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Postgame Report: Magic vs. Hornets (10/3/15)

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By John DentonOct. 3, 2015

ORLANDO – Basketball was back at the Amway Center on Saturday night and for 24 minutes of the first preseason game there were plenty of feel-good vibes to excite a downright giddy Orlando Magic fan base.

And then a sloppy, drowsy start to the third quarter happened and new Magic head coach Scott Skiles put an end to the to the happy-go-lucky night by scorching the earth and much of the hardwood under his players’ feet.

There’s a new sheriff in town stalking the Magic sidelines, and Skiles made that abundantly clear in the second half and after Orlando’s uneven 106-100 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

First, Skiles benched his starting five and prized rookie Mario Hezonja to send a message that sleep-walking through several defensive possessions in a row would no longer be acceptable. Skiles, who is in his first season as Orlando’s head coach, then spoke rather bluntly about the need for a culture change with a Magic team that desperately wants to turn things around this season.

``It’s an interesting thing … we just got beat, our main players didn’t play much in the second half and God bless our fans who are lining up in the tunnel cheering for us and shaking our guys’ hands; but at some point we have to get past (the thinking) that everything is OK,’’ Skiles said sternly. ``We did not start the second half with any energy whatsoever and (the Hornets) did. That is not OK. If you want to win, that’s not OK. We just need to understand that.���’

Orlando’s revamped defense – a focal point of Skiles’ throughout training camp – looked good early in the game, allowing the Magic to lead by as much as 12 and never trail in the first half. But a 51-48 edge at intermission would disappear when the Magic (0-1) yielded 37 points in the third period.

Magic standout shooting guard Victor Oladipo played well with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists in 20 minutes, but he couldn’t enjoy it because of the team-wide malaise at the start of the second half. He liked that Skiles called the group out and that the coach will be someone who holds players accountable for their actions.

``The thinking, the body language and the mentality – everything has to change,’’ Oladipo said. ``(Skiles) has a new culture and we’re trying to develop a new culture around here. It starts with the players and we have to hold ourselves accountable with making that change.’’

Tobias Harris (nine points and five rebounds in 18 minutes) was solid, while veteran power forward Andrew Nicholson (23 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes) and prized rookie Mario Hezonja (nine points in 10 minutes) shined off the bench – at least on the offensive end.

Skiles, a fan favorite in Orlando during his five-year stint with the Magic from 1989-94, received a warm ovation from the fans when his name was called in pregame introductions. A 13-year veteran as a NBA head coach, Skiles has been a great turnaround specialist in Phoenix, Chicago and Milwaukee and the Magic are hoping he can do the same in Orlando with his strong basketball smarts and his emphasis on gritty defense.

Orlando was without three primary pieces on Saturday night because of injuries that aren’t expected to linger. Standout center Nikola Vucevic strained his shoulder in practice on Thursday and was held out for precautionary reasons. Evan Fournier (sprained ankle) and Aaron Gordon (fractured jaw) are still recovering from offseason injuries, but both are close to returning to full-contact action.

Hezonja, the fifth overall pick in last June’s NBA Draft, didn’t appear to be nervous at all in his first NBA game on the Amway Center’s main court. The 20-year-old is officially classified as a rookie, but he’s played with professionals since he was 11-years-old and his confidence was evident on Saturday. Minutes after checking into the game, Hezonja’s first NBA shot was a pull-up 3-pointer from the right wing and it hit nothing but net. He had a thunderous dunk on the fastbreak late in the first quarter and he buried another long jumper late in the shot clock in the second period. He made four of his six shots.

``I haven’t played in the NBA and it’s different,’’ Hezonja said. ``It was great (seeing his first shot go in), but I didn’t do good job on the defensive end. It happened for me against (an unfamiliar) team, but it will improve.’’

Skiles was quite critical of his rookie’s positioning and toughness on defense. Skiles didn’t like seeing Charlotte’s Jeremy Lamb torch the Magic for 16 points and reserve point guard Jeremy Lin chip in 17 points off the bench. Afterward, the coach let Hezonja know that if he doesn’t make defense a priority his minutes will be restricted.

``I thought he was good offensively, and on the other end … terrible,’’ Skiles said. ``That was the reason (he didn’t play over the game’s final 18 minutes). That was the reason that the other guys were sitting over there, too.’’

Nicholson, who has been buried on the bench much of the past two seasons, made it a point to position himself on the low block where he had much success as a rookie. He made nine of 14 shots, while also occasionally slipping out to the perimeter for two 3-pointers.

``I wasn’t being used right and I’m getting used better now,’’ Nicholson said, referring to the Magic’s coaching change. ``I’m getting used better now. I’ve been working hard in the summer and getting better overall.’’

Improving the Magic’s shoddy defense is Skiles’ top priority and they looked really good early in the game with cat-quick guards Elfrid Payton (six points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals) hounding the Hornets (1-0). Orlando’s swarming defense held Charlotte to less than 40 percent shooting in the first half and forced seven turnovers so that it could hold the lead all 48 minutes of the first half.

But Orlando yielded 12 points in the first four minutes of the third quarter, prompting the coach to take action in the form of a mass benching.

``You can see if you’re not doing your job, you are coming out,’’ Payton said. ``He’s not wasting any time. I think guys will be more alert and in the right position (next game).’’

Trade acquisition Nicolas Batum, whom Charlotte head coach and former Magic assistant Steve Clifford hopes to use like former Orlando standout Hedo Turkoglu, had 14 points, six rebounds and three assists. Kemba Walker chipped in 13 points and eight assists. Charlotte defensive ace Michael Kidd-Gilchrist appeared to have seriously injured his shoulder in the second quarter and did not return to the game after heading straight to the locker room.

Harris, who played previously for Skiles as a rookie in Milwaukee, could have told his Magic teammates about the no-nonsense approach of their new coach. Harris, whom the Magic locked up with a four-year contract extension in July, drilled his first three shots and had seven first-quarter points. Like Oladipo and Payton, Harris likes that Skiles is well aware that changes need to be made in how Magic players are held accountable following stretches of poor play. Harris thinks that Skiles’ unyielding approach will be good for an Orlando team that is still learning how to win consistently in the NBA.

``As a collective unit we’re not going to be this team that says, `Oh, it’s just the preseason,’ because we have a lot to prove,’’ Harris said. ``We want to play well. As coach said, we had good spurt where we played well together. But for us to be a good team with a winning record and get to the playoffs, we have to be mentally focused in all aspects of the game. If coach sees us slipping, he’s going to address it.’’