The Orlando Magic are done using youth as an excuse. The public gauntlet has been laid and the Orlando Magic are ready to take on that pressure to compete.
The whole entirety of the Magic’s goals for the 2016 season and what the season will be about can be summed up in one exchange from the Orlando Magic’s Media Day on Friday.
Rob Hennigan and several players stated again publicly the team’s goal is to make the Playoffs. So what makes him comfortable talking about the Playoffs, a reporter asked Hennigan.
“We’ve come to a point now where our team is ready to turn a corner,” Hennigan responded. “Our goal is to make the Playoffs, we’re not going to hide from that. That’s a healthy goal in our view. Our expectation is to compete for a Playoff spot throughout the season. I think that next step in that development is critical for our guys to experience. It’s also critical for our young team to start taking ownership for the performance of the team. All those things combined give us comfort in giving that goal out for ourselves.”
“Why can that happen now? Why are you confident that it can happen now?” another reporter asked.
“Why would we not be confident?” Hennigan responded.
And therein lies the new attitude for the Magic. It is not simply about turning the corner and winning games. It is about proving it to themselves and to others that they can.
Because there are reasons not to be confident about that statement. The Magic said many of the same things about turning the corner at last year’s media day only to win 25 games and be largely a disappointment in 2015.
This year felt different though, if not because of the new coaching staff and energy they brought then by the determination and focus the Magic had to fix things after last year’s disappointment. The ownership over this team and its results appeared to have set in.
To a man, Magic players came up and stated it was time to put away excuses of being young or having never won before. Nikola Vucevic said everyone on the roster is tired of losing and came in to camp prepared to put the work in to have a different year.
It was time to win.
“I think the biggest expectation for us is to be consistent,” Tobias Harris said. “I’m not going to go out there and say we’re going to win this many games. We need to be a consistent team night in and night out. For us to be a team that wants to play at the end of the regular season, we need to be consistent with our effort and consistent on offense, on defense and playing together. I think the big word that needs to be used with our team is consistency.”
That consistency was certainly lacking in previous years. The Magic scored major victories last season only to falter the next time out or succumb to a losing streak.
There were definitely moments when, as Scott Skiles noted, shoulders started to droop and demeanor fell off. That will have to change for the Magic to accomplish this goal. It will take a new attitude and determination.
For the most part, players came in early to camp and worked out together or played pick up together. Harris noted the team seemed to have the right attitude and seemed ready to play together. The attitude was good entering the camp. He said with that attitude and mindset the sky is the limit.
But it starts from that basic premise that it is time for the team to push forward. The team can no longer fall back on its inexperience as a reason for its lack of success.
“We’re never saying that ever again,” Victor Oladipo said on using youth as an excuse. “It’s over with. At the end of the day, we’ve got to win. We’ve got to stop using that as an excuse. We want to win. In order to win, you can have no excuses. We’re locked in on winning. We’re going to take it one game at a time.”
That kind of language was used throughout the summer and into Media Day (and now training camp). That kind of fire and desire to turn things around was seen throughout camp. The question is whether it will be just talk or whether the Magic will put action behind it.
Hennigan said he feels the team is capable of taking that jump and competing for a Playoff spot. He certainly has the belief in them. The team seems to have the belief in themselves early on in the season.
With training camp set to open now, the Magic are ready to get on the floor and do it.
“That’s our only goal. We haven’t made it in three years,” Nikola Vucevic said. “Not even close to it. It’s our goal to try to make the Playoffs this year. I think we have the players this year. We have the talent. It’s just on us to go on the court and execute our gameplans and go on the court to achieve it.”
It is more than believe or not believe with this team. It is time to put up or shut up. And the goals and attitude as practice gets set to start reflected that.