It’s time to tackle the record of the worst team in the Eastern Conference! We knew that the Magic had the ambition to incubate its youth workforce to make it a team of solid men ready to face the NBA in a while. There were logically a lot of beautiful jerks, valves, but also beautiful promises, and that’s cool. Come on, let’s take stock of Mickey’s soldiers… Head for the darkest meanders of the East, with the hope of bringing back sparkling lights.
What TrashTalk had announced
Mickey’s gang wants to make its players competitive? No worries, North Florida has time and especially gems to polish in its workforce. Wendell Carter Jr., Cole Anthony, Chuma Okeke… and especially Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga’s most stylish student and incidentally genius leader who landed in June via the fifth draft pick. We do not forget the German Franz Wagner, drafted in eighth position and brother of Moritz, also present in Orlando. Veterans are invited to play nannies, namely Terrence Ross, the “surfer cut” half of the Lopez siblings, Robin and SpongeBob’s favorite snail, Gary Harris. We add to this future beautiful family a new manager, namely Jamahl Mosley who replaces Steve Clifford, and we immediately embark on a season dedicated to shaping a great player, an exercise that will not end with more than twenty victories. according to U.S.
What really happened
The season begins for Orlando with two shakes in San Antonio and once morest New York at home, oh it’s weird, we didn’t expect it at all, the Amway Center will sound more dirty defeat than party hall. The tone is set, it’s not going to smell like roses at Disney this season but we should get by with guys who have progressed, so too bad we roll up our sleeves and put both arms in the manure. The announced prophecy is coming true, there are already defeats following two weeks, not knowing what to do with them, but already small things are observable and some are pleasing. Cole Anthony confirms that he has the makings of an offensive boss for these guys, sending more interesting lines than the other night following night. On the side of Jalen Suggs, a bit of a hassle over this first month, with correct stats in terms of contribution of points but shooting percentages that would wake up a dead person. Nothing to worry regarding at that time, since we are talking regarding a start of adaptation in the NBA. At the same time, the other Magic rookie, Franz Wagner, offers very pint-of-beer, very pretzel-like but above all very effective performances, which amaze far beyond Mickey’s with their solidity and regularity.
Everything is going a little too well for Jamahl Mosley’s gang: Jalen Suggs is starting to pick up the pace and his percentages are going from downright creepy to simply disgusting, so there’s something for the better. ” Hello ? Yeah it’s Destiny on the phone, I’m going to break the thumb of your Jalen story that you were struggling a bit, and then I took the last Actimel in the fridge on the way, hello! “. You would have understood it, broken thumb for the young Jalen Suggs, and there it is immediately the hess, especially since it is then barely in December. Fortunately, in his misfortune, the point guard didn’t completely shoot his finger, so no need for an operation. Phew, it will only take a few weeks to recover, we were hot. Meanwhile, Kaiser Franz takes matters into his own hands, even starting to appear in the weekly rookie of the year rankings. On December 29, 2021, it was the apogee for the German: 38 points once morest the defending champion Bucks, and the points record for the 2021 neophytes vintage exploded in passing. The message is sent to the NBA, Franz is definitely one of the greats of the new generation.
The Magic of course continues to lose, a lot, passionately, madly. A few hits come sparsely, but not enough to derail the ghost train from its route to the bottom of the bowl, scraping away any scraps as it goes. Jonathan Isaac, one of the most promising boys in the team, relapses in full rehabilitation, official end of a season that will never have started, it’s starting to be a long two years without playing. Markelle Fultz returns in early March, gradually resuming her playing time and her very correct standards offensively. This is a source of enormous satisfaction for Magic City, because with Anthony, Suggs and Fultz, the lead is in young and very good hands for the future. On the painting and building side, Wendell Carter Jr. and Mo Bamba were often lined up together and sometimes showed great things, the first has a blast like crazy but the second struggles too much, often undermined by the opposing counterpart. Watch out for Mo because the end of the season rhymes with the end of the contract, it would be silly to have his name as the only feat of arms on a piece of Sheck Wes. Chuma Okeke provides him with correct averages for coming off the bench, like RJ Hampton, we are talking regarding 8 points for the two thieves, it is progressing very slowly but it is progressing.
