Magic forward Paolo Banchero admits the first half of the season didn’t go the way he or the team wanted it to, but he has been playing excellent basketball over the past few weeks. The former No. 1 overall pick tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape he was motivated by not making the All-Star team.
“I’m always honest with myself,” Banchero told Andscape. “I looked in the mirror first. Over the All-Star break, I watched a lot of film over the early part of the season. I just wasn’t happy with what I put out. Some of that had to do with me being injured and coming back. …
“I could’ve had a better mindset, and that was part of it. But I know I’m an All-Star in this league. My confidence is still the same. It’s about being honest with yourself and realizing that you didn’t really deserve to be an All-Star, honestly. It’s about taking that with a grain of salt and being better in the second half of the season.”
In his 10 games (36.1 MPG) since the break, Banchero is averaging 26.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.7 assists (3.8 turnovers) on .508/.341/.822 shooting. The Magic are 7-3 in that span and currently have their longest winning streak of the season at four games.
“Paolo has been ultra-aggressive attacking, getting early baskets,” head coach Jamahl Mosley told Spears. “He’s also been taking on the best player assignments defensively.”
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Jordan Poole was disappointed he was traded by the Wizards over the summer, as he says he was told he was in the team’s long-term plans. “That’s what I was looking forward to,” Poole told Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “But it’s the NBA, so things happen differently.” According to Robbins, Poole’s tenure with the Wizards was largely “misunderstood.” While the team was abysmal during his two seasons, Poole was beloved by his teammates, who rushed over to greet the veteran guard after Sunday’s game in New Orleans. Kyshawn George, Alex Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly all have said Poole helped boost their confidence, Robbins writes. “He just kept my head straight,” George said. “I didn’t necessarily shoot it well at the beginning of (last) season, but he was always there to tell me, ‘Keep going. Keep going. We need you to make shots at the end of the season. We need you to make shots through the next couple of years on the road, the important shots.’ (He was) just making sure that I stick with my habits, and I don’t lose confidence. I think that’s a big thing for me that he taught me: (With) 82 games in the NBA season, the first 15 don’t define you, the first 30 don’t define you. It’s really how you finish. And when it’s time to really play and hoop, you’ve got to show up.”
- The Pistons snapped their four-game losing streak on Tuesday with a 38-point road victory at Brooklyn, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “We’ve been playing high-level basketball all year. Had a little bit of a dip,” Cade Cunningham said in his post-game interview. “Every team has a moment in the season where they think the sky is falling. We had that and we just wanted to get back on the right track.”
- Bulls head coach Billy Donovan is optimistic better days are ahead for Patrick Williams, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “He’s turned out to be a really good catch-and-shoot three-point shooter, but one of the things he was getting himself into trouble [with] was putting it down on the floor — traffic, turnovers,” Donovan said. “For him, it’s just a consistency part. He’s shown more consistent signs this year than he has in the past, but I still feel like there’s more there for him. I believe that.” The sixth-year forward has battled injuries in recent weeks and Williams’ contract — he’s in the second season of a five-year, $90MM deal — is “effectively immovable,” Cowley writes.
If Poole get bought out at the end of the season the warriors should offer him a contract since they need another PG that passes the ball.
Noooo thank you. I’ll pass on Poole. Appreciated what he brought to his role in ’22 and his hard work and improvement in the years before that, but he could not handle a larger workload in ’23 and honestly has not improved his game in many years.
Plus huge turnover liability and when he’s on the floor it’s basically a 4 on 5 every time down on defense.
Agreed, Poole’s career has been on a downslide ever since he got CTE from being punched after following his coaches orders. Same coach who also got punched by MJ. CTE is never the answer though. Poole isn’t it. I’d rather Mike Conley back up Steph at PG.
Maybe he’ll get punched again too!
They already had him in case you forgot. And I’m pretty sure both sides don’t want Poole back there either. He’s a good scorer imo. Could be a decent piece for a team like Denver or, New York or maybe even the pacers while Hali is still recovering.
