By John Denton
Feb. 27, 2017
ORLANDO – At times early in this NBA season, Orlando Magic coach Frank Vogel felt like a jockey trying to win the Kentucky Derby while riding a stocky, thick-legged Clydesdale horse instead of saddling up a sleep thoroughbred like the competition.
Vogel has been around the NBA since 2001 as either a video coordinator, a scout, an assistant coach or a head coach, and he’s seen dozens of changes in style of play over that time. None of them, however, have been as drastic – and evolutionary, for that matter – as the sweeping trend of small ball and the heavy reliance on 3-point shooting.
Because the Magic went into this season leaning heavily on a center/power forward rotation of Nikola Vucevic, Bismack Biyombo and Serge Ibaka, they were poorly equipped to keep pace with team’s playing three, four and sometimes even five smaller shooters. And because of their many mismatches on the floor, the Magic paid dearly for the miscalculation in the effect that small ball would have on the NBA this season to the tune of a 21-36 record on Feb. 14.
Give the Magic credit for this: They saw the problem, diagnosed it correctly and rectified it with a transformational trade on Valentine’s Day. Not only did sending Ibaka to Toronto and acquiring versatile guard Terrence Ross shake up the roster as the Magic intended, it also made them better equipped to keep pace in the smaller and faster NBA.
``Early in the season we were trying to play too big and we were too slow at multiple positions and it was costly,’’ Vogel said candidly. ``I like where guys are at right now in terms of their roles.’’
There’s been a lot to like since the Magic downsized and inserted Ross into the starting lineup. Orlando dominated Portland for 39 minutes before experiencing closing issues, but it bounced back on Saturday night in an impressive 105-86 thrashing of the Atlanta Hawks.
In Saturday’s stirring success, the Magic ran their way to 27 fast break points, drilled eight 3-pointers and was quick enough defensively to hold the Hawks to 38.1 percent shooting. Contrast that to what happened two weeks earlier in Atlanta when the Magic slogged along offensively (34.6 percent shooting) and surrendered 10 3-pointers and 53.6 percent shooting in a humbling 113-86 loss to the Hawks.
Orlando’s turnaround is about so much more than just the addition of Ross, who has been solid in his two games with the Magic by averaging 18.5 points and hitting six 3-pointers. With Ibaka gone, Aaron Gordon is now able to shift back to power forward, the position that he played during his first two seasons in the NBA. Evan Fournier, who had success at small forward late last season, can play their as Ross fills the shooting guard slot. And point guard Elfrid Payton, who had 15 points, nine rebounds and nine assists with just one turnover on Saturday night, has more room to drive through the heart of the defense and set up others for easy baskets.
Defensively, the Magic have proven themselves to be quicker and more agile in closing out on 3-point shooters and suffocating drive-and-kick plays.
Watching it all has brought a huge smile – and a sigh of relief – to Vogel, who likes the direction the team is headed going into the final 22 games of the regular season.
``Everybody now is in their right position, frankly,’’ Vogel said. ``Aaron being a (power forward) is better for him. He did well at (small forward) defensively, but he’s better at (power forward) and Evan (Fournier) is better at (small forward). And we have a big-time shooting guard in Terrence Ross, who has been playing off the bench and will fill a starting role for us. And Jeff Green is (back) playing (power forward).’’
Fournier, one of the Magic’s best on-court leaders all season, likes how the team is better suited to match up against teams flooding the floor with 3-point shooters. The 6-foot-7 wing, who leads the team in scoring at 16.6 points per game, said he wants to see more proof that the Magic can be successful by playing small, but he likes the look of things so far.
``It’s only been two games and we can’t get too excited yet,’’ Fournier said. ``But the pick-and-roll with (Gordon) at (power forward) opened up a lot of things for us because he’s so fast. We had a lot of speed, a lot of fast break points and for the first in a while I feel like we had fun. Everybody had fun on the court. That’s really the positive thing.’’
Orlando is enjoying a rare break in the schedule what with it having three days off to prepare for the stretch run of the regular season. The Magic (22-38) host the New York Knicks on Wednesday at the Amway Center.
Vogel pushed for the acquisition of Ross – a 6-foot-7 wing who can play two positions – so that the Magic can better defend teams with three-guard lineups or others that are shooting 30-something 3-pointers a night on average. Many of those same teams are also putting smaller, better-shooting players at small forward in hopes of stretching defenses out to 26 feet away from the rim.
Gordon was a huge hit defensively at small forward for the Magic, but he struggled making shots from the perimeter and making plays for others against smaller defenders. At power forward, he can use his quickness to get to the rim and dart for dunks on pick-and-roll plays. Such was the case repeatedly on Saturday night as he made seven of 11 shots and scored 18 points.
``In the whole league, speed is beating size,’’ Vogel said. ``What you saw (Saturday night) with Aaron was an example of that. He was able to beat his man off the bounce – not just in regular close-out situations, but also being a screener and getting the ball as the roller. He made some great plays. He’s getting the ball now with no one between him and the basket. When he was on the perimeter, they were backing up (daring him to shoot) and there was a body in front of him at all times. When he gets the ball in those situations where rotations are coming, he becomes a heck of a playmaker.’’
Gordon thinks the biggest difference for the Magic will come on the defensive end, where the team should be better in scramble situations against teams that rely on shooting and drive-and-kick plays. That’s a welcomed thought for a team that struggled mightily on that end of the floor when trying to match smaller lineups with forwards and centers.
``Defensively, we’re really fast and quick and we’re getting to our spots that we need to get to and it’s fun to play like that,’’ Gordon said. ``When we’re getting out on the break and everybody is running, that’s fun. There are just a lot of weapons out there when we get to running.’’
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