Orlando Magic Daily
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Orlando Magic Week 4 Takeaways: The search continues

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Nov 23, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon (00) rebounds against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 23, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon (00) rebounds against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nikola Vucevic, Orlando Magic
Apr 3, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. The Magic defeated Timberwolves 97-84. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /

A search for effort

By Zach Palmer

There were only two games this week, and yet I still learned quite a bit about the Magic this week.

As good as Scott Skiles has been he cannot coach his players into giving a consistent effort. Against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Skiles benched Nikola Vucevic in favor of any big man who was willing to give some effort on the defensive end. Vucevic ended up sitting out the entire second half and the Magic won the game in overtime.

In the second game of the week, the Magic lost a very winnable game to the Sacramento Kings. The Magic, by all accounts, should be a better team than the Kings, yet lost.

The Magic’s effort level just is not consistent enough. Do not be shocked if you see some starting lineup changes in the near future [eds. note: this was submitted Monday before Skiles threatened lineup changes following the Magic’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers], as I do not expect Scott Skiles will continue to accept this lack of energy to start first and third quarters.

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This week we saw the return of Victor Oladipo to the basketball court after recovering from a concussion. Oladipo in the games against the Wolves and Kings looked out of sync the entire game.

Before the year, it appeared that this was going to be Oladipo’s breakout campaign. Thus far that has not been the case.

Oladipo’s constant struggles at the rim have really hurt his confidence and it has led to some of his abysmal play.

Hopefully, Skiles notices this and starts running some early plays for Oladipo in an effort to get his confidence moving in a positive direction.

Next: A search for consistency