The Orlando Magic began the season with a top 10 defense, but have struggled mightily recently. The pick and roll has been a huge reason for this demise.
The Orlando Magic defense is going through a crisis.
Their defense had spent most of the first third of the season ranked in the top 10 in defensive efficiency, but recent struggles have led to the Magic dropping to 13th in the NBA with 101.6 points allowed per 100 possessions.
A big reason for this slip is that teams have figured out the team’s biggest weakness: the high pick and roll.
Although the Magic are in the middle of the pack in points allowed per possession on the pick and roll, they have struggled against it in recent games.
Teams with athletic point guards call for those plays and have little trouble penetrating the defense and either taking easy shots at the rim or creating easy shots for teammates.
The Washington Wizards and Oklahoma City Thunder exploited this weakness in October matchups, but the Magic defense had bounced back to thrive because of successful closeouts on jump shots and solid rotations.
Recently, teams have gone more to the high pick and roll, and the Magic continue to have no answer to it.
This season, the Magic give up 1.03 points per possession against the roll man in pick and rolls, 22nd in the league, and give up 0.77 points per possession against the ball handler in pick and rolls, according to NBA.com/stats.
In the past two weeks, the Miami Heat, Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons exploited this weakness and torched the Magic defense.
Defending this play type is a five-man responsibility, and no one is doing their job.
Miami, specifically Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade, relentlessly attacked the Magic defense on pick and rolls, which led to 46 points on 16-for-28 shooting for the two guards combined and a 39-point fourth quarter for the Heat.
John Wall also has done a great job attacking this weakness in the Magic defense, and this play is a perfect example.
Guards have not been fighting over this screen fast enough, and in turn need the bigs to hedge and help out. The Magic big men, specifically Nikola Vucevic, have not been quick enough to halt the momentum of the guard, and holes in the defense are created.
On this play, he was flat footed and did not even remotely slow Wall down. A tough task even for a good center in the pick and roll.
Against the pick and roll this season, Nikola Vucevic is giving up 1.00 points per possession against the roll man according to NBA.com/stats.
Other guys are then called upon to shift over and help.
Some plays, the big or wing on the opposite side will come over and help, and that guy’s man will be open for a shot. Someone else is supposed to come over and contest that shot, but they have been too slow on those rotations.
On the Wall drive above, no one came over to help, and Wall had an easy dunk.
Even when the big man does successfully cut off the guard’s penetration, the rotation to the roll man is slow, and an easy layup still comes out of that play. The Magic allow the ninth most points per possession to the roll man, meaning when they get the ball, it is usually in position for an easy bucket or a foul.
Solving this problem is a pressing issue for the slumping Magic defense to return to form, or else they will continue losing games.
One potential solution is more playing time for quicker, more mobile bigs such as Dewayne Dedmon and Aaron Gordon.
Dedmon has been somewhat strong defensively in his limited minutes this season.
He is 27th out of all centers in defensive real plus minus, a stat meant to measure a player’s individual effect on a team’s defense. He has been a strong interior defender, and his quickness and long wingspan could potentially help bother opponents on pick and rolls.
Vucevic has been strong offensively this season, but teams are attacking him on the defensive end. He is 68th out of 74 centers in defensive real plus minus, and that along with the team’s 106 defensive rating with him on the floor shows the Magic have been poor defensively with him on the court.
If he does not improve there, it will be hard to keep him on the floor for the number of minutes a player of his offensive caliber deserves.
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The Magic need to find a solution to their defensive problems, as they hoped a top-tier defense would be key to them achieving their goal of a winning season. Right now, the team is going in the opposite direction.