Orlando Magic’s 2016 season is on the players

After keeping much the same core and changing the coach, the Orlando Magic expected improvement. The struggles of late fall on the players to resolve.

Nikola Vucevic had the exact words that needed to be said following last Friday’s disappointing loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Vucevic said he told his teammates that game was “on him.” It was his fault for failing to set a tone defensively against Alex Len and letting the young center pretty much run wild on a Magic defense struggling to gain its footing.

Nikola Vucevic’s defense has been long talked about throughout his tenure in Orlando. It is no secret the Magic have needed help defending at the center position. He might not have done anything about it that evening, but he at least recognized a problem, for that game at least, after the fact.

Was there any such self reflection after Tuesday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers?

Coach Scott Skiles was asked directly by Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel whether playing with consistent effort and intensity was too much for this team. He was asked if defense had become too hard for this young group. His response:

"“I don’t know the answer to that. We had all of a sudden tonight we were a one-on-one team right from the beginning of the game. We had a bunch of guys going on their own. We got away from our passing game.“I’d have to be cracking open some skulls and looking inside of there. It’s not a big secret that we’ve slipped unbelievably on that end of the floor since the end of the year. The ability to sustain it, we’ve lost that.”"

This is a coach who is trying to find some answers to things perhaps he cannot control.

He was asked directly about Elfrid Payton‘s defense and play in the second half and said the young guard was a bit lackadaisical getting into the Magic’s offensive sets — leading to some stagnation and one-on-one play — and then was not a factor defensively.

Payton’s response in the locker room to David Gaulman seemed to show exactly the kind of fissures that have riddled this team:

This is where the team is at.

This was a team that was trending upward two months ago at 19-13 and carving out a defensive identity. This was a team fans were beginning to get behind and believe in.

This moment, the Magic seem to be a victim of their own successes. They seem to be coming short of the expectations they set for themselves at that point. This is perhaps the team they were always meant to be — middling and showing minor improvement but not enough for the Playoffs.

That does not sound good at all. Certainly not for Scott Skiles. He set the bar much higher at 41 wins, minimum and a playoff berth beyond. The early season play showed the Magic were certainly capable of playing defense at a high level and with energy.

That got lost somewhere along the way. And Skiles is desperately trying to get it back.

It seems there is a divide among fans on where to place the blame for how things fell off the rails.

The answer is a complex one. All sides — coaching, players and management have their blame.

With the youth on the roster and everything to prove though, the players have to take primary responsibility for the team’s struggles. There is simply no excuse for lacking energy or failing to execute the basic principles of the game plan and philosophy for a team that has had so little success before this.

There is no doubt Skiles has his flaws as a coach. There is an inevitable ceiling with him. His constant lineup changes, lessons and line changes certainly could set a team on edge, certainly one still learning how to win. He is considering another lineup and rotation change in light of the Magic’s recent games and overall performances.

Still there are other signs that point to even greater problems.

The lack of consistent effort and intensity. The inability to play defense or get into the offense quickly. The penchant for running one-on-one basketball instead of playing as a team. These have built up and added to the frustration of the season.

They are also things that all fall on the players. They just are not buying in right now and seemingly getting tight when things get a little tough. They are not sticking or executing the gameplan consistently.

Simple things that need to be done.

And this is still a young team. Yes, many are playing for their first contracts and fighting for their roles. There is a team dynamic at play. But no one should have the prestige enough to work against the coach or go that far off script. That would be the sign of something very bad.

This is not to say the team has done this. But one thing is also clear. The players hold the responsibility for the team’s failures the last few months.

Regardless of the ceiling Skiles may put on his teams, he has also had incredible success getting his teams to get to the Playoffs. So why is this team different?

Is this Magic team less talented than those teams? That raises deeper questions of the results of three years of losing and building through the Draft.

Is this Magic team not capable of playing at that high a level? Even with opponents catching up to them and adjusting their game plans, the Magic played harder once before. They are certainly capable of doing so again.

The problem does not seem to be one of scheme. When the Magic executed their scheme and played at a high level with intensity, they were more than capable of competing for the Playoffs. When they still do it for those brief moments, they can still be a very good team.

So why don’t they do it all the time?

That is the question only the team can answer. Only the players can answer.

Essentially, the Magic kept the same roster as last year and changed the coach. In the early months, the Magic proved the team can be better than last year. And they still are even through all these struggles.

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The responsibility and the questions raised this season were squarely on the players to answer though. Could individuals take that step forward? Could the team become a winner?

These were questions the organization needed answered as they continue the rebuild. But those questions laid on the players to answer. The coaching staff just had to put them in a position to succeed.

They largely have. The Magic players have not taken advantage of it enough. And so the blame lays largely with them.