Mario Hezonja | What's up with him?

[$LakerGold]

I don't really watch Magic games, so what's going on with him? Is he a bust?

[outbreak]

nah not a bust. skiles had the team trying to win and make the play offs and hezonja was on a VERY short leash. He'd come in and make one mistake then get pulled, he had afew games where he'd score a few points then turn it over/blow it on defence then get no more minutes for the game. He always doesn't get much run for him. When he did start to get minutes it was initially at the point guard spot (with watson out injured) and he looked hesitant to shoot and passed up WIDE open looks to try and get some assists which looked like skiles had asked him to prove he can run the point.

He's rawer than expected so I can see why Skiles has preferred to put other guys in with our back court being a bit crowded right now but he's had some flashes of looking like he will be solid once he figures things out a bit more. His passing is above where I expected it to be too. I guess his "nba readiness" was a bit over hyped considering he also didn't play big minutes over in europe but he's improving.

Today was his best game so far, 17pts on 53% with 3 assists, and Skiles left him in for a long stretch so hopefully he can start stringing a few games like this together.

[FKAri]

Talk about picking the wrong night to make this thread :lol

[chocolatethunder]

He's not rawer than expected at all. If you watched him play in Europe you would know what his problems were before he got here. He seemed like a good athlete in Europe and he was but compared with athletes in the NBA he's average at best. Worst of all his dribble is just awful. So in this league he's not quick enough to create space nor is his dribble good enough to create space so he can't really do anything. He was a good shooter in Europe but he can't really get his shot off here. You won't be seeing him dunking on anyone regularly any time soon. I think he is and will be a bust and I called this before the draft. I hope he becomes a good player but I'm not sure that he will. So far he's performing exactly how I expected him to becuase I watched a ton of his games in Europe.

Edit:just wanted to say one more thing. If he can get his shit together I would say that at his best he would be a 15ppg guy in the NBA but it may take several years to get anywhere near there. His defense is also shit.

[Jameerthefear]

He's not rawer than expected at all. If you watched him play in Europe you would know what his problems were before he got here. He seemed like a good athlete in Europe and he was but compared with athletes in the NBA he's average at best. Worst of all his dribble is just awful. So in this league he's not quick enough to create space nor is his dribble good enough to create space so he can't really do anything. He was a good shooter in Europe but he can't really get his shot off here. You won't be seeing him dunking on anyone regularly any time soon. I think he is and will be a bust and I called this before the draft. I hope he becomes a good player but I'm not sure that he will. So far he's performing exactly how I expected him to becuase I watched a ton of his games in Europe.

Edit:just wanted to say one more thing. If he can get his shit together I would say that at his best he would be a 15ppg guy in the NBA but it may take several years to get anywhere near there. His defense is also shit.
nice to see u don't watch basketball at all
mario can't get his shot off? funniest shit i've ever seen on ISH

[outbreak]

He's not rawer than expected at all. If you watched him play in Europe you would know what his problems were before he got here. He seemed like a good athlete in Europe and he was but compared with athletes in the NBA he's average at best. Worst of all his dribble is just awful. So in this league he's not quick enough to create space nor is his dribble good enough to create space so he can't really do anything. He was a good shooter in Europe but he can't really get his shot off here. You won't be seeing him dunking on anyone regularly any time soon. I think he is and will be a bust and I called this before the draft. I hope he becomes a good player but I'm not sure that he will. So far he's performing exactly how I expected him to becuase I watched a ton of his games in Europe.

Edit:just wanted to say one more thing. If he can get his shit together I would say that at his best he would be a 15ppg guy in the NBA but it may take several years to get anywhere near there. His defense is also shit.

He can already dribble to a decent level and has been running the point at times. Early on he struggled but that was because he kept trying to pull off fancy moves and kept trying to rush things now he is fine handling the ball. He gets his shot off fine too, he's passed up some good looks which I think has to do with skiles but on the nights where he does shoot he hasn't really had any trouble scoring in the limited minutes and role he's been put in to. Tonight was the first game where I've seen them actively run plays for him and he did well as a result, he also ran the point at times tonight and some some nice drives and dishes to others. His handle was fine and he handled the ball a lot.

