By John DentonSept. 26, 2015
ORLANDO – Every coach talks a good game when it comes to making defense a priority, but with new Orlando Magic coach Scott Skiles there is a razor-sharp attention to detail to every element of a team’s ability to stop foes and protect the rim.
From foot positioning, to under-control closeouts, to proper help-defense rotations and finally, a player assuming a mindset of being determined to not let the other person score – Skiles wasted no time in ramming home those points on Saturday in the Magic’s first practice of training camp.
Center Nikola Vucevic, who is beginning his fourth season with the Magic, knew almost from the beginning of practice that things will be different when he saw Skiles teaching, reinforcing and all-out demanding that players understand every facet of Orlando’s new defensive principles.
Skiles, a long-time NBA veteran as a player and coach, was especially hands-on in the practice and he held his players accountable by taking away points when players tried to take shortcuts defensively.
``We started off with defense and (Skiles) did a good amount of teaching, explaining and going through a lot,’’ Vucevic said. ``He put the defensive stuff in that we’re going to do and he told us to do those things regardless of what the outcome is (on a certain possession). He believes in it (his defensive system) and he wants guys to trust it. … He wants us to believe in (this defensive system), do it over and over again and not try to do our own thing.’’
Skiles was hired last May to help turn around a Magic team loaded with talent, but one that has struggled for long stretches because of defensive woes and a wavering competitiveness. Skiles, 51, was known as a fiery, hard-nosed player during his point guard days and many of those attributes have carried over to his coaching style. All throughout Saturday’s first session, Skiles mixed his moments of stern teaching and constructive criticism with other times of levity and cutting sarcasm. And at the end of practice when the team was doing a drill where four players had to make a shot from four different spots to avoid more wind sprints, Skiles even playfully offered to take one of the shots for the team left-handed to end the session. ``He has a great balance,’’ Victor Oladipo said of his coach’s mix of teaching and humor.
Skiles’ 10 years as a player and his 13 seasons of coaching the NBA taught him that timing is vitally important in commanding the attention and respect of a player. Often branded as a fiery coach who burns white-hot with his intensity, Skiles says he’s learned when to chew out a player and when to reassure him – both done, of course, while continuing to stress accountability.
``I like to think that I’m more business-like more than anything else. I’m 51 now. I’m not 32 anymore or 28,’’ Skiles said. ``There’s a time and place for every reaction and the trick is to find the right time. If you’re going be a little more conversational, you hope that’s the right way to do it. And if you’ve got to get into somebody a little bit, you hope it’s the right time. Those are tough things to know, but you hope that you have a feel for your guys and you do those things at the right time.’’
Orlando is well aware that it must improve a defense that ranked 28th in the NBA in opponents’ field goal percentage (46.3 percent) and 25th in defensive efficiency (105.2 points per 100 possessions) if it intends on making major strides this season.
Skiles seems to be just the person to help fix the Magic’s woeful defense. During his previous coaching stops in Chicago and Milwaukee, his teams were known for being especially tough defensively and rarely, if ever, out of position or non-competitive on possessions.
Skiles demanded that his players with the Bulls and Bucks crowd shooters, rotate to cover driving lanes and be willing to hand out hard fouls. That focus on defense showed up in the numbers and in seven of 12 years his teams ranked in the top 10 in defensive efficiency. Also, it showed up in the standings as Skiles’ teams in Phoenix, Chicago and Milwaukee made significant jumps in victories in their first full seasons with him directing the defense.
Magic players are well aware that Skiles knows what he’s talking about when it comes to defense. So they are particularly eager to learn his defensive principles and strategies in hopes of them making Orlando a dramatically better team.
``I played against a lot of his teams and those Chicago teams and Milwaukee teams were definitely tough,’’ said Magic power forward Channing Frye, a veteran of nine NBA seasons. ``Those guys loved playing for him and they got better, so I’m excited about that happening here.’’
In addition to stressing to players that they will be yanked out of games if they don’t stick to the team’s defensive principles, Skiles also hit his players with some very telling defensive numbers prior to Saturday’s first practice. Over the past 20 NBA seasons, the teams in the top five in opponents’ field goal percentage have made the playoffs 94 percent of the time (94 out of 100).
If the Magic’s youthful roster is truly ready to win and truly willing to do what it takes they will commit to playing better defense. So far, Skiles has raved about his team’s ``willingness’’ to embrace his teachings and the squad’s hunger to have success.
Whether or not the Magic can go from the bottom five in the NBA to the top five in the league in smothering foes on the defensive end of the floor will come down to a variety of factors. Skiles figures to make the team better with his strategies and attention to detail, but there must also be a change in mindset and focus, stressed Magic leaders Tobias Harris and Oladipo.
``If (Skiles) sees something, mostly he’s going to say it because he wants us to be pretty much perfect with our fundamental defensively,’’ Harris said. ``A lot of (defense) is technique and a lot of it is a team trusting in one another defensively and being there for the next guy to pick up the slack. So it’s a mixture of both (technique and desire).
Added Oladipo: ``(Skiles) is very precise. He knows what he wants and that’s what we have to do. We have to buy into that if we want to win. Defensively, he’s telling us where we have to do, how we have to close out, what we want to take away, what we want to give up and what we don’t want to give up. With his attention to detail, it’s huge for us to learn that if we want to be successful.’’
The Magic don’t have an elite shot-blocker or rim protector in the projected starting lineup, but Skiles still thinks Orlando has the athleticism, speed and desire to be a solid defensive team. For now, Skiles is more than willing to harp on defense and demand perfection when it comes to the tiniest of details when it comes to positioning and rotations. Ultimately, Skiles said, the focus on defense will become so pervasive that the players will be the ones demanding that their teammates do things the right way so that the squad can be an elite defensive unit.
``We’ve talked about it that when teams are really good that the players tend to hold themselves accountable,’’ Skiles said. ``Not that the coach can just sit over there, but that tends to happen with the players holding others accountable. Young teams like this, maybe I’ll have to hold them accountable a little more.
``But, as I’ve said many times already, these are good guys who have good hearts and want to do the right things,’’ Skiles continued. ``Stopping a play and telling a guy that this is not how we do it – that’s one way of holding them accountable. Another way is if it happens too many times (with defensive breakdowns) you take the guy out of the game, but you hope it doesn’t get to that point and I don’t sense that it will.’’