The weeks go by, we have to rent several warehouses to store all the defeats, but the development continues… and the trend at the start of the season is confirmed, Franz Wagner being well beyond Jalen Suggs in all the rookie rankings. Always confused with his shot, impossible for Suggs to go beyond the glass ceiling offensively as long as the success is so cracra, be careful hang in there: 36% in the shot of which only 21% behind the arc, yeah it’s percentages of departmental basketball, and we are not talking regarding the first division. At the end of the fair in mid-April, lots of dung but also some beautiful flowers: the Magic have the worst record in the East and the second worst in the NBA with 22 wins for 60 losses, but the main thing is acquired since the place for the Lottery is extra premium and the development of young people has been done relatively well overall .
picture of the season
The aggressiveness, the will and the desire of Franz Wagner, learned but above all a perfect mix of what to remember from this season in Orlando. The German has become over the months the face of this group which works hard but which progresses. Yes, it lost games by the dozen, but even look at the determination of the guy, it is intact and that is a real blessing for the Magic because following this season spent scrubbing the toilets and offering victories to all the NBA, the future looks bright. Nothing better than defeats to weld a collective and push it to have the slab of victories. Cole Anthony, Wendell Carter Jr., Jalen Suggs, Chuma Okeke… Not a guy older than 24 years old but already all of the playing time of confirmed players, with statistics that show it, even if of course not everything is not perfect. That was the goal and it’s been achieved, with a smile on top of that, what else might you ask for?
He carded
Who else but Mr. Franz Wagner? The surprise, the success of this season in Orlando. Obligation to learn German for all fans of the franchise. More seriously, the rookie sent a boss season to Mickey: 15.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists, pay your ultra-promising statistics for a player who was only expected off the bench to bring solidity and gain experience. Benefiting from the confidence of Jamahl Mosley, the German returned the favor with very complete services in the text: great capacity for percussion, finishing in the dunk with hands which can also show delicacy in the circle, and capacity to shoot behind the arc while ensuring correct percentages for a rookie year. The NBA has been warned, Franz has everything to splash it with his talent, and that requires confirmation next October.
The disappointment of the season
No choice but to talk regarding Jalen Suggs. We announced the man as a diamond in the rough, only asking to prove that he was up to the ambitions that we placed in him… but it was more raw for the boards and the cameramen under the baskets than anything else . 11.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists, all at 36% shooting success and 21% from behind the arc, yeah that’s really disgusting. We note of course Jalen’s ability to defend very well when the situation requires him, but offensively it’s just not possible in the current state of things. With so much waste in shooting, it will be strictly impossible to turn a corner in terms of overall progress, and the disappointment is all the stronger since we were really salivating at the idea that he might reproduce the same things. than in Gonzaga. Obligation to spend all summer followingnoons in the gym to correct the situation, and see you next October to take stock.
The following
Take the summer to rest and continue to work each in their own corner on individual achievements, and end up at training camp in September with the desire to continue the work. Orlando will also have a very well placed draft pick, so the possibility of recovering it to complete the group or of exchanging it for a big fish to give a boost to the Magic project. To see, but this group has everything to show beautiful things, now remains to prepare and condition it for victory. One year more ? It seems necessary but the last word will belong to the management of the franchise, let’s not forget Granny Simone’s adage: ” Good things come to those who wait for« .
Orlando’s record is quite disgusting if we look only at the numbers. Now, this year remains a success given the context and the development objectives of the promising individual profiles of the Magic. Next season will be decisive and should deliver the first harvests of this season of defeats in spades. Mickey is certainly filled with mud, but he has everything to be happy.
Source : ESPN
