Even numbers showing closeouts key to Orlando Magic’s defense revival

The Orlando Magic defense has climbed into the top 10 in the league. Numbers show exactly what one change has been effective for this growing defense.

The Orlando Magic’s defense has undoubtedly gotten better. Entering Friday’s games, the Magic rank tied for 10th in the league in defensive rating, giving up 99.1 points per 100 possessions.

Considering how poor the Magic were defensively last year and the lofty goals Skiles put on the team to improve, this is a tangible sign of some massive improvement. Stats are going to begin to level off and normalize around the league as the early season turns into the meat of the season, but this is a good sign for the Magic and what they want to build.

Why has this change occurred though? This is virtually the same roster that struggled last year and were a bottom-five defense in the league.

At least some of it has to do with scheme.

Everywhere Scott Skiles has gone, he has transformed his team’s defense into something of a juggernaut, with teams taking a massive improvement fairly quickly. He clearly know how to coach a defense.

And a big part of what the Magic try to do is cut off the ball handler by flooding the strong side and helping and collapsing the paint, rushing to close out shooters when the ball gets kicked out.

It is this closeout action that requires the most effort and attention to detail to stymie an offense and force shots the Magic wants. I went into it in a playbook post a few weeks ago:

Closeouts are incredibly important for the success or failure of this defense, something also pointed out by Cory Hutson on Orlando Pinstriped Post.

The numbers bear this out too.

Jordan M. Foley of Vantage Sports noted the Magic’s defensive revival has also followed a dramatic decrease in points allowed when the team successfully challenges shots.

Vantage Sports via kwout

"In closeout situations, the Magic have skyrocketed from 28th to 4th in Contest+ rating from last season. The above chart shows that the increase in Contest+ rating isn’t just Magic players pressuring shooters more, which indicates that their hands are not up, but rather from an 11.5 percent increase in Contest Frequency. In fact, the frequency of pressured, guarded, and open shots all decrease noticeably compared to this increase. The result is a sizable drop on their Overall FG% Against by 5.5 percent in closeout situations."

These numbers suggest the Magic are doing exactly what Skiles wants when they have to rotate out after collapsing into the paint to contest drives.

Skiles has noted on a few occasions about hand placement on contests. He complained specifically after the Magic defeated the Lakers about how their hands were low, allowing them to give up silly fouls like the three free throws given to Nick Young late in the game that tied it.

Again, this is an important part of the Magic’s defense. Without a strong closeout, the Magic would be giving up a lot of 3-pointers — 27.3 3-point attempts allowed per game is the second most in the league.

As the article points out in examining this metric for closeouts a bit closer, virtually every player on the team is now contesting more shots and giving up a lower field goal percentage.

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The closeout, of course, is part of closing the defensive possession. It only tells a portion of the story on the defensive end and why the Magic have played so much better on that end. A lot still has to do with the ability to defend pick and rolls better and defending on the ball better. A lot also has to do with how the Magic help each other.

The closeout, remember, only should occur when the initial ball handler is cut off and the defense recovers back out to the perimeter as the ball goes back out to the shooter. A good closeout actually prevents a shot and allows the defense to reset while forcing the offense to do something of the same, taking valuable seconds off the shot clock.

What these numbers do say though is the Magic are implementing an important part of the defensive scheme and doing so effectively. It certainly plays a strong role in the Magic’s defensive improvement overall.