The solution to the Orlando Magic’s offensive woes is simple
By Seth Arora
The Orlando Magic’s offense has been atrocious to start the 2020 season. Players up and down the roster have mightily struggled, but the solution is clear.
To say the Orlando Magic’s offensive start to the season has been rough is just a tad of an understatement.
“Atrocious”, “abominable”, “woeful”, and “why?” are a few words that come to mind to describe this team’s start offensively.
As of games closing Nov. 10, the Magic are 30th in the league in points per game (98.1), 30th in effective field goal percentage (46.8 percent), 29th in offensive rating (99.8 points per 100 possessions) and, you guessed it, 30th in 3-point field goal percentage (28.2 percent).
No one has all day, so it is probably safe to stop there. The point should be clear.
The Magic’s offense has been bad.
The team is starting to show some signs of offensive movement. The team has posted four of its five best offensive games in their last four games. The team is finally scoring better than a point per possession consistently. But even that is the most basic of requirements.
And even in some of those games, like Sunday’s 109-102 loss to the Indiana Pacers, the team’s strong offense can give way to stagnant play for long enough periods of time to cost the team the game.
The players and fans have grown quickly frustrated. Most hoped the much-ballyhooed team continuity would translate into a crisp offense whose player familiarity was readily apparent with each extra pass and wide-open three-point splash.
The camaraderie earned only through time together would surely put a fresh coat of paint on the offense that helped clinch last season’s playoff berth, right?
Mike Tyson’s words again ring true: everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.
The Magic lost some rhythm thanks to some training camp injuries, but it sure feels like the team’s problems go much deeper than that.