Jamahl Mosley deserves more credit than he has been given

When the Orlando Magic hired Jamahl Mosley as the new head coach, it was understood the hiring was based on his player developmental skills.

For the team in its first year of a rebuild, this would be important. The Magic were also going to measure success this season based on the individual development of young players. They were never going to be judged on their record.

At the same time, the season still has to be about the beginnings of what this team will be. The Magic want to build a style and begin taking steps toward competing, even if the results would not be there.

During the offseason, Mosley hit on three keywords that the team had to play with to be successful. To play with pace, space and the pass had Magic fans excited for Orlando to play with pace and run in transition more to go along with a much more aggressive defense.

The team is still carving out its identity. The Magic have the second-worst record in the league and the worst record in franchise history to this point in the season.

Some of the team’s biggest criticisms came into sharper focus after the Orlando Magic lost a 14-point lead with 4.5 minutes to play in a loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday.

All the mistakes the team made fell on Mosley for his management of the game at the end of the game, from failing to call timeouts to prevent turnovers to his rotation decision to stick with 10-day contract signee Tim Frazier in crunch time.

A collapse like that does not just happen. And Mosley took some heat for the Magic taking that loss. Even in a season where losing is expected and sort of accepted.

Jamahl Mosley has had his ups and downs as a coach in the first half of the season. He has taken plenty of criticism. But the Orlando Magic’s rookie coach deserves credit for areas the team has grown.

To this point of the season, Mosley has faced criticisms that the Magic have not lived up to expectations he set with those simple principles in the offseason. The team has not created a clear offensive identity and its defense has hardly been a rock.

The Magic take a lot of 3-pointers but do not make enough to be dangerous on that front and they have settled in the middle of the league in pace without scoring a ton of fast-break points. That suggests the pace is being dictated to them rather than they are dictating their pace.

Defensively, the Magic are improving, but remain 26th in the league in defensive rating.

There are plenty of areas where the Magic have not shown the progress they have wanted to see. Then again, several young players especially have improved dramatically as the season has gone on. And the team has yet to see itself at full strength.

Mosley deserves credit for this improvement and for the team sticking together and staying bought in through all the losing to this point of the season. They are seemingly improving and it feels like the team will find its success once they are healthy again.

There is an argument that these criticisms are unfair and that Mosley has done a fine job thus far.

The biggest criticism of Mosley has been his rotation.

Most recently has been the call not to start R.J. Hampton while all three of Markelle Fultz, Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs remain out. Instead, Mosley has decided to go with veteran guard Tim Frazier, who was signed through a 10-day deal.

Frazier played 39 minutes in Orlando’s loss to Boston on Sunday while Hampton played only 11. This coming after a game where Hampton scored 15 points and dished out several assists.

Orlando has seemingly gone out of its way to avoid playing Hampton at point guard — he has played only 25-percent of his minutes entering Sunday’s game at point guard according to Basketball-Reference. The Magic are certainly looking for someone to get them into their offense.

But injury has often been the mother of invention. It has pushed the Magic to play Franz Wagner as the lead ball-handler at times. Surely, Hampton would help ease some of the Magic’s ball-handling shortcomings.

To his credit, Mosley has done a good job putting Hampton in a role where he can succeed. Hampton’s scoring average has increased in each month this season. In December, Hampton averaged 8.8 points per game on 35.5-percent shooting from beyond the arc.

At the same time, some of Mosley’s rotations have been forced which, could explain Hampton’s struggles overall from the field being moved from role to role.

Mosley has to be cut some slack for all of the injuries and absences the Magic have faced this season. It is difficult to put a system into practice with so many players being in and out of the lineup.

As of Dec. 27, the Magic lead the league with games missed due to injuries with 204 games with the Los Angles Lakers in second place with 148. The fact is Mosley has a plan of what he wants to run on both ends of the court, but he can not put his plan into practice until the Magic can get relatively healthy.

Of late, the Magic have had to rely even more on players just added to the roster to fill in for players in health and safety protocols. The fact the Magic have had some really strong moments and stayed fairly competitive in the process is a testament to how Mosley has coached those players up.

Mosley said this time has helped the Magic simplify their offense and defense. That has led to a little more success.

Despite all of the challenges the Magic have faced this season, Mosley deserves credit for keeping the Magic in the fight.

The Magic do not give up no matter the deficit. Time and time again, the Magic find themselves in holes, and there is a belief Orlando will make it interesting.

Orlando did this in a win earlier this season against the Utah Jazz, where they found themselves giving up a 13 point first-quarter lead and being down 10 in the fourth quarter to pull out a win.

The Magic have faced inconsistencies throughout the season. The injuries to the roster and adding players through the hardship rule the NBA implemented have only mounted. Orlando is hungry to see this team at full strength. Or something close to it.

Mosley has had his own growing pains too. There is no denying that. And he has struggled at times to get a feel for when to take his reserves out and return to his starters or how to keep starters mixed throughout the rotation.

Despite the hardships, the Magic have faced and the hand Mosley was handed, he has kept Orlando fighting in every game no matter what the score is.

He deserves some credit, for that. Until the Magic get players back, it would be wrong to judge Mosley for the product on the court.