It took Donovan FOUR years to realize Patrick Williams cannot dribble a basketball? He’s a catch and shoot player, yes. But you also need to create matchups and opportunities for him to shoot instead of him looking disinterested and disengaged on offense. Career 39% 3PT shooter and you only give him 3.6 3PTA per game is coaching malpractice.
Donovan is a terrible NBA coach. It is astounding to me he is still employed in the league.
Williams has been breaking out since the Bulls drafted him. News Flash- He’s as good as he’s ever going to get. In other words injury prone and inconsistent to no end.
Steve Kerr belongs on the Bulls as their next head coach. Bring him back! Prove me wrong LOL
I would be ok for P-Will to be as lethargic on offense as he is, if at least he could rebound and be somewhat impactful defensively, which he is far from being despite possessing all the physical abilities. What a shame.
Pwill is a waste of space at this point. Let’s just be real. Leonard Miller has been playing leaps and bounds better than Williams, and I see no need to decrease his playing time as things stand now..IMO the bulls should let Williams ride the bench until his contract expires. And hopefully the front office has learned from their dumbfounded mistakes.
Donovan is a yes man, and an idiot most days. Imo, Williams will be gone once his contract is up. His regression is completely obvious at this point. Idk if it’s because of injuries or his feet are just bad but he simply can’t hold his own against most opponents in the nba. All he has to offer is standing in the corner, and shoot 3s..His defense isn’t even what it used to be either imo. So I think what Billy is doing is what he always does..provide lip service to the media and fans, but I’m willing to bet that even he knows that Williams time has run out in Chicago. Miller has shown that he’s better with the limited time, he’s been playing. So continue to use miller more at the 4 alongside Matas. Let the injury prone players remain on the shelf and ride the tank out.
Jon Scheyer will the be next head coach of the Chicago Bulls. Glenbrook North’s very own.
Soon I hope?
And you know his guys would want to play for him that he has recruited extensively in the past. It’s about ownership, which around the league with players know that this ownership is not very loyal to players.
Crazy how Poole was NOT on the Wizards when they let a single player score 83 points on them, his “defense” sure would have probably got Bam to 100 actually, lol
Love that attitude from Banchero. Looking at yourself first is always a great place to start when trying to overcome something. That is the only thing you actually have control of after all.
Heat and Magic are making their move. Raptors better be ready. Both Heat and Magic will tough in playoffs. Teams better be ready for them.
They’ll be better next season. The way the Eastern conference is looking right now..I can see the heat and magic making it to the second round if they play well enough, but that’s it. The Cs, Detroit, Cavs and the Knicks are better.
“Poole was beloved by his teammates, who rushed over to greet the veteran guard after Sunday’s game in New Orleans. Keyonte George, Alex Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly all have said Poole helped boost their confidence.”
I really don’t like it when players, instead of being players, start thinking that they need to mentor or whatever. How about concentrating on being good at basketball, Jordan?
Next season, I hope AD will be a professional, a winner and a positive impact on the basketball floor. I don’t need him to be a glorified cheerleader.
The whole mentorship thing is just a bs. What have Draymond, Curry, Wiggins, Klay and others done to help the young players at GS? They just prattle about it, but they didn’t do squat to help Wiseman, Kuminga, Moody, Podz.
Well I think we don’t see the mentoring around the league because we’re not on the teams or in locker rooms, right? At the end of the day, these players have to put their own work in to get better and improve. So having a mentor isn’t going to be like 2k where you assign a vet to a young guy and it improves their stats. It could literally be anything but basketball that allows these types of relationships to blossom.
All young players need mentors. Its how you learn the game and how to act. All young people need mentors to grow into better adults. Especially today with all these 18-19 yr olds coming into the L. Most do it by their actions. The wise always learn from those who came first.
I agree. But helping the players on the team around you is also important for being a good ball player. Bottom line is, some players just don’t fit well with each other on a team. The chemistry isn’t there, or guys just don’t have enough pride within themselves to look out for the next guy on the bench. The past warrior teams were better with their chemistry and helping each other win consistently.
Keyonte George does not play for the wizards. Kyshawn does though. SMH
Thanks for the correction.