Orlando Magic Daily
Fansided

5 questions for the second quarter of the Orlando Magic’s 2023 season

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Franz Wagner was brilliant in leading the undermanned Orlando Magic to a gutsy home win over the Dallas Mavericks. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Franz Wagner was brilliant in leading the undermanned Orlando Magic to a gutsy home win over the Dallas Mavericks. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 6
Next
Cole Anthony, Orlando Magic
Cole Anthony is used to having the ball in his hands. But the Orlando Magic are asking him to do something new: be a screen setter. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

5 questions for the Orlando Magic’s second quarter

What impact will point guards have on Orlando Magic?

The Orlando Magic essentially played the whole first quarter of the season without a point guard in the lineup. Markelle Fultz was out until Wednesday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks and Cole Anthony injured his oblique four games into the season.

That absence was apparent as the team tried to use forwards Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero as the team’s main ball-handlers, playmakers and organizers. They did their best, using their size and skill to find advantages. But they also struggled to get the team into its sets quickly.

Orlando finished the first quarter of the season 23rd in the league playing at a pace of 98.5 possessions per 48 minutes. That is a product of the heavy isolation style that both Wagner and Banchero used as the lead ball handlers. They really did not know what else to do to initiate the offense.

That is part of the problem of having non-point guards playing point guard. Especially a rookie and second-year player. They are still learning how to make those reads on drives. So it was a valuable experience nonetheless.

The Magic want to see the team pick up its energy and play with more pace. And it is clear how much traditional point guards will help the team do that.

There are still going to be a lot of adjustments that need to be made as players move off the ball and more guys come into the lineup. That is always going to be the case whenever new players are reintroduced.

The Magic though have been very open with their ideas that any player can initiate and begin the offense. So the question of how much a point guard will matter is certainly a greater one for a team like this. Orlando is not going to abandon using Wagner or Banchero as their main ball handlers. They will still get their usage.

But there is something to having players who know what they are doing on the floor as the organizers and point guard. There is something to having someone who understands the responsibility of when to attack and how to get the ball to others who need it.

That is something the Magic missed throughout the first quarter of the season. And something the team is eager to pick up in the next 20.