A lot of people have a lot of questions about Paolo Banchero.
Most of them are unfair. Most of them come from watching statistics or wanting to repeat tired talking points criticizing this 22-year-old forward still so early in his career.
Banchero's struggles after missing two months with a torn right oblique only affirmed what many of his detractors said and believed about him. Never mind that this was a core injury that kept him from working out in any capacity for several weeks and he admitted he was still working his way back into shape.
Banchero's play since the All-Star break continues to lead everyone to one inevitable conclusion: Banchero will be among the best players in this league.
But those kinds of players, for as incredible as their accolades may be come down to winning and how they affect winning. With the direct comparison to another young player making a superstar statement, Banchero is still learning lessons.
Anthony Edwards took over Frida's game with five quick points and contributed to another score as part of a decisive 9-0 run for the Minnesota Timberwolves late in the fourth quarter. Between those shots, Banchero missed twice allowing the Wolves to pull away for a 118-111 Magic loss.
Banchero scored 43 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter. His heroics and performance should not be dismissed or discredited. But Edwards with his 28 points won the day. Edwards was the one who took over when the game was on the line.
In a battle of two superstars, Banchero measured up. But he and his team still knocked on the door, only to find it slammed shut.
"I think we just came up short," Banchero said after Friday's loss. "We put up a good fight and made some good runs throughout the game and gave ourselves a chance to win. They just made more plays than we did."
On a tear
Paolo Banchero carried the team throughout the game, scoring 43 points on 16 for 32 shooting, adding 9 for 11 shooting from the foul line for good measure.
For a Magic team that was down or lacking many offensive players, Banchero was pushing the team downhill and creating the gravity to try to find anything going on. The Magic did not function without Banchero on the floor.
Banchero has continued to be on a tear since the All-Star break.
Since the break, he is averaging 29.8 points per game, second in the league. He has also been deadly efficient, shooting 48.8 percent from the floor and 35.5 percent from three. His 60.5 percent true shooting percentage on a 33.1 percent usage rate hints at his limitless ceiling.
The only thing missing on Banchero's star resume since the break are the wins.
That kind of play comes with responsibility. It is his decisionmaking that makes for wins and losses and his shotmaking. The ball is in his hands.
The next step
The Orlando Magic hit an offensive wall early in the fourth quarter, giving up a 13-2 run to fall behind by five points midway through the fourth quarter. But they recovered and rallied enough to tie the game at 98 with 3:30 to play.
That is when Edwards took over. He came around a screen and picked up his dribble but Wendell Carter was late to step up and switch. Cory Joseph stunted to get a hand up and give Wendell Carter time to retreat. But he was still late and Edwards broke the tie with a three.
Banchero tried to answer on the next possession with a pull-up three of his own but missed. Edwards got the ball for the Wolves and attacked Carter, finishing over him for a tough layup and a five-point lead. Banchero tried to answer with his own layup over Rudy Gobert but could not finish around the former Defensive Player of the Year.
The Minnesota Timberwolves essentially iced the game with an Edwards missed three that was dunked back in by Julius Randle. It was a 7-0 run at the wrong time.
Edwards made the plays. Banchero did not. That is how so many games are decided between two star players.
"You have two guys who go toe to toe in that way, big shot needing to be made, a big stop needing to be made," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Friday's loss. "The back-and-forth battle between two guys that are at a high level. Superstar status in so many ways that you have to tip your hat to both of those guys for what they are able to do on the basketball court and continue to uplift and power their team."
Banchero would not have it any other way and neither would this team. The ball needs to be in Banchero's hands and the Magic can take close losses when it is their two star players making those decisions.
That is something they are still learning -- how to pick the right moments to take over and the kinds of shots the team needs in those moments. Results matter at this time of year and for a player of Banchero's caliber. This is something he will still have to learn from.
But Banchero still tends to fall back into those habits that so many criticize him for. He settled for jumpers instead of forcing himself to the line or forcing Rudy Gobert to step up to dump off or dish to open shooters.
Where's the help?
The problem remains the Orlando Magic cannot trust anyone else to score late in games. Not in the same way they could early in the season when Paolo Banchero dished to Anthony Black for a critical three in his 50-point game against the Indiana Pacers. The Magic have fallen in the standings so much because they have lost that trust and belief.
Banchero took 32 of the team's 89 field goals. And he had to take over the scoring late, willing the Magic to stay in the game after the Wolves' 9-0 spurt to retake the lead with 11 points in the final 1:52.
That is always the problem. The Magic are searching for offense and often struggling to find it, putting all the onus on Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner (16 points on 4-for-16 shooting) to create.
The biggest thing perhaps keeping Banchero from superstardom right now is the supporting cast who is struggling to hit an outside shot and provide an outlet or relief.
"It makes it easier for everyone," Caleb Houstan said after Friday's loss. "The whole defense is watching him. it gives guys like me more open shots. What he's able to do going downhill or shooting is pretty special."
Houstan hit six of the Magic's 12 3-pointers in the game—the Magic shot 12 for 28 (42.9 percent). His three-point spurts helped the Magic take a nine-point lead to the fourth quarter and stay in the game throughout the second.
But the shooting dried up quickly in the fourth quarter. Orlando lost that quarter 40-24, making only 10 of 24 field goals and missing all five 3-pointers. Banchero scored 17 of those 24. There was not enough offense to sustain at the end.
Orlando is still struggling to resolve the issues of its offense. The team is getting blaring red alarms to make meaningful improvements in the offseason.
The biggest takeaway of the last 10 games is what Banchero has done since the break and how he has gotten himself back on track. He is a superstar who is good enough to will teams into relevancy and competitiveness.
If he is not there yet, he is clearly knocking on the door of something truly great.