Five goals for the Orlando Magic’s second half of the season
By Joe Buckley
GOAL THREE: FIND SOME AGGRESSIVENESS
This has been a problem area from day one.
It is both as a team and a problem for more the one individual. So much so that Scott Skiles made a controversial lineup change with Victor Oladipo in order to light a fire beneath the team. The move worked, for a time, but not entirely. And now Oladipo and his energy are back in the starting lineup.
Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton and young Aaron Gordon largely escape this problem, and the two guards especially are responsible for raising the defensive effort of the team and getting the ball up the court. The rest of the team have looked downright . . . lackadaisical.
This extends from stars to bench players and it rather obviously affects the team play.
One of the ways this low energy comes out is into low aggressiveness, particularly at getting the ball all the way to that rim. The Magic have been one of the worst teams at earning free throw attempts all year, and now they have reached the pinnacle of this particular achievement: They shoot just 18.1 free throw attempts per game, the lowest of the league. Combine this with the fact the team are only middle of the pack in converting these attempts, and it does not help.
Just to put this in context, the rest of the bottom five for free throw attempts include the woeful Brooklyn Nets, the Spurs and Hawks, who run an offense so sophisticated they manage to simply avoid being fouled, and the Portland Trail Blazers who are fourth in 3-point attempts and do not give other teams the chance to foul.
Considering the offense’s struggles, and the unbalanced roster, cheap points are even more valuable than usual and considering the players on the team who should be more than capable of getting to the line, this has to be changed as soon as possible.
Next: Direction