ORLANDO – In the 11 months now that he’s been on the job as head coach of the Orlando Magic, Steve Clifford’s most significant role hasn’t involved designing Xs and Os, delegating playing time or stressing the need for daily improvement from the players.
Instead, Clifford’s most significant accomplishment with the Magic has been the work he’s done as a belief builder within the team.
The 57-year-old Clifford, a veteran of 19 seasons as a coach, isn’t the rah-rah type and he often thinks that far too much is made of team meetings and player pep talks. This season, however, he’s had to be dogged and determined in helping build an unbreakable belief in the Magic that they possess the talent, toughness and temerity to do great things. It wasn’t always easy and there were many challenges along the way while dealing with players who had grown accustomed to so much losing and disappointment, but Clifford was able to cultivate a confidence that helped Orlando close with the regular season with a flurry and finally snap the franchise’s postseason drought at six seasons.
Orlando’s burgeoning belief was evident in Game 1 against the Toronto Raptors – a stirring 104-101 victory that signaled to the basketball world that the Magic are a different team that one that struggled in years prior. However, that belief had to be shaken a bit in an unsightly 111-82 loss to a more physical Raptors team in Tuesday’s Game 2 in Toronto.
Now, with the best-of-seven, first-round playoff series shifting back to Orlando for what should be a raucous scene on Friday night at the Amway Center, it’s on Clifford and the Magic to regain the belief that they not only belong here, but also have what it takes to do some serious damage.
``He’s done it from the beginning (of the season), he’s told us from the beginning that we could be one of the stories in this league,’’ Magic point guard D.J. Augustin said of Clifford’s message to the team over the past eight months. ``He tells us to this day that we’re a good team – one of the best teams in the league, he feels. We have a lot of talent and we have to believe that about ourselves and go out there and play like that.’’
With the tremendous highs and lows experienced in this playoff series already, Clifford jumped at the chance to remind the team of his confidence in it on Thursday. In a pre-practice meeting with his team, Clifford stressed again the power of belief while also insisting that the Magic want and expect more from themselves on Friday night.
``I told them (on Thursday) that I still don’t think we understand how good of a team we can be when we play well,’’ Clifford said following his team’s prep work for Friday’s Game 3 versus the heavily favored Raptors. ``We’ve done some great things. These last 30 games (of the regular season and playoffs), it wasn’t like we had this easy schedule; I mean we went on the road to win. Think about it now, to get in the playoffs, it was a win at Miami, a win at Indiana, a win at Boston and a win at Charlotte. Our guys have played very well, both at home and on the road.
``I think they know that when we do what we’re supposed to do, we have a way to play and we can play well,’’ Clifford continued. ``But I told them (on Thursday), I’m not sure they give themselves enough credit for the team that we’ve become.’’
Orlando fans hungry for success and deep runs in the playoffs will get to shower the Magic with noise on Friday in the franchise’s first postseason game at the Amway Center in seven years. Fans in Toronto filled Scotiabank Arena with noise and roars all throughout Games 1 and 2, and the Magic’s players are excited to see the response from their fans on Friday.
``I’m excited to play at home, man, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what it’s going to be like,’’ said Evan Fournier, a player who toiled through four seasons of rebuilding before this successful one. ``Fans can give you a really good push because when you play with emotions you tend to give more of yourself and play with more passion and a crowd is a big part of that. It’s no secret that having the homecourt advantage is huge and our fans can be a big part of that.’’
Part of the belief that Clifford has preached all season was developed at the Amway Center late in the regular season. Orlando won 13 of its last 14 games at home and closed the regular season with a nine-game winning spree at the Amway Center. Though they haven’t played at home since April 5th– a 149-114 beatdown of the Atlanta Hawks before a raucous sell-out crowd – the Magic feel they can pick up where they left off in the regular season and continue to play well in front of the home fans.
``That (crowd noise) can be a huge advantage for us,’’ said all-star center Nikola Vucevic, who like Fournier has long waited for the time when Orlando played host to playoff games once again. ``Especially at the start of the game, we can feed off their energy and that can really get us going and give us more energy. So, we sure need them (on Friday) night. We expect them to be great and it’s on us to bring it as well and make it a fun night for the City of Orlando.’’
Added Augustin, the hero of Game 1 with his 28-foot winning 3-pointer: ``(The Amway crowd) can have a back effect; their crowd had an effect in the last game. I know the fans here are waiting and they’re ready for it. We’re ready to play in front of them. It’s going to be an exciting game and we’re ready to get them going.’’
