The winter was supposed to be a respite from fall, when Orlando fans were recovering from UCF’s winless season and the disappointment that Orlando City would not make the playoffs.
The Orlando Solar Bears were coming off back-to-back playoff appearances. Getting tied closer to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization brought new opportunities and a new relationship. This was a time for optimism.
The same could be said for the Orlando Magic. After their 25-win season, they changed coaches in bringing back former fan favorite player Scott Skiles and demanded more accountability. The team would have to take steps forward or risk a fourth disastrous losing season in the wake of trading superstar Dwight Howard.
And things for both teams started off so well. The Magic entered 2016 at 19-13. It felt like the team had turned a corner. This was no championship contender, but they should be in the Playoff conversation and make the Playoffs.
The Solar Bears were 8-3-1-2 and in second place with 18 points entering Thanksgiving. There was still some youthful mistakes and the Maple Leafs’ system-wide strategy was not quite setting in completely, but the team played with energy and scratched out wins. Orlando was on track for another playoff berth.
Then the losing started.
From Nov. 21 until the end of the year, the Solar Bears won just twice. They fell to fifth place in their admittedly difficult division (the other four teams are in line to make the playoffs) and have been there ever since. Orlando struggled to defend and scoring goals became a problem, scoring three goals just six times in 13 game from Nov. 28 to Dec. 29.
The Solar Bears were not the worst team in the league, but they were sinking fast.
The same could be said for the Magic once the calendar turned to January.
Orlando suddenly lost its defensive identity falling from the top 10 in the league in defensive rating to 13th overall. The Magic in January had the fourth worst defensive rating and the third worst net rating in the league in the month. Orlando was essentially the worst team in the league in January. And that 2-12 record proves that as much as anything.
It was a bad month for Orlando sports.
And that does not even get into UCF’s struggles in basketball as conference play began — sitting at 5-7 in the conference but without any meaningful wins in the conference.
Winter has been rough. January specifically has been very tough for fans in the city. And February was looking like it would provide very little respite.
At that time, there was a sense of desperation. In the depths of that losing streak, fans were asking where the priorities for the Solar Bears were. They are a minor league team after all and part of their purpose is to develop talent for the Toronto Marlies and Maple Leafs.
@tanyarezak does Toronto care about wins and losses vs. Development
— Paul Sisung (@pas_55) December 28, 2015
That made things a tricky issue as the roster was in a state of constant flux, it seemed. The Solar Bears have made 107 transactions — call ups, trades, placing players on injured reserve, reacquiring players — this season. There has not been the kind of stability a team needs.
Even in Sunday’s overtime win over Elmira, Orlando was down a few players thanks to injury and fatigue along with Rylan Schwartz and T.J. Foster’s absence as he was called up to Toronto thanks to his hot streak.
In one sense the inconsistency is good because players are doing well enough to get a look with the Marlies, but on another it hurts the product on the ice.
The Magic did not have such problems. They just disappeared.
Their effort and focus noticeably waned and the team’s efficiency on offense, already a problem, decreased to ridiculously poor levels.
The playoff expectations remained, but the strong start augmented those expectations. Even being 3.5 games out entering the All-Star Break at the end of this dark tunnel is not enough. The Magic believe they need more and fans also expect more now to make the season a success.
Orlando may be where the team thought it would probably be back in October, but how the team got there is not satisfying at all.
Thus all the frustration with both teams for falling short of expectations.
There is good news though. January has turned to February and things seem to be improving.
The Solar Bears are on a five-game win streak that has brought them three points within the Elmira Jackals of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Orlando has accumulated 25 points in 19 games since Jan. 1. The Solar Bears have slowly climbed the ladder back up and something appears to have clicked for them.
The same might be said for the Magic. After January turned to February, they faced an extremely difficult schedule. But they hung tough with the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. They defeated the Atlanta Hawks and again nearly upset the Spurs.
There are still issues — they cannot close out games to save their lives — but at least the energy, intensity and focus of those early-season games seems to have returned. The Magic have found themselves again.
Both the Magic and the Solar Bears can still see the Playoffs in sight. It will take plenty of work to get there though. A lot of work. They both put themselves in big deficits.
But January is over. The disappointment of the way these teams played through December and January is fading away.
Now is a new time for both and a chance to salvage the winter.
