Injured magic star Paolo Banchero had a prophetic statement about his teammate Franz Wagner in the latest edition of the ongoing diary he is compiling Marc J. Spears from Andscape.
“Franz is a pretty natural, calculated, conservative guy” Banchero explained. “He never wants to do too much, or he never wants to take control of the double team. Since I was out, he had to do that and he did great. He really gets into this role and that's what you want to see. He just got a max contract in the summer. And he plays better than you would expect.”
A few hours after the diary was published on Thursday, Wagner caused a stir with a 119-118 victory over the Lakers, capping a late rally with an incredible game-winning three-pointer. Wagner also recorded a career-best performance with 11 assists along with six rebounds and four steals, handing LA its first home loss of the season, he writes Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel.
“In two games, you never want to settle for just one shot, but the way they played against me… I work a lot on my three-pointers off the dribble, and that's what you work on in those moments.” Wagner said. “I went into it full of confidence and it felt really good.”
There were concerns that Orlando's season could spiral out of control after Banchero suffered a stroke torn diagonally on the right three weeks ago. Instead, the team is 7-1 in its last eight games, and Wagner has averaged 28.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.9 assists in that time. Tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic.
“He’s not afraid of big moments” trainer Jamahl Mosley told reporters after the game (Twitter link by Beede). “And that’s what we asked him to do. I couldn't be happier for this team, except for him, who does such an incredible amount of work. To see this fall… This group is fighting.”
There's more about the magic:
- Elsewhere in his diary, Banchero talks about dealing with a serious injury for the first time since he started playing basketball. “It was an interesting experience just trying to keep myself mentally occupied” he said. “Apparently, [the] The team is still doing great. I was happy with the way they played. But for me, [it’s about] I try to stay mentally fit, and even though I can't do much physically, I just try to do everything I can – whether it's what I eat, how much sleep I get – whatever I do can to speed up the process and come back whenever the time is right. But sooner than later, hopefully.”
- Injured center Wendell Carter Jr. Beede adds in his game history that he missed his 10th straight game on Thursday, but he is showing signs of progress. Carter was able to participate in part of practice on Tuesday and was listed as questionable for both games in LA “Dells [been] “I've been able to do some court work over the last few days,” Mosley said. “He develops exactly how he feels, and then we just move on.”
- According to Beede, Kentavious Caldwell Pope missed last night's game because he was home for the birth of his fifth child.
