Orlando Magic have to roll with the punches again
The Orlando Magic practiced Tuesday with the specter of a trade hanging over the roster. Like so many times before, the team has to adjust on the fly.
No one could talk about the biggest absence for the Orlando Magic from Tuesday’s practice.
By the time the Magic wrapped up practice, the Magic’s deal sending Serge Ibaka to the Toronto Raptors for Terrence Ross and a 2017 first round pick was not official, although it had broken to the press. League rules forbid team officials from commenting on deals before they are officially announced. Coach Frank Vogel and the players had to bite their tongues when discussing the new players.
The realities of that trade, though, were apparent when Orlando started practice. Serge Ibaka was not there with the team. And so, until that trade becomes official and until the Magic bring in Terrence Ross, this is more or less similar to the other speed bumps and landmines the Magic have had to cross this year.
The Magic have had to face many difficulties this season — from bringing together a roster that was almost completely overturned this summer to facing injuries to key players throughout the season to rotation and lineup changes.
It has not always been a straight line for the Magic. And the path for the team has not always been easy. With a new disruptor coming into the fold with a trade and a new player on the roster, the Magic will have to work on the fly again.
That is not something the team has always succeeded at.
“We are a struggling team,” Evan Fournier said. “There is no other way to say it. It’s been a rough season with so many ups and downs. Great wins and terrible losses that don’t really make sense. We definitely have the potential to be good. We have to be consistent. You can’t explain why you win in San Antonio by double digits but lose at home to Phoenix. It just doesn’t make sense.”
Vogel said he did not think the meshing process was at the root of the team’s struggles. But he did not elaborate on where the team’s issues have stemmed from so far this year.
And players seemed to agree that the team’s off-court chemistry is fine. The Magic have not seemed able to find the right on-court chemistry or consistency to make good on all the promises from this year.
But it is hard to argue against the results. This team has struggled and has fallen out of the Playoff race — 21-36 and 5.5 games out of the final Playoff spot heading toward the All-Star Break.
The team’s struggles to build something consistent on the floor has played a big role in all that. So too have injuries — from Jodie Meeks‘ initial injury to his current one to Evan Fournier’s heel injury that knocked him out for 12 games in December and January.
And that does not get into the lineup changes and rotation upheavals Vogel has had to go through to try to wring something out of this team so far this year.
The NBA schedule does not care about any of this, of course. The unrelenting 82 games keep coming no matter what misfortunes befall a team. Players and teams have to play through.
And the results here speak for themselves.
“I think they’ve handled it mentally pretty well,” Vogel said. “We haven’t performed well enough through those changes. We’ve got to do a better job in a lot of areas. That’s one of them.”
Integrating a new player into the fold, especially a major player (this is not Anthony Brown or Stephen Zimmerman), is never easy. There will be an adjustment period. And like with new players stepping into new roles the advice is pretty similar.
Fournier said when integrating a new player the Magic have to encourage that player to keep things simple. Do what the coaches ask of him and not try to do too much beyond that. And slowly the team can build on the role from there.
That is much the same approach when a team has to face a new role or shifting roles because of injuries or anything else that pops up during the season. There are always these bumps and bruises on the road of a long season.
All a team can do is adjust.
Orlando Magic
“Just play. Just work hard,” Aaron Gordon said. “It sounds like the components to a new team. In basketball, you always deal with injuries. You just work and continue to work. I’m very proud of my team. We continue to put in effort.”
The trade disruption, when it becomes official, will be different of course. The Magic are adding an entirely new element to the team. This is not someone who has been in the battles with everyone since September and October. There are new skill sets and a new personality to integrate into the fold.
And the Magic have struggled to keep pace so far this year.
It is unclear when Terrence Ross will arrive or what he can bring to the team exactly. His shooting will certainly help. But talent alone is clearly not enough to make the team better.
Next: Report: Orlando Magic trade Serge Ibaka to Toronto Raptors
There is no choice but to keep soldiering through and hope that this time the Magic can find the right combination.