I want to try and add a feature to the OPP Community that hasn't been here in the recent past. I'm going to put out weekly progress reports reflecting stats and comments about individual players on the roster from the prior week's slate of games. As a teacher, this is right up my alley!

In the comments section below, please feel free to agree or disagree with any of my assessments, or simply just let me know if this is something that might be interesting to read on a week to week basis. Enjoy!

Week 6 Schedule - 12/10 (vs. Washington), 12/12 (@ Atlanta), 12/13 (vs. Atlanta)

Channing Frye (3 GP), Grade: B





MPG PPG REB AST BLK FG% 3P% 37 9 6 1.3 1.3 50 46 (7-15)

Yes, you read that correctly. Channing Frye led the team in minutes played in Week 6. Frye's going to give you 2-3 3PT makes/game, and that's about it. I feel like I need to patent a bumper sticker considering the amount of times I've typed some version of that sentence. Frye simply just can't defend. He was shredded Friday night in Atlanta by Paul Millsap.

I can't hold it against him too much that he's so one dimensional, because he's always been that way. The one thing he can do (shoot), he did an acceptable job doing this past week. Frye's one memorable highlight from Week 6 was the miracle 3PT shot he hit against the Wizards as the shot-clock was expiring (is Frye beginning to assume the BBD role of getting shots up to beat the shot-clock?)...

Tobias Harris (3 GP), Grade: B

MPG PPG REB AST TO BLK FG% 3P% FT% 36 16 7.6 2.6 2.6 1.3 43 18 (2-11) 67 (10-15)

Tobias struggled over the weekend shooting the basketball against the Hawks. However, I was encouraged by the ways in which he was able to affect the game(s) in a positive way when his shots weren't falling (11 rebounds Friday night, five assists and three blocks Saturday night).

I need to give credit here where credit is due. Make no mistake; Coach Vaughn did not draw up that game winning shot. Orlando struggled to get the ball inbounds, Tobias's defender slipped, and Harris took it upon himself off the dribble to make a play and convert a difficult shot. Or at least that's the way I interpreted it, and I wanted to be on the record in saying so.

Weighing the good (a game-winning shot & a double-double on Friday) with the bad (pretty poor overall shooting percentages), I settled on a "B" for Tobias in Week 6.

Victor Oladipo (3 GP), Grade: B+





MPG PPG REB AST TO STL FG% 3P% FT% 32 17.6 4.3 3.6 4.3 1.6 54 78 (7-9) 75 (6-8)

I've seen Oladipo's play at times described on this site as "Good Victor and Bad Victor." I think that description really fits, and those two player personalities were both on display in Week 6. Oladipo's turnover numbers for the week were really high. One particularly awful turnover that sticks out in my mind went down on Wednesday night, when late in the 4th quarter, John Wall easily stripped a careless Oladipo and went the length of the court to lay the ball in.

To his credit, Oladipo answered the bell offensively in Week 6. Victor converted a very strong drive to the rim against Wall late Wednesday night, as well as a big-time drive set-up by a crossover late in the 4th Saturday night against the Hawks. We all know Oladipo can't sustain these unbelievable shooting percentages, but to his credit, it has been three weeks in a row now of above average shooting.

I hated the shot Victor took Wednesday night against the Wizards with the game on the line. The play call was not his fault; I will get to the strategy below. I don't mind that he missed the shot, but he executed the play incorrectly by shooting just a second too early. If you are going to run the clock out and shoot as time expires, you cannot allow the other team to rebound and have enough time to get a shot off. That should never have happened, and that is on him (the rest is NOT)...

Evan Fournier (3 GP), Grade: A-





MPG PPG REB AST TO FG% 3P% FT% 31 14.6 3.6 2.6 1 54 33 (4-12) 100 (4-4)

Great A/TO ratio for the week, very solid shooting percentages as well. I was very happy with Evan's play in Week 6, he really rebounded nicely from an awful few games last week. I would like to see Fournier get to the FT line more often, like he was doing earlier in the season. I also pegged his grade down just a notch because he just can't allow Kyle Korver to get that clean of a look/shot off in that situation (Saturday night).

On a positive note, Fournier's cut to the basket (and Victor's pass) that gave Orlando the lead against the Hawks was one of my favorite plays of the year so far. It was really nice to finally see Oladipo and Fournier playing off one another in a positive way.

Kyle O'Quinn (3 GP), Grade: C

MPG PPG REB AST TO BLK FG% FT% 25 8 5.6 2 1 1 33 71 (5-7)

Kyle received two starts this past week, and was able to produce one double-double. He unfortunately couldn't throw it in the ocean Wednesday night against the Wizards, which is very unlike O'Quinn. I look for Kyle's minutes to steady somewhere around 15-18/game moving forward, opposed to the way they have been fluctuating recently due to injuries.

