Trying to get a handle on Scott Skiles’ rotation

Scott Skiles promised he would play the players that would help him win. No where is that more evident than in how he has pieced together his rotations.

It is extremely common for a new head coach to experiment with his adopted roster.

Most see preseason as an opportunity to get to know how players function, deciding who should be where and when along the way. Most aim to ensure their rotation is set in stone before opening night, while for others the tinkering continues long into the season.

It certainly could for Scott Skiles.

The Orlando Magic’s new head coach seems to have settled on a starting five featuring Elfrid Payton, Victor Oladipo, Evan Fournier, Tobias Harris and Nikola Vucevic. But nothing else seems settled.

The injury sustained by Vucevic during Wednesday’s 114-119 overtime loss to the Houston Rockets gave Skiles little choice but to add Dewayne Dedmon to that group, but otherwise all other minutes and roles are very much in flux night to night.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, as Skiles is working with an extremely young group, one that will undoubtedly be motivated by the opportunity to earn additional playing time in exchange for hard work.

Furthermore, noone’s playing time is guaranteed, as the entire starting five found itself benched after a poor start to the third quarter in Friday night’s 87-92 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Skiles said as much when addressing the media ahead of Friday’s game:

“I don’t think we have the type of team that’s going to have a set rotation,” Skiles said. “There isn’t much difference between our starters and our bench players until people emerge. Every coach that I know will tell you a team will show you a rotation if it’s there by their performance. Right now, we’re in the mode of for instance Aaron Gordon played really well last night, that meant less minutes for somebody else. Should I get him out so I can establish a rotation or should I try to win the game?”

Aaron Gordon is a great example of how Skiles’ philosophy has worked to date. During Wednesday’s game against the Rockets, Gordon’s 19-point, 8-rebound contribution was rewarded with a season-high 32 minutes spent on the floor. Similarly, Jason Smith was rewarded for his 10-point, 5-rebound effort against the Philadelphia 76ers with an 18-minute outing on Saturday.

Both players have seen their playing time fluctuate throughout the early year though — Gordon played only 11:50 against Toronto, the game after his season-high 32 against Houston, and Smith played only 7:31 against Toronto the night before he emerged as a defensive boost against Philadelphia.

There are of course some obvious drawbacks to such an approach, just ask Channing Frye.

Unlike Gordon and Smith the veteran forward has failed to make much of an impression on the rotation, making just two appearances this season to date. In theory, his 14-minute, 5-point, 3-rebound outing against the Raptors should have earned him playing time against the 76ers, but even on the second night of a back-to-back it did not.

Perhaps there is more to Skiles’ approach than meets the eye.

After all, Frye probably has a far greater chance of influencing a game against a team like Toronto that likes to go small than one like Philadelphia that is currently building around a pair of quality young bigs. Skiles admitted it would have been tough to get Frye in against a team like Oklahoma City that plays Kevin Durant at the 4 often.

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It is also telling that both of his buckets came during the first half, and that Aaron Gordon only played 12 minutes against the Raptors.

A quick look at the groups that have been given the responsibility of closing out games sheds a little more light on the matter, as Skiles is still experimenting late too.

On Wednesday in Houston, it was Shabazz Napier, Victor Oladipo, Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Dewayne Dedmon who were on the floor when the final bucket fell. Against the Raptors on Friday, it was C.J. Watson, Victor Oladipo, Evan Fournier, Tobias Harris and Dewayne Dedmon. While on Saturday in Philadelphia, it was Payton, Oladipo, Fournier, Harris and Smith.

Obviously Oladipo and Fournier are players Skiles trusts in late-game situations. They are, after all, both capable of making big shots down the stretch, as Oladipo proved against Oklahoma City and Fournier proved against Toronto. But otherwise, it appears Skiles is playing the numbers rather than just sticking with a particular group for the sake of it.

He has repeatedly said he will play who he thinks will help him win. And benching key players like Payton and Harris late in games is certainly putting money where his mouth is.

Even in light of the character-building fourth quarter comeback win against Toronto, Skiles changed the closers to include Elfrid Payton and Jason Smith, both of whom were having solid nights.

As John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com reports, Skiles praised Smith’s performance after the game, saying:

"He was very good on Okafor, who is tough to get a handle on and is already a very good low-post player. I thought Jason did a nice job on him anytime he was on (Okafor) in the game. Dewayne (Dedmon) is known as the better defender, but he struggled and Jason did a really nice job."

This is further proof if any were needed that good performances will result in increased minutes, at least until the rotation reveals itself to Skiles.

What kind of impact that will have on consistency remains to be seen, but as long as the team keeps winning there will not be too many complaints.

Philip Rossman-Reich contributed to this report.