Orlando Magic spent January finding their defensive identity

From the start of training camp, coach Jamahl Mosley made it clear what he wanted his team to be about.

Sure there were his main pillars he seemed to repeat ad nauseum during the offseason. The theoretical underpinnings for his team when they were not actually on the court quite yet.

What was clear from the preseason and the early days of training camp is the Magic intended to be a defensive team. It was where they spent the majority of their time in training camp.

The early returns were not encouraging. The Magic piled up losses and their defense was a mess.

Orlando is a young team still developing their habits and looking to improve. But the group wanted to see at least some early success and some early sign of the team’s eventual identity.

That was one of the goals for the season. The team wanted to see hints of what it can be and the identity it will eventually take on.

It took a little more than half the season for the team to make some tangible progress. Some of it came down to getting healthy and finding some consistency with their rotation.

The Orlando Magic started finding their defensive rhythm and identity through January, giving the young team something to build on.

But progress has come nonetheless. And at least for a decent sample, the Magic’s defense is starting to shift into something the team can build on. It is becoming that hint of what the team can possibly be.

In January (15 games), the Magic ranked eighth in the league giving up 107.8 points per 100 possessions. That is an impressive turnaround for a team that has been at the bottom of the league in almost every other category to this point.

For the season, Orlando still ranks 23rd in the league in defensive rating, giving up 111.5 points per 100 possessions. That is still not a good number or ranking. But considering the team’s record, to see the team outside the bottom five in anything is at least something.

Just not much.

Orlando has spent the entire season near the bottom of every ranking. So seeing the team rise up into the top-10 of something, even if it is a relatively small but significant sample, is encouraging to say the least.

So what are the Magic doing that has finally led to the team cementing something that might resemble an identity? What has really changed?

For the season, the Magic are 13th in the league in field goal percentage allowed at the rim at 64.2-percent, according to data from Second Spectrum. In January, the team rose to 10th at 63.5-percent. That is a slight improvement by raw numbers, but defending the paint and rim has always been a strength of this team.

It should be, of course, with the team starting two bigs most of the time in Wendell Carter and Mo Bamba.

But even with Carter missing seven games during the month, the Magic were still solid in the paint with Franz Wagner sliding over to power forward. They were ninth in Carter’s absence giving up 62.7-percent shooting at the rim.

For the season overall, opponents score 43.4 points in the paint per game, sixth in the entire league. In January, the Magic gave up 44.0 points in the paint per game, eighth in the league. That number is worse, but not significantly so.

Mosley certainly put an emphasis on defending the paint. Throughout the season, the team has tried to crowd players when they get into the paint and put pressure on the ball as it comes inside.

This has undoubtedly been the Magic’s strength defensively and the emphasis for the team.

So too has rebounding. The Magic are 17th in the league in defensive rebound rate, grabbing 72.8-percent of their rebounding opportunities. In January, Orlando rose to fifth in the league at 74.9-percent.

There have been some notable games where the team gave up rebounds at the wrong time. This is still an area where the team can improve, especially in key situations.

Where Orlando has struggled throughout the year has been fanning back out to the 3-point line. They have often been caught digging into the paint too much and unable to get back out to close out.

Opponents shoot 36.4-percent from beyond the arc against the Magic, 27th in the league. The team also gives up 16.9 3-point attempts per game where the closest defender is six or more feet away (19th in the league) and 14.8 attempts where the closest defender is 4-6 feet away (21st in the league).

In January though, the Magic saw improvements in both areas.

Opponents still hit 35.3-percent of their 3-pointers (16th in the league). The Magic still give up their share of 3-pointers. And this is part of the weakness of their defense at the moment. But even an improvement by one percentage point in that category can have far-reaching effects, especially with offenses now finding their rhythm in the middle of the season.

The quality of those 3-point looks has decreased though.

The Magic gave up 15.3 3-point attempts with the closest defender six or more feet away (seventh in the league) and 13.3 attempts with the closest defender 4-6 feet away (sixth in the league).

There are still going to be moments of 3-point luck. Some teams just hit a bunch of contested 3-pointers. The Magic understand this as much as anybody — they themselves were 27th in the league in attempts where the closest defender was six or more feet away.

Their biggest problem remains their offense and their inability to score. And perhaps the biggest harm to their defense are the extra opportunities their turnovers create.

Still, it is hard to deny the improvement defensively.

Overall, the Magic kept themselves in games and gave themselves a chance throughout January because of their defense. They had only seven games in the month where they gave up 110 points per 100 possessions or more and just two games where they gave up 115 points per 100 possessions or more (and two additional games at 114.9).

These are all encouraging signs and good numbers. The Magic’s defense is quickly becoming a greater challenge for teams around the league.

Young teams have spurts like this. They have moments where everything comes together and things look really good. The Magic wanted to see a spurt like this and want to see more of this spark of what they can be.

The question is always whether these young teams can play this way consistently. It is always about being able to do it every time out. That is the toughest thing to learn.

The Magic though can count January as a step in the right direction for them. They played the kind of defense they have talked about all season.

That is something they can build on.