Continuity is an advantage for young Orlando Magic, but not everything

The Orlando Magic believe their continuity will help them start fast and develop quicker this season. But it is not everything to the team’s success.

Aaron Gordon had the ball in the mid-post with Derrick Rose on his back.

This is a newer element to his game and a perfect chance to work on his footwork and post-game. Aaron Gordon wants to take advantage of smaller players when they switch onto him.

Teams are not going to let him sit and read. He will have to work through teams trying to take away that advantage and make him rush through his progression.

In this early preseason game in Detroit, Gordon has an advantage. He knows exactly where Jonathan Isaac is going to be on the opposite wing. So as the defense begins to crash and rotate to cover for that man, Gordon skips the ball across the court.

Jonathan Isaac also has an advantage at this moment. As the defense closes out to him, he knows exactly where D.J. Augustin is going to be in the corner. Before the defense can react, he fires the pass straight to D.J. Augustin.

The Detroit Pistons close out on Augustin and he delivers a pump fake and starts to drive. Rose comes over to take Augustin’s path to the rim. But here is his advantage.

Gordon knows exactly what Augustin is going to do and floats to the corner. Augustin knows exactly what Gordon is going to do and finds him there. Gordon drains the three and the Magic

For the second preseason game, this is incredible timing and punch from a team. The Magic seemed to all be on the same page and read and react to the defense in real-time with a trust that usually takes weeks to build.

Throughout the first three preseason games, at least, the Magic looked like they had not missed a step. Their defense swarmed and bothered teams as their length presented problems for teams easing back into the league.

They were able to rev up their offense early too because everyone seemed to know exactly where everyone would be.

Of course, they would, the Magic only added only one new player to the roster — Al-Farouq Aminu — and welcomed the return of two young players in Markelle Fultz and Mohamed Bamba from injury. The team sees this continuity as an extreme advantage to get them going this season.

"“I’m so happy we don’t have to start over,” Evan Fournier said at media day. “People ask us all the time what changed after the All-Star Break. Nothing changed. It takes time to adjust to a different system. Not having to start over this year was huge. Having the same core is going to help us tremendously.”"

That provides a little bit of an advantage.

There is a feeling that the team is not starting from zero — although coach Steve Clifford would dispute that and say every team starts at the basics on both offense and defense at the beginning of camp. The team probably picked things back up quickly and started getting off to the races as far as their development.

That was certainly on display during the early part of the preseason. The Magic looked well connected and ahead of the curve — defensively especially.

But inevitably the rest of the teams catch up. Injuries jumbled the Magic’s lineups more than anticipated and the team has faltered. The lack of practice time has kept the offense fairly basic and the team has struggled in the half-court. And unfamiliarity with playing without some key players has shown just how much work the team has left to do.

Familiarity has the team optimistic, but it can only get them so far. If the past two games showed anything it is that the team might be familiar with each other but can still falter if they are not playing the right way.

But those relationships that are already established could very well help the team understand expectations and pick up what Clifford wants from them fast.

No doubt, the Magic spent part of last season getting used to Clifford’s standards and systems. Just as Clifford spent a good chunk of the season find a combination and rotation that worked.

A lot of that establishment phase is no longer an issue for this team.

"“I would say it takes you two years to really know somebody,” Gordon said at media day. “We’re a year in. It’s a year more that we know Cliff and understand him and understand how detail-oriented he is. That’s going to help out a lot going into training camp not having to learn an entire new system. And he knows us as well and where we like the ball and what we need to defensively and what each person is capable of. He is going to hold us accountable to the level of our capabilities.”"

Ultimately, the team knows continuity only helps with that beginning phase. The terminology and coverages for the defense are not likely to change. And so the team can ease past the basics of their offense quickly.

But after that, it is up to the team and they work they put in. As the preseason has played out, that has proven completely true. The team still has a lot of work to go and cannot rest on any perceived laurels or flip a switch and find success.

The team has struggled with some key players missing. That little element of unfamiliarity — playing without Nikola Vucevic especially — threw the team completely off.

In this case, then, familiarity might be a problem because the team will have to learn at some point how to play without key players. The team cannot count on the same injury luck again.

Orlando Magic

Nothing ever stays the same in this league.

Things will be different a bit as players grow. And the Magic struggled in the playoffs. Clifford admitted that those struggles will change the combinations he uses and what his team needs to do to succeed when the games matter most.

But there is already a trust established no matter how the Magic choose to attack.

"“We’ve just got to understand we’re a team,” Augustin said on media day. “Everybody’s roles are going to be different. My role might be different this year. The next guy’s role might be different. It’s all about winning. That’s what the NBA is about. If we win everybody looks good and everybody has a role. That’s what matters in this league.”"

The good news is that the Magic believe in their players. Orlando wanted those players to return and brought them back. Clifford said he sees a team hungry to win and that was a big part of their ascendance last year.

And these are players that want to be in Orlando and play together. Nobody wanted off this ship. Keeping the same culture and building off last year was important.

Orlando feels like their familiarity will give them an edge. But it is something they know they cannot rest on.