Don’t look now but the Orlando Magic are finally showing positive signs of their rebuilding process. Ever since the “Dwightmare” saga back in 2012, which consequently resulted in one of the most awkward basketball encounters I’ve ever witnessed, the road out of the lottery has been a slow one.
And to be quite honest, that’s the norm. When you lose a true NBA superstar, especially if it’s your team’s only one, the proceeding few years aren’t exactly the smoothest. And yes, Dwight Howard was a legitimate superstar when he left Orlando. Aside from being a nightly 20-12 guy, he was one of, if not the best defensive player in the game (Honestly, the Magic were regularly a top 5 defense despite sporting a starting line-up that included Nelson, Turkoglu, and Lewis).
This is the case for most rebuilding franchises. Look at what the Lakers are going through now ever since Kobe’s Achilles tear. Cleveland, after the first “decision”, suffered for 4 years straight, even after landing multiple time all-star Kyrie Irving. Hell, the Minnesota T’Wolves haven’t been back to the playoffs since Garnett was there on his first stint.
So since Dwight’s departure, the Magic have slowly been acquiring young talent. From the trade itself, they did very well for themselves, landing multiple draft picks and players, most notably young center Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Afflalo. Afflalo has since been traded to Denver for 3rd year wingman Evan Fournier, a swap in hindsight that’s looking better and better (more on him later).
Through the draft, they landed Victor Oladipo (2nd pick, 2013), Aaron Gordon (4th pick, 2014), Elfrid Payton (selected 10th by Philly, traded for 12th pick Dario Saric 2014), and Mario Hezonja (5th pick, 2015). From first look it’s quite evident that none of them are once-in-a generational talents, capable of replacing the shoes left by Dwight. But that’s the problem with the NBA draft; not only do you have to get lucky and place well in the lottery (like the Magic have), but you have to do so in the right year. Do well in a year where there’s not an overabundance of “can’t miss guys”, and tough luck.
Now that’s not to say that these guys aren’t talented or don’t have potential, because they certainly do (each one has become an important part of the rotation, fitting their own niche roles). But with a roster so youthful and inexperienced, it was difficult to get this group to mesh well on the basketball court, especially under former 1st time head coach Jacque Vaughn. Under his tenure, for three years straight, Orlando ranked as a bottom 5 offense, with a defense that wasn’t too far behind.
But that began changing this season, first with the hiring of veteran and no-nonsense coach Scott Skiles. And second with the starting lineup. And this is where the biggest change has occurred; sparking their offense while still maintaining their surprisingly staunch defense.
Since November 25th, Skiles moved 3rd year guard Oladipo to the bench, plugging in veteran Channing Frye in its place. This has been the starting lineup for Orlando ever since (18 games) and the Magic have responded, a sterling 13-5 record,third best in the NBA during the span (GS, SA) with a point differential of 5.8. During this stretch, Orlando holds offensive ratings of 109.1 (would be 3rd best, right ahead of SA) and defensive ratings of 102.8 (9th best).
So now of course, the most interesting aspect is why this has worked. Why removing, arguably Orlando’s best perimeter player (entering the season) to the bench, for a nearly out of the league vet has resulted in such a big difference.
The most apparent aspect is quite easy to spot; it’s moved everyone to their most natural position. Previously, with Oladipo in the starting lineup, wiry framed Evan Fournier was playing as an undersized 3 as was Tobias Harris being an undersized 4. Additionally, with a backcourt of Payton and Oladipo, neither one of them being even average 3 point shooters (30% for Payton, 27% for Oladipo), the spacing was nearly non-existent. Opposing teams routinely double teamed and packed the paint against skilled big man Nikola Vucevic, daring Orlando to make them pay from the perimeter.
But with Channing Frye inserted into the starting line-up as a stretch 4 (48 3P% on 3.1 attempts a game since becoming a starter), this has completely changed the court geometry of Orlando’s offense. So despite the fact he rarely plays over 25 minutes a night, his presence has made a big impact in both the starting lineup and the way the bench produces (now headlined by Oladipo; though he's still struggling this season).
From here, I’d like to take closer look at Orlando’s offense and defense, understanding how they are now the 5th seed in an improved Eastern Conference.
How the defense works
I’m going to preface it by saying, they’re not exactly the San Antonio Spurs, shutting and locking everything down. But they have made tremendous strides, for the season they’re now 9th in defensive rating as compared to last season’s forgetful 25th.
But the most interesting facet is that unlike traditionally good defensive teams, Orlando doesn’t do it from inside out. In fact, outside of their starting lineup, most lineups with Nikola Vucevic on the floor results in a league average defense or worse. And if you watch the games, it’s not too hard to tell why.
Despite how great he is offensively, Vucevic is guilty of a lot of bad habits on defense; he’s a bit slow footed, resulting in late rotations and difficulties hedging or showing on pick and roll situations, unable to get back to his man in time. Also, he’s not the greatest rim protector, often times pre-occupied with his own man as opposed to zoning up the paint and protecting the rim when needed.
