Before the injury to D. J. Braked out by Augustin, the Orlando Magic were surprisingly one of the strongest teams of the young NBA season – thanks in particular to Aaaron Gordon. What happened to the Dark Champion and his team?
Every season there are them – the surprising anomalies in the first few weeks of the season. Dennis Schröder with the highest Player Efficiency Rating in the league? We did in 2014 after some games. Dwight Howard motivates and good-humoured with a new team? We did last year, this year, too. Even better: The Lakers (end of 26-56) had a 7-5 record last year after twelve games.
These are all examples that proved to be misleading with a larger sample – although the jury at Dwight in Charlotte is still waiting. Of course, there are also examples of things that have been different. For example, in the case of the Warriors, who had the best start to the season in 2015/16, were correspondingly hyped and at the end of the season also had the best record in history.
The challenge now is to predict as early as possible whether one of these developments is “for real” or not. The prime example of this young season is the Magic and its season’s start (6-4), which hardly anyone would have thought they could have done (where it was 6-2 in the meantime). More specifically, it’s Aaron Gordon.
In each of its three years to date, the forward has hit less than 30 percent of downtown, currently it is almost 56. These are joined by 19.1 points (Career High), 8.9 rebounds (Career High), 2.3 assists (Career High), 0.9 blocks (Career High) and 1 steal (Career High). Recently he scored 41 points against the Nets. Where does this development come from? And is it “for real”?
First of all, the origins. Everyone has probably noticed how unbalanced the Magic squad has been in recent years – especially last year, when both Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo were recruited before the season, even though Nikola Vucevic and Gordon were already in the squad. The frontcourt was so overcrowded that Vogel almost always let two traditional bigs play and Gordon “banished”Gordon to the three.
An abstract idea called “Spacing” seems to have been dismissed as fake news in Orlando for a long time, especially since the one was occupied by an anti-shooter named Elfrid Payton. Orlando played regularly with lineups where Evan Fournier was the only competent distance shooter. The offense looked like that, too.
And now what? The injured payton was killed by d. J. Augustin is so well represented that he has to fear for his starting spot when both return. Not only Gordon, but also other previously harmless players have the green light: Vucevic lets 4.2 threes fly per game and hits 40.5 percent of them! As a team, Orlando is currently using a strong 40 percent of the outside world – perhaps the most important reason for the upswing.
“The game has changed so much about our offense,”said Vogel recently.”It’s completely different. Last year was a bit like a dinosaur’s offense. This can be done by some teams that have great post-players, such as San Antonio for example. But we’re playing a different style here now.”
That’s for sure. Orlando uses the young legs and currently plays the fifth fastest ball in the league without losing his head – only seven teams play more assists per turnover. The shooting loosens up everything else: Where opposing teams were always able to block the zone last year, Vucevic now has more space for his post-moves, Gordon and Fournier have much more space for their drives.
Stagnation is hardly visible – you notice that at the moment every Magic player has the confidence to take throws at any time. This energy is also transferred to the defense, where Orlando is currently almost hyperactive. In the defensive rating, the Magic are on a sensational 5th place. seat (100,9).
Gordon is not the only factor in the upswing – let us mention Jonathon Simmons, who looks like a hot candidate for the Sixth Man Award – but he is an important one. After three years, he is finally allowed to play primarily on the power forward position and thus appears to be a completely new player; at last everything seems to comply. The 22-year-old is just testing out what he can do on the court.
“I just go out and play to have fun, as simple as it sounds,”says Gordon, who spoke to sports psychologists in the summer and meditated with them to get a grip on his doggedness “When I was younger, I sometimes put so much pressure on myself that I forgot how much fun the game is. But when you go outside and have fun, it’s best to play. I just want to have fun now.”
It may be that sometimes it is really that simple. Gordon takes the litters with conviction for the first time in his career, and sometimes even from the dribble. It is no longer limited to the corners and hardly hesitates. Of course, his quota will not remain so high for ever – but if he could not be persuaded, he would indeed have made an important step forward.
The same goes for his team, so to speak. Orlando won’t win 70 percent of his games the whole season like the first eight, so they’re not “for real”. After the loss of Augustin, a chicago (!) applause was promptly collected from Chicago (!), and then lost to Boston – a clear sign that a young and not exactly success-spoiled team is still starting here.
However, growth difficulties are fine. How the Magic handle it will determine how good they can actually be this season. In the east, they can be trusted to play along with the rear play-off places. Philly, Detroit, Charlotte or Miami are not teams to hide from.
Especially since there is still so much potential in the squad. On the other hand, there are some trade chips – Orlando is considered a possible Dark Horse for a commitment by Eric Bledsoe. On the other hand, there are also simply interesting talents who have only just scratched their potential.
Rookie Jonathan Isaac, for example, has been enthusiastic at times and could become an interesting frontcourt partner for Gordon in the future. And even this one seems to have just found his new role.
After all, he has found his fun again – just like the Magic. Things are looking up. And it’s been a long time since you could say that about the “other” franchise in Florida.