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Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag Volume 36: A new outlook on the future

By Philip Rossman-Reich

A new season has brought new expectations and new challenges for the Orlando Magic. (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)
A new season has brought new expectations and new challenges for the Orlando Magic. (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Steve Clifford, Orlando Magic
Steve Clifford will have to get the Orlando Magic to unite together and evolve to repeat their success and continue to grow. (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Orlando Magic begin this season with expectations and real weight to their development. That leaves a lot of questions as the season begins.

The Orlando Magic are entering the season with new expectations and new hope for the season.

Making the playoffs for the first time in seven-year will do that. Coach Steve Clifford may not ever want to put any limits on the team and what they can accomplish, but there certainly can be a floor. And that is a new feeling.

This is a playoff team. Every player has said it and even the coaches would acknowledge that. There is no getting around that the team has had a taste of the postseason and that is all that matters as a start.

Expectations are a funny thing too. The Magic have not played with this kind of pressure for tangible results in some time. Not just the pressure to copy what they accomplished last year but to do more and grow.

The jury is still out as to whether they can compete for home-court advantage or get to the next round. The team is not going to look that far ahead. The task in the short term is to improve daily and get better as the season moves on.

That was the same goal they had last year too. They wanted to improve each day and each game and get better for that finishing kick.

The team is hoping to do that again but from an advanced starting lineup. Their first regular-season game showed just how different their confidence is.

The Orlando Magic came out and got their defense in order to hold the Cleveland Cavaliers off. That game showed everything this team can and wants to be. Of course, soon after that, the reality of their struggles on offense became apparent. Their defense can only carry them so far.

The weight of expectations though makes it clear that there is still a lot of work to do.

Orlando believes they are a playoff team. They may quietly believe they can do a whole lot more. But they understand that it will take a ton of work to get there.

How do we view this team under this new landscape? What will it take for the Magic to get where they want to be?

These are the question that circles the team as the season gets set to begin. We opened up the Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag to begin answering those questions.