What the first half taught us about the Orlando Magic

The Magic’s not-so-elite defense

One of the Magic’s biggest selling points for those who thought they would make a playoff push in 2017 was the defense.

Adding Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo seemed to create an elite frontcourt defense, while Aaron Gordon could shut down opposing wings and Elfrid Payton could thrive being aggressive on the perimeter knowing he has excellent rim protectors behind him.

Not to mention, Frank Vogel earned himself a reputation for getting the most out of talented defensive players during his time in Indiana.

Even though Orlando’s roster seemed awkward and lopsided from the beginning, if there are any NBA coaches who could make sense of it, Vogel theoretically should be one of them.

But halfway through the season, the Magic have one of the worst defenses in the NBA and it is hard to figure out exactly why.

If “poor” is anything significantly lower than the 50th percentile, then the only play types the Magic are actually “poor” at defending are isolations, transition, putbacks and post-ups. All four of those plays combine for less than one-third of what opponents use against Orlando.

Yet the team sits near the bottom of the league in points allowed per 100 possessions.

Generally speaking, teams in the modern NBA rarely draw up those four play types. They usually happen when a play breaks down, a ball gets knocked loose, a shot misses or screens create a mismatch that a scorer can exploit.

Analytics-inclined teams such as the Houston Rockets consider post-ups to be the least efficient way to score, while isolations seem more and more like an ancient relic unless you are a ball-handling savant and/or midrange wizard like Demar DeRozan, James Harden or Carmelo Anthony.

Many coaches will say that if a team is turning to isolations and post-ups against a defense, their defense is winning. Baiting teams into these plays can take teams out of their offense, stopping the ball and encouraging teams to settle for less efficient shots instead of continuing to move it around for an open look.

The Magic’s defense clearly is not winning.

It might just come down to disappointing individual performances that opponents are persistently exploiting.

Bismack Biyombo, for example, has already had to defend almost as many isolations this year as he did all of last year. He has also fallen to the bottom of the league in defending isolations.

Teams with strong isolation players, like the Toronto Raptors and Demar DeRozan, set double screens against the Magic to move Aaron Gordon off of their guy and force Biyombo or Ibaka to take him one-on-one.

Toronto ran these all night to the tune of 31 points for Derozan and a crushing Raptors victory.

In past seasons, Biyombo and Ibaka were able to hold their own against quicker, smaller opponents. They are known for being versatile defenders that a coach can feel comfortable with matched up against almost any opponent. Their skill sets were crucial to the postseason success of the Raptors and Thunder.

This year, they just have not been the same, looking more and more like most other big men when they are forced to switch onto a guard or small forward. The solution here is not to change tactics or schemes, especially when a team like the Raptors will relentlessly use slip screens and double screens to force and exploit switches.

This problem comes down to underperforming personnel.

Next: Power Rankings Roundup: Sinking

Coming into the season, a lot of people wondered if the Magic could be a top-10 defense even if they were not a playoff team. Unfortunately, that looks to be out of reach at this point in the season unless there is a personnel change.