Orlando Magic showing early signs of defensive life
Since the All-Star Break, the Orlando Magic have recommitted themselves defensively. It is not perfect, but the Magic are showing signs defensively.
When the Orlando Magic began their season, they promised to be a bruising defensive team. They certainly had the talent and potential for it.
Coach Frank Vogel had built a reputation as a defensive-minded coach with a top-10 defense in every year of his coaching tenure with the Indiana Pacers. Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo were well-regarded rim protectors who would wall off the paint and make it tough for teams to drive in and score with ease.
This was a seemingly sound blueprint to building a defensive identity.
After a strong start to the season, the Magic defense fell off significantly. It is still the most confounding aspect of a frustrating season for the Orlando Magic.
The defense settled in as one of the worst in the league — currently 21st in the league giving up 106.9 points per 100 possessions.
There certainly would be no Playoffs without the defense considering the Magic’s clear offensive flaws on the roster. The season quickly got out of hand because of this slippage.
Orlando is a new team since the All-Star Break. Jettisoning Serge Ibaka and replacing him with Terrence Ross has forced the team to play smaller. While the defensive principles do not change much, the skills and ability do change. The Magic have become a much active and energetic team.
And there are plenty of early signs the Magic are finding something on defense to build from.
"“With the way we’re going, we’re playing smaller,” Terrence Ross told Orlando Magic Daily after Thursday’s practice. “When you play smaller, you play a lot faster. We’re a little more scrappy. We kind of get our hands more into pocket passes and try to take advantage of our mismatches and our speed. Any time you have that, it helps on the defensive end.”"
In the three games since the All-Star Break, the Magic have the fifth best defensive rating in the league, giving up 100.0 points per 100 possessions. This is a small sample size, but the signs are encouraging.
Orlando gave up a 107.8 offensive rating to the Portland Trail Blazers last week. But the team gave up just 97.2 points per 100 possession through the first three quarters. This was before Damian Lillard exploded for 17 points to lead a 35-point quarter and a comeback win.
The Magic put together one of their strongest defensive games in a long time in holding the Atlanta Hawks to an 84.0 offensive rating.
And then Wednesday night against the New York Knicks, the Magic gave up a 109.0 offensive rating overall. But the team gave up just 41 points and a 93.4 offensive rating in the second half.
Yes, the overall defensive rating is still weighed down by the outlier that was Saturday’s win over the Hawks. But there are flashes of what this team can be on the defensive end still.
"“I was happy with how we competed on the defensive end,” Vogel told Orlando Magic Daily in dissecting Wednesday’s game after practice Thursday. “In terms of trying to play the style of play we want to play defensively, we did some really good things. We still have a big problem containing the basketball.”"
Those issues are still prevalent with the way Lillard torched the Magic in that opener last week and the way Derrick Rose — 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists Wednesday — beat up the Magic’s guards.
Containing the ball is still a big issue. And the Knicks especially were able to stretch the Magic to the 3-point line using Kristaps Porzingis on the perimeter to clear the lane.
Similarly, the Trail Blazers went small in the fourth quarter of their win last week and were able to match the Magic’s speed, again stretching out their bigs and preventing the Magic from closing down passing lanes and crowding the paint.
Orlando Magic
There are still issues to resolve with the defense. But also plenty of signs they can and play strong defense for longer stretches.
Orlando’s general activity level — measured crudely perhaps by deflections — has been significantly better. The Magic average 13.9 deflections per game this year but have 17.7 per game in the last three outings.
Vogel said the team has done a good job covering up the weaknesses of going small. The team has done a better job swarming the post. Vogel said he has liked the team’s weak-side rotations more.
That part about containing the ball is still a big one. It could ultimately hold the Magic’s defense back — in the same way the team struggled early in the year.
The Magic are trending up it would seem, but the team’s defense is still clearly a fragile thing.
"“We did make some improvement, we play a different style now,” Nikola Vucevic said. “It’s early to say. We’ve only played three games. We just have to understand that each game is important for us to build good habits on both ends of the floor if we want to be a successful team. We did make some improvements, to build on it would be important for us.”"
Jeff Green said the team’s communication has improved. That is certainly an attribute of the team’s improvement defensively. Communication was always spotty and attributed as a reason for the Magic’s struggles on the defensive end before the trade deadline.
The Magic may still be a bit overeager and may still be getting on the same page, but the defensive unit does seem to be trending in a better direction overall. Orlando still has to put together a solid 48 minutes on defense — and have the offense to boot.
Even with the team disappointing Wednesday, the Magic’s defense gave them every chance to make a run and win that game in the second half. There were encouraging signs.
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And as the Magic try to build their foundation for next season, they will have to continue increasing and building on these early defensive trends.