yet.

[Black and Blue]

Such a wonderful season. Nothing but good things to say about this squad. They really left it all out there.

Franz seemed gutted by his performance, and ultimately it’s up to him to work on his game to add some more tricks to his bag. This is a serious fork in the road where he can take that next level or plateau here, but it’s going to take rounding out that game more.

Paolo is a beast. And if the front office makes any big swings we have him to thank because the team will already be thinking about how to keep him. Bravo, young man.

Suggs took such a step forward, and the next step for him is to do more of the same consistently. If we can figure out how to be a net plus most nights, this team can make some real noise.

Already pumped for free agency and the draft. The future looks blindingly bright at this present moment, so it’s up to the Magic and its players to capitalize on it.

[ibraheim718]

The series was lost in that game 5. That was the one they should’ve won

[Black and Blue]

I do worry about Franz, he struggles against good defenses. Its not just a playoff thing, its all year. When teams focus on him, he cant really break down anything. Im worried hes not a number 2 guy.

Multiple people I know who study players think Franz is excellent but relies on a handful of moves (and defers if those moves aren’t there). He has to make himself less predictable by expanding his repertoire. I do worry with the Olympics this offseason how much time he will have to do this, and it’s going to be critical to him taking that next step.