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Steve Clifford Impressed With Magic's Frontline

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By John Denton
Dec. 9, 2016

CHARLOTTE – Include Charlotte Hornets coach Steve Clifford – someone with a strong history of success in Orlando – as a fan of the Magic’s moves in the offseason to go big with the acquisitions of Bismack Biyombo and Serge Ibaka.

Clifford, an assistant coach with the Magic when the franchise reached the 2009 NBA Finals and the ’10 Eastern Conference Finals, has evolved into something of a defensive guru as Charlotte’s head coach. His Hornets are near the top of the league again in most of the primary defensive statistics, ranking fifth in steals, sixth in field goal percentage allowed and eighth in 3-point percentage allowed.

When the Magic went out last summer and hired head coach Frank Vogel – another coach known for his acumen as a defensive strategist – and traded for Ibaka and signed Biyombo in free agency, the moves caught Clifford’s attention. Those acquisitions have helped Orlando climb to fifth in the NBA in points allowed per game, seventh in field goal percentage allowed and fifth in 3-point percentage allowed.

In an era when most think ``small ball’’ is all the rage, Clifford said that size still matters and certainly bigger is better – especially in the case of the Magic.
``Here’s my thing when people say small ball – nobody that’s good plays small. Size is still everything,’’ Clifford said emphatically. ``Look at Golden State – except for when they play Draymond (Green) at (center), which is rare – they’re big with (Kevin) Durant, Klay Thompson and (Andre) Iguodala.

``Size is still everything,’’ Clifford continued, his voice rising to ram home his point. ``Size allows you to be versatile, size allows you to switch defensively and that small ball stuff is just a myth. Playing more skilled at (power forward) is what has changed. People say, `small ball,’ but we’ve got to come up with a better term.’’

As for the Magic specifically, Clifford said: ``They’re big, very good defensively and their offense on the last road trip has been much better. There’s a newness about them and Frank (Vogel) is terrific. You can see that he’s building it similar to what he did in Indiana with size, protecting the basket, good defensively and smart on offense.’’

BIZ/’BAKA BLEND: Biyombo and Ibaka have become fast friends on and off the floor with the Magic, something that is only logical because of their similar backgrounds. Biyombo, 24, hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo, while Ibaka, 27, is from Republic of Congo.

Now, the two shot-swatting big men are thinking of combining two of their signature moves following blocks – Biyombo’s finger wag and Ibaka’s thumbs down move – for marketing possibilities. Biyombo said he received permission from close friend and countryman Dikembe Mutombo to mimic the finger-wag move used during the latter’s Hall of Fame career. As for Ibaka, this season he’s started to raise both arms and turn his thumbs down following swatted shots.

``I like his move, but we’re probably going to combine them into something that’s going to be really special,’’ Biyombo said, referring to the finger wag and the thumbs down move. ``We’ve been thinking about it and working on it, but the season just started.’’

For now, Ibaka is refusing to disclose the meaning or the genesis of his thumbs down move. He has worked with Fox Sports Florida to solicit Magic fans for names for the move – ``Serge Protector,’’ ``I-BLOCK-a’’ and ``Congo No No’’ appear to be some of his favorites so far, he said jokingly on Friday morning.

Ibaka is quite proud of how the move has caught on with his teammates. When Ibaka swatted a Marcin Gortat shot on Tuesday in Washington and it led to a dunk for Biyombo, many of the team’s players on the bench jumped out of their seats and flashed the thumbs down celebration.

``It’s been good and something that has helped to give us energy,’’ Ibaka said of the reactions from Magic fans and his teammates. ``I’ve said it since the summer that we’re a defense-first team, so we’re starting to show everybody what we can do defensively. And (the thumbs down move) is fun for everybody.’’

BIZ BOOMING IN CHARLOTTE: Biyombo admitted that returning to Charlotte – the city where he started his NBA career and played for four seasons – will also be special to him. Coming back last season as a member of the Toronto Raptors allowed him to shed the emotion of the return and focus on Friday’s game, he said.

Biyombo, the seventh pick of the 2011 draft, and Kemba Walker, the ninth pick that same year, developed a close friendship during their early NBA years as the then-Bobcats struggled to win games. Walker said that when Biyombo landed a massive four-year contract from the Magic in July, he was extremely excited for his friend.

``He deserves everything that is coming his way and I’m hoping that he can let me borrow a few dollars,’’ Walker joked. ``I’m so happy for him because he’s worked so hard since Day 1 here. He puts in the time and the effort and deserves everything. We grew up together here. From draft day on, we were together a lot with a lot of days in the gym trying to get better through those rough years. Those rough years really helped us both become better players.’’

COACH/BIG MAN RELATIONSHIP: Vogel admitted earlier this season that one of his biggest adjustments of moving from Indiana – where he was a head coach the previous 5 ½ seasons – to Orlando was having to face many of the players that he worked so closely with while turning the Pacers into a perennial powerhouse.

Friday’s game in Charlotte brought Vogel together with center Roy Hibbert, the 7-foot-2 center who Vogel coached for seven seasons in Indiana from 2008-16.

Hibbert’s best seasons in the NBA came after Vogel became the Pacers’ head coach and he worked to instill confidence and aggressiveness in the big man. Hibbert’s three best seasons in terms of blocked shots – 2.0 in 2011-12, 2.6 in 2012-13 and 2.2 in 2013-14 – were while Vogel was driving him to be the game’s best rim protector.

``He’s meant a lot and we’ve stayed in contact over the years,’’ said Hibbert, who is on his second team after leaving Indiana. ``He’s one of the coaches early on who believed in me, so I want to see him do well – except for tonight. From early on, he gave you confidence and he wanted to see you get better. He’s a good guy on and off the court.’’

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