Franz Wagner at the wand for Orlando

Franz Wagner has had good performances on his last outings, but that of this night was undoubtedly the most successful, with the victory at the end against Dallas (94-87). Author of a good start, he put his team back on track at the start of the second quarter when the Mavericks turned to +10, by multiplying the right choices. He distinguished himself again at the end of the match, whether in scoring, passing or his composure on free throws.

The main creator of Jamahl Mosley’s formation, he often had the ball in hand and took responsibility by being aggressive towards the circle and making the right reads when serving his teammates. Once again, he displayed the same confidence as during his very good EuroBasket.

“He continues to grow”, recognized his coach. “That’s why we put the ball in his hands. He saw something about the pick-and-roll with Wendell (Carter Jr), which helps stretch the game with shooters alongside them. He did a good job in management. And the ultimate sign of respect was when Dallas started double-teaming him, trying to force him to let go of the ball. That says a lot about what he did in this match.

Constancy and Basketball IQ

This time, the Magic was rewarded for its efforts even if in content, the group is already on the right track since the recovery. As Franz Wagner (22 points, 9/17 shooting, 6 assists) pointed out at the end of the match: “Even in defeats, you could see progress.”

Jamahl Mosley retains the good management of the end which made sure to tip the meeting on the right side, with once again a Franz Wagner in all the good moves, like his step-back “Nowitzkiesque “.

“I am very happy with our composure. Our guys were great, not to overreact or panic. They understood what worked, how Dallas defended us. They were trying to push us to rush but Franz was good at taking charge while Wendell made the right decisions in the paint. So I’m really happy with the calm we showed at the end of the game.”continued Jamahl Mosley.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2bRI1HAgNI

More comfortable as a creator

For his part, Franz Wagner sees his work in creation being rewarded. The player is more and more confident with the ball in hand and it shows on the pitch.

“Yeah, I kinda feel it. There is in particular the fact that I am getting used to benefiting from more space, unlike what I experienced this summer. But it’s also true that I feel more comfortable and that things work a little better. I must continue to progress, and of course thank our greats, Wendell and Mo, for putting up good screens and making it easier for us to do our game reading”.

This success thus validates the good performance of the Magic, which had already shone by offering the scalp of Golden State last week but had failed to confirm with two previous games against Sacramento and Houston.

“We still have everything to prove in this league, as a group and also as players. As a group, we weren’t happy with our last performance against Houston. We wanted to show what we were capable of in this match, our character. There will be other meetings with ups and downs, we just have to continue to be better at the end of the matches, despite the mistakes we can make, that sort of thing. We are a young team, mistakes are part of the game, but we have good players in the team and an ambitious and competitive staff. We are very happy with what we showed tonight.”added the German.