Orlando Magic season went wrong, players unsure where to place blame

The Orlando Magic’s season went wrong. And change has already started to come. The question for players is why this happened. And they struggle to answer.

Mario Hezonja said things throughout the season just felt weird. The team never had a consistent rotation or a consistent lineup. After the team’s first game of the season, they never had a fully healthy lineup ever again. There was always someone injured or someone missing.

By the time November rolled around, the team was facing a devastating amount of injuries. There was no recovery not for this team and they settled in the bottom of the standings.

Young players like Mario Hezonja were constantly thrown into shuffling lineups. They were unable to get into a good rhythm together. There was always something disrupting them.

And eventually, the team succumbed to the pressure. The team never recovered, finishing 25-57 with the fifth worst record in the league for the second straight year.

Ultimately it was coach Frank Vogel who got held accountable. The team dismissed him after two seasons as head coach Thursday. The Orlando Magic are clearly sending the signal they are moving on in a different direction.

The team was still dealing with the disappointment of losing their coach and ending their season. But the bigger question remains why.

How did this season fall off the rails so quickly?

"“For some reason, it didn’t work out on the court,” Nikola Vucevic said. “[Vogel] really did all he could with consistent in teaching us every day and making sure we watched film and practice, whatever is needed for us to improve. For some reason it didn’t translate to the court. We didn’t always play to the level that we could.”"

Aaron Gordon said he would like to see the team get a coach that stresses the details. One that will hold every player on the roster accountable to the same standard — able to get on the star player as much as the 15th guy.

He said things slipped through the cracks throughout the year. The team lost focus on the details that made them successful early in the season. He added the focus level has to be high heading into next season.

Whether a coach can implement that is another matter. It is not completely clear if the coach was the problem or if the team is simply in need of a change of personnel. It is probably a combination of both.

All this helps explain why the Magic’s season went wrong. They never recovered from that initial losing streak as their fast start faded away. Orlando was never the same team, making the same mistakes over and over again as their offense and defense sank to the bottom of the league.

To be clear, the Magic are in the position they are in because they were unable to figure out how to right the ship in the end. That might be the biggest lesson of all… one that is not easy to resolve.

"“When you hit struggles, that’s when you have to be at your best,” Bismack Biyombo said. “That’s what was hard for us to do. When you go into certain situations in this league, you’ve got to find a way to overcome your struggles. We just couldn’t do it. Why? I don’t know.”"

That may be getting closer to the rub.

Vogel said in the late days of the season that the team would take a punch from opponent runs. They were unable to recover. That inability to recover is certainly how a team falls off the way this Magic team did.

Players professed through the last days of the season and at exit interviews that Vogel did a good job keeping the locker room together. They talked constantly about how connected they all felt throughout the season, lauding Vogel for keeping spirits up through all the losing.

None of that changed the final result. And while it is good to hear that everyone seemed to like each other and stick together, that did not change where the Magic ended up.

Were there times the team let go of the rope? Yes. Were there times the team did not put in the full effort? Yes.

Vogel kept his confidence in the team. But ultimately that is on the players to have accountability for each other and to their coaches. It all was not there. Not when it mattered.

"“I think we could have done a better job as players holding each other accountable,” D.J. Augustin said. “At the end of the day, we are the ones out there on the court playing and playing for each other. That’s the only thing I think we could have done better.”"

The Magic, as a young team, were certainly still in need of some education on this point. There were still growing pains to go through. Then again, a lot of these mistakes have been things that have been on repeat.

D.J. Augustin said it is hard to win in the league consistently. It is something you have to learn. Development has to happen quickly because winning matters in the end.

Several Magic players recognize it is time for this group to take a step forward. It might have been time a few years ago. It certainly felt like it was time now — even with the team going out of its way not to set Playoff expectations.

Regardless of that, the Magic certainly disappointed this year. The team failed to live up to even meager expectations. When the chips were down, the Magic shriveled.

And that has them in the hole they find themselves in now. And it still seems like everyone is searching for the answer why.

The coach is gone now. And it seems the only clear path next is to begin shifting the players around in a major way.

They still believe in themselves and believe in their teammates. Why wouldn’t they? What more could anyone expect?

But the Magic are in a position where things go wrong and continue to go wrong. That has been the storyline for several years.

Next: Orlando Magic put in an effort to be proud of in season finale

One thing has changed for the Magic. Now it seems this summer, the next thing will too.