The Orlando Magic Are JUST Getting Started

The Orlando Magic Are JUST Getting Started

All right, so the Orlando Magic are finally starting to pick things up after a bit of a rough start to the season and they are sitting at 11 and eight overall on the year, but they have won seven of their last nine games. And this is great to see because I was pretty concerned about this team at one point. Uh the biggest thing is this, they made a lot of big-time offseason additions. They brought in Desmond Bane, who is an elite level three-point shooter, also an underrated passer, and they also brought in Taius Jones, who is one of the most solid floor generals in the entire league, but they were not able to see a lot of returns on that early on. They were not a great offensive team to get things started, and also they were not great from a defensive standpoint. And I hate seeing teams make massive additions in areas where they needed to improve, but they’re not able to improve, right? So, that’s why I was very concerned about this team at the beginning of the season. Like, what’s the point in bringing in two massive offensive pieces if you’re not making improvements, right? That was why I was worried about this team early on, but as I said, they have picked things up on both ends of the floor, especially on offense. And that is unique because generally speaking, Orlando has been a dominant defensive group over the last couple of seasons while having a very mediocre or subpar offense. And this year, it has been the reverse of that. This year they have a top 10 offensive attack, but they’re sitting around the 13th spot in defensive rating. That’s not bad, but they are a more well-balanced team overall than what they were the last couple of seasons. And you love seeing that. And they have managed to play this well over this nineame stretch in the absence of Paulo Banero. Now, before I go any further, I want to get into this idea. This does not mean that Orlando is a better basketball team without Paulo Beno. I have been going back and forth with a number of fan bases over this idea that if a team is playing well in the absence of one of their best players, that makes them a better team without him. Right? I talked about that with the Atlanta Hawks, also the Lakers with LeBron James when he was out for x amount of games. A lot of people think that if a team has a strong stretch without their best player, there is no use for that best player. And I just don’t agree with that logic. I think more credit goes to the role players and other players for stepping up in the absence of their star player than trying to point the finger at the star player and say the team is better without him. So, I’m hoping the Orlando Magic fan base does not think like that, but I hope we’re not falling into this idea that Orlando is a better basketball team without Paulo Beno. They have been great over this nine-game stretch because guys have stepped up in massive ways, right? It does not mean that they are better without Paulo Beno. Now, is Ben Carol perfect? No. There are a lot of improvements he needs to make. He has not been dominant so far this season, but I don’t think this means Orlando is better off without him, especially from a long-term standpoint. Their upside is much higher with Paula Beno than it is with not having Paula Banero. So, I do want to talk about a few Orlando players that have been huge in the absence of Berrow. And I will start with the obvious and that is France Vagner who’s putting up nearly 23 points per game, knocking down 47.7% of his shots and is making 35.7% of his looks from downtown, which is a massive increase from his 29.5 last year and 28.1% in the previous season. So Vagner has been a guy that I think has been all-star caliber the last couple of years, but just could not make the roster. Right. Every year there are players who I think are as good as a lot of guys who did make the all-star team. They just couldn’t make it because they’re x amount of spots. And Vogner has always been in that particular category, right? As an all-star level guy that just never made the game. He’s kind of in that same vein as a CJ McCollum or here’s another good example just last season like a Norman Pal. A guy who was always been great individually but just could not craft the all-star roster. But I think this year he has done enough to finally make an all-star team with what he has done keeping this team afloat in the absence of Berrow. I think we all saw something like this coming for Vagner. It wasn’t just his play last season or the season before, but what he did on the Euro basket stage for Germany hinted at this idea that he can be a potential number one level option to a certain extent. And we have seen him execute on that so far this year for the Magic in this stretch without Paulo. I also want to give a ton of credit to Anthony Black who just had a career-high game last night against the Sixers. So, he has been interesting in his career so far, right? He comes in from Arkansas as this lead guard who’s initiating the offense. But over here in Orlando, there are a ton of uh ball handlers, guys who can orchestrate the offense and playmake. So, he has been asked to play a ton of different roles as an initiator and as an offball guy. And he has done a really, really good job at learning those different roles and excelling in a number of them. This is the definition of versatility, right? And I think long term, this is going to make Anthony Black an elite level player. Again, just being able to play a number of different roles on offense early on in your career can mold you into a very effective player down the road. And we have seen him do that to an elite level extent so far this year. Let me take that back. Maybe not elite, but he has shown some very, very good flashes early on. again has improved in terms of efficiency and also made a leap this season from a three-point shooting standpoint. Not amazing from downtown. He’s making 34.8% of his shots, but again, there are leaps and flashes. You just love seeing a young player adapt to a different number of roles very early on in his career. Jaylen Suggs has been huge for this team and don’t forget he missed a large chunk of last season and that was a huge hit for the Orlando Magic. coming back here. He has been great and this team has been better with him on the court than off the court. That speaks to his amazing two-way play, especially his elite level point of attack defense that is leading Orlando on that end. Tristan Dilva has been amazing from a shooting standpoint is one of this team’s most efficient scorers and also on top of that want to give a ton of credit to Wendell Carter who has been huge at the big man position on both ends of the floor. He’s been effective on offense as a versatile floor spacing big man at times and defensively he has been one of the best rim protectors and paint presences across the entire league. All of this to say Orlando has a very deep roster and has a set of guys who are very versatile and that is why this team has been able to stay afloat without Paulo and you only wonder how much more dangerous they’re going to be when he is back on the court. This is a team full of Swiss Army knife sort of players, right? And having that versatility around an AllNBA level guy like Ben Caro is going to be huge for this squad long term as they’re trying to contend for a title. Do I think right now Orlando is a contender? Not just yet, but I do think at some point this year they can get towards that status, especially when healthy. And again, a lot of that speaks to the idea that they are a very versatile team that can play well on both ends. And once Carol comes back, that is going to be the ultimate connector for

The Orlando Magic have been solid in their last nine games, winning seven of those nine with majority of the wins coming in the absence of All-Star forward Paolo Banchero. Franz Wagner, Anthony Black, and others have stepped up in massive ways to keep this team afloat in the absence of a key player

Time Stamps:

0:00 Intro
1:01 Improved Two Way Team
1:34 Why They Still Need Paolo Banchero
2:53 Franz Wagner’s All-Star Campaign
4:20 Anthony Black & Other Role Players

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