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Orlando Magic Season Review 2016

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Feb 10, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo (5) is congratulated by Orlando Magic guard Evan Fournier (10) after making a three pointer as time expires during the second quarter against the San Antonio Spurs at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 10, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo (5) is congratulated by Orlando Magic guard Evan Fournier (10) after making a three pointer as time expires during the second quarter against the San Antonio Spurs at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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Victor Oladipo, Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Clippers, DeAndre Jordan
Dec 5, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo (5) shoots the ball past Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) during the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports /

The turning months

The Orlando Magic season seemed to turn in two months. One month built the expectations up way too high perhaps and the other effectively crashed everything down to earth.

December was truly the pinnacle of the Magic’s season. They won 10 games in the month and helped Scott Skiles win the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month. Not that he cared too much, he was worried about some bad habits breaking in.

But no Magic fan wanted to hear about that. After three years at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, Orlando’s name was now in the Playoffs. The talk became real.

And it was a cloud no one wanted to get knocked off of:

"In those fateful 31 days to end the 2015 calendar year, the Magic went an Eastern Conference-best 10-5, tallying their second straight winning month to start the season. They had a 104.9 offensive rating, seventh in the league, and 101.5 defensive rating, 11th in the league. Their 3.4 net rating was sixth best in the league. For one month, the Magic were playing like a top-10 team in the league. They were talking Playoffs and had home court advantage for some time. These were discussions fans were actually having. And if this play would have kept up, there is no doubt they would have continued to be legitimate."

But it was not to be.

January saw all those hidden frustrations and quite weaknesses come to the forefront. Injuries hit the roster hard and the Magic never recovered. Close loss after close loss followed and Orlando could never get itself out.

The Magic went 2-12 in January, falling out of the Playoff picture. One of the better stories of the season had become just another mediocre team outside the Playoffs.

As David Iwanowski put it, everything that could go wrong did:

"Many analysts predicted some sort of drop off in January for the Magic, as the schedule was set to become tougher — complete with a trip to London to play the Toronto Raptors. But no one saw the Magic falling off this fully and completely. The Magic lost in pretty much every way possible: poor execution late in the fourth quarter, as they did against the Indiana Pacers, overtime losses against the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors, and start to finish blowouts such as against Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons."

There is still a bit of forensics going on to figure out exactly how this happened. Was it a string of bad luck? Injuries? The London road trip? The schedule getting tougher?

The only thing that mattered was the result and the Magic could not come up with any in January.

Next: Improvement and frustration