The Orlando Magic are planning on making a lineup change. It means one of the team’s core players is coming off the bench. And it needs to happen.
The inconsistency for the Orlando Magic has reached a boiling point.
Following Monday’s 117-103 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Scott Skiles had enough. He promised change, telling Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel after the game:
"“It’s time to change the lineup,” Skiles said after the game. “That’s pretty much the reality we’re going to have to face here in the next 48 hours before we play again. That lineup, there’s just been too much of this, and we’ve got to see if we can find something else that works.”Asked what changes he plans to make, Skiles answered, “Pretty much everything is in consideration.”"
Skiles started the season unsure what his starting lineup would be. By the end of training camp, he said he hoped the starting unit he picked would be able to create some stability and be the starting unit for most of the season.
Sitting at 6-8, the Magic are undoubtedly a better team than they were last year. The dissatisfaction with the team’s record proves that as much as anything. So too does Skiles’ frustration with how his starters have played.
The constant search for consistent energy and effort has led to him failing to completely define roles and force feed different lineup combinations to win games.
There is no set rotation. Skiles is frankly doing whatever he feels he needs to win. That does not necessarily promote the stability a coach might want.
It is hard to argue the Magic are not throwing their five best players by talent out on the floor in their starting lineup. The quintet of Elfrid Payton, Victor Oladipo, Evan Fournier, Tobias Harris and Nikola Vucevic are undoubtedly the five best individual players. Perhaps Fournier’s surprise emergence has put undue pressure on the starting unit.
Still, there is very clearly something wrong with this lineup.
In 111 minutes this season, the five-man unit is posting a 94.7 offensive rating and 111.2 defensive rating. Both are well below the team’s averages and obviously put the team in a considerable hole.
Only the offense gets slightly better in the first quarter, statistically the Magic’s best overall quarter (a +7.3 net rating, all other quarters have a negative net rating). And the Magic still get progressively lower net ratings as the game goes on.
This tells us though the Magic are making up for a lot of poor play at the beginning of the quarter. These numbers suggest Skiles is right, a change needs to be made.
Again, because of all the investment made in the starting unit, it is hard to figure out exactly which player the Magic should pull.
Elfrid Payton has been extremely inconsistent with his offense, but provides great playmaking still. Victor Oladipo has struggled at the rim and with his shot in general but is one of the team’s best defenders.The list goes on with all the starters.
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And there is certainly a quandary bringing one of these supposedly important players off the bench or which player to start from the bench.
The bench players have been just as inconsistent as the starters. Channing Frye started the year out of the rotation, came in after Victor Oladipo’s concussion and then slowly fell out of favor for Andrew Nicholson or Jason Smith. Dewayne Dedmon has had the same effect with Jason Smith pushing him for minutes.
Mario Hezonja is still a rookie and looks very raw on the floor — his effectiveness is questionable right now. Aaron Gordon has had his issues sticking to team defensive concepts as he continues to learn the NBA game. Shabazz Napier, whom Scott Skiles said had some reason to be peeved with his minutes, has been up and down since replacing C.J. Watson as the backup point guard after Watson’s injury.
There are no easy answers here.
Consistency in effort and attention to detail is something each individual player has to address and subscribe to. When the team does that, Skiles can settle into a rotation and get the most out of his team.