Channing Frye looks to put ’embarrassing’ year behind him
Channing Frye was not thrilled with his first year in Orlando and put the blame on himself. So he spent the summer working to make his second year better.
Channing Frye spent the summer largely as a punching bag for fans.
Really the numbers spoke for themselves. The Magic’s defensive rating was a team-worst 107.4 with Frye on the floor, and despite a good effective field goal percentage, the offense was not that great (99.9 offensive rating with Frye on the floor).
Nobody really needed numbers to know Frye struggled mightily last year. It was obvious from watching games how much the Magic struggled with Frye on the floor.
As the Magic’s biggest free agent signing since the rebuild began, there was a lot of expectation heaped on Frye. After a season where he was seen as the transformative figure in Phoenix’s surprise near-Playoff run, the team figured his shooting would loosen things up for the young players.
That happened on offense, but not enough to hide his defensive faults. It was, even by Frye’s own admission a bad season.
“Last year was, for lack of a better term, a little embarrassing just on all fronts. I have a lot to prove.” –Channing Frye
“If you look, I think it was a struggle for everybody,” Frye said. “We only won 25 games. So if anybody did good you should just cross it off. For me personally, I was not as mobile as I wanted. I think me being injured at the beginning of the year took away from that.
“This summer is probably the hardest summer I have worked. It was the longest summer I have been healthy. I feel great. You will see a better version of me. Last year was, for lack of a better term, a little embarrassing just on all fronts. I have a lot to prove. I’m out here to put the work in and do it.”
It was a disappointing season and Frye took a lot of the burden for that with his perceived contribution to the team. After just one year of his four-year deal, Frye popped up in trade rumors.
So how would Frye change that? Last year was last year and Frye still figures to be an important part of this year’s team. It would be important for him to recover from last year.
Frye said he recommitted himself to working out this summer in a way he has not in previous years. His knee injury at the beginning of last season set him back and limited his mobility, he admitted. He also admitted at media day he was afraid of injury before entering free agency. That is typically how injuries occur.
With that injury in mind, Frye worked on his leg strength, staying in better shape and improving his core. He played more pick up basketball to understand better what he needed to work on. The embarrassment, as he put it, of his first season in Orlando clearly weighed on him as he worked out twice a day on basketball skills and strength and conditioning.
One thing that will happen is the Magic will use him differently. Scott Skiles told him to be prepared to be more mobile to fit into the team. The Magic plan to use him in movement a bit more and more similarly to the way he was used in Phoenix rather than as the spot-up shooter he was last year.
Frye’s impact is still pretty large for the Magic.
“It’s not even when he’s making shots,” Scott Skiles said. “Just his presence on the floor provides spacing. It’s in every team’s gampelan, don’t leave Channing at the 3-point line. It provides a lot of spacing. Even if he is out there, and he never even get a shot, they are much closer to him and it allows our penetration. We’re hoping we can utilize that.”
Frye still has value there. If there was one thing Frye did well in his first season with the Magic it was shoot the ball. He had his second highest 3-point field goal percentage of his career at 39.3 percent. He still has value as a shooter and will still spread the floor.
There are still limitations that have to be resolved. Frye is rarely a plus defensive player. His mobility last year was a major problem as Nikola Vucevic struggles to defend the rim. The two were not a good pairing, especially with Frye struggling to recover from that early-season knee injury.
The system the Magic are running does help him out more. It has him popping in pick and rolls and setting up at the elbow area where he can easily sneak out to the 3-point line as offensive players attack the basket off him. As fans could see Saturday during the preseason game against the Hornets and Monday at the open practice, there is a lot more movement and opportunity for Frye to move around to different spots above the break at the 3-point line and into the post, where he was rarely used last season.
It is an offense based on movement and ball screens. With a player like Frye who can shoot it from just about anywhere, defenses will have a hard time keeping track of him. That makes him more valuable on the offensive end for sure.
Skiles is also relying on Frye to do what he was brought in to do last year — be a leader and an example of a player buying in. Frye appears to be doing that.
He needs to with the pressure put on him to contribute and the disappointment of last season. His role has not exactly been carved out yet. He is currently starting at power forward with Aaron Gordon injured. That may change as Gordon recovers from injury and returns to the lineup in the next week or so (the aim appears to be the Brazil trip and game against Flamengo).
Frye was undoubtedly upset with his first season in Orlando. Putting that embarrassment behind him will mean getting back to what made him great in Phoenix. There are still things to scheme around, but Frye is confident he can make good on the promise of his contract.
“I was definitely upset,” Frye said. “I was upset No. 1 because we won only 25 games. And I was upset because I know I’m better than that. I really just had to refocus on how I could be the best me. I need to be the best me for this team — create space for guys like Vuc and Tobias — but also be able to hold my own defensively, do what coach asks me to do, run the floor and put the ball on the ground. I think that’s just a complete game.”