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Orlando Magic Season Review: What Went Wrong — January

By David Iwanowski

Jan 9, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic head coach Scott Skiles yells to a referee during the second half against the Washington Wizards at Amway Center. The Washington Wizards won 105-99. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 9, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic head coach Scott Skiles yells to a referee during the second half against the Washington Wizards at Amway Center. The Washington Wizards won 105-99. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
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John Wall, Washington Wizards, Victor Oladipo, Orlando Magic
Jan 9, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo (5) and Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) compete for a loose ball during the second half at Amway Center. The Washington Wizards won 105-99. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /

Defensive slippage

One big problem they had was in the mental aspect of the game.

The Magic started off the season playing some tough competition, but the team looked very focused on the defensive end, and that allowed them to be competitive in games against good teams such as the Oklahoma City Thunder and Toronto Raptors.

In January, however, the effort seemed to lack oftentimes, and the Magic finished the month 27th in defensive rating (108.2 points allowed per 100 possessions), which is much worse than their season average (104.6, 17th in the NBA).

Simple aspects such as fighting over screens and rotating to help on defense were not huge priorities, and the Magic got embarrassed a few times.

In the first play attached here, John Wall uses his quickness to easily get past Evan Fournier, and there was no one there to provide help. Wall proceeded to lay it in and ice the game.

The second one involved a subpar effort by Elfrid Payton at the perimeter, and Nikola Vucevic completely frozen as the lone helper. Wall once again was able to finish the easy layup.

These were similar scenes throughout the month as the Magic defense collapsed and gave them no chance to win.

Perhaps the most disappointing display of effort came in a home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, the NBA cellar dwellers who in January happened to double the amount of wins the Magic had.

The 76ers were able to overcome an early 10-point Magic lead, partially because of their 9-for-19 shooting from three. Most of the threes that came from the overall 24th ranked 3-point shooting team in the league were wide open, as the Magic did not seem locked in enough to contest those shots.

Next: Offensive shortcomings