The Orlando Magic struggled defensively in the second half with effort and energy. But there were some positives to highlight individually in the opener.
The Orlando Magic preseason opened with a bit of a perplexing effort.
Scott Skiles spent the time coming into the game talking about how good the energy and effort was and the hope that things would carry over. They did in flashes. Skiles left the game frustrated with his team’s effort and energy and how the team could not defend anything, particularly in the second half.
Skiles admitted Victor Oladipo stood out among the players in the starting unit, but wanted to mute that praise some. He was out there with a group and the group did not do its job getting into the second half. Skiles said he was not one to put blame on a single player when it was a collective unit that failed.
And so he sat every single one of his starters early in the second half. He was saving them for the work that would come Sunday in practice.
There was some good to point out and some evaluations to make though in the game overall now that we have had our first look at the Magic in a competitive setting.