Here are two plays where both times, Vucevic chooses to remain on his man, giving no resistance to the dribble penetration of the opponent.
In this first video, Vucevic stands and watches as Bosh marches down the paint, taking his time. Instead of stepping up and challenging the immediate threat, he opts to stay attached to much lower threat, Hassan Whiteside, giving up the dunk. I mean if this was Russ flying down the lane with bursting speed, then I can understand Vucevic maybe not getting there in time, but this play, he’s literally staring at Bosh the entire time as he walks down the paint.
In this sequence, it’s almost worse. He’s guarding Omer Asik, who’s standing beyond the arc on the weak side of the court. There is no reason at all why he shouldn’t be inside the paint, or at least closer to the strong side, ready to contest anything at the basket. Instead, he’s decided to honor Omer’s non-existent outside shot, forcing Tobias to help all the way from the weakside corner. As expected, it’s too late, resulting in an easy layup for the Pelicans.
Vucevic’s offense might be very well rounded and advanced (more on that later), but he still has a long way to go on defense.
Yet despite these shortcomings from their starting center, the Magic still hold a top 10 defense. And the reason why, is because of their perimeter play. When you have a smorgasbord of young athletic wings (Oladipo, Payton, Gordon, Harris, Fournier), and a defensive minded head coach in Scott Skiles, you’re going to get results eventually. The only surprise has been how quickly he’s got this young Magic team to focus on defense, understanding the importance of proper rotations and help and recover. To highlight this, I’d like to take a look at how Orlando defends one of the most common plays in the NBA, sideline pick and roll.
The play starts with Dragic coming back middle, with Bosh attempting to set a sideline screen for him. But Payton’s positioning completely cuts off that path, refusing to let Dragic use the screen and forcing him baseline, where Frye is there to help. In the NBA, this is called ICE/ or sometimes Blue; most famously used by Thibodeau’s Bulls and Celtic teams (assistant coach). The defense is designed to take away offensive options and limit floor space for the ball handler. Dragic makes the correct read and responds with a beautiful bounce to Bosh, one of the best midrange shooters in the league (the biggest weakness of ICE is the big man popping out). But immediately, Fournier abandons his man, Wade, sprinting to contest Bosh’s shot, taking away his air space. Once Bosh makes the swing pass to Wade, Fournier quickly recovers back and is in position again to prevent a drive. Harris, who had slid over in case Evan didn’t recover in time, is now back to his man, contesting Deng’s corner three. Miami decides to dump the ball into Whiteside, with the shot clock winding down. Vucevic finishes the sequence by playing good one on one defense, getting his hand up to challenge and causing the miss.
The player I wanted to highlight the most is definitely Evan Fournier. He’s been fantastic for Orlando all season, a ball of energy that’s always moving and surveying the floor, on both offense and defense. And while no, he’s not a shutdown defender in the mold of Kawhi or Jimmy, his activity level really fits well with Orlando’s defensive philosophy.
This play in the Pelican’s game is very similar to the previous one Miami tries to run. Tyreke Evans starts off with the ball, with Anthony Davis creeping over to try and set a pick. Again, Orlando’s defense wants to prevent any play towards the middle by ICE-ing any possible pick and roll. Tyreke, with no room to drive, is forced to make the pass back to Davis (just like Dragic did with Bosh). Fournier knows this, abandoning his man early this time to gamble for the steal, which in this case he gets. But notice how when Evan leaves his man, Tobias Harris has rotated off the corner man, now in position in case the gamble fails.
What’s most impressive, and exciting for Magic fans, is how quickly and smoothly this defensive sequence took place. It’s very easy to tell this is something that Skiles has hammered home in training camp and the early regular season, definitely showing promise of what it can be once these young Magic mature even more.
I will finish it with this last video, that I feel perfectly sums up the Orlando Magic defense as it is now and what needs to improve to take the next step to elite.
This sequence is particularly painful to watch, only because of how well the Orlando defense is throughout the play, only to falter at the end. The play starts with a dribble handoff from Dragic to Wade. Once the hand off is complete, Fournier does his best to fight around the well set Stoudemire screen (yes, he’s still in the league), with Vucevic staying low and zoning the paint and Harris scooting in to crowd it even more. Also, as STAT rolls to the basket, Payton steps down and stays attached to his body, doing his best to prevent an easy path to the rim. So far, the defense has been great, cutting of Wade’s penetration beautifully as well as taking away the roll man. And as Wade looks around for the escape pass, Harris pops back expertly onto his man, leaving Dragic as the only option. Payton now races back to the perimeter, running him off the three point line and forcing him back middle, where the help should be. While the rest of the Magic defenders are now staying home on shooters, Vucevic should be stepping up to challenge the Dragic jumpshot. But again, he’s late, not even getting a hand up before the shot is released.
