Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs still pushing to get control of his play

Jalen Suggs faced a lot of doubt this offseason after a difficult rookie season.

Dealing with injuries that prevented him from getting into a rhythm and paired with a young team that pushed him to accelerate, he looked like a player who was struggling to get his feet under him at all times. And that does not even count all the times he went flying to the basket trying to create contact nad make something happen.

Suggs struggled his rookie year because he and the game were moving too fast. Another injury in the offseason — and then another one in the preseason — were about the only things it seemed that could slow him down.

The Magic were still trying to figure out what they had in their young guard and how best to use him. That would be part of what would come this season.

Flashes of the player who went fifth overall in a celebrated Draft class were still abundant. The Magic just needed to figure out how to bring it all out.

Jalen Suggs has started to gain more confidence and control over his game. The Orlando Magic are reaping the benefits as they continue to develop the young guard.

Slowly Suggs has gained more confidence — a breakout clutch performance in the win over the Golden State Warriors showed his promise — but more importantly, Suggs has gained far more consistent control even as he has been thrown back into the deep end on a roster missing several key players.

If you are looking to whether Suggs is having a good game or not, you can typically tell by the pace at which he is playing and whether he seems in control or not. The times when he is out of control are decreasing, showing a comfort with what he needs to do for the team and the experience that comes from playing consistently.

It is showing up in his statistics too as he takes some important steps forward for this team.

Suggs has bounced back in many ways from his rookie year. He is averaging the same 11.8 points per game as he did last year and increased his assists to 5.1 per game.

His shooting has been where there has been the biggest change. While he continues to struggle from deep at 25.6 percent, his overall field goal percentage overall is up to 42.1 percent and his effective field goal percentage is up to 47.4 percent.

The greatest improvements come when you look deeper into his splits. Suggs is shooting 7 for 12 (58.3 percent) on mid-range jumpers and 17 for 26 (65.4 percent) in the restricted area so far this season. Last year, he was at 35.0 percent on mid-range jumpers and 58.9 percent in the restricted area.

The boost in the restricted area is especially encouraging considering how much Suggs drives to the lane and his ability to draw contact in the paint and at the rim. Just that little boost in efficiency has already made him a better player.

So too has the work he has put in to improve his rhythm on his jumpers. Suggs may not be a reliable outside threat yet, but his jumper has rounded into form in other ways.

"“I feel good,” Suggs said after shootaround Wednesday. “I have had a lot of long misses, a couple of short misses, those are the ones I’m trying to get rid of. I felt really good, especially in my pull up. I feel like I can shoot that confidently and get to my spots. That’s something I have done really well. Continuing to harp on catch and shhoot threes. I think I have done a good job shooting off the dribble from 3 this year. Just continue to get better.”"

There is still clearly work to do as Suggs acknowledges. But the progress is also undeniable as he continues to get better and more confident and controlled.

Suggs is shooting just 3 for 24 (12.5 percent) on catch-and-shoot opportunities so far this year. But he is making 18 of 38 (47.4 percent) of his pull-up jumpers, according to NBA.com’s tracking stats. Again that is compared to 23.4 percent on pull-up jumpers last year (on only 167 total attempts last season too, a number it already looks like Suggs will blow away).

Against traditional norms, Suggs seems to get more efficient the more he dribbles to set up his shot and his rhythm.

Suggs has taken more shots this after 3-6 dribbles and 7-plus dribbles than any other attempt this season, according to NBA.com’s tracking stats. He is shooting 10 for 23 (43.5 percent) after 3-6 dribbles and 14 for 23 (60.9 percent) after 7-plus dribbles this year. He is 3 for 7 on shots after one dribble.

Last year, he made just 37.8 percent of his shots (156 total) after 3-6 dribbles and 32.4 percent of his shots (on 102 total attempts) after 7-plus dribbles.

This would suggest Suggs is able to find his rhythm probing a defense and setting himself up off the dribble. These shots could very well come from working around the defense and getting to the rim or could be quick dribble pull-ups or those paint or mid-range shots we spoke about earlier.

There is something to it then that Suggs is far more effective shooting off the dribble than as a stand-still shooter. Something about it gets him to his base and solidifies his mechanics right now.

These are not numbers to write home about yet. Suggs is far from the star everyone thought he could be entering last season.

But it is measurable progress early in the season after such a rough rookie year.

"“He’s done a much better job of letting the game come to him,” coach Jamahl Mosley said after shootaround Wednesday. “I think that’s part of him being out and being able to study and see the different reads — when he’s making passes, when he’s not making passes — and just making the simple play. I think those are the big keys we continue to strive and ask of him.”"

There are still rough edges to Suggs’ game and they can be seen when opponents start to speed him up.

That perhaps remains the biggest obstacle to his and the team’s success. It is perhaps the biggest impediment to his shooting and everything else.

The Magic play at their second-fastest pace of any individual player with Suggs on the court at 101.7 possessions per 48 minutes. The team’s offensive and defensive rating track with their season averages when Suggs is out there (110.3 offensive rating/111.4 defensive rating) although their turnover rate spikes to 19.7 percent (the team averages 17.1 percent for the year).

This is the two sides of Suggs encapsulated in one stat.

Suggs is best when he can play fast. That is clear from his ability to attack the basket and finish in the restricted area and even in his ability to hit shots off the dribble.

But teams can speed up Suggs up too and knock him off that rhhythm. That is when he gets drawn into turnovers and he begins to force drives into traffic.

Suggs has sought control over his game for much of this season. That was seemingly where he struggled last year as he was just sped up and uncomfortable it seemed on the floor throughout his rookie year despite his clear talent.

It is fight that is very visibly clear in real time for this Magic team. When Suggs is in control, he is a dynamo offensively able to finish at the rim and hit tough jumpers while pinpointing passes around the perimeter. When he is out of control, he can be a turnover machine who struggles to hit.

That fight is still ongoing for him.