Zurab Talakvadze

What is up grabs for Bitadze and Mamukelashvili?

Well, we have had some discussion about the Magic with Goga Bitadze and filled in some prognosis about Sandro Mamukelashvili and his Toronto. Neither of teams is in a driver’s seat. Orlando lost some stability and Toronto still is missing some healthy bodies. 

The next few games for Orlando are must win ones. They host Indiana on March 23rd and travel to Cleveland the very next day. While game with the Pacers is the one to take, Cavs are a tough task. Even without some key players.  And boy. These Magic needs to be credited for some nice work from their front office. They did select Anthony Black outside of the Top five and added a very good forward Tristan Da Silva. And, after the All-Star break, that Da Silva guy appeared in 12 of 15 games and averaged 12.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, while also shooting 50 percent from the field. And that new lineup of Da Silva, Desmond Bane, Jalen Suggs, Paolo Banchero and of course, Wendell Carter Jr is a plus 16 points per 100 possessions. Not bad, indeed. 

Now, off to that Raptors squad. 

Games at Phoenix (March 22nd) and at Utah on the next day are tough ones. The Jazz are tanking and on paper, look as a beatable opponent, but they can outrun you easy. As for the Suns, you never know who is going to be on the floor for them. If healthy, they present a fear to almost every other team including the mighty Thunder and those sexy Spurs. And, Toronto will need every Mamukelashvili golden nugget for the wins. Sandro, in his first season in Toronto (since coming from the Spurs) has quietly been one of better backup bigs in the whole league. The versatile forward from Georgian NT I averaging career high 10.8 points on 63 percent true shooting. Mamukelashvili (6.9) has appeared in 65 of 67 games so far and that is for a team in desperate need of size. Jakob Poeltl and Collin Murray-Boyles are not healthy at all, they are missing some long stretches. 

And so, Sandro needs to be a healthy one. And this Toronto needs him badly. 

So far, so good.