From Hurley Whitaker, via e-mail:
"This is a “hard look in the mirror” question: can the Magic ever be an above-average defensive team if Vucevic is on the floor? Do Payton, Oladipo, and Aaron Gordon have to turn into 3-headed Cerberus-level dog for that to happen? Who’s our 4 in all this? Vooch’s D makes me want to flip Harris for Taj Gibson, straight up, just to have a hardcore interior defender next to Nik."
There has obviously been a lot of talk in this mailbag about Nikola Vucevic and the power forward spot. It all goes back to interior defending, which the Magic have not been very good at.
Teams are shooting 54.3 percent at the rim against the Magic according to NBA.com, third worst in the league. They are doing this on 20.7 field goal attempts per game at the rim, the fourth lowest in the league. Teams are finding themselves not only in the paint, but at the rim and capable of scoring.
This is obviously a problem that the Magic need to address if they hope to make the Playoffs next season.
There are some schematic things the Magic can do if they are going to push for Vucevic to be the center. I do believe they can be an above-average defense even without a rim protector next to Vucevic. They just need a solid defender who can shift and rotate to cover for Vucevic when he is guarding the pick and roll (Glen Davis was great at this).
Last year, the Magic were tied for 17th in defensive rating with 104.8 points allowed per 100 possessions. That is slightly below the median for the league. So it is possible for this team to play at least average defense with Vucevic as the center. It takes the right scheme.
Frye has not been able to rotate and move laterally fast enough to cover for Vucevic’s mistakes. And Jacque Vaughn had the guards hedging very hard and playing over aggressive often. This leaves Vucevic and Frye very exposed on the back side. The struggles on teh ball has been the biggest issue for the Magic this season.
I believe it is possible to have a decent defense here. It would be nice to have another rim protector , but really it just takes a forward who understands how to rotate quickly. Aaron Gordon could very well be that guy. I don’t think the Bulls would take Tobias Harris at this point. Taj Gibson could be a guy that does fit that role, but I would not sell the farm for him either.
Dewayne Dedmon has done an admirable job of late. He is still very raw and so his development should be watched closely if he stays on the Magic roster.
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