The noise has been inescapable around the Orlando Magic and coach Jamahl Mosley.
As the Magic have struggled with consistency, sunk in the standings, sunk in defensive rating and struggled to keep their record above .500 -- although, in fairness, the Magic have not dipped below the Mendoza line since Nov. 16 -- the questions have risen around Mosley and his future.
If the Magic are not going to change their core group, as even president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman affirmed as he spoke after the trade deadline on Thursday, then everyone's eyes must turn to the coach.
The Magic have spent much of the last few weeks refuting rumors of discord behind the scenes.
Just like Paolo Banchero defended his coach a week ago in Miami, Jeff Weltman also threw his and the organization's support behind Jamahl Mosley.
Mosley will finish the season as the Magic's coach. The problems will take everyone to resolve.
"Jamahl has our full support, and Jamahl is our coach for the rest of the season," Weltman said after the trade deadline Thursday. "I know there is a lot of chatter out there, it's not one person. This is a basketball team, it's a basketball organization, and it's a group effort. We've got to get better."
The Magic hope that they will be able to improve later in the season and show hints of the team they might be. There is no guarantee that the decision will stand after the season is over.
But Weltman was hesitant to make any changes to the core players at this year's deadline. And Mosley is a part of that core.
Orlando is running out of time to make a push this season. But the belief remains that this team can right the ship when it is healthy. And that Mosley can lead them.
"In this business and this industry, where coaches do become revolving doors, we know what we sign up for in that regard," Mosley said before Thursday's game against the Brooklyn Nets. "To know that Jeff and I and this organization are aligned with what we want ot have done with this group, with this team, and how we need to play and where we've come up short. That's the important piece that we keep our lines of communication."
A step back this season
Everyone can acknowledge this season has not gone how anybody hoped for.
That was the first thing Jeff Weltman said in his post-trade deadline comments. He is not happy with where the team is. And even when the team was showing signs of progress and winning games, they were not playing at their best.
The Orlando Magic have struggled to find their identity and find any kind of consistency. Even excusing for the injuries the team has faced -- losing Paolo Banchero for a month, Jalen Suggs for six weeks, and now Franz Wagner for most of two months -- it is hard to believe this team has fallen on such hard times.
Entering Friday's games, the Magic are 15th in the league in defensive rating thanks to one of their best defensive performances of the season on Thursday. Still, it is a long way from ranking second last season and in the top five two years before.
Orlando was betting on its defense as its backbone.
The poor defense has led to struggles on offense, even though it is improved to 21st in the league at 113.6 points per 100 possessions. Orlando has struggled to put all of its pieces together.
Still, that has the Magic below water in net rating and struggling to stay above .500. The team has gotten by on talent. But it has felt like the team does not know what to expect quarter-to-quarter, much less game-to-game.
That step back is why there are so many questions surrounding Mosley.
"Mose is a great communicator," Weltman said after the trade deadline Thursday. "For 4.5 years, we've played really hard. That's been our brand. We're sideways right now. That's on everybody to recapture that. It's on everybody. We've got to figure that out."
The Magic are trying to find that again. They have had precious few answers so far. That has led to the general feeling of frustration that has permeated everyone involved with the team.
But there is still hope.
The next level?
The question is whether the Orlando Magic can still reach the next level. And whether Jamahl Mosley is the coach to get them there.
For now, Mosley will be judged on his ability to get this team right and to finish the season strong enough to make the Playoffs.
Jeff Weltman continually cited the team's injuries and the hope that the team can regain its form when Franz Wagner returns. He characterized Wagner's return as coming very soon -- Wagner will miss a ninth straight game and 15th in the last 17 on Saturday against the Utah Jazz.
The Magic indeed have a lot to build on, if they can get healthy.
Orlando's starting lineup remains the sixth-best lineup in the league that has played at least 100 minutes together with a +18.0 net rating. From Nov. 1 through the end of the NBA Cup, the Magic posted a 13-7 record and a 110.4 defensive rating, which was third in the league for that time. Orlando's offense even had a 116.7 offensive rating, good for 11th.
There is still time to level up.
"Jamahl [Mosley] was hired to get us to the next level, and it's his job to get us to the next level," Weltman said after the trade deadline Thursday. "We believe he will. It's an organizational success or an organizational failure. It's not on one guy. We've all got to do better."
If there is some solace it is that the Magic have outperformed their overall record after the All-Star Break in every season under Mosley. The team has finished every season strong in the past four seasons.
The Magic are hoping for the same this year.
That will not get the Magic where they wanted to be at the beginning of the season. That will still force the team to ask and ponder some difficult questions this offseason. But it is what the team has left in front of it.
The Magic are standing behind their coach.