Elfrid Payton (3 GP), Grade: C-





MPG PPG REB AST TO FG% FT% 23 6.3 2.6 4.3 1.6 33 50 (1-2)

Week 6 was not the most memorable week of Payton's career. Elfrid got a lot of run Wednesday night against the Wizards (12/6/4), but he ended the week with two duds against the Hawks. Payton seemed to really struggle against Dennis Schroder, which I found to be interesting. Such is the life of a rookie PG in the NBA; he will have better weeks.

Payton got Nene to bite on one of his Rondo-esque pump-fakes in the lane Wednesday night. I wonder how long it takes the league to pick up on that tendency...

Ben Gordon (3 GP), Grade: B-

MPG PPG REB STL FG% 3P% 16 7 1 1 36 57 (4-7)

It was a solid enough week for Ben Gordon in Week 6. His overall shooting percentages didn't end up being as strong as last week, but he was still able to provide over 1 3PT make/game, hitting his attempts behind the arc at a clip over 50%.

Willie Green (2 GP), Grade: F

MPG PPG REB STL FG% 3P% 16 4 3 1 23 33 (1-3)

Life is too short, no comment.

Dewayne Dedmon (3 GP), Grade: A-

MPG PPG REB BLK FG% 15 2.6 3.6 1.6 50

I love the fact that in a reserve role, Dedmon was still able to average nearly two blocks/game in Week 6. I got up out of my seat and let out a considerable scream when Payton's alley connected with Dedmon. That incredible dunk will certainly end up on the year-end highlight reel.

Head Coach - Jacque Vaughn, Grade: D

I have a laundry list of problems with Jacque Vaughn related to this past week. But I must share a stat of the day first, especially for those of you on the #FireCoachVaughn train, to hopefully provide some perspective: 34%

As in 9-26 (34%), meaning Orlando has only had the trio of Victor Oladipo, Tobias Harris, and Nikola Vucevic play together in the lineup nine times (out of a possible 26 games, basically just a third of the season). Those three players may not be the most established "Big Three", but it's safe to say that receiving production from all three guys is essential to the success of this team as it's currently constructed. To think that we've won ten games already, despite the combined 17 games that our core has missed, is a credit to Coach Vaughn and his staff (by the way, Orlando is 5-4 when all three guys play).

With that being said...





1) I absolutely hate that Channing Frye is being used so much. At this point of his career, 35+ MPG is ridiculous. I hate even more that Frye is now being used from time to time at Center. Channing is by far our worst defender on the roster, he has no business playing the "5", it's embarrassing. Between O'Quinn and Dedmon, we have plenty of depth at the position where we should never have to see Frye play as the "big" (I don't care if he's 6-11).

2) I hated Coach Vaughn's decision at the end of the game against the Wizards. He essentially called a time-out to not draw up a play. I don't mind Oladipo taking the last shot, I trust him. I just wish it would have come within the flow of the offense. No one else touched the ball, no one else even moved. Oladipo is not that kind of player, he's not KD, Lebron, or Kobe. The strategy of course was not Victor's fault, it's JV's for not knowing his personnel. I commend the staff for having us in the game against such a quality team (without Nik), I just don't like how we finished.

3) I want to see a lot more emotion on the sidelines, and less stoicism. I keep hearing how much more emotional and driven JV is this season during shoot-arounds and in the film room. I just don't see it on the sidelines. I know some fans wanted to see JV argue O'Quinn's ejection last week; I wanted to see JV show some emotion this week on the flop by John Wall (which of course was called a charge on Tobias). Forget the flop, it was easy to see even in real time that Wall was moving. That charge call essentially changed the game, and Coach Vaughn barely asked for an explanation.

4) Enough with Willie Green. Green's 15-20 minutes/game must go to Maurice Harkless immediately. Someone needs to step-up, put Coach Vaughn on the spot, and just clearly ask him why Maurice doesn't have a role on this team. The fan base and the organization, after investing time the past two seasons watching him develop, deserve at least an explanation if nothing else. The guy was starting THIS preseason. Either way, Willie Green should not have a role on this team moving forward, and Maurice Harkless absolutely should.

Grade of INCOMPLETE:

Maurice Harkless (Lack of minutes)

Devyn Marble (Lack of minutes, NEEDS TO BE ASSIGNED TO ERIE - am I right?)

Andrew Nicholson (Lack of minutes)

Luke Ridnour (Lack of minutes)

Aaron Gordon (Injured foot)

Nik Vucevic (Injured back, missed 2 of 3 games this past week)