Clifford, an assistant coach on the Magic teams that reached the 2009 NBA Finals and the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals, often mentions how the noisy crowds in Orlando helped the confidence of the dominant teams from the franchise’s most recent heyday. Now, he’s trying to build something similar in Orlando that can be sustainable and successful.
When he took over as head coach last May, Clifford soon found out that he was inheriting a damaged and fragile team that had been scarred by six seasons of rebuilding and change. Five 50-loss seasons, four head coaching changes and two front-office staffs will do that to a franchise, so Clifford knew right away that he had his work cut out for him.
What Clifford also quickly learned was that the Magic had a rock-solid foundation of players who badly wanted to win, and one that was willing to put in the work needed to change the culture of the franchise.
Throughout a season filled with streaks and skids, Clifford kept poking and prodding and reminding his team to ``want more’’ from themselves. He refused to settle for ``moral victories’’ where the squad would play well against elite competition only to stumble late and lose. And some of his most fiery postgame rants came following Magic victories – instances where they failed to play up to the high standards set by their leader.
Four times Orlando lost four games in a row. Each time, the Magic responded with impressive victories against playoff powerhouses – in San Antonio on Oct. 12; home against Toronto on Dec. 28; home against Boston on Jan. 12; and home against Indiana on Jan. 31 – to end the skids.
That Jan. 31 defeat of the Pacers – one in which the Magic brazenly rallied in the fourth quarter behind strong play from Terrence Ross and Augustin – proved to be a turning point in the season. From there, the Magic went 22-9 the rest of the regular season for the third-best record in the NBA during that stretch. Also during that time, Orlando had the NBA’s best defensive rating (104.9 points per 100 possessions) – a mark of many Clifford teams through the years and a sign of just how much potential that the Magic possessed.
``He’s been doing that with us all season, talking to us that we can do more than we did, to not be satisfied with just making the playoffs and us wanting more,’’ Vucevic said. ``That’s been his message all season. It’s been all about giving us confidence and belief and we’ve all bought into it. We understand that we do have something here going and that we can do some damage and do something special. Obviously, making the playoffs was good for us, but now we’ve got to want more.’’
To get more, the Magic will have to respond to the desperation and physicality that the star-studded Raptors brought to Game 2. Toronto picked up its defensive intensity and smothered the Magic’s offense to the point that they shot just 37 percent from the floor and 26.5 percent from 3-point range and turned the ball over 17 times.
``We’ve got to respond if we want to win this series or win this next game,’’ said Augustin, who had 25 points in Game 1, but dropped off to nine points in Game 2 because of the defensive grit of 6-foot-6 guard Danny Green. ``They’re going to be aggressive again with us, so we’ve got to be able to handle it and play our game.’’
Orlando also will be looking to get a better handle on Raptors superstar forward Kawhi Leonard, who repeatedly got loose for open shots in Game 2 and scored 37 points. Even when Magic forward Aaron Gordon was able to avoid the screens set by 7-foot center Marc Gasol and get a contest on Leonard, the former Finals MVP repeatedly burned Orlando by making 15 of 22 shots and four of eight 3-point shots.
Clifford would like to see Gordon change the way he has approached guarding Leonard, who has averaged 31 points on 62.5 percent shooting thus far through two games.
``He’s got to get into the ball more,’’ Clifford said with conviction. ``He knows what he’s got to do; he’ll tell you he’s got to do better with that. That’s technique. There’s no screener so good that a defender as good as he is should get picked. So, he’s got to have good technique. He’s got to stay on his body, stay attached.’’
Clifford, who studied under the likes of Pat Riley, Brendan Malone, Jeff Van Gundy and Stan Van Gundy, knows what the power of conviction and belief can do for a basketball team. That’s why prior to Thursday’s practice the veteran coach talked to his team about believing it can win Game 3 and, ultimately, win the series. A win on Friday night at the Amway Center could help ram home Clifford’s season-long message that the Magic are better than they – and maybe the rest of the NBA as well – realize.
``Since the beginning of training camp and the season, Cliff has said a lot of things and they came (true),’’ Fournier said. ``Of course, that gives us confidence. As a group, that wasn’t the first time that we’ve heard that we could make the playoffs, be a good team or be a factor (from a previous head coach), and it never happened.
``But, obviously, this year it was different, and it gives us belief in what (Clifford) says and what we can do,’’ Fournier added. ``Cliff has been the leader for us since Day 1 and he’ll continue to do so. Obviously, what he’s said to us has meant a lot.’’
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