Magic get to work on establishing identity

Welcome to Year Three of the Magic’s massive rebuild.

It has been a hard two years. But Year Three, so everyone says, is when the team starts to turn a corner. The old regime and their players are completely gone. This is purely Rob Hennigan and Jacque Vaughn‘s team and their players. The future starts with building now.

And so now too does their identity.

The biggest question facing the Magic this season is who will this team become? What is this team’s direction and what does the future hold?

Orlando has assembled a collection of young players with lots of talent and loads of potential to turn into something. The observers like the direction Rob Hennigan has taken this team. They want to see how it all comes together. So do the fans — and their patience is starting to wear thin three years in as they look forward to seeing what the future will actually hold.

That frustration is already bubbling somewhat to the surface with an 0-3 start. This is a Magic team still very much trying to find an identity (granted, without a key player that is part of that identity).

To hear Magic players and staff tell it, they seem to have a clear idea of what kind of team they want to be — defensive-minded, ready to run and attack when the time is right and smart and disciplined.

The Magic are planning to rely on defense to establish their program identity. Photo by David Manning-USA TODAY Sports

“We’re committed to being a defensive minded team,” Magic general manger Rob Hennigan said. “We feel like over the long haul that’s a sustainable element for our team and a critical one. I think we will start to see as we start to establish this identity on the floor that we want to be about, it will start with defense. And we’ll expect our guys to be committed to that end of the floor at all times.”

This credo was seemingly drilled into every player by Media Day as player after player said the same thing regarding the team’s intentions this season:

Jacque Vaughn: “I think at the end of the day, the versatility that we have, guys able to play multiple positions will be able to defensively dictate some things and hopefully that will spur our ability to run and get out offensively. We’ll be a team that is dedicated on the defensive end of the floor.”

Maurice Harkless: “Moe: If you look at our roster, everyone is for the most part athletic, everyone is long. That’s the type of play we need to play with this team. For us to get out there and just run on teams and use our length to get stops, I think it will put us in a position every night to compete.”

Luke Ridnour: “There is definitely the horses to do that [play fast]. Guys are buying into what we’re trying to do. Guys are hungry to win. That’s a good combination to have.”

Nikola Vucevic: “Being a young team, I think that is something we have to do. It all starts with the defense. We have to get stops. we’ve got to be aggressive on the defensive end. It’s hard to run if you have to take the ball out of the net every time. We’ve got to be able to get stops and as soon as we get a stop get out there and run. That will make the game a lot easier for us once we get some easy buckets and the rim looks bigger for everybody.”

Tobias Harris: “I think with the athleticism that we have, with the type of guys that we have, we can get out in the open floor and make plays. I think we would be doing ourselves a bad job if we didn’t do that. So that’s what the coach is emphasizing for us. Get the ball off the rim, especially the 4-man, you get the rebound and get the ball out there fast and get into our offense. It’s tough to defend that. When we push the ball, it makes us even a harder team to guard.”

Aaron Gordon: “We want to make that a key point of our offense is pushing the ball. But one of the ways we are going to do that is to finish the play defensively, boxing out and not allowing offensive rebounds or second chance points. pushing the ball is something that we need to do and we are very capable of doing it.”

And on, and on, and on.

Aaron Gordon is a raw offensive player with lots of defensive potential already realized. Photo by AP Photo/Rich Schultz

The way the Magic constructed their roster suggests this is the way they want to go. Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon, like Victor Oladipo the year before, were noted more for their athletic and defensive prowess than their offensive abilities. That seemed to be a consistent theme. The worry was where the Magic would find offense.

Three games is hardly enough of a sample size to make any statements about the direction the Magic are heading and whether this roster is fitting this ideal for the team’s identity. Defense at the beginning of the year has been made tougher with Oladipo’s injury.

The Magic are currently giving up a 107.1 defensive rating, seventh in the league. It should be noted in this small sample size theater, the Spurs are one spot worse. Things will change.

In transition, the Magic are getting 11.9 percent of their points on fast breaks (compared to 11.7 percent last year). Orlando is playing at a pace of 97.1 possessions per game (in the top third of the league actually).

As the team’s defense improves and settles down, the fast break points should become more plentiful. The desire to increase the pace has certainly been noticeable. But it has not come together quite yet.

The team’s stated identity has not quite manifested itself yet.

“The challenge of what you say being able to translate to habits that you create to get there,” Vaughn said. “That’s the challenge for this group. We can have all the youth and athleticism and versatility, but if you don’t do it on a consistent basis on both ends of the floor then it is moot.”

Getting a full lineup will help with consistency. And, remember, these numbers are a part of the small sample size that comes from three games. A team’s identity is not set in the first week of the season.

But Rob Hennigan talks often about building a culture and a program with the Magic. The whole organization wants to build an identity. And part of the process of rebuilding is about establishing who your franchise is and what it will become. The Magic’s third year is very much about turning the keys over to the young players and seeing who fits in with the team’s vision and who does not. This is why all this talk of identity is so important and has come to the forefront.

“Being young and being athletic is only going to help us,” Harris said. “Pushing the pace and being held accountable defensively, I know that is something everyone is going to have to buy into. Myself, I know that is something I have been really been conditioning myself for this year to be able to play both sides at a high level. I am on pace to do that and really working on it. I have put the time in and I am ready for it.”

Everyone has to get better. Harris recognized defense is his shortcoming. So too did Nikola Vucevic this offseason. They also know they will have to play defense to be part of the Magic’s future — Vucevic inked his contract, but do not think for a second the Magic would not take a guy like Karl Towns or Jahlil Okafor if that opportunity comes up in the Draft, any player can be traded.

The Magic are establishing who they are this season. It needs to be a backstop. They have the hunger and desire to get there, now it is about beginning to put those pieces together and truly establishing an identity.