Monday’s preseason game is something Orlando Magic fans have been looking forward to for a while.
It is the first public display of the team under Jamahl Mosley and the debut of a lot of new players on the team. Not to mention, the reintroduction of several young players.
The preseason game itself is not important for the result. It is not important whether the team wins or loses at this point. The Magic are more concerned with how players progress.
Through the team’s first week of practice, there is precious little information about how the team is going to play and who is actually playing well and looking good in the midst of it all.
When Mosley was invited to comment on who was playing well by media members on Saturday, he politely declined to answer. He only said the preseason is for figuring out rotations and lineup combinations and furthering the team’s growth.
The message from Saturday’s practice was to consider the preseason as more of an extension of the team’s training camp.
Monday though still serves as a baseline for fans who are able to watch the game to have some sense of where the team is at and how much work is ahead. Let alone how the team plans to play when the season begins.
Orlando Magic fans have precious little information of how the team is doing through the first week of training camp. Terrence Ross offered some insight on his podcast.
Still, with such a young roster, Magic fans want to know where players are at and who is playing well. Young players, especially, take big leaps in their games and can improve suddenly and quickly.
Summer League only provided a taste of what Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony, Franz Wagner and R.J. Hampton will look like for the regular season. And for everyone outside of Suggs, there was certainly still a lot to desire ahead of the season actually beginning.
Luckily, Terrence Ross has always been willing to go behind the scenes a bit on his podcast. And while he is certainly pumping up his guys and his teammates after the first week of practice, he seems excited for what is coming.
"“They’re getting it,” Ross said on his podcast. “You see the younger guys like Mo [Bamba] and Cole [Anthony]. You could tell they kind of already have things figured out and look comfortable with what’s going on. Mo is playing really well. Cole is playing really well.“Jalen [Suggs], for point guards it’s always harder. It’s always harder to learn that. He’s doing really well. He knows the offense. He knows the defensive settings. It’s just him trying to slow the game down to get super comfortable. He’s still playing really well.“Franz [Wagner] is playing really well. He can shoot that sh*t. He’s one of those role players who is going to be solid for his whole career. He is someone you can rely on. He shoots threes, he plays hard. The young guys are playing really well. I’m curious to see how we’re going to do in our first game because it will be their first experience of real pro games and NBA basketball.”"
Terrence Ross added Wendell Carter has also been good in practice, even expanding out to shoot 3-pointers. That is something Carter said the coaching staff wanted him to work on.
There are always positive vibes at the beginning of training camp.
Ross said the only difficult thing is getting down the team’s terminology. Although, for a veteran like him, it is hard to put him in situations he has not seen or does not know how to defend. Different coaches call their plays and coverages by different names.
And he has had his own difficulties after having some back issues during the offseason that limited some of his offseason workouts. The now 10-year veteran says he has been fine during training camp and able to do everything.
That is about the only clue anyone has gotten from the Magic’s camp at this point. The rest will begin to get revealed when the preseason begins Monday.