The Orlando Magic built their season last year on one thing: Their defense.
They had the worst offense in the league among the teams that made the postseason, ranking 22nd in the league. It was a constant struggle to score with some embarrassingly bad shooting performances thrown in to frustrate this team.
But every time they had a frustrating game, like their 2-for-23 3-point shooting performance in Cleveland in December, their defense kept them in it. They could always lean back on a staunch, swarming, and long defense to cut off their opponents.
If Orlando was going to struggle to score, the team was going to drag the other team into the mud with them, locking out the paint, forcing turnovers and being generally harassing for 48 minutes. It was a backhanded compliment to say the team played hard for the entire game, but it was an apt description of the frenetic energy the team played with. It took teams aback.
The Magic finished last season third in the league with a 110.8 defensive rating. They ended the playoffs with the best defensive rating in the postseason, giving up 100.0 points per 100 possessions in their seven-game series with the Cleveland Cavaliers—the Cavs did not hit 100 points in a game until Game 5.
But that was last year. This is a new season. Those numbers do not carry over. The defense does not carry over. Everything starts from scratch.
And while the Magic have immense talent to build from, defense is still something that takes work to build and rebuild.
The biggest question the Magic face is: How do they do it again? What will it take to do it again?
"I think sometimes it's easy to fall into we were a great defensive team last year so we'll be one this year," Jonathan Isaac said after practice Wednesday. "You have to come with the right approach and mindset that nothing is given now. We have to go out and earn it again. We don't want to be just as good a defensive team as we were last year, we want to be better. I think ingraining that mindset in our guys, continuing to work on our fundamentals on the defensive side and we'll be great.
Steve Clifford always preached this when he coached the Magic and built a strong defensive unit to break into the playoffs. No one can assume anything carries over from year to year even if the team has the formula for success.
Every year has to be its own thing.
Orlando knows it has a strong base to grow from though. The team knows it is a strong defensive team. They have embraced that part of their culture and that formula for their success.
It is no coincidence that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope joked that this is the first team he has been on that every player is committed to defense. It should be in their DNA.
It is not just the top-end defensive players like Jalen Suggs, Jonathan Isaac, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. It is a young player like Anthony Black or Franz Wagner committing on that end. It is even players who are perceived as non-defenders like Jett Howard, Paolo Banchero, or Cole Anthony committing on defense.
Nobody is skimping on the defense. But everyone knows it will take work to reinforce their progress on that end.
"We know our defensive principles from last year, just continue to hone in on that, continue to communicate and play together," Harris said after practice Wednesday. "That's what we've learned. We have done a great job watching the film looking for room for improvement. Our defense has helped our offense. Just because we play so well defensively, our offense has picked up as well."
Defense will be a big part of the Magic’s success again
Everything is connected. The Magic know they cannot survive defensively if the offense does not give them something. Orlando needs to take advantage of its defense a lot more consistently.
The Magic hope their defense can help pick up their offense more. That is one area the team could improve on—the team averaged only 13.0 fast-break points per game, 27th in the league. Orlando's difficulty with turnovers also put the defense behind the 8-ball.
The Magic hope their defense can help boost the offense and an improved offense can help boost the defense.
Orlando sees the team as iron sharpening iron. They hope their super competitive practices will bring the best out of them as they prepare for the regular season.
The defense will make the offense better. And now that the offense is comfortable going up against the team's defense, they believe that will help the defense improve and adjust.
Regardless of how it actually works out, they know the defense will be there for them. They know that is the backstop that everything grows from.
And Orlando is confident it will be better this season.
"Everyone is talking more. Everyone is speaking about what they see out there. The level of communication has been great," Harris said after practice Wednesday. "Guys have been holding each other accountable and it has been able to translate. It's been a very smooth camp. We've been working hard, playing hard."
This is a team that is not satisfied. There may not be a lot of space to climb up the defensive rankings, but the team believes it can improve on defense in a significant way. The Magic are still building who they will be this season.
But the team ultimately knows it can be better than it was last year. Right now, having more than a week between games, they are eager to get out and play against somebody else. That itch is ever present.
Certainly, they are tired of having to face their vaunted defense. There is a lot of confidence in what they can do. This team is eager to compete after getting after each other this past week and through the scrimmages they had on Saturday and Tuesday.
This team has the competitive makeup to be better on defense. The question for the start of the season is how this team rebuilds and makes this year's defense its own.