Orlando Magic Week 1 Takeaways: Scott Skiles knows what he is doing

By Sean Guest

This week we learned just how good this Orlando Magic team can be.

It has been a tough week, one that saw the Magic lose to the Washington Wizards by a single point, take the star-studded Oklahoma City Thunder to double overtime and come up just short against the Chicago Bulls after a thrilling fourth quarter comeback.

All three defeats will have hurt, but as a team and as individuals this young group will have learned some valuable lessons.

Playing for 48 minutes is key, as is composure down the stretch. But thanks to Scott Skiles the defense has looked far more committed (if not yet more effective) and new additions like Mario Hezonja and C.J. Watson seem to be adjusting well to life with the team.

The players earmarked as potential leaders — namely Tobias Harris, Nikola Vucevic and Victor Oladipo — are each averaging close to 20 points per game, while Evan Fournier has looked right at home in the starting five, although Aaron Gordon is making a strong case for himself off the bench.

There is still a lot of work to be done and even the playoffs may be a way off yet, but considering the average age of this group is just 24.6 years old with the right coaching and personnel management it has the potential to be very, very good.

Next: Room for improvement