The Orlando Magic are almost certain to make another starting lineup change, coach Scott Skiles said after practice Thursday. What that lineup change is, he would not say, but there are a few specific options the team is considering.
With the Magic having lost eight of their past nine games and coming out looking like one of the worst teams in the league in January, there are a lot of things to nitpick and try to change. Both the offense and defense have seemingly fallen apart.
The sense of desperation has gotten so bad after falling to the Philadelphia 76ers at home last night, Skiles was simply asking for his team to play harder and respond to when teams throw a punch their way. He was simply seeking a win.
“Our lack of competitiveness is frightening really,” coach Scott Skiles said after Wednesday night’s game. “They were pushing us all around on both ends of the floor, making it hard for us to do anything and we just basically capitulated.”
Getting that back is a question the Magic are trying to answer desperately at this hour of need.
It starts then with finding the right combination on the floor that will give that consistent effort. And that might lead to the lineup change.
Skiles has lauded his team’s work and energy in practice throughout this whole losing streak. It just has not translated to games. He said Thursday they spent time working strategically on everything. They spent time drilling some basic fundamentals in too.
The hope is that it can carry over or that mixing up the rotation can restore some balance and get the Magic competitive again.
“We’ve taken such a big step back on the defensive end and offensively with our ball movement and screening, there is no pushback,” Skiles said. “The guys know it, they are talking among themselves. They know it. It’s just a matter of you’ve got to go out and do it. You’ve got to shake off whatever funk you are in and go out and do it.”
There could be some very good news on the horizon though.
Skiles said there is a chance Victor Oladipo will be available to play after missing the past two games with a sprained right knee. Oladipo participated in the non-contact portions of practice and was shooting jumpers when practice was opened to the media.
Whether he will play or not will be dependent on how he responds to the work he did Thursday the following day and how he feels. But he certainly could be back sooner rather than later.
That would be a big boost to the Magic who miss his overall defensive energy and all the little things he does. For as bad as his offense has been most of the season, he is a great rebounder from the guard position, always defends with intensity and can break defenders off the dribble and get to the paint.
In the lead up to his injury, Oladipo was playing his best basketball of the season and resembling the player that got everyone’s hopes up entering the season.
A return would be a welcome site for the Magic as a whole.
“When you sit out at all, it’s just tough. I love the game and want to play so bad. And I feel like I can help us a lot. It’s tough to watch in general. It’s a part of the game and when you watch, you learn a lot about your team and a lot about the game.”
A lineup change on its own is probably not going to be enough to fix things for the Magic. Injuries have depleted the Magic’s depth some and that has led to the inconsistency and deficits with the second unit.
That might be as much of the reason for Skiles changing the lineup again as anything. He needs to return balance to his units and make sure there is consistent effort throughout the game.
Skiles did not say what that lineup change would be, although he has a few ideas in mind. Certainly Aaron Gordon replacing either Channing Frye or Tobias Harris would make sense with the energy Gordon can bring on the defensive end and his ability to get up and down the floor.
But even Gordon has his flaws. He is not nearly the 3-point shooter Frye is and would cause the floor to clog without his ability to stretch the floor and get the defense’s attention, particularly in pick and rolls.
Clearly though the Magic need to shuffle the deck some and get some more energy in the right moments. The chemistry or formula and combinations are not working right now.
Orlando has not lost a ton of ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race, but time is of the essence. These are opportunities to push the team forward and climb those standings.
The Magic still have lots of work to do that a lineup change is not going to fix on its own. The change may be a start depending on what Skiles does.
