In Roy Devyn Marble, the Orlando Magic have an incoming rookie player full of intrigue. He had a notable summer league (9.4 points and 6.2 rebounds in five games) and at times looked more comfortable on the floor than more heralded incoming players Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon.
However, a look back at his four-year stint with Iowa shows us there were certainly areas of his game that needed work. Defending was never something he was known for, and yet could this become his calling card for this team going forward?
First of all, and probably best of all for Marble, elite defending doesn’t need to be something he has to be good at right away. This team already has a great defending shooting guard in Victor Oladipo.
Add to this the fact that it was Marble’s offensive game that got him places in college, and you begin to wonder why this is even being brought up. Marble will bring offense to a team that sorely needs it.
But yet, the potential seems to be there and it’s exciting to think about. Marble is not in the top level of players athletically, and so that is a drawback.
But his four years of college mean that he has a wealth of experience that one-and-done college ballers lack. On a young team, expect him to quickly become one of the talkers who commands respect and gives orders.
You might not think this relates much to defending, but it does. Your best defensive players need to talk a lot and so the hope here is that Marble does this.
Marble is also 6’6″ a could see some time as a forward as well with the length he has. Again he’s not terribly strong, but a summer in the gym would change that.
Avery Bradley, a top level defender in the NBA, is a full four inches smaller than Marble, and he is also a guard. So Marble’s length alone could see him be a difference maker on the defensive end of the court.
In fact, it could guarantee his long term NBA survival. There is always a team in the league desperate for a player who can defend the best players the opposition has to offer. Marble can be that guy and we don’t even know it yet.
His length is the big plus here, and his work rate certainly helps. Really it is just then about applying himself to become the best defender that he can be.
If we’re being honest too, his offensive game isn’t even anything special. Yet he still produces results on that end.
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This is quickly becoming something of a habit for the young guy, working harder than more gifted players to make a difference on the court. The mechanics of his jump shot need some work, and during the aforementioned Summer League outing he shot 31 percent from beyond the 3-point line.
He can, however, get to the cup with a variety of different moves, and he is trying to add the 3-point shot to his game, which is something. But it just seems that going forward he has all the tools and abilities to become one of the better defensive players in this league.
Looking at the Magic team as a whole, this could work out wonderfully. Putting Marble on the second unit, which is where he will undoubtedly start the season, he could be the perfect foil for either Elfrid Payton or Luke Ridnour.
As it is, he managed to keep his man in front of him reasonably well during his college days, and the professional game is a different proposition altogether. But locking up the sixth man coming off the bench for the other team would allow the Magic’s second unit to flourish.
Yes we may be getting ahead of ourselves here, but it’s something to think about, and it also looks like it’s not too much of a stretch that it could also happen as well. He’s hard working, does a lot of things well but no one thing truly great, so why can’t it be defending?
For a player who got a shot on a Summer League team to be able to come in and defend some of the better players in the league, well that’s huge for a young up and coming team in this league. Roy Devyn Marble can turn into that player, so don’t be surprised when it actually happens.