Jalen Suggs seeking a sophomore season of redemption

Jalen Suggs sat down after the Orlando Magic’s loss in a sour mood.

The Magic had lost a 15-point first-quarter lead and made several key mistakes in the fourth quarter as they tried to rally back into the game. They still had their chance to win, trailing by one with 30 seconds left before Isaiah Stewart drained a 3-pointer to send the team to Atlanta with a loss.

Suggs had to watch the final three and a half minutes of that game from the bench after fouling out. He was helpless because of his own mental lapses — his last foul was a risky attempt at an offensive rebound where he climbed over a defender’s back and then tumbled to the floor, briefly grabbing his previously injured left knee.

These are all the details the Magic wanted to focus on and fine-tune. The kind of things they know they need to do to win more this year and take the next steps as a franchise. And where they failed at several steps, especially Suggs.

"“Coach Mose can dial up the perfect play but if we continue to turn the ball over like that and give away free ones and give them more opportunities, it is going to be hard for us to win games,” Suggs said after Wednesday’s game. “Just looking at turnovers, we had five more turnovers, that’s five more possessions they got. And that’s not even getting into their offensive rebounds. Doing little things not to beat ourselves and self-inflicted wounds.”"

These are the details that the team still has to get down. Suggs not only fouled out of the game early but also committed four of the Magic’s 18 turnovers as the late starter at point guard for the game.

But like everything in that opening game, it was not merely just about the details the team is still trying together. If there was disappointment in the game it was because so much else went extraordinarily well that those missing details were so glaring.

The Orlando Magic like Jalen Suggs are still trying to get down their details to winning. But Suggs, like the Magic as a whole, found some redemption and improvement to build on in the opener.

That includes Suggs who is not only looking for that improvement as a lead guard and as a playmaker and ball-handler but looking for a bit of redemption as a shooter.

In that sense, Suggs’ game was encouraging as part of that reformation as he scored 18 of his 21 points in the third quarter, including hitting four 3-pointers, answering a barrage from Bojan Bogdanovic.

After a shaky start for Suggs where he struggled to get his team into its offense and committed a few errors and mistakes, everything seemed to click for him.

This is an approach he needs to carry over. Something he worked toward his entire summer.

"“Coach Dale [Osbourne] tells me all the time to trust your work,” Suggs said after Wednesday’s game. “I try to go back to that. Not try to make the first play. Not try to make the home run play.  Just try to play within myself and the way I have played my entire life. The way I continue to learn to play. In the second half, things just got simplified. Nothing much changed.”"

That simplification also came with a spike in confidence. Suggs was taking shots he seemed hesitant to take in the first half and struggled with throughout his rookie season.

Outside of the fouling, Suggs provided the same reliable defense he gave his rookie year, including just a rip of a steal that sparked a fast break where he made a nice step-through finish for a layup.

That kind of drive was exactly what got Suggs going. It seeming slowed him down and suddenly he was playing with confidence.

The shooting burst

The four three-pointers Jalen Suggs hit was the product of a ton of hard work over the offseason.

Suggs’ struggles beyond the arc last year were well documented. He made only 21.4 percent of his 3-pointers on 4.0 attempts per game. His inability to hit consistently from deep or from anywhere really was a major drain on an offense that was already struggling.

"“I think for me, it is exactly what I needed,” Suggs said at Media Day. “It was the perfect learning experience. I wouldn’t trade anything about last year for nothing. Although it was hard not being able to get into a rhythm, I was playing and feeling good and then I would get hurt or something would set me back. It was kind of hard to get into a rhythm and a groove. I wouldn’t trade that. I learned so much about myself, and I learned so much about where I have to be to perform at the highest level and going through adversity.”"

The injuries — he suffered a broken hand in late November that caused him to miss 20 games and then struggled with ankle injuries toward the end of the seas — certainly played a factor for Suggs and his development. There was plenty to build on — especially defensively — but a lot of work that Suggs had to do.

Suggs’ early summer ankle surgery also ate into his time to get better and improve this offseason. But he still got a lot of time in to try to slow things down.

He said he worked with coach Nate Tibbetts and Randy Gregory to break down his shot — from base to follow through — to try to find out why he was missing so much. He discovered that he was just inconsistent with the whole process of his shot. And so this summer was spent trying to reshape all those elements into something more consistent and repeatable.

More importantly, it was about making him aware of the inconsistencies so he could do what he has done his entire life more effectively. This was not a shot reconstruction, but a shot deconstruction so that the foundations would be stronger for this season.

"“On the ones where some of those were missing or they were all missing, usually led to misses,” Suggs said at Media Day. “It further opened my eyes when I’m consistent and doing what I know I’m supposed to be doing and locked in on my mechanics, it translates into makes. I know who I am. I know I’ve never been a bad shooter. It is just getting my belief back that this is who I am and this is what I have always done. Just proving it to myself and letting the world find out.”"

The results in the game against the Pistons certainly were positive. After missing a pair of shots in the first half, Suggs got a make in the third and the light seemingly clicked on.

When an NBA player has confidence, that can be very dangerous.

Building simplicity

For Jalen Suggs, that confidence is the biggest key to his potential redemption. It is, as Suggs said after Wednesday’s game, about making the simple plays. Doing the easy things that he knows he can do and not trying to overcomplicate things.

Indeed, making simple, quick decisions is all it took for Suggs to find his fire and become more effective. It will continue to be part of Suggs taking his next steps this season.

Turnovers too were an area Jalen Suggs often struggled with in his rookie year as he split time at guard alongside Cole Anthony. He averaged 3.0 turnovers per game as a rookie.

With the Magic still a bit short at point guard and relying on guards to do just about everything, it is an area where Suggs will still have to grow and learn.

And so the goal will remain to keep it simple for Suggs to improve.

"“I think there was just a time where I was trying to force things to happen because things weren’t going the way I wanted to in the moment,” Suggs said at Media Day. “In that moment when it’s going like that you want to make a drastic change. I think the biggest correlation I can make to that is you go for straight one-play touchdowns when you’re down when you need to make completions, take what the defense is giving you, drive down the field and go score a touchdown.  . . . Now I have this mindset where I’ve seen this and I’ve seen that, I’m confident and comfortable in every situation that I will be put in right now.”"

Suggs will still likely struggle with the inconsistency at times this year too. Those old habits die hard and will creep up just as they did Wednesday night in Detroit.

Laying the foundation

But Wednesday showed the potential Jalen Suggs still has within him and why he was the fifth pick in last year’s draft. This year for Suggs will be about adding the offensive piece to his strong defense. And finding any kind of consistency on that end will be key to his ultimate success.

Wednesday’s game can only add to the confidence Suggs was already feeling about his season. The sudden shooting burst he had in the third quarter can only be a confirmation of the work he put in to improve.

Suggs had a rough rookie year. There is no doubt about that. But everyone remains confident in him.

"“I think that’s huge and pretty much the main difference from last year is just that belief,” Suggs said at Media Day. “It’s OK to understand and know that you are human. You are who you are. You are here for a reason. I know my teammates believe it, I know the staff believes it, I know my family believes it. The only one missing was myself. It’s a hard pill to swallow especially in the moment. It was something I couldn’t recognize and dissect. But now that I have had time to reflect on it and understand that was one of the major issues that were causing the problem, focused on it, worked a lot on my mental game, I feel supremely confident.”"

Suggs has already gotten to the work of proving that and taking the steps he needs to take to find that redemption.

Not that he needs that. He said he is not out to prove anyone wrong or seek that kind of redemption. He is just looking to improve and play the way he knows he is capable of.

That was on display in the Magic’s opener. And maybe the start of that bounceback season.