Serge Ibaka seeking return to Oklahoma City form

The Orlando Magic acquired Serge Ibaka to shore up their defense and add some veteran leadership. He has not done that as he struggles to find his form.

Serge Ibaka does not know what is going to happen when he steps onto the floor at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City on Sunday.

He has played on that floor plenty of times before. He has been through heartache and growing pains there. And he has been through success and triumph. And the bitter disappointment of coming so close, yet being so far.

Ibaka has never stepped onto that floor though wearing the opposing team’s jersey, though. He has never had to face the loud Oklahoma City Thunder crowd directed against him. Surely, though, the fans will give him his moment of appreciation. He said he know it will be an exciting moment.

Ibaka, like his other teammates that were part of those great Thunder teams, were there from the time the Thunder first moved to Oklahoma City  and struggled to their ascension to NBA title contenders. The lessons and experience of that growth formed Ibaka into the player he is.

“[The fans were] a big part of those teams,” Ibaka said. “They gave me a lot of confidence. Great things have a tough beginning. You never want to start from great to great. Big things always come from small beginnings. I have a lot of appreciation for those fans. I remember my first year, nobody knew who I was. They give me a lot of trust. That’s one of the things that will always stick with me for that.”

Ibaka established his identity and reputation as a switchy defender at power forward. He was someone who could block a shot at the rim and also switch a pick and roll onto a guard. Ibaka was, as many described him, the basketball unicorn.

This is the player the Orlando Magic hoped they were getting when they traded Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis and Ersan Ilyasova to the Thunder on Draft night for him. They invested a lot on Ibaka’s unique abilities, hoping an increase his offensive role would help engage him more defensively.

His struggles for the Magic in the early part of the season have been as puzzling and frustrating for fans as they have been for the team and for Ibaka himself.

He is averaging 12.4 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game. He is shooting a career-worst 44.4 percent with a career-high 20.2 percent usage rate. The Magic are giving him the ball more and hoping for him to score more for himself, but he is struggling to do so. This despite taking roughly the same number of field goal attempts per game as he did last year.

Ibaka’s offensive struggles are only made worse by his defensive struggles. He has an abysmal -2.3 defensive box plus-minus, according to Basketball-Reference. And that number fully encapsulates how he has been late in weak-side rotations and struggling to defend at the rim — where he concedes 62.3 percent shooting at the rim.

His play has been disappointing and is at least a contributing force to the team’s defensive struggles. It has been something weighing on Ibaka too.

“I can do better,” Ibaka said. “[Friday] was tough. But I want to keep my head up. I have been here before. I’m just going to ask Magic fans to keep believing in me. I’m a lot better than what I’ve shown the last couple days. I just try to find a rhythm with a new offense, new defense, new teammates.”

Learning new teammates and a new system has been a consistent theme throughout this season so far. It is a catch-all reason, and potential excuse, for the Magic’s rough play to start the season. Entering Game 10 of the season, the Magic will have to start shedding that excuse and buck up with some results.

Frank Vogel has already made some changes to the lineup to do so. And Ibaka is certainly not immune to a potential demotion as the Magic try to sort through their lineups and find the right balance.

Ibaka is still figuring out his fit with this new team. Playing with a new team for the first time in his career.

There is still time to right the ship — the Magic are 3-6 and still only a game out of the Playoffs in the early season standings. But the Magic do have to fix a lot of things. Starting with their defense.

Ibaka’s struggles are symbolic of the team’s struggles themselves. They are symbolic of the pressure the team is under.

And the game against Oklahoma City, seeing what became of Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis especially, will put Ibaka’s struggles into sharper focus.

“I know it’s tough for [Magic fans],” Ibaka said. “I want to try to be here and be the man. But things have not happened the way things go. I just ask them to be patient. I’m going to keep working like I always do. Things will turn good.”

There is still plenty of optimism and hope things will turn around. Vogel certainly still believes in the group and the talent they have. They just have to start turning around and producing.

Orlando has had its moments for sure. The stretches where they play at that high level are few still, but when they occur, the team looks exactly how everyone imagined.

Perhaps returning home will bring things back into focus for Ibaka. Perhaps continuing the self-reflection and work of simply playing basketball with turn Ibaka and the Magic’s season around. Perhaps Vogel finding the right lineup will cause things to click.

Orlando needs it to happen sooner rather than later.

There will be a lot of emotion Sunday night for Ibaka. But the focus remains the same as the Magic try to right their ship.

Next: Locked On Magic: Reviewing the Magic's new lineup

“I know it is going to be an exciting moment to go back there and play,” Ibaka said. “I played there all seven years. I know a lot of people there and I have a lot of friends there. My focus is going to be on the game and trying to get my team a win.”