The Orlando Magic spent much of their Media Day on Friday discussing the changes that would be happening this season. Their desire to win is first and foremost and the expectation is to make the Playoffs. But there is also a culture shift that needs to happen.
Scott Skiles said he is no magician and is not going to automatically changed things. While there are certainly habits he needs to break and new mentalities he needs to input, the identity he wants his team to take on is really a simple one.
It is not about building a defense or establishing leadership. The first step for Skiles in building his team’s identity is getting them to be a little annoying and nasty (via Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post):
Our identity, we want it to be that teams are gonna hate to play us because we’re gonna be really scrappy, we’re gonna guard ’em up and down the floor, and when we get the ball we’re gonna push it right back at ’em and try to put ’em on their heels. If we do all that, we’re gonna have a good year.
Other players have shared the same sentiment too. If the Magic are not going to beat you, you are going to know you had to give it your all to defeat them.
That was not always the case the last three years. There were plenty of blowouts and games where the Magic could not give a full 48-minute effort. The team just was never quite on the same page.
That was one of the reasons the Magic hired Skiles. They talked about accountability and taking ownership of the team in hiring Skiles, known somewhat as a defensive taskmaster.
And defense is going to be a big part of building this desired identity and this “nastiness” to make teams hate playing them. Skiles will certainly put the emphasis on the defensive end in changing some of the mentalities that might have crept in after three years of losing.
The Magic are building toward something that is for sure with the talent they have on the roster. It just needed some direction.
It might be simple, but getting teams to dread seeing Magic pinstripes is a start.
