The James Borrego Risk For The Orlando Magic

It’s crazy how much can change in a week in the NBA. Seven days ago, I was writing about how Orlando Magic interim coach James Borrego had made a solid start to life as the main man on the pine. The team had won three games in a row, admittedly against quite poor teams, and was showing vast improvements on both sides of the court.

It was the defensive end in particular where the team was beginning to shine, quickly rising to become a top-10 defensive team in the league. Since then though, the wheels have come off somewhat, so now we can assess with a little more clarity if Borrego should get the job on a full time basis come next year.

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First, though, we need to mention the new coach effect Borrego had on this team. It’s quite an unexplainable phenomenon, but something that occurs across most sports. In soccer for example, it’s quite common for a new signing to score or generally play outstanding on their debut.

Why? We don’t know, but it has happened far too often through the years for it to simply be an coincidence, and so it is generally accepted as something that ‘just happens’ quite regularly.

Similarly, the arrival of a new coach, even an interim one, perks everybody up and has them playing at their best. It’s almost like the players are given a clean slate and have to prove themselves all over again. Players who may have fallen out of favor somewhat (Maurice Harkless) suddenly have a new lease of life, as they have the chance to force their way into the team once more.

Shooting guard Evan Fournier is another example of the positive impact Borrego had just by being appointed interim coach.

After a hot start to the season, he had trailed off somewhat with the return to health of Victor Oladipo. Before injury a short while ago, he was back to scoring in double digits per game again and was generally providing a much needed offensive spark off the bench. Fournier would have realized he had an opportunity to stake his claim once more, and he took that chance.

But now that shine and novelty of having a new guy calling the shots has worn off, as it always does, and it’s back to reality. I’ll say this though, it’s early days still in his tenure with the team, and I’m glad he’s been giving until the end of the season to maybe show he can handle the job on a full time basis.

For me, the biggest positive impact he’s had on this team is giving them a sense of on court identity. It’s about time this happened and it’s one of the key developments Borrego can point to if he wants this job full time.

Under Jacque Vaughn, this team was nothing on the court. Sometimes they defended all right, other nights one guy would get hot and they’d be an offense-first team. Often the tempo of their play was quite slow, then on other occasions it was quick paced with a nice transition game. The point is there was no blueprint, no identity to this club.

It’s great to be able to change on the fly and adapt to different opponents, but it felt like the team was drifting through too many contests, playing whatever way suited them on that particular night.

Feb 22, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic head coach James Borrego talks with referee Pat Fraher (26) against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half at Amway Center. Orlando Magic defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 103-98. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

In a short space of time Borrego changed that though, and that’s hugely important for a young and growing team. There is a defensive mentality there now, and really it makes sense to play this way given the players on this roster. Offense does not come easy to this team, that was proven long ago when Arron Afflalo was asked to be the go to scorer on this team.

Defense on the other hand, comes naturally to a lot of the guys.

Oladipo is an excellent two-way player who can guard opponents’ best players. Rookie Elfrid Payton, for all of his well-documented offensive woes, is already an above-average defender who does plenty on that end. Together with Oladipo they make a stingy backcourt. Tobias Harris is an underrated defender,

Harkless too, while Kyle O’Quinn is a big who can protect the rim off the bench (interestingly, O’Quinn has a Player Efficiency Rating of 15.1. The league average is 15, and while he’s only started 17 games and played in 42, he clearly does something right for the team when on the court. He’s a player we’ll return to).

Nikola Vucevic, a walking double-double who leads the team in scoring and rebounds, could do better defensively, but he has made strides. The point is, the players exist already for this to be a great defensive team, and Vaughn could never utilize them in that way. Borrego was able to achieve success in this area in a matter of weeks, and that is a huge plus for his credentials.

Of course we’re here to talk about the risks of hiring this guy long term, and I feel the big one is his lack of experience. Yes Erik Spoelstra was once handed the reigns after famously rising up through the Miami Heat organization, but he also got a little help from LeBron James as well.

I felt at the time George Karl would have been a nice get, but he has since signed on with the Sacramento Kings. A experienced head coach who has been to the playoffs before and can lead this team with their experience seems like a necessity to me, though.

I’ll finish by pointing out another worrying trend, and it was something that hurt Vaughn’s time in charge as well. Already Borrego is tinkering with his lineups a lot. It’s understandable in one way, this team is lottery bound and full of young talent. So why not play with lineups to see if you can find something that really works?

But there’s no doubt it has contributed to this current three game skid. It’s worked both ways for him though. On one hand, benching Payton quite a bit recently is a brave call, but a lot of fans aren’t too happy with it. On the other, Andrew Nicholson has been used more than before and has contributed to the second unit.

It’s probably still to early to say James Borrego isn’t the man long term for this team, but the warning signs are now there. We’ve seen the good he can bring, but right now the team is going through yet another rough patch. It’s important how he handles this time.

As refreshing as he’s been on the sidelines though, I still feel that long term an individual with more experience is required to take this team to the next level. The Magic can’t afford to get it wrong with their head coaches too many more times or risk falling into a bad cycle of changing faces in the hot seat.

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Orlando Magic: The James Borrego Risk

By Luke Duffy | Mar 3, 2015

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