It has been a busy week for the Orlando Magic as they became one of the biggest surprises of the early season. I discussed on Locked On Magic.
The Orlando Magic have caught everyone off guard this year. Even at 4-2, they are one of the surprises of the early season.
It goes beyond the team blowing out the Cleveland Cavaliers and the San Antonio Spurs in the last two weeks. Those wins were impressive. The Magic just have a different spirit about them. They fight hard to erase deficits and keep fighting.
There is a long way to go in the season. Sunday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets proves that as much as anything. The team had its first real setback on both ends. The Magic struggled to stay connected on offense and defense. Yet, despite getting thoroughly outplayed on both ends, the Magic had a chance to win late in the game.
As Aaron Gordon told the Orlando Sentinel after the game, the Magic got their urgency too late. That is the apt description of this game.
Consider that a lesson learned.
The Magic are not a team that can get fat and happy with their own success. As several players noted, the team still has to fight for its place in the NBA. They have to continue to find a way to improve their team and establish their base.
It is still very early in the season. This week’s road trip — starting Sunday in Charlotte, heading to New Orleans on Monday and Memphis on Wednesday — will prove a lot about the team. And a West Coast road trip starting next weekend will further test the Magic.
For sure, fans will learn a lot about Orlando in the next three weeks.
For now, the Magic have a lot to be happy about. They have a lot to like about what they see. And it certainly feels like a lot of this is more real than not.
That was the point of discussion on this week’s Orlando Magic Daily Facebook Live:
Be sure to join the Orlando Magic Daily Facebook Live every Sunday around 12 p.m. to interact with me and talk Orlando Magic basketball.
But that is not the only announcement to make.
This week, Locked On Magic and the Locked On Podcast Network is happy to announce it has moved to the Panoply Network. To download the Orlando Magic Daily’s official podcast, you may need to change your RSS feeds. In case Locked On Magic does not automatically download from your previous feed, here is the new feed.
In our first official episode on the Panoply network, you can get an audio version of our Facebook Live from Sunday, a recap of Saturday’s game and a conversation with The Bird Writes Podcast previewing Monday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
In the podcast, we discuss why the Magic have played so well to this point in the season and how the Pelicans have fought back to get to 3-3. We then discuss the specific matchup and what we expect to see in Monday’s game.
Be sure to check out The Bird Writes Podcast on iTunes and BlogTalkRadio. You can also follow The Bird Writes on Twitter @TheBirdWrites, Preston Ellis @PrestonEllis and Oleh Kosel @OlehKosel.
Also subscribe to Orlando Magic Daily’s daily podcast, Locked On Magic, on Panoply, iTunes, Stitcher and TuneIn.
Next: Trends that will follow the Orlando Magic all season
There is still a lot of season left. And, to be sure, the Magic will face their ups and downs. Things will not seem as easy as they have the first two weeks. But Orlando has certainly turned heads and raised expectations around the league.