Orlando Magic practicing decision-making to improve offense

Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley related a moment during the Magic’s practice Friday as a way to try to give an example of how his team was building and progressing through these early days of camp.

Jamahl Mosley related that at some points during the Magic’s drill work or play, he would let his young point guard in Cole Anthony stop and explain what he was seeing and reading in certain situations. He was surely not the only one. But it was instruction by student, the kind of learning that in a classroom setting would show that a student has mastered the material by explaining it to his peers.

On the basketball court, especially coming from one of the team’s point guards and leaders, it served to show what Anthony was seeing on the floor. It showed his teammates what to expect from him and what he was seeing on the floor so they would be better able to predict and understand what Anthony might do on the floor and put themselves in a position to help.

This is an understanding everyone has to have for each other. It adds to the complication of the Magic’s offense. Something everyone noticed and something everyone is working on.

The Orlando Magic’s offense needs some major work. But the team is hoping maturity and better decision-making will help it make some gains this year.

This is part of the maturity the Magic want to see from their players. The understanding of their reads and the composure to play within the reads the coaches set for them.

This offense comes down to the decisions the players make and the reads they make to find examples. And it will evolve as the players evolve and improve.

"“We’ve talked about our guys being unselfish,” Mosley said after practice Saturday. “We want guys to be decision-makers making the right play. Guys are doing that. They are trying to find the open man. If they don’t have it, they move off of it quickly. But I also have challenged guys to be able to step into their shots when they are open. Because if you don’t take that shot, then you freeze the rest of the offense behind you. You’ve got to make sure you are willing to step in and take the shot when it’s your opportunity.”"

There are precepts and principles the team tries to adhere to within its offense and offensive sets. There are guardrails and guidelines. But Mosley puts trust and responsibility in all the players to run the offense and make decisions, dictating where the team will go.

Even if they were not ready for it.

The results probably speak for itself on that front — the team had one of the worst offenses in the league last year by almost every metric. But it was always laying the groundwork for what would come next and the responsibility and ownership he wants his team to have. Ultimately the unpredictability of the offense will serve the team well.

Right now the Magic are trying to get the basics down of their offense again and evolve and grow here as much as anywhere else.

The Magic hope that the look of the offense and the mastery of those reads will look different from last year.

"“I think with us, last year was good because it was the first year of understanding what we need to do and how coach wants us to play, where they can put their games in according to the offense,” Terrence Ross said after practice Saturday. “Now we are starting to see guys making decisions a lot faster.“Nobody is holding the ball as much. We are much more fluid. The ball is moving from left to right more. I think now we are understanding if you move the ball, good things happen. When you move the ball, we can take good shots. Good shots lead to us not giving up defensive transition points. I think we are starting to realize how one thing affects the other. Things are all starting to come together.”"

This probably gets to the core of how different the Magic feel their offense might be this year.

Ross said he believes the flow of the team’s offense will look a lot cleaner because of this focus on moving the ball. The team he hopes will not dribble too much and keep the ball moving to keep defenses off balance.

That was certainly part of the problem last year. To hear the Magic tell it, gone is the uncertainty of knowing what is supposed to come next and trying to figure out how to get the offense moving. The team understands these reads and precepts and internalizing that will enable them to move the ball.

Like so much, this is a matter of confidence and experience more than anything else.

"“I think it’s going to continue to evolve into more decision-makers and more passing and more ball movement but body movement,” Mosley said after practice Saturday. “I think we have talked about that a little bit. The ball is popping and moving very well. Now we have to make sure that it continues that bodies aren’t just standing to watch, knowing when to cut, knowing when to go back door, knowing when to set a screen, knowing when to slip out of a screen. Those things are going to be huge.”"

As the Magic grow and evolve this offense and their play, they are continuing to empower players to make the right decisions and make the right reads to find weaknesses in the defense. With that year under their belt.

Mosley’s offense empowers his players to work together to figure this out. It empowers them to make these decisions witing basic sets and alignments on the court. Orlando wants its players to make good decisions to unlock the team’s offense.

It will grow as this team grows.

A focus for this Magic team is trying to figure out how to get the most out of the team offensively. As players can quickly realize, a poor offense can hurt the defense. And if the Magic want to be a better defensive team, they need to be more effective and efficient on offense.

Those three precepts from last year — play with pace, space and the pass — remain.

The team wants to play at a fast pace but still under control. And so the big thing the team wants is to get the ball up the court but to make quick decisions and move the ball. The Magic plan to run a 5-out offense with centers able to shoot from beyond the arc to try to space defenses out.

That will require the team to be quick and decisive with their attacks and to kick out. It will also require the team to shoot when the shots are available and, yes, to make them when they get them.

That too has been an emphasis for this team. Mosley does not want his team passing up open shots. The Magic are going to let it fly from three if they get open looks.

The proof will be in how the team plays against someone else. Nobody quite knows what to expect from the offense. The expectation is that it will have its struggles again.

But the way the team works, especially with its developing talent, things could change quickly. One run of success could give the team the confidence that it is making the right decisions and grow.

That is where the team’s familiarity, they hope can continue to give them a leg up.

"“The biggest thing was just all of us were here in the summer,” Ross said after practice Saturday. “You’d think the hurricane would set us back. But a lot of guys know the lingo, a lot of guys know the terminology, know the sets, know the base coverages. We are in a good spot right now. of course We’ve got to tighten some things up and being in the gym as much as you can helps with that. I feel like we are going in the right direction.”"

Like everything else this season, it will be a matter of how quickly the team matures and comes together. A lot of things have to go right for the Magic to take that necessary step offensively.