How are the Orlando Magic measuring progress early in camp?
The Orlando Magic are measuring progress through their effort and willingness to learn early on in camp. And so far the reviews are good.
Scott Skiles has liked what he has seen from the Orlando Magic behind closed doors. The effort, energy and intensity have been where he has wanted them. He never doubted the “want to” as he describes it or the passion to improve within the roster.
The question was always how quickly he could raise the intensity and precision level as the brought in a different structure and accountability. Maybe the answer to that will not be known until fans get their first peak at the Magic during the first preseason game against the Hornets on Saturday at Amway Center.
Skiles though has liked what he has seen. Liked it in a major way.
His team has taken to his instruction and while the execution may not be perfect, that is understandable for this point of the season. What is important is the attitude is changing. And the Magic appear to be progressing well as Skiles gave the team the day off Wednesday — something he said they earned.
“If we’re making mistakes right now as we’re playing, we’re making a lot of effort mistakes,” coach Scott Skiles said. “I don’t have any complaints about that. When we make them, I want us to get back and I want us to recover and not let it bleed into the next possession and learn from it right in that moment. Stuff like that can become a habit, but you’ve got to correct it yourself.”
That change in mentality will be as key as anything. There is no way to measure how far the Magic have come really until they get into those game situations.
As Skiles quipped with the media Tuesday: “We’re undefeated. Everything is great.”
The games that are coming will surely bring a little bit more of a clearer picture of where the Magic are at and what they need to clean up and work with in practice. It is much easier to play defense when you know the other team’s plays.
So Skiles has focused mostly on drilling little things on defense and changing that mentality to push through those moments where emotions carry over negatively to the next play.
“We have to as a team get a lot better at that,” Skiles said. “I have said before, somebody would go in a play would happen and somebody would score and there would be a mini-Magic player debate on who should have been there. We have to eliminate that. It worked both ways. They are celebrating something when the other team is scoring. They’re hanging their head when something doesn’t goes right.
“The season is so long and the players are so good and it is grueling and everything, toughness really to me is can you play through when things aren’t going your way. We’ve got to get better at that. We’re a young team, things aren’t always going to go our way. We can’t let an 8-2 run turn into a 16-4 run. It’s something we have to be mindful of and watch at all times.”
“Toughness really to me is can you play through when things aren’t going your way. We’ve got to get better at that.” –Scott Skiles
It is all part of Skiles’ push to increase accountability on the Magic roster. So until there are games to measure progress, the Magic seem to be measuring their progress on how they recover from mistakes and learn from errors as the team installs its offensive and defensive principles.
Victor Oladipo said the team has been evaluating itself based on people’s demeanor and knowing the defensive schemes. The coaches, he said, have laid out a clear plan of telling the players where they need to be. Practice to this point has been about drilling that point home.
The defensive scheme has truly been about building the team and players are learning to count on each other and hold each other up. Those “mini-Magic player debates should become less frequent.
“I think it helps everyone,” Channing Frye said. “Number one, coach has shown from day one he is going to hold everyone accountable. And number two, it’s not just about you guarding your man. It’s like he said, you put your hard hat on and you try to defend your man the best you can within his principles and everyone else is going to help you. It’s not just about you guarding you, it’s about everybody.”
This is a young team. And while the Magic will not use that as any type of excuse — the team has specifically said that excuse is gone — mistakes will be made. Particularly as the team begins to apply all they have learned in practice into games.
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For now, the Magic are happy that the effort and intensity are high. The team seems to be taking to the new principles and new ideas from the coaching staff. That is at least a start.
“They are handling it pretty good because they are dealing with it,” Frye said. “Everyone is making mistakes. There is a learning curve for everybody. But everybody is trying. No one is making mistakes based on laziness. They are making mistakes because they are trying to do everything. I like everybody’s attitude. I like what we’re trying to accomplish. And everyone is doing a good job.”
At least for now, the Magic’s effort and willingness to learn is enough to push this team forward. After Saturday with a game of tape to review, the Magic can measure their progress a little bit differently.