Everything has changed for the Orlando Magic and nothing has entering the 2020 season

The Orlando Magic face raised external expectations entering the 2020 season. To meet them, Orlando has to keep the same focus it had in 2019.

It is rare to see Orlando Magic coach Steve Clifford smile.

He is a hard-nosed coach brought up on a branch of the Pat Riley tree, having served under both Jeff and Stan Van Gundy in his NBA coaching tenure. He has a straightforward approach that is always looking forward and always looking for ways to make his team better.

His tireless work and his clear, simple vision are what has made him a successful communicator. He sets his expectations clear, but they are rarely tied to something tangible like results.

Winning matters, but the results come from the work a team puts in. And it is this dirty work that builds up a program and builds a team. It is what brings everything together.

But as the Magic walked off the court at the TD Garden in mid-April, there was a little bit of a smile. The team had come together and clinched their first playoff berth. The players, many of whom had gone through years of irrelevancy, understood the weight of what they had done and the work it took.

Clifford quickly turned back to his coach-mode. His joy at the moment lasted from the walk from the court to the locker room. But he gave his team a simple message.

A message that feels worth repeating on the even of the opening of the Magic’s 2020 season:

In vignettes FOX Sports Florida filmed to promote upcoming Magic games, Clifford would say he did not believe in putting limits on a team. Foisting expectations on a team or saying this is all a team can do ultimately limits what they can accomplish.

Clifford was not putting a limit on his team. Even after achieving their playoff dreams, he was pushing for more and re-affirming their work could still push them higher.

This is a powerful approach. It allowed Clifford to have his team dream big and accomplish more. It was important to get the team to believe in themselves, each other and their goals — no matter how simple — to start to turn things around.

Now they have done that. Their playoff trip in 2019 was confirmation of their potential.

But the 2020 season will be drastically different. There is no mystery of what is possible. There is now a baseline. Orlando expects this team — virtually the same group from last year — to make the playoffs again.

Unlike last year, there is no scenario of success without a playoff berth. Some might be willing to argue the team has to do more to build off that basic success.

The pressure to win will be greater this year. For the first time, the Magic play with real expectations from the outside of what is possible. And the hunger to do more and keep growing.

Yet, the approach has to remain the same. The team has to build the same belief and the same foundation.

Everything is different for this team and this franchise now. The pressure to win is real now. But everything is still the same. It is the same approach that treats the team as not having limits and values growth on a ground-level over everything else.

The results, as they did in 2019, will follow.

Making the playoffs in 2019 was truly unexpected to everyone outside of the Magic organization. The team had to put in a lot of work to make their 22-9 run to the postseason.

But even then, Clifford continued to push and say to his team, you can do more.

Nobody had the Orlando Magic defeating the Toronto Raptors in that series (let alone taking a game off the eventual champions). But still, Clifford expressed disappointment the team did not compete better. He believed the Magic would give the Raptors more problems than they did.

Even in what many would consider a success, Clifford was still pushing his team. He still expected a whole lot more from his team than others perhaps saw from them. And yet, listening to Clifford talk, it seemed obvious to expect this.

That leaves the Magic with their next step. Ultimately the team wants to get out of the first round or get home-court advantage or a number of other things.

The way the team seemed to talk about their season was a sense of longing and hunger for more. The Magic did not seem satisfied with their first-round exit. They felt like they left something on the table.

Only time will tell if this hunger to improve will yield any new results. Everyone has gone off to make their own individual improvements to face this new reality and this clearly new level of expectation.

But the approach is going to remain the same. Clifford is not about to tear down the foundation or change his belief system or how he wants this team to grow. They will still have those simple, direct goals. As Clifford puts it, they will still have to play a certain way to win.

Orlando’s margin for error may still be small. The team has some depth, but still lacks that clear-cut star that will make life easier.

Orlando Magic

The Magic’s success is still built on its defense. And players will have to remain committed and disciplined on that end to copy last year’s results and improve upon them.

There is no guarantee of that repeat in the end. Clifford understands that and has to hope his team does too. It will take more effort on both ends just to repeat last year’s success.

So the narrow focus for the team remains. The focus on the daily work remains. And it remains absolutely vital.

Training camp will be about re-establishing that foundation built from last year. With the same roster, it should be easier to build. But the season itself will present new challenges.

The same approach and the same focus on what matters at the moment will produce better results than measuring the team against some contrived or arbitrary measuring stick. Expectations always shift and change as the season progresses.

Clifford knows the work is about to begin again. Repeating success and growing can be just as difficult as getting there in the first place. And there will be new challenges to face throughout the 2020 season.

The same consistent approach and work will be the only way to succeed and meet these new external expectations.

So much has changed for the Magic as far as what others expect of them. But the team’s character cannot change.