Orlando Magic still unable to get to the foul line, holding team back

The Orlando Magic paraded the Charlotte Hornets to the foul line throughout Monday’s game. But the Magic’s own inability is what is really holding them back.

Coach Frank Vogel spent at least a part of his postgame press conference informing the media he would be sending tape to the league.

Even a brief look at the box score shows a huge disparity that proved to be a big difference. The Charlotte Hornets went to the line 40 times, making 33. The Orlando Magic had just 14.

In all, Orlando committed 30 fouls failing to finish off defensive possessions in an otherwise good defensive game. They could not contain Kemba Walker fully. He was able to get into his defender while in the air. The Magic challenged poorly.

Orlando held Charlotte to less than a point per possession. But at each turn, their fouling kept them from getting back into the game. Charlotte went to the line 12 times off nine Orlando fouls in the final quarter. Every time it seemed the Magic were about to make their run, the Hornets halted that momentum as the game slowed to a crawl.

The frustration was palpable from the team and the coaching staff after the game. That frustration certainly knocked Orlando out of rhythm as the game slipped away. The Magic seemed to feel like the game had slipped away from them.

Instead, it was clear the team could never find its rhythm. And as the Magic tried to get their offense going, they could not find the same success getting to the line.

Orlando shot 33.3 percent from the floor in the final quarter and 4 for 5 from the foul line. The Magic could not get the same attack to the basket. Or draw the same kind of contact.

The immediate thought might be to cry foul and point fingers at the officials for some unfair bias. The fact is the Hornets drew those fouls and the refs called them. The Magic did not draw those fouls or create contact on their end.

That has been a consistent theme throughout the Magic’s rebuild. Orlando has been one of the worst teams in the league in free throw rate, ranking near the bottom for the last five years.

This year has seen only momentary relief, but not much. The Magic are 19th in the league in free throw rate at 24.7 (free throw rate is calculated by dividing free throw attempts by field goal attempts). The Magic essentially go to the foul line once every four times they take a field goal.

That is better than what they have done in years past, where they have hovered around 20 percent. For reference, the Hornets lead the league in free throw rate. Charlotte makes a living at the foul line. Monday night was not an anomaly.

The Magic’s ability to draw fouls has been a huge question mark all season. And even the random fluctuations this season in free throw attempts shows the way this team has struggled to get to the line.

The team has taken 40 free throw attempts in a game and five free throw attempts in a game. The team’s 14 free throw attempts in Monday’s loss were the third fewest the team has taken this year.

There is no real correlation between the number of free-throw attempts the Magic take and a win. Orlando is 7-6 in games where it takes 20 or more free throws and 5-2 in games where it takes more than 25 free throws. That is well above its average. But, obviously, getting to the foul line more often means the offense is moving and the team is forcing mistakes from its opponent in shot situations.

Failing to get to the free throw line? The Magic are 3-8 in games where they take fewer than 20 free throw attempts. Just like Monday’s game.

Orlando has always struggled in this respect simply to draw fouls.

Nikola Vucevic has never averaged more than 3.0 free throw attempts per game in his career. He is averaging 1.7 free throw attempts per game. For a post player who works so close to the basket, this has always been one of the big weaknesses in his game.

Evan Fournier, the Magic’s main ball handler and scorer on the perimeter, averages only 3.2 free throw attempts per game. That is less than two trips to the foul line per game.

Jonathon Simmons and Aaron Gordon lead the team with about 4.0 free throw attempts per game. That is not a lot of the Magic’s key ball handlers drawing fouls and getting to the foul line for easy points.

It is safe to say, one of the reasons the Magic’s offense can sometimes hit a malaise is because they cannot generate points by getting to the foul line. The old basketball adage is if shots are not falling, drive into the paint and get to the basket or get to the foul line. At the very least, these drives and fouls put pressure on the defense.

Just like the Hornets were able to do against the Magic on Monday.

It is one of the big weaknesses for Orlando the last few years, let alone this season. Vogel has acknowledged drawing fouls as a team weakness. The Magic spent years trying to figure out how to teach Victor Oladipo to draw fouls in his time with the Orlando Magic (he averaged 4.0 free throw attempts per game in a Magic uniform and has hit 5.1 attempts per game this year with the Indiana Pacers).

It is clearly something the Magic have struggled to discover. The Magic have never cracked the nut of getting to the foul line consistently.

Is it a matter of skill? Is it a matter of ability? Are the refs not giving the Magic respect because they lack stars? Do the Magic shy away from contact?

No one can quite answer these questions. There may not be answers to that question. Or at least clear answer to that question.

Next: Grades: Charlotte Hornets 104, Orlando Magic 94

The Magic’s offense is significantly better than it was in previous years. That includes their ability to get to the foul line. But this skill eludes them and is holding them back.