On the first day of Orlando Magic practice, players began talking about the bell. Media members, inside the AdventHealth Practice Facility for the first time in more than a year, noticed the bright blue bell positioned near the training room on the far side of the court.
Throughout interviews in the course of the preseason and training camp, someone would go over and ring the bell based on something going on in the course of the last bits of drill work going on that day. It was an unmistakable sound.
Some players hinted that players would get really into it and go and ring it themselves after making one of these plays.
It was a hokey gimmick and something easy to latch onto. But it was quietly a sign of what the team was building.
As coach Jamahl Mosley explained it — and players further elaborated — the team rings that big bell for winning plays. That would be making a big 3-pointer, diving on the floor for a loose ball, blocking a shot. It is the kind of hustle play that just means a player went above and beyond with their effort.
This has clearly been a standard the team has set for themselves and the kind of identity they want to build for themselves as a young team seeking their way in the league. But nobody had any idea how this would play out in real-time. It is not like the Magic will cart out their bell on the sideline.
Instead, the Magic have been their own bell. This little gimmick to create something of a Pavlovian response to hustle plays has become more than a mantra for the team. It is quickly becoming their identity.
The Orlando Magic are trying to carve their identity under a new coach and in a new era. A blue bell was a preview of who the Magic wanted to be. And in preseason play, the Magic embodied what they hoped the bell would become.
And nowhere is that more seen than when the Magic make a big play on the court and on the bench.
Take this third-quarter play from Wendell Carter in the Orlando Magic’s 103-102 win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday:
Jeff Dowtin gets into the heart of the zone and finds Wendell Carter sneaking beneath it. He feeds a perfect pass and Wendell Carter rises to dunk over Bruno Fernando. This is simply a good basketball play and exactly how you break down a 2-3 zone.
Still, Carter had to make a big play.
But notice the bench too. Cole Anthony is flexing and strutting as if he had made the big jam. Everyone on the bench is standing and celebrating, rising even before Carter receives the pass.
That energy radiated through the Amway Center. And built on the very next play when R.J. Hampton got around a screen, hesitated to get Bruno Fernando off balance and saw a free runway to the basket. He took it and slammed it down.
These were not the only hustle plays for the Magic in their win Wednesday. To win a game always takes a bunch more. But the way the team builds and builds and builds on momentum plays, it is clear that these “bell play” are more than just a typical hustle play for the team.
"“I think we practice those bell plays,” R.J. Hampton said after Wednesday’s game. “Even in practice, we’re battling for loose balls, taking charges and doing the dirty work. I think really the fans bring that energy. Everyone wants to win and everyone wants to play for each other. There is nothing we won’t do for the person next to us. That’s why you see us making those bell plays and those hustle plays that we’ve been making these last couple of games.”"
Those plays are even more evident with the Magic having had two home games now with the crowd getting involved in the game late in the fourth quarter as the Magic drew close. The crowd was much more engaged in the midst of close games than you would expect for a preseason game.
The Magic are certainly trying to hang their hats on these hustle plays. Orlando is going to try to make up whatever talent deficit they might have by being first to these hustle plays. They are winning plays for a reason and building up these plays can change the outlook for the team.
That was evident in Sunday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs as the Orlando Magic built up their play to get back into the game. It was what the team did throughout Wednesday’s game. The team really stuck with its defense and never got down on themselves.
When those energy plays came, they started to build on themselves.
And with each hustle play the team came up with — whether it was a rebound or a basket or anything else — the Magic were building momentum.
And it is not something limited simply to the players on the court or even the fans feeding that energy. It was something — and has been something — that has come from the bench.
"“That’s who they are. That’s who we are,” Mosley said after Wednesday’s game. “We’re going to be resilient. We’re going to be tough. We’re going to fight until that final horn goes off. These guys have shown it. That’s what they’ve done. Those are big-time plays for these guys.”"
The Magic needed to use their preseason to establish their foundation as a new program, so to speak. They needed to carve their identity.
That identity will be on the defensive end. But more importantly, it will be through their hustle and their effort. They are going to put a focus on trying to make these plays as they (eventually) build toward becoming a winning franchise.
The preseason only laid a hint of the team’s potential. And the Magic will still have a ton of growth to go.
Still, it was successful.
Mosley said he believes the team has done things defensively that they could hang their hat on throughout the preseason and brought the right attitude to the games. They largely did not hang their heads and they kept fighting.
That is who this team wants to be.
"“I think we’re playing hard,” Hampton said after Wednesday’s game. “That’s all you can ask for. We have a lot of young talent on this team. . . . We’re going to have mistakes. We’re going to have ups and downs. But playing together and listening to the coaching staff when it comes to defense or comes to these stops, I think we’re all good listeners and open to anything. We have a lot of guys who want to play for each other, play for the fans and play for the coaching staff. Making stops is winning and we want to do whatever it takes.”"
How long this focus will last and whether the team can carve that identity into something productive moving forward will be the big question for the team.
An identity though is something a team can hang its hat on even on its worst days. It is something that a team can rely on and needs to accomplish to win.
The Magic obviously will have a long way to go. But their effort will take them a long way. And with every “bell” play, they will make their mark in this league.