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Frank Vogel: Internal improvement key to Orlando Magic season

By Philip Rossman-Reich

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 22: Frank Vogel of the Orlando Magic looks on from the bench against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on December 22, 2016 in New York City. Knicks defeated the Magic 106-95. NOTE TO USER: user expressly acknowleges and agrees by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 22: Frank Vogel of the Orlando Magic looks on from the bench against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on December 22, 2016 in New York City. Knicks defeated the Magic 106-95. NOTE TO USER: user expressly acknowleges and agrees by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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Orlando Magic coach Frank Vogel knows his team will have its work cut out for it to make the Playoffs. To do so, the team needs to see internal improvement.

The Orlando Magic had a frustrating 2017 season by almost every measure.

The team had Playoff ambitions after making a splash in free agency and making some major trade move. They thought they had the makings of a solid team that could continue growing while taking the steps to win immediately.

Things did not go to plan.

The Magic’s defense collapsed at about the quarter pole of the season and the team slipped to the bottom of the standings. They were out of the Playoff race by January, it seemed. And Orlando ultimately abandoned its plans, trading Serge Ibaka at the trade deadline.

Even in meaningless games, the Magic still chugged along. Forced to change his team’s style, coach Frank Vogel worked on the fly to create a much more spread offense, relying more heavily on versatility and getting out in transition. The smaller lineups are the direction the league is going and the Magic experienced success finally moving there.

The team had a relatively positive end to the 2017 season, but plenty of questions still remain. It does not seem anyone is expecting Orlando to take a major step up in 2018.

In fact, no one knows quite what to make of the Magic with their mix of young veterans and promising young players. Their ceiling still seems fairly low.

And the Magic did not have the cap room to make any major changes to the roster. The starting lineup likely will remain the same this year as it was at the end of last year. The team spent most of its offseason refiguring its bench.

There are numbers to support that will make the team better. But, ultimately, if the Magic want to make the Playoffs, they know they will have to rely on the same players who at times struggled throughout last season.

The whole season, as Frank Vogel put it in interviews with Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel and John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com, will rely on the team’s internal improvement to get there.

"“We’re sort of banking our season on getting improvement from within, so those [Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton] are two of our core guys and two of our starters who need to take a big jump,” Vogel told OrlandoMagic.com. “I thought they both did that last year in terms of their improvement and we need them to make another big jump this year.”"

As much as anyone, Vogel said the team will need to see Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton continue their improvement from the end of last season. And Vogel told the Orlando Sentinel the team needs to see everyone improve on their individual defense.

Both Gordon and Payton will take a lot of the focus. Both players had strong ends to the season. But neither player has had much in the way of consistency throughout their three-year careers. They are about to enter restricted free agency at the end of the season (provided they do not come to an extension agreement beforehand). It is a time for these young players to prove themselves.

They are about to enter restricted free agency at the end of the season (provided they do not come to an extension agreement beforehand). It is a time for these young players to prove themselves.

Despite this inevitably tall task, the Magic seem as quietly optimistic as their fans. Vogel is not about to go to midcourt and promise the Playoffs as he did last year during the team’s open practice. But he sees an opportunity for the team to reach that level.

He said he had to spend his summer reviewing tape and evaluating himself as much as anything. He told the Orlando Sentinel there will be no return to the twin towers lineup and the Magic will go forward this season with a stretch-4. But the Magic are going to shift to the small-ball lineups that worked last year.

Making the Playoffs this year, Vogel admits, will take a lot of hard work. The team will have to have a lot of things go right to get there. But the elements to do so are in place if the team can step up to the challenge.

"“We did not have a good year last year,” Vogel told the Orlando Sentinel. “We have much of the same team back and we’ve got to have a lot of improvement from within. This is our task as a coaching staff: To develop these guys. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of sacrifice. But I do think we have the ability. I think we’re going to get a boost from the continuity of these guys getting to be in the same system for the second year in a row. But we’re going to have to really work hard to make a dramatic improvement.”"

And continuity too will play a role. Not only having a continuity with teammates, but continuity with the coaches. The Magic not changing their roster much and retaining almost their entire coaching staff should give the team a bit of a kickstart for next season. Or so the hope goes.

The Magic’s 2018 season is still a bit of an unknown. Nobody knows how this team will come together and what will and what will not work.

Next: Orlando Magic ranked 21st in ESPN Future Power Rankings

Orlando still has some obvious holes it needs to fill. But ultimately, success this season will come from internal improvement and players differentiating themselves and stepping up to the plate.