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Reviewing the first quarter of the season with The Close Up Magic

By Philip Rossman-Reich

ORLANDO, FL - NOVEMBER 18: The Orlando Magic celebrate during the game against the New York Knicks on November 18, 2018 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - NOVEMBER 18: The Orlando Magic celebrate during the game against the New York Knicks on November 18, 2018 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The first quarter of the Orlando Magic’s season is complete with some surprises and some pitfalls. I review the season so far with Close Up Magic.

The Orlando Magic have had an intriguing season. One the fans did not expect so far.

In the short-term, there was the thrill of winning seven of nine games and racing up the Eastern Conference standings. A 10-12 start is not typically something to celebrate. After all, the Magic started 12-10 in the 2016 season.

The Magic have had better starts even during this rebuild. But there is a new energy around this team.

This version of the Orlando Magic is not a plodding team. They are one with the outline of an identity. And, after a slow start, as they figured things out, the offense is fluid and exciting with constant ball movement and brilliant play from Nikola Vucevic. Their defense is inconsistent but can turn on and devastate opponents.

These are all encouraging signs.

Of course, the Magic are hardly a perfect team. At 10-12, they are sitting in eighth with a 1.5 game lead over the Washington Wizards. But the team has left several games on the board, struggling to hold onto leads. Sometimes they won those games, sometimes they lost them.

Already, Steve Clifford has had to give stern, short messages through the media to and about his team. He is trying to change the larger culture around the team and raising the standards. Both for the players on the team and the way this wounded fan base talks about them.

Despite all of the group’s shortcomings and struggles to start the season, Magic fans have a reason for some excitement. The team is playing better and making progress. If Clifford is developing the team right, it will get better as the season goes on.

And, as several have noted, the Magic played an exceedingly difficult first-quarter schedule. The Magic played a lot of tough teams and faced a lot of road games. The road schedule will lighten up around Christmas and the Magic will get more opportunities to get what are supposedly easy wins.

Of course, everything exists within the prism of the team’s long-term vision. And a whole lot more questions got raised on that front.

Aaron Gordon has shown growth in areas outside of his scoring and is proving to be an important player for this team. Terrence Ross has been a flamethrower and an important glue piece for this team. Meanwhile, Evan Fournier and the bench unit has struggled to get their games going.

Nikola Vucevic’s All-Star turn has not quieted thoughts about Mohamed Bamba‘s eventual ascendance to the starting role. He has shown flashes of what he will become. But he is still a rookie learning the league. There is no telling when he might be ready.

And the Magic, facing a six-year absence from the Playoffs, are not about to ship out a quality player and fall out of that race. So long as the Magic have a chance to make the Playoffs, they will go for it. But not all out to sell valuable future assets for short-term glory.

The Magic have a fine line to walk. And we are only 20-plus games into this thing.

To help review the first quarter of the season, I chatted with Stephen Cameron of The Close Up Magic. Our two-part discussion talks about all the issues the team is facing through the first quarter of the season:

On This Episode

  • What are the general feelings about the Orlando Magic through the first quarter of the season?
  • How is this year similar to previous strong starts for the Orlando Magic? What signs are there that this could continue. . . or crumble?
  • Aesthetically, how are the Orlando Magic looking?
  • Why are the Orlando Magic struggling to win comfortably and what is the effect of all these close games?
  • Where does this fit into the bigger picture for the Orlando Magic?

On This Episode

  • How D.J. Augustin fits for this Orlando Magic offense
  • How the Orlando Magic’s offense is different and why it might not fit Evan Fournier
  • Will Evan Fournier return to his mean?
  • Why Nikola Vucevic is an All-Star so far this season
  • How the environment is helping Mohamed Bamba develop but why the lineups may not help bring the best out of him this year
  • What do you like most about this team?
  • Where is the Orlando Magic’s point guard situation and how can the team improve it?

You can check out Stephen Cameron’s podcast, The Close Up Magic, on the Up and Under podcast network. Be sure to follow that podcast on Twitter @TheCloseUpMagic and Stephen @Stephen0610.

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