Originally he was supposed to be a guy who could come in and be a catch and shoot guy from day one. The problem with that was that he had a bad grasp of how an offence is run and is still learning how to move correctly off the ball. His defence looks like the same issues, man to man he does ok but when other teams start running plays he just doesn't have a grasp of what to do and doesn't keep up with the pace of the game. Maybe he will improve there (he has the length and foot speed too) but we'll wait and see.

You say you thought he'd be a 15 ppg guy but that's not a bust considering where he was taken any way which makes no sense that you thought he'd bust? Wish there was a better way but per 36 minutes he's already just shy of 12 ppg on 42% and 37% from deep. With how little he plays and how little he's used that's not bad. Give the kid time, I don't see a super star but I see a solid player.

You may have watched him in europe but from your post it sounds like you haven't been following him in the NBA.

[Jameerthefear]

He can already dribble to a decent level and has been running the point at times. Early on he struggled but that was because he kept trying to pull off fancy moves and kept trying to rush things now he is fine handling the ball. He gets his shot off fine too, he's passed up some good looks which I think has to do with skiles but on the nights where he does shoot he hasn't really had any trouble scoring in the limited minutes and role he's been put in to. Tonight was the first game where I've seen them actively run plays for him and he did well as a result, he also ran the point at times tonight and some some nice drives and dishes to others. His handle was fine and he handled the ball a lot.

Originally he was supposed to be a guy who could come in and be a catch and shoot guy from day one. The problem with that was that he had a bad grasp of how an offence is run and is still learning how to move correctly off the ball. His defence looks like the same issues, man to man he does ok but when other teams start running plays he just doesn't have a grasp of what to do and doesn't keep up with the pace of the game. Maybe he will improve there (he has the length and foot speed too) but we'll wait and see.

You say you thought he'd be a 15 ppg guy but that's not a bust considering where he was taken any way which makes no sense that you thought he'd bust?

You may have watched him in europe but from your post it sounds like you haven't been following him in the NBA.
no point responding to him. he doesn't watch basketball so it's funny to see him try to act like a know it all. if he did watch ball he'd know mario has been running the point and it's straight up laughable to say mario can't get his shot off in the nba. that's hilarious.
he's poor defensively right now, which is why skiles won't play him. this team's management of gordon and mario hasn't been good and i hope it will change at the deadline

[outbreak]

no point responding to him. he doesn't watch basketball so it's funny to see him try to act like a know it all. if he did watch ball he'd know mario has been running the point and it's straight up laughable to say mario can't get his shot off in the nba. that's hilarious.
he's poor defensively right now, which is why skiles won't play him. this team's management of gordon and mario hasn't been good and i hope it will change at the deadline

I don't think the management was bad while we were looking at a play off spot. Now though I think they should ramp up their minutes and they've done that by giving Gordon the start (he earned it) and letting Mario have a bit more free reign. Until today though I didn't think Mario had earnt a big role but he should have had more chances in the minutes he had and should have been left in when he was hot (which he was today). If he can string together a few more like tonight I expect his role to increase. If he's given a short run again next game though I'll be annoyed because the way he played tonight deserves a reward.

[Combat Wombat]

He can already dribble to a decent level and has been running the point at times. Early on he struggled but that was because he kept trying to pull off fancy moves and kept trying to rush things now he is fine handling the ball. He gets his shot off fine too, he's passed up some good looks which I think has to do with skiles but on the nights where he does shoot he hasn't really had any trouble scoring in the limited minutes and role he's been put in to. Tonight was the first game where I've seen them actively run plays for him and he did well as a result, he also ran the point at times tonight and some some nice drives and dishes to others. His handle was fine and he handled the ball a lot.

Originally he was supposed to be a guy who could come in and be a catch and shoot guy from day one. The problem with that was that he had a bad grasp of how an offence is run and is still learning how to move correctly off the ball. His defence looks like the same issues, man to man he does ok but when other teams start running plays he just doesn't have a grasp of what to do and doesn't keep up with the pace of the game. Maybe he will improve there (he has the length and foot speed too) but we'll wait and see.

