There was a fair amount of disappointment this season for the Orlando Solar Bears as the team fell just short of the Playoffs.
In many ways it was every kind of season possible for coach Anthony Noreen in his first year as the head coach of a professional team. The Solar Bears were hot, cold, undermanned, overmanned, streaky and dominant at different points of the season. Diagnosing how to judge the Solar Bears’ season is increasingly difficult.
The Solar Bears though have to find a way to define their season and figure out ways to get better for next season.
In an interview with Stephen Ruiz of The Orlando Sentinel, Noreen said the season was a success because of the growth his team experienced:
“You determine success by whether you grow or not. We grew. We learned a lot about our organization. Guys got better individually and moved on. In that sense, I would term it a success.
The results need to be better. The expectations and results will be better. Long term, we will determine whether this season is a success, based on how we do next year and the year after that.”
The message all season from Noreen was that if the team stuck to their structure, the results would come. The team was young and still learning a new offensive and defensive system that would prepare them for the Toronto Maple Leafs system.
The Solar Bears took some time to get it down.
They did get it toward the end of the season. And that is when Orlando made its playoff push. The Solar Bears started seeing the results come at the end of the year. That was certainly progress as the team began to understand roles better and play with a lot more urgency and energy each night.
With such a young team, it was a constant fight. The Solar Bears had a very up and down season, but certainly had the potential to take that next step. They grew plenty as the season progressed. By Noreen’s assessment, the season did see that growth, development and progress a minor league team wants to see.
Orlando will expect to see the team take that next step next year as it continues to grow. The results should follow.
Orlando Sports Daily recently sat down with coach Anthony Noreen to recap the season. We will have more from that interview in the coming weeks.
