Change for Orlando Magic falls on its team leaders

The Orlando Magic are trying to right the ship and show the team is making progress. That change must start from their leaders setting the example.

The Orlando Magic were hardly clean in their season-opening win against the Miami Heat. There were mistakes aplenty throughout that entire game and the team especially started off on the wrong foot. For much of that game, they looked like a team with a new coach.

Still, that game was a hallmark for the team. It was a tone-setter for what the Magic want to be and what they want to do. Not simply because they won. It was because they stayed committed to their principles and how they wanted to play.

Orlando on that opening night showed their potential on both ends of the floor — as imperfect as it was. And it was all from a culture the team hoped would become deeply embedded. The Magic fought back again and again. They stuck together and grinded it out until they were the ones in control.

It was breathtaking and hopeful. The energy in the building was palpable. There was a reason to be excited again.

In a way, the Magic have rarely had in the last six years. No one could blame Orlando fans for hanging on to those moments after the journey the franchise has been through in the last few years.

But it did not last. The trick is not to do it once but to do it every night. And the Magic still had a long way to go.

Familiar tropes — 30-point blowouts, inconsistent defensive efforts and an abysmal offense — have popped up. The question remains just how different things are for this Magic team. And just how much has truly changed as the team looks simply for a clear path forward.

The team has a new coach. The new management group is starting to put its imprint on the team. But this is still largely the same team that has struggled even to crack 30 wins for much of the last decade.

Change has to come from within for this group to progress.

While individual Magic players have made it clear they are determined to change this team’s fortunes and recognize their responsibility to do so. The proof is in the results. They just have not come.

Orlando is again struggling to carry over their strong efforts from game to game. Their moments of glory seem fleeting. And the losses are eventually going to pile up.

That has been the case so far.

But it is still early. Just six games into this 82-game odyssey.

Orlando is 2-4 and not out of reach — nor in the worst spot of the teams in the Eastern Conference. There is plenty of time to correct the ship and improve. Orlando knows it has a lot to improve on.

It all must start with the team’s leaders. Especially its captains and best players — Evan Fournier, Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon.

Coach Steve Clifford made it a point in the preseason to declare them the team’s captains. And while he said at the time that it does not carry any extra responsibilities, there is certainly a symbolic responsibility that comes with it. It would come anyways as the team’s best players. Their responsibility is to set the tone for the team and set the standard for their play.

It is safe to say each has struggled to live up to those standards in some way.

Evan Fournier, the usually reliable shooter, has started the year cold. Fournier is shooting just 39.4 percent from the floor and a 45.7 percent effective field goal percentage. That has exposed a bit more of his defensive inefficiencies too as the team struggles with its perimeter defense as a whole.

Nikola Vucevic has been a solid player on both ends all year. The Magic have run a lot of their best offense through him in the high post and low post. And defensively he has given better effort throughout the year.

But he has to be precise with all his movements. And his aggression and intensity have sometimes wavered. He is someone that has to be playing at full tilt to be effective defensively. Otherwise, he may just allow drivers to parade toward the basket. For the most part, he has been the team’s best player and rock on both ends — for better, or for worse.

And Aaron Gordon started the season off on a mission it seemed to grab every rebound. He had 38 rebounds in his first three games. But has grabbed just 12 in the next three.

It is a seeming waxing of his intensity and effort, although his defense has remained much improved from last year even if his offensive efficiency has been inconsistent. Clearly the Magic need him to make that kind of an impact as it truly lifts the whole team up and raises their level of play.

None of these three players has played poorly overall. They have had their poor moments, but also their moments of brilliance. The Magic are getting a lot out of their three leading scorers, even if they need to be more consistent with their efficiency.

But they clearly need a bit more.

Orlando Magic

The problems with the Magic defensively are everpresent but a bit intangible. They are not things anyone can quantify. The team just seems to lack a general intensity and aggression sometimes defensively. They have to match those attributes with their attention to detail. It is simply a day-to-day experience. And that needs to change.

Sometimes the team just needs an energy boost. That should come from their best players setting an example. These are the three players who cannot be making those mistakes.

Orlando has had those moments from them. Vucevic has made big shots and big plays to spark the Magic in wins. Gordon has had some strong defensive moments.

But it has to be every night from these guys. When the team seems to be lagging, it has to be these players who give the team the boost they need to right the ship. It is these players that have to set the bar and the standard for the Magic.

The season is not lost by any means. Orlando is about where the team could expect for this point of the season record-wise. There are troubling signs but not things the team cannot fix.

The Magic have shown in this early stage of the season their schemes — on both ends, honestly — can work. It just takes the requisite energy and attention to detail to accomplish. If those intangibles are the only problems, the Magic can easily correct them.

But it will take the players holding each other accountable to do so. And that starts with the team’s leaders.