The NBA Conference Finals to determine who will play for a championship in June continues and has been a pleasant surprise to many. It was widely assumed before the series openers that the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers would meet again in an NBA Finals rematch from last season. However, Oklahoma City has dominated the Warriors thus far and are now just one win away from their second NBA Finals appearance in team history (If you don’t count Seattle of course). Most people predicted that Cleveland would sweep the Toronto Raptors (myself included) and continue their playoff undefeated streak going into the Finals. Not only is that not happening, but Toronto is doing their best Making Canada Great Again impression and now carry the momentum going into tonight’s pivotal game 5. Meanwhile, down in Central Florida the Orlando Magic continue to watch the playoffs from home, trying to find a way to get back to the postseason.
At a recent Magic press conference, new head coach Frank Vogel vowed that the Magic are not just ready to reach the playoffs but go far as well. Orlando has not reached the playoffs since Dwight Howard forced a trade out of the only city that ever loved him. Vogel was clear in his message not just to say that it’s the goal of the organization to reach the playoffs, but that “We’re going to win.” It may sound familiar to Magic fans as former coach Scott Skiles said identical things this time last year when he was hired on or Jacque Vaughn before him but Vogel has the resume to back those kinds of statements.
In a lot of ways the Magic lucked out with how everything played out. Last month, I wrote a column on whether or not Skiles should be worried for his job after just one season in Orlando. Obviously, with Skiles opting to resign it didn’t work out the same way and all of the coaches I mentioned eventually signed on with other teams. It did give Orlando, however, the opportunity to upgrade their sidelines. I was not a fan of Skiles’ hiring in 2015 and thought of it more as a settlement hire for Orlando since other guys like Tom Thibodeau and Scott Brooks elected to take the year off from coaching. The most that the Magic could have hoped for out of Skiles would had been to get the team back to the playoffs. Yes, the Magic improved with 10 wins more than they had in 2014-2015 but they continued to underachieve in many ways under the Skiles regime.
Orlando started off hot with a 19-13 record but an awful January that saw the team win just 2 games all month and a poor February dropped the team out of playoff contention. The Magic came on strong towards the end of the year but the hole had been dug too big, causing Orlando to miss the playoffs for the fourth straight season. Vogel has the playoff experience and the recognition of the Magic personnel to finally take this team back to the playoffs and make some noise doing it.
Many people wondered what Larry Bird was thinking when he decided to not renew Frank Vogel’s contract in Indiana. Bird’s argument was that he was looking for a more uptempo approach in the offense. However, Bird elected to hire former Pacer assistant Nate McMillan, another defensive minded coach, to take Vogel’s place as head coach. It’s kind of puzzling but Magic fans sure won’t mind now as Vogel is a clear upgrade over Skiles. Vogel was considered by many as the best head coaching candidate on the market after his dismissal from Indiana.
Vogel interviewed with a bunch of teams including the Memphis Grizzlies, New York Knicks, and Houston Rockets, before electing to sign a contract with the Magic. When asked what it was that persuaded him to come to Orlando, Vogel stated “In my mind, this team is ready to take the next step.” He believes that the future is bright for the young players in Orlando, pointing to a game in late March as a clear indicator. On March 31, Orlando blew out the Pacers in Indiana 114-94. Vogel saw then this young Magic team coming together.
As mentioned, Vogel brings the experience to finally get the Magic over the hump. Vogel was able to get his teams to the playoffs in five of his less than six seasons in Indiana. The only year the Pacers missed out on the playoffs was the same year that saw Pacers star Paul George suffer a horrific injury in his lower right leg playing for the US national team, resulting in him to miss the majority of the 2014-2015 season. Vogel also led the Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals twice during his tenure. He never reached the NBA Finals but that’s because a guy named LeBron James continued to get in his way.
The Magic will have some money to spend this off-season as well. Free agents could be more tempted to come to Central Florida with Vogel leading the way. Former Gators Al Horford and Joakim Noah have both been linked to the Magic in free agency and could help a team in strong need of some size down low. As a defensive-minded coach, Vogel may prefer a player with a defensive mentality but he’ll leave those decisions up to general manager Rob Hennigan and President/CEO Alex Martins. In his press conference, Vogel declared that he will adjust his approach to a more uptempo style to complement the young, explosive players of the Magic. He had a reputation in Indiana for slowing games down and grinding them out but a lot of that had to do with the personnel on Indiana too.
With players like Aaron Gordon, Victor Oladipo, and Elfrid Payton, the Magic play their best basketball at a fast pace. Vogel understands that and he understands that all three are excellent individual defenders so he will adjust his coaching accordingly. Payton, as you may know, was one of the reasons that Skiles decided to resign from his post, although through no fault of his own. Hennigan and Skiles repeatedly butted heads throughout the season regarding what was best for the team as far as players goes. At the center of it all was Payton as the starting point guard. Skiles did not want Payton as the future starter primarily because of his poor shooting skills. When the Magic traded away Tobias Harris for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova, Payton’s minutes dropped significantly in favor of Jennings. Jennings played for Skiles in Milwaukee and the two had a good relationship together.
Hennigan, however, felt differently and believed that Payton is part of the future in Orlando. His floor vision, speed, and defense give Hennigan the optimism to believe in Payton. Even though Payton doesn’t scare anyone with his shooting, he did greatly improve his shot in his sophomore year. Defense is the primary area of improvement that the Magic need as a whole and Vogel is the right candidate to address it. None of his teams in Indiana ever ranked lower than 10th in defensive efficiency and 6th in opponents field goal percentage. The Magic, on the other hand, have typically been in the bottom 10 in both categories since Howard’s departure. Factor in that Indiana turned out to be one of the best fast-break teams in the league last year in terms of points scored and it’s easy to believe that Vogel is the right guy for Orlando.
It’s been a long while since Orlando fans have had something to celebrate. The rebuilding process since Howard’s departure has been a slow one with three head coaches hired in four years. Vogel says he’s ready to take the team to the next step. Too often, the Magic have been unable to close out games in the final minutes these past few seasons. Vogel will change that with discipline and inspiring players the will to win. Magic fans should be very excited right now and we still haven’t hit free agency yet. Thank you Larry Bird.
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