Orlando Magic learning the Scott Skiles way
Things will be different for the Orlando Magic with Scott Skiles as head coach. He will demand defense and accountability in a new way for this young team.
Scott Skiles is going to change things.
His mere presence changes things as the Magic made a clear direction to push forward the rebuild and expect victories sooner rather than later. The Magic now have a coach with some experience and meat behind him. One who knows how to accomplish the goals he is preaching and is not just learning on the job.
When the Magic and their fans look at the 2016 team, even now with free agency and the Draft still to come, they can have some clear idea of who the team will be and how they will want to play.
Despite all the conspiracy theories and questions about the circumstances of his hiring, there is no doubt what Skiles’ teams in his 13-year coaching career have been able to accomplish consistently.
“I don’t want to speak for Scott, but I think one of the core beliefs he has to win in sports and especially basketball is through competitiveness, toughness and intelligence,” Magic general manager Rob Hennigan said. “I think when you try to combine those things, I think Scott is in some ways a really good poster boy for that. I think can feel it in the way he talks, he coaches, the way he interacts with teh guys. We’re always looking to get tougher. I don’t think you can ever be too tough. I think it’s a seamless fit in that regard.”
Skiles coaches the way he played. His teams have grit, determination and an attention to defense.
That has been proven out time and time again through three teams and 13 years in the NBA, starting with his first job in 2000 to 2013.
A simple look at his team’s numbers shows the way:
| Team (Year) | Def. Rtg. (Rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Phoenix (2000) | 99.0 (3rd) | 40-22* |
| Phoenix (2001) | 98.0 (2nd) | 51-31 |
| Phoenix (2002) | 104.0 (12th) | 25-26# |
| Chicago (2004) | 103.4 (16th) | 19-47* |
| Chicago (2005) | 100.3 (2nd) | 47-35 |
| Chicago (2006) | 103.4 (7th) | 41-41 |
| Chicago (2007) | 99.6 (1st) | 49-33 |
| Chicago (2008) | 107.2 (14th) | 9-16# |
| Milwaukee (2009) | 107.9 (15th) | 34-48 |
| Milwaukee (2010) | 103.1 (2nd) | 46-36 |
| Milwaukee (2011) | 102.5 (4th) | 35-47 |
| Milwaukee (2012) | 105.2 (16th) | 31-35 |
| Milwaukee (2013) | 105.2 (12th) | 16-16# |
Stats via Basketball-Reference.
*Hired Mid-season
#Fired Mid-season
The trend for Skiles is his teams start out strong defensively and they improve their record. Then at some point — his third or fourth year with the team — the bottom seems to fall out. The defense slips and so does the team’s record.
It is clear exactly what Skiles brings. He will expect his teams to play tough defense and hold everyone to a high standard. This is a coach who has experienced the Playoffs, has helped players grow into Playoff teams and expects to be there again.
That gravitas will help him connect to the team quickly, even if it may wear on them a little further down the road.
“I just think you’ve got to be fair,” Skiles said. “The guys can see a fraud right away. They can see competence right away. If you’re fair and you’re real with them and you’re honest all the time, guys respond to that. And if they don’t, it’s probably an issue you have to address.”
That address is usually where things fall apart for Skiles. His coaching tenures have often ended with players frustrated and tuning him out. The teams dip defensively and without a strong offense they tend to collapse and fall apart. Skiles takes the blame and everyone moves on.
Just about everyone is expecting the same kind of rise and fall this time around.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider is not too high on the prospects of the hire either, anticipating the same kind of arc that has happened in Skiles’ previous three jobs:
"The question is how high the Magic can get under Skiles. His turnarounds have tended to have a ceiling. The best team of Skiles’ career, the 1999-00 Suns, won 53 games, and he has won just two playoff series in his career — never advancing past the conference semifinals. There’s a longtime sacrifice to the short-term benefit of adding Skiles, and that’s why I suspect the Magic will ultimately regret this hire. As satisfying as competing will be after Orlando has been the league’s worst team since the Dwight Howard trade in 2012, the Magic didn’t stockpile lottery picks to top out in the second round."
As much as Magic fans may not be ready to hear this, Skiles is probably the coach to accomplish what the Magic want. That right now is simply a return to the Playoffs.
There remains that little, stinging hope things will be different. After 13 years and three different stops in the NBA, you hope Skiles will have learned a few things.
His offenses have largely been uninspiring — he has had a top-15 offense by offensive rating just once in his 13 years. So everything Skiles will build with the Magic will be based on his ability to get the defense to turn around from last year’s 25th-ranked unit into something certainly in the top 15.
It is not likely Skiles will turn into an offensive savant in establishing what he wants to do defensively, but the hope is ths fourth job means Skiles has learned a few things.
“Things are happening so fast in the NBA,” Skiles said. “There are some things privately that I don’t want to share publicly just in analyzing myself that I will do differently. The main thing is I have to stay consistent with what I believe in. I have to find that balance right there in staying in what I believe and learning every day. After every single game, you ask yourself, ‘What did I screw up tonight? What could I have done differently. What bad decisions did I make tonight?’ You just keep that going as the year goes on and hopefully as time goes on you are learning at the same time your team is learning.”
Learning will be the big thing Skiles has to accomplish. As talented as this team might be and as quickly as the Magic may want them to turn the corner and start competing for the Playoffs, they are still a very young group in need of a basketball education.
Skiles’ demeanor on the sideline and the way he approaches things is completely different from Jacque Vaughn. Skiles is a yeller. He is going to demand his team play at a higher level. If you do not perform, you will sit on the bench and probably get a good yelling at.
Things are going to be very different indeed.