Mario Hezonja takes continued patience
Mario Hezonja‘s slow development for the Orlando Magic this year has engendered frustration. Patience may pay off now as the season closes.
Mario Hezonja dribbled into a trap in Friday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ersan Ilyasova came up to set a side pick and roll and barely touched his defender, trying to slip into a pop. Hezonja went hard as if Ilyasova would be there to help impede his defender.
Instead he drove right into the trap. His head down, he did not make the pass to Ilyasova — that over the shoulder throw to a rolling player that NBA players have to be able to make — and it resulted in a turnover.
Perhaps that was the lesson he needed to learn in this moment. How to make a quick decision, read the defense and make the pass or attack as the trap comes rather than waiting or looking for the outlet or keeping his head down.
The whole first year has been a learning experience for Hezonja.
Some lessons have been harder to come by than others. In Monday’s game against the Boston Celtics the same situation arose as Hezonja caught the ball after an elevator screen and began his attack after catching the ball too late on a delayed pass from Elfrid Payton.
Hezonja ran a pick and roll to the left and the Celtics switched the defender. He tried getting back to his right and Kelly Olynyk was there waiting for him, anticipating his return to the right. Hezonja was back in traffic with his head down, unable to escape.
These are the lessons for Hezonja at this stage of the season. When to drive, how to react to a trap, how to read a pick and roll, when to shoot, where to be on defense. These are all lessons Hezonja needs to continue to learn and get experience in.
There is still that other pull though for the Magic. That allure of winning.
Even with the Playoff hopes dimming, they are not snuffed out — any combination of six Chicago Bulls wins or six Orlando Magic losses will eliminate the Magic from Playoff contention — and the team views winning as a goal in itself to build a better culture within the organization. Tanking does not seem to be in the cards, although at some point playing younger players like Hezonja a bit more may be in the cards.
Nothing has snuffed out the desire to see Hezonja play. And his nearly 5.5-minute stint Sunday against Toronto brought some frustrations over his playing time.
The approach to Hezonja’s minutes has been fairly consistent though. The Magic are trying to win and when Hezonja makes repeated mistakes, he comes to the bench in favor of someone the team can trust — Sunday that was Devyn Marble. There has been frustration for sure. Hezonja knows when he makes a mistake — he curses loudly in English after that turnover and foul in Boston described above.
But nothing is going to be given to Hezonja, and he has known that the entire year. As Scott Skiles told Jared Dubin of Bleacher/Report when the Magic visited the New York Knicks on Feb. 26:
"“What we’re trying to do with him is, for lack of a better way of phrasing it, is bring him up the right way. That’s what we’re trying to do. There’s no entitlement minutes. As long as I’m the coach, there will be no entitlement minutes. He’s going to have to earn them, and that’s what we’re trying to impress upon him.”"
Hezonja is not in the same boat as teammates Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton. They were thrown into the fire immediately on a team that had no better options and were fine letting them play through their multiple mistakes. Hezonja does not have that luxury.
He has to help his team while still learning on the fly. A lot of the hard work has come behind the scenes. And like most rookies, he has had his ups and downs. Hezonja has struggled defensively, seemed to have gotten things and then faded again. He has ran through screens hard and gotten his own shot and he has struggled to do so.
It has been a back-and-forth process for sure with Hezonja. Ask him what he needs to improve on and he will still say everything. He knows how much of a project he is as much as anyone else, even if he gets frustrated with his inconsistent playing time (as any player surely would).
There is pressure that comes with being the No. 5 pick. There is Internet hype to live up to. Hezonja may not be all those things yet. He was going to take some time to develop. His 5.6 points per game and 49.9 percent effective field goal percentage downplay the flashes he has shown.
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The incredibly difficult passes through traffic to the perfect guy. The confidence to shoot a long 3-pointer (and make it). The desire to be a good teammate and player. It will come. It just might be slowly.
The time is coming though for Hezonja to get some more free reign or at least a much looser grip on the leash. The dream of a .500 record is one loss away from closing and the Playoffs are already a long shot and quickly dying off too.
Everyone has been able to hold onto the flashes of what he can be. Soon it will time to unleash him a bit more and let him work through mistakes in real time.