The urgency in Orlando is already increasing after only two regular season games.
The Orlando Magic lost both games during their season-opening homestand. On top of that, they will now be without Paolo Banchero while trying to learn a new coach and system.
Jeff Weltman's rebuild made a philosophical bet that defense, motor and versatility could overcome a lack of shooting and shot creation.
So far this season, the Magic have not only been on the losing end of the scoreboard too often, but they have also lost in most of the metrics that once set them apart.
The season is young, and everyone on the team is still learning to play in new coach Sean Sweeney's system. But there are red flags, especially on defense.
While most of the offseason chatter was about the differences Sweeney could make on offense, it is significantly more important that he gets the Magic back to an elite, high-motor defensive team.
Orlando should not be in panic mode this early in the season, even while already being shorthanded. But the Magic have no path to success that does not include being elite in the areas listed in this article.
Defense, Defense, Defense
If the Orlando Magic are good at one thing, it must be defense.
The Magic ranked 13th in defensive rating last season at 113.6 points allowed per 100 possessions. It was a massive step back from the previous two seasons, in which Orlando had a top-three defense.
It was the biggest reason Orlando took a step back as a team overall last year.
Sean Sweeney has been an excellent defensive coach historically and has orchestrated many of the NBA's top defenses during the last several seasons. But so far this season, the Magic have not looked like that dominant team, giving up 116.5 points per 100 possessions. That is good for 20th in the early days of the NBA season.
Because of the difference in philosophical approach, many other teams have more evenly distributed shot allocation and scoring, even with defense becoming a growing priority league-wide.
But because the Magic do not have the scoring ability on the roster that many contending teams have, they must hang their hats on defense.
The Magic need to lean into their versatility on defense and rebuild the identity that worked for them before. This is not a team that can outscore its opponents. The Magic must get stops.
Unlike offense, defense in the NBA is largely about a player making a conscious decision that the opposing player will not score on them. Simply put, it's effort.
The Magic are a team that should be in the top half of the league in defensive rating, at least. They should be a team that is in the top 10 and among the best defensive teams in the league every night.
But they have shown a pattern during the last season-plus in which they do not shoot well from the floor, and then allow that frustration to seep into their defense and effort.
This is not a team built to outscore its opponents. It is built on a suffocating, high-energy brand of defense. Most of the Magic's offensive changes were built to take advantage of the opportunities the defense creates.
The Magic have not done that consistently in a long time.
If Sweeney can help the Magic regain their defensive identity, the season will go according to plan.
Rebounding and Physicality
This is as much about sheer rebounding numbers, as it is about securing timely rebounds.
The Magic are giving up way too many offensive rebounds at the worst times in games. Watching the games, you see more plays where someone misses a box-out than not or where the defense is twisted to give up an easy rebounding lane for offensive players.
This is another area that is largely about effort.
Orlando gave up 33 offensive rebounds and a 64.0 percent defensive rebound rate in their opening two-game home stand. That rate ranked 20th in the league in the early season.
This again does not work for the identity the Magic need to build. When they were a top-five defense playing with the appropriate level of physicality, they simply rarely got beat on any 50/50 balls.
Losing those 50/50 balls are a gut punch. And the Magic have tended to fold when a team punches them. That is not who they are when this team is at its peak.
Rebounding goes hand in hand with defense and is another area the Magic need to be. They have the talent to be elite in.
Ball Security
This also is as much about turnovers and points off turnovers, as it is about turning the ball over at the worst points of games.
The Orlando Magic have repeatedly turned the ball over immediately after ending a run by the opposing team, or as soon as they start to build momentum.
In Orlando's opening two games, the four players in the starting lineup who handle the ball all had five or more turnovers.
Part of this is because they are learning how to play within a brand new system -- but some of their turnovers are backbreaking because of the momentum they stifle.
Sean Sweeney has mentioned wanting the next step for the team's movements to come naturally. When watching the team play right now, you can see them actively thinking about what to do with the ball.
Nothing will cause turnovers quicker than indecision. In a new system some indecision should be expected initially, but the Magic do not have time to waste on a learning curve.
As the team becomes more comfortable on offense, the turnovers should decrease. But in their first two games, the Magic gave away the ball 36 times, resulting in 42 points off of turnovers. The Magic are in the middle of the pack in both categories. But it shows how small the margin for error is.
The Magic can lean on these fundamentals to rebuild the physical, resilient, high-motor, defense-first identity that suits the players on the roster. That version of this team is hard for any team in the NBA to compete with.
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