Pre-Season Questions: How have the Orlando Magic responded?

The Frontcourt Logjam

One of the primary questions coming into the season for the Magic was regarding their logjam in the frontcourt.

Not only would coach Frank Vogel have to find enough minutes to accommodate Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and new signings Serge Ibaka, Bismack Biyombo and Jeff Green, but he would also have to find a combination of this group that could be effective on both ends of the floor.

One of the ways Vogel has tackled the former of these two problems is by primarily playing Green and Gordon at small forward, with Green playing 65 percent of his minutes at the 3, and Gordon playing a whopping 95 percent of his minutes on the court there, according to Basketball-Reference.

While this can work for Green with his somewhat streaky outside shooting, this is a problem for Gordon, who, although an excellent perimeter defender, struggles as a perimeter scorer.

With the Magic’s lack of shooting from deep, Gordon has been forced into taking bad mid-range shots. Shots from between 16 and 24 feet accounting for a career-high 23.6 percent of his shots, more than double the figure from last year. This is exacerbated by his limited offensive capabilities, and questionable decision-making — with Gordon often taking contested jumpers when there are better shots available.

In addition, to compensate for the new signings, Vucevic has had to compromise on his minutes, playing only 27.6 minutes per contest. In this environment, he has so far struggled, averaging only 12.1 points and 11.6 rebounds on 43.4 percent shooting from the field, and just 51.6 percent from the line.

Vucevic’s struggles came to a head this past Sunday against the Bucks, where he was moved to the bench as Bismack Biyombo replaced him in the starting lineup. The change came despite increasing his numbers to 19.0 points and 15.0 rebounds in the two games prior to the contest.

The move to the bench seems to have helped Vucevic, with his shot falling down with greater regularity and his defensive performances stabilizing — a trend that started two games prior to his benching.

But the aspect of Vucevic’s game the Magic coaching staff can be most happy with is his much-improved rebounding.

Vucevic is eighth in the NBA in rebound rate this season and seventh in rebounds per game.

But Vogel’s main concern has been finding a frontcourt partnership that works on both ends of the floor.

For most of the season so far, the three-player combination of Vucevic, Biyombo and Ibaka has struggled on both ends.

There have been substantial improvements in the past 10 games. Even with the somewhat disappointing results that have come with it. Things are far from perfect — but with time, the frontcourt should continue to improve on both ends of the floor.

There are still questions — many would argue Gordon should see more minutes at the power forward spot, and Green’s overall role should be reduced. But the team is undoubtedly improving on this front.

One of the main reasons for this improvement has been the individual improvement of Serge Ibaka.