How the Offense Works
I’m gonna start off by saying that as much as I semi-shit on Nikola Vucevic in the defensive segment, he deserves to be in the all-star game in Toronto come February because of how good he is on offense. He’s been the biggest piece of the Orlando offense, and with the spacing issue solved, the Magic have been able to put all his skills to work.
In the post, where he’s able to show off his footwork and feathery touch:
Pick and Pop where he can show his range, especially against a slower defender who’s unwilling to come out (the great Kendrick Perkins):
He’s shooting a remarkable 45.9% from the midrange. And the fact that both he and Channing Frye can space the floor effectively, it opens up driving lanes for the Orlando guards.
Dribble Drive where he can take advantage of slower bigs:
Open Court, where he sprints on a fast break:
And of course standard pick and roll plays, where Vucevic has a knack for finding the open space as seen here in this double staggered screen for Fournier:
But most of this is fairly simple stuff (although he does it better than the vast majority of bigs in the league) and nothing that we don’t already know about him from last season. But one thing that has become gradually evident, especially with the increased spacing, is his passing.
Yes, passing. For a guy that people routinely made fun of for being a black hole in years past, he sure has high court awareness as well as an understanding of his team’s offensive schemes (avg. a career best 3.2 assists since the lineup change), taking full advantage of Orlando’s three point shooters.
Here was the go ahead basket from Orlando in their last game against Brooklyn:
This is really just a standard post play, one that nearly any team will run. Once Fournier makes the entry pass and cuts baseline out of the strong side, look at the great spacing by Orlando, 3 players on the weak side and one (Oladipo) on the strong side as a pass option. Vucevic, who had already scored the three previous baskets under dribble penetration by Orlando, takes his time in the low post, reading the defense. Once he makes his move middle, notice how Joe Johnson is completely out of place, he’s essentially in no man’s land, not close enough to help on Vucevic or defending another player. Harris notices this immediately, making a beeline towards the basket that Vucevic hits on target and more importantly, perfectly on time, allowing him to complete the lay up.
And this is isn’t an isolated event; he’s been doing this for most of the season now.
This one is in the pick and roll situation against Miami a few games ago, again in crunch time. In this play, Fournier is the ball handler, initiating a standard pick and roll with Vucevic. Once Evan makes his move baseline, Vucevic notices his man playing it for the dive, thus he stops his motion towards the basket and remains on the perimeter (where he’s still a threat to score given how great of an outside shooter he is). As he makes the catch, take a look at the floor spacing by Orlando, Harris and Fournier each occupy a corner three, with Frye outside the arc as well, stretching the defense thin. Dragic gets caught ball watching for a split second, and that’s all the time Payton needs to make a cut to the basket. Vucevic, same as the previous play, times his pass perfectly and hits the cutter in stride for the layup.
I want to stress again just how big of a leap Orlando has made with their offense. They were ranked 27th in the league last season, but in the 18 games since the lineup change, they would be third. And while they don’t attempt a large amount of threes (just 21st in attempts per game), they shoot it very well (6th in the league). Part of that, as stated, was Channing Frye, but another a huge bonus has been the great play from Evan Fournier. We’ve already looked at what he does on defense, but we need to do the same with how he’s playing on offense.
He’s spectacular off ball, knowing when his role is to space the floor and when to cut.
Here it is with an entry pass to Vucevic when he immediately backdoor cuts to the basket:
And this play, despite being a relatively simple two man game, really highlights the importance of Channing Frye again. He’s standing weakside baseline, being guarded by one of the best help defending bigs Anthony Davis. Normally, Davis would be able to rotate over in time and challenge or block the Fournier layup, but he’s so pre-occupied and scared of leaving Frye, that he’s too far away from the action, not in position to help.
And here’s another Fournier cut on the perimeter, where he sets a screen for Channing Frye and instantly darts to the open space on the now empty strong side. Vucevic, again, makes a great pass out to Fournier at the 3 point line, which he’s been hitting regularly (39.2 3P% on 5.2 attempts).
I think it’s safe to say, that most of us, myself included, didn’t see Orlando making this big of a jump, this quickly. After all, their roster is mostly the same as last season, and while they have a plethora of young talent that was going to improve, no one jumped out as a superstar type player; this isn’t like when OKC suddenly made the leap from 23 wins to 50 over one season. They had two superstars in the making in Russ and KD.
So in a sense, maybe we should applaud Orlando even more; they didn’t have an “easy” way out. Everything they’ve achieved so far this season has been built on hard work and dedication, less on pure talent. It’s a testament to Scott Skiles, player development, and of course the young roster itself. Because let’s not forget, this Orlando Magic team are indeed just babies in NBA years, average age of 25. Yet, they’re playing great together, on both ends, in an improving Eastern Conference. So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised when they go out and get another one.
Submitted January 01, 2016 at 12:10PM by celtic92034543