Orlando Magic building long-term habits, but losing short-term results

Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley has been willing to experiment. That much has been clear.

Whether it was the successful experiment to pair Mo Bamba with Wendell Carter or less successful experiments with R.J. Hampton at point guard, Jamahl Mosley has been searching for playing groups that work consistently. He has yet to find them at this point.

The Orlando Magic’s most recent loss, a 110-103 defeat to the Detroit Pistons, felt like the biggest miss for the coach.

The Magic were battling fatigue for sure from a difficult five games in seven nights stretch, and on the second night of a back-to-back, but they had rallied to retake the lead on the road and had a seven-point lead in the third quarter.

Things quickly fell apart with a lineup that featured Hampton at point guard and did not have either Carter or Bamba in the lineup. The lead flipped completely as the Pistons took a nine-point lead to the fourth quarter and expanded the lead to as much as 18 in the fourth quarter.

This was not the first time fans have levied losses on coaching decisions. Mosley, a rookie head coach with a young team, is still getting a feel for his group and figuring out the right combinations. The number of lineups he has used already is proof of that.

The Orlando Magic clearly have a long-term focus on the season and what they want to build. Jamahl Mosley has sacrificed some short-term success to cement this long-term vision.

Fans certainly want to see the team win. Players are certainly trying to win too. Wins are still the most tangible way to measure progress.

But despite the team’s frustrating 1-5 record, there is still a lot of optimism about the team’s start.

Losses, aside from the opening two losses, have been brushed aside or explained away because of these experimental rotation decisions, the injuries the team has faced or youthful mistakes. Many of those are acceptable for a team playing with the lack of pressure to win this team is facing this year. This is about growth and development still.

And at this stage of the season, Mosley is focused on the positive and the kind of identity he wants to build for his team.

The team is playing these games with an eye on the big picture. And cementing that big picture might be costing the team wins right now.

This is not unusual. A lot of coaches play the long game in how they build their teams. It is about peaking at the right time.

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is especially a master at keeping this focus on the team’s long-term goals.

Think about his run at the Olympics where the team struggled early on as they cemented the identity he wanted to build and then came through to dominate the knockout rounds of that tournament.

He has done that with the San Antonio Spurs throughout his career.

He pioneered load management to make sure he had players fresh for bigger games later in the season. He would try out different lineups or strategies that may not always work to get the reps for them when the playoffs would come down the line. He would play deep bench players spot minutes to keep them ready when the team needed them.

Mosley is not Popovich. And he does not have a team that can afford to give away a few games, knowing they can make them up and still make the playoffs down the road. Their goals are different.

But Orlando is also looking at the big picture with their team. This is a season about development and getting players better while also cementing the team’s identity and way they plan to play.

Everyone can clearly see that part setting in. The team plays with fire and hustle. The bell plays the Magic have extolled since training camp have been a key part of the team’s identity. They have had long stretches of really inspiring play. And their numbers are even starting to get lifted.

There are still plenty of young player mistakes — especially turnovers and late-game execution. And the team is still clearly learning the finer points of what they are trying to do and how to make it consistent.

But there are still those moments where either the team’s rotation hits a dead end and the Magic put out lineups that just do not provide either defensive energy or offensive push. And Orlando will still allow runs to bury the team in early deficits.

Some of this will get corrected eventually because of players returning from injuries. The team’s lack of point guard depth is begging for Markelle Fultz’s return especially. Some of this will get corrected with added experience — Jalen Suggs especially has looked the part of a rookie with his poor shooting and turnovers.

Mosley has to let some of these players take their lumps. But there is still a balance the team has to seek.

There are a lot of long-term cultural and identity markers suggesting the Magic are building something intriguing. What everyone wants to see is the team be able to put them together for more than just intriguing stretches. They need to see wins.

And that part falls on Mosley as he continues to get his rhythm and feel as a head coach.

Mosley credited the team’s fight Saturday to make the score look more respectable. It is not the first time he has done so. After the Orlando Magic’s loss to the New York Knicks, he praised the team’s fight to cut into the lead in the third quarter. But that was also cutting a 34-point lead to 17. The game was never in doubt.

At this point, Mosley is not going to overextend players for the sake of getting a singular win. What is clear is he is more concerned with the key groups playing the way he wants the team to play. And in that sense, it is hard to argue the team has not been at least a moderate success.

Whether that is a trade-off that will be worth it is to be determined. But Mosley is clearly going for a specific mindset and a specific style. And he wants the team’s most important players to be able to play at that high level for the minutes they are in.

In that way, he is willing to sacrifice a bit of short-term success. He is sacrificing wins in small ways to cement this identity and have the team play at the highest level they can.

Orlando’s super successful starting lineup is at least a small picture into this long-term vision beginning to cement itself.

Of course, that is only half the coach’s job. The team needs to win games. That may not be the ultimate judge of success for this season. But Orlando should still be trying to win games and see that short-term success.

Mosley’s biggest challenge, as has often been repeated, is to balance his rotations and make sure the team can be competitive and win games. Orlando can do this and still accomplish the long-term goals he is trying to reach.