Orlando Magic fans are losing patience
Three years into a full blown rebuild can wear at a fan base, but at some point the winning has to start. And that point is next year.
Rebuilding years are never easy to endure for a fan, and the fact that three seasons have passed since Dwight Howard was trade is pestering many fans, even franchise-long season ticket holders, into abandoning hope—or at least tempering support of a team that has won just 68 games in three seasons.
No one expected the Orladno Magic to make an easy transition following the departure of a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and true franchise talent. Dwight Howard is not the same overly gifted athlete he was with the Orlando Magic, but losing him in a multi-team trade while acquiring young talent (Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless and the now-departed Arron Afflalo and draft picks) signaled the rebuilding effort was a true ground-up operation.
The residing sentiment among fans is that this team should be in contention of the playoffs, NOW. And it is not.
Polling the OMD Facebook Page produced some solid commentary from the fan base.
Sergio Rene Saldana basically summed up what co-editor Philip Rossman-Reich and I have been saying regarding the time-scale of this: “Three years is perfect for a rebuild. Next year is when the Magic should start contending for it (the playoffs) but are not guaranteed.”
Brandon Wilcox echoed that by citing the Magic have player extensions and the time to achieve more is now, the salaries dictate it. More fans resounded the “next year is a must” sentiment. It is not ill-placed.
Branko Ivanovíc felt the same way as I did, and other fans: “Unless we start winning, all that talk of a team full of talent and potential will turn into a bunch of losers. Get a competent, competitive coach ASAP.”
And the “this team has potential” chorus is one I have received abundantly from fans of other teams. But potential does not win games. Good coaching can, and there has been precious little of that during the tenure of both Jacque Vaughn and James Borrego. The list of candidates has arisen now, but it is difficult to ascertain which coach could and would accept trying to inject some intelligence into the Magic’s woeful offense.
What may be most concerning is the lack of progress.
Adam Foxman said the year was a “minor disappointment” (rather generous) but added that fans “have to keep faith that the team is progressing at an acceptable rate.” As of this moment, it is not progressing at an acceptable rate, and coaching in addition to a subpar bench are the most glaring holes in the blueprint.
Gary Heathcock took perhaps the most pessimistic approach in saying he has not been happy with management since day one. Given that the team has made two Finals appearances, that is rather hasty and improper to think.
However, citing the fact that stars like Howard, Tracy McGrady and Shaquille O’Neal all wanted out, there may be something to his statement that players leave to become “bigger stars.”
That really only seems applicable to O’Neal — given that McGrady and Howard both declined after leaving O-town. Either way, the next franchise player needs to be a long-term fix rather than a guy stopping by for a few beach visits and enjoying the sunshine.
To sum it up neatly: Fans are really disappointed. Some are even disheartened.
It is hard not to be, but rebuilds can be finicky, and there is very little certainty when it comes to the development of players. Right now, the players are indeed developing individually, but most certainly not as a team.
The search for an “identity” that Phillip and I harp on begins with team play, not individual dominant performances like Elfrid Payton’s back-to-back triple doubles or Vucevic’s occasional monster nights. Or even Victor Oladipo taking over a game on a one-man run to get the team back in striking distance.
These are all snapshots of brilliance, but the overall picture of the trio is far less victorious. A coach that could tie the ropes together offensively could create a team that thrives on using defense to create offense. Perhaps that could be the beginning of becoming a good team and Victor and Elfrid are more than up to the task of being defensive demons. Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart may be the only better defensive backcourt.
That says something, doesn’t it?
But the bottom line is still those 68 wins in three seasons, only one game more than the Golden State Warriors won just this season alone.
It is just hard to be excited when the wins are coming at a one-in-four clip. Each victory seems like the start of a new season, with expectations. And yet the team continued to revert to its old ways, even after knocking off Chicago and Houston on the road in impressive fashion.
The “real” Magic need to show up every night, or this fan base is going to continue to dwindle as the Amway Center’s noise reduces itself to a hollow drone of a venue, a place to come and enjoy food and drinks while a basketball game happens to be in progress.
But that is exactly where it has gone at this point. And it is hard to blame fans for that.