By John Denton
Jan. 14, 2015
ORLANDO – With 41 games down and 41 games still to go in this season, GM Rob Hennigan talked with OrlandoMagic.com this week about a variety of topics concerning how the Magic have played so far.
In this question-and-answer session, Hennigan discusses the frustration of the team’s inconsistency, the development of toughness in road games, Nikola Vucevic’s growth, Aaron Gordon’s looming return from a foot injury, the approaching trade deadline and what it will take to consider this season a success.
Without further ado, here is Hennigan’s take on how the first half of the season has transpired and what he sees for the Magic in the coming months.
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: The first half of the season has been filled with lots of dramatic highs and lows. What is your frustration level with the team’s inability to be consistent from night to night?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``I think we’re all frustrated by the inconsistencies and a lot of that can be tied back to our competitive spirit. So our job collectively is to just try and pinpoint some of the reasons for that inconsistency and try to find solutions moving forward.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: You mentioned competitive spirit. Has it been disappointing seeing your team’s struggles during games when adversity hits? Is that a product of the Magic’s roster being so young?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``I think we’ve shown at times that we’re very capable of playing well and playing together with a competitive spirit. But the onus is on all of us to smooth those inconsistencies out and become more consistent.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: More than half of your roster is younger than 25 years old and at times this season you have had three starters who have less than three years of NBA experience. How do you handle walking the fine line of being patient while also pushing your players to perform?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``I think we’ll always remain patient in terms of the development curve of our young players. We’re all realistic with where we are as a team and what our expectations are. It’s important for us over the second half of the year to make our competitive spirit something that we thoroughly believe in. We want that to be something that we can rely on daily.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: Tobias Harris was telling a story the other day about coming into the team’s practice facility after midnight to get up jump shots and he saw Head Coach Jacque Vaughn in his office watching film. All of the players have talked about Jacque’s work ethic to get this team on track. How would you, as the GM, evaluate the job that Jacque has done so far?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``Jacque has done a solid job and Jacque will continue to do a solid job for us. We have a lot of different factors involved that don’t make it easy on our coaches. We have a very young team, we have a lot of new pieces and we’ve had some injuries along the way. We’ll never use those things as excuses because that’s not how we are as an organization. But Jacque and his staff are still searching for ways to bring our team more consistency with how the guys are performing every night and how they are approaching games. There’s no one who works harder than Jacque – I can assure you of that. I know that he’s looking at everything from various angles as well.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: You’ve had the toughest schedule in the NBA with 19 of the first 28 games on the road, three stretches of four games in five nights and easily the most games played. How proud are you of the toughness that this team has developed on the road?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``I think our performance on the road speaks to our heightened sense of urgency and the more aggressive mentality that our guys are starting to apply on the road. The hope is that we can continue to build on that while we’re playing away from the Amway Center. And at the same time we need to generate that same kind of puncher’s mentality when we play here at home. We’ve played a tough road schedule and we’ve played well on the road and now we’re trying to figure out how to be consistent at home.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: The Magic are in a stretch now of playing Houston, Memphis and Oklahoma City at home. One theory is that the Magic have struggled at home because they have eight new players on the roster and because they played so many road games early in the season that the Amway Center still doesn’t feel like home. Any credence to that theory? And do you think this team can make a run over the second half of the season because of all the home games that remain?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``I don’t know, that’s a tough one to say (why the struggles at home have come). I think it all comes down to us finding our identity at home and finding some consistency. If we can find that and regain that competitive spirit we’ll have a chance to play well at home and gain some good momentum that way.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: You showed center Nikola Vucevic how much you believed in his promise by signing him to a four-year contract extension in late Octoer. How proud are you of the steps that he’s made as a player?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``Nik is playing well and he’s going to just keep getting better. His aggression and confidence just continue to grow. That’s something that will continue to be the case as he gets more experienced and he continues to grow as a player.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: Forward Tobias Harris is out now with a sprained ankle, but he’s been a key cog this season. He was challenged to be a more complete player this season and he’s responded with career highs in almost every category. Tobias did not reach an agreement with the team on an extension before the season. How proud are you with his focus on the task at hand and his development as a player?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``Tobias’ effort has been good and he’s continued to embrace being an all-around player. He’s focused his efforts on both ends of the floor. So his development in that area has been well-received and he’s worked really hard.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: You always say that when building a team that you never want too many young players nor too many older players. This Magic team has a good mix of both. What has three years of being a GM taught you about the dynamics of team building?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``Team building is always an inexact science for a GM. It’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that. There are tangible and intangible components to any team. It’s really about balancing that and finding the right combination in terms of skill set on the floor, personalities and it’s a big melting pot of factors. That’s what makes it so interesting and important that you stick to your principles as it relates to building a team and bringing different types of guys to this team.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: Last season in Phoenix, Channing Frye played with two tremendous drive-and-kick point guards and his advanced metrics both for himself and the Suns were off the charts. What do you think has been the cause of his struggles this season?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``I think Channing is still trying to find his way with us. There’s always an adjustment period any time a player joins a new team or a new coaching staff. Channing is still adjusting to all of those new variables and I believe that Channing will be fine.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: With the NBA trade deadline a little more than a month away, do you expect to be active this time around to address some of the team’s needs?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``We’re always active and looking for opportunities and ways to improve the team. The trade deadline is certainly an opportunity for us to explore different things. It’s all relative to opportunities that exist. We’re not going to sacrifice any long-term vision and long-term planning for any quick-fix kind of move. But we’re always looking for ways to improve the team. So we’ll always look at ways to do that.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: Coaches and players think about today and this game, but it is your job to try and balance helping the team now and also keeping an eye on the future. What is the difficulty in doing that?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``It’s about having perspective and finding a move that makes sense for our team now and in the long term.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: A lot of people forget how big of a factor that rookie Aaron Gordon was for this team early in the season. After having foot surgery in November, he’s recently rejoined the team. How is he doing and how excited are you about getting him back on the floor before the end of this season?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``Aaron is a lot closer and our medical staff has done a fantastic job of bringing him along and getting him ready. We don’t like to put timelines on things and we’ll keep it that way for now. But he is someone that we certainly miss. We miss his energy and his toughness and his desire to want to compete at all times.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: The last few games the Magic have played a lot faster by pushing the pace up the floor for easy baskets. How much do you like the dynamic of having Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton in the backcourt together?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``I think we’re still trying to figure out the pace that’s right for us. We started the season out trying to play faster, but turnovers sort of got in the way of that. I think there was a direct correlation to the turnovers and having a young team. The more that we’ve been able to reduce our mistakes and controlling the mistakes that we can control, that has allowed us to pick the pace back up some. That’s something that we’re still trying to figure out.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: You have said from the time that you took the job in Orlando that everybody and everything is under evaluation. How has that changed now that you are in Year Three of the process and clearly more is being expected from the team to produce on the floor?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``Everything is still being evaluated. It’s my job to evaluate things and I wouldn’t be doing my job if that weren’t the case. There’s not one problem that we pinpoint. It’s just a situation where we just have to put our heads together and figure things out. We will do that, we’ll get there.’’
ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: The Magic have played 41 games and have 41 games to go. What would constitute a successful season and a step in the right direction in the building process?
ROB HENNIGAN: ``I think it’s just about getting back to the basics of playing smart, physical, unselfish and defensive-minded basketball. And it’s about us honing in on that competitive spirit and bringing a consistency of effort and a consistency of competition not just on a nightly basis, but also a position-by-position basis. If we can get better with those factors the team will continue to improve and we’ll all see growth.’’
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