You say you thought he'd be a 15 ppg guy but that's not a bust considering where he was taken any way which makes no sense that you thought he'd bust?

You may have watched him in europe but from your post it sounds like you haven't been following him in the NBA.

What do you think his ceiling is in the NBA? Watched a bit of him during the FIBA WC and was relatively impressed.

[Jameerthefear]

I don't think the management was bad while we were looking at a play off spot. Now though I think they should ramp up their minutes and they've done that by giving Gordon the start (he earned it) and letting Mario have a bit more free reign. Until today though I didn't think Mario had earnt a big role but he should have had more chances in the minutes he had and should have been left in when he was hot (which he was today). If he can string together a few more like tonight I expect his role to increase. If he's given a short run again next game though I'll be annoyed because the way he played tonight deserves a reward.
even when this was a playoff team though, they could have still been using him as a shooter. there are a lot of times we miss him. i mean a LOT. he's still inconsistent defensively though. tonight he played well defensively though with a lot of good closeouts on shooters.

[Milbuck]

Oh look, chocolatethunder's talking out of his ass again. Cool.

Hezonja was one of the only impressive players for me from the Magic-Bucks game a couple games ago. Dude was killing us in the 4th quarter and single handedly brought the Magic back into the game and made it close. But guess what, Skiles and his bullshit tough guy shtick benches him and after the game says he played him TOO much :oldlol:

Hezonja will be fine. He has all the tools to be a beastly wing in today's game, he just plays for one of the worst possible coaches you can have when you're trying to develop young players. Like the only worse ones I can think of otoh is Byron Scott and Sam Mitchell.

[outbreak]

even when this was a playoff team though, they could have still been using him as a shooter. there are a lot of times we miss him. i mean a LOT. he's still inconsistent defensively though. tonight he played well defensively though with a lot of good closeouts on shooters.

Sure but I felt he struggled off the ball, a lot of the times he'd just go sit in the corner and not try and cut or lose his man when needed. He's learning though it just looked like he wasn't used to play in the NBA at this pace.

[outbreak]

What do you think his ceiling is in the NBA? Watched a bit of him during the FIBA WC and was relatively impressed.
Dunno right now because he's had such limited usage. I think probably around an 18-20 ppg scorer, maybe a rudy gay level type guy although with how he's looked passing he'd hopefully be more versatile. Like I said though I think it's hard to make predictions based on how he's been used so far, at times he's looked like he can score at will but then it's only over small sample sizes and other times he's looked like he's been told to avoid scoring or he's scared to try and score. As an Orlando fan i'm not too worried with how he's coming a long this season though but I don't think he's a super star or anything but at the fifth pick and with the guys taken behind him that's fine.

On skiles I don't mind his current tactic so long as he rewards the good play. He's done that with Gordon so far by putting him in to a starting role but after tonight I think mario's earned a better run so if he gets dropped back to under 10 minutes next game and not giving more freedom I'll be annoyed.

[SwishSquared]

I feel like if he absolutely maxes out he has the tools to be reliable secondary wing scorer. By that I mean the 2nd best perimeter scorer, but #3 overall option.

Want to watch more of him and AG. Mario's jumpshot form is insane.

[FreezingTsmoove]

Top 5 pick who didnt get any minutes back in his homeland and now is barely getting any minutes in Orlando

Would love to see what he can do if he got consistent starter minutes.

[raprap]

Got loads of potential. He's not seeing any time on the court tho. Maybe next year.

[Fallen Angel]

Tragic drafted a bust. Could of have Myles Turner, Justise Winslow, or Devin Booker.

[outbreak]

Tragic drafted a bust. Could of have Myles Turner, Justise Winslow, or Devin Booker.
Only guy id consider over mario is turner. Mario is a lot better than winslow.

[$LakerGold]

Talk about picking the wrong night to make this thread :lol
:lol

& as for everyone that responded, thank you. Very informative posts. :D