Orlando Magic Daily
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Five questions for the 2017-18 Orlando Magic’s second quarter

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Orlando Magic guard Elfrid Payton (2) goes for a basket against the Golden State Warriors at Amway Center Friday, Dec. 1, 2017. The Warriors beat the Magic 133-112.(Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images)
Orlando Magic guard Elfrid Payton (2) goes for a basket against the Golden State Warriors at Amway Center Friday, Dec. 1, 2017. The Warriors beat the Magic 133-112.(Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images) /
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Elfrid Payton, Orlando Magic, Nikola Vucevic
Orlando Magic guard Elfrid Payton (2) goes for a basket against the Golden State Warriors at Amway Center Friday, Dec. 1, 2017. The Warriors beat the Magic 133-112.(Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images) /

The second quarter of the season has already begun for the Orlando Magic. And there are some big questions to answer as the season gets real this month.

There was nothing quite like the euphoria of looking at the standings a few weeks into the season and seeing the Orlando Magic at the top. The team had not experienced any kind of success, it felt like, for some time. It was truly exhilarating.

Everyone knew it was not going to last. The Magic were shooting at an unsustainable rate. There were holes the team was painting over and getting away with. Eventually, the other shoe would drop. Seeing such a gigantic leap was still highly unlikely.

But the strong 6-2 and 8-4 start certainly raised expectations. As it should. The Magic did some really good things in that time period. They showed they were a significantly different offensive team. Just a little rough around the edges.

Those rough edges and the ghosts of last year’s 29-win season still remained. And they came to the forefront as the first quarter of the season ended.

The nine-game losing streak that brought the Magic to 8-13 to close the first quarter of the season left a bitter taste. It made that fast start seem like a mirage. And to some extent it was. But the Magic are somewhere in the middle.

Coach Frank Vogel has taken to saying and repeating to the media that this is a good team and they need to get their feet back under them after going through one of the most difficult parts of their schedule.

Orlando may be on the outside looking in and trying to make up ground in the Playoff race. It may still be a bit too early to talk too seriously about the postseason. But they are right where they want to be too in some ways. The Magic knew their early schedule would be tough.

But the next 20-plus games will set the direction of the season. The Magic still have ground to make up. They have to set their direction.

President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said on Tuesday’s episode of Magic Drive Time he is still getting a grasp of his team and still evaluating them. The Magic are still in the throes of their early rebuild.

The next 20 game swill have a lot of intrigue. And plenty of questions to answer.