Orlando Magic: Victor Oladipo In Sixth Man Role Is Paying Off
By Adam McGee
Since Victor Oladipo has moved into a bench role, the Orlando Magic have hit a rich vein of form. Is it a long term solution?
The Orlando Magic have won four straight games for the first time since December 2012. To put that into perspective, the last time the Magic rolled off four straight Ws, Dwight Howard was the franchise player and Stan Van Gundy was the head coach.
What has been the catalyst that has made things click over the past seven days? Well, there’s been an obvious change made by coach Scott Skiles that immediately jumps off the page. Following on from his team’s 14 point loss on the road in Cleveland, Skiles took the decision to move Victor Oladipo out of the starting lineup.
The 23-year-old is a unique talent, even within the context of an exciting, young Magic squad on the rise, but something just hadn’t been clicking for him to start the season. Maybe, it was that the Magic were looking to lean on him too much.
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Through the first seven days of the season, Oladipo led the NBA in both total minutes (205) and minutes per game (41.0). That spell saw the Magic play better than anybody could have expected up against an exceptionally strong schedule, yet a record of 1-4 coming out the other side was little reward.
After a double-double in his season debut against the Wizards, Oladipo followed that up with a triple-double in 50 minutes of play during a double overtime epic with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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That game acted as a microcosm of everything that Oladipo can become for the Magic, yet even in the moment, it had a sense of being a little unsustainable.
The former Indiana Hoosier’s talent can not be debated. He’s a versatile offensive threat with strong defensive fundamentals to go with it. He has the right mix of athleticism and skill to thrive at his position in the league’s current climate, and in spite of being only 6’4″, Oladipo plays long.
Only entering into his third year in the league that doesn’t mean that Oladipo doesn’t have a lot to learn though. Also, with a vastly improved core surrounding him now, it doesn’t mean that the Magic shouldn’t take their time in developing him correctly either.
Oladipo hasn’t been shooting efficiently, but his raw numbers, 14.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals, didn’t exactly warrant punishment.
That’s exactly what Skiles has been at pains to make clear too, this wasn’t a measure designed to knock Oladipo, if anything the hope was it would allow him to raise his game to new levels as a part of the second unit in the interim.
Skiles outlined his thinking to the Orlando Sentinel at the time of the decision:
"It’s nothing punitive. It’s just we feel like we’ve got to try to find a little bit better balance. I’d like Victor to have some more opportunities like he’s had a little bit in the past where he can be on top of the floor and attack and get a little bit more vertical and not only get to the rim but just be a little bit more on the attack but not necessarily start the game that way."
The move itself allowed Orlando to insert Channing Frye into the starting lineup, adding a little bit more experience, but equally importantly some extra size.
The Magic have been forced to carve a definite spot for Evan Fournier in their rotation so far this season due to his red-hot play, but with him and Oladipo on the court together, at times Orlando could look overmatched against larger teams. Frye provides the Magic with better balance.
Oladipo has shown a willingness to adjust also, and with the move seemingly dealt with in the right way by player and coach alike, it’s allowing the team to kick on.
As much as anything, the adjustments that need to be made by Oladipo for him to realize his potential moving forward will come in developing a winning attitude. According to Skiles, Oladipo has shown a clear focus on what’s best for the team, and that has obviously impressed the coach.
"We had a nice conversation about it. Like any player would be, he’d be disappointed. I wouldn’t respect him as a competitor if he wasn’t disappointed. But he handled it well yesterday, and he was fine this morning, and I think he’ll play well. I made it clear to him: There’s no permanence to this necessarily. We’re certainly not that type of team, either. But we’re trying to get to a point where . . . [we] get some consistency [between the first and second units]. So this was just one thing we looked at doing, and we’re hoping it works."
Oladipo has simply adjusted his focus, and in theory that should work better for all parties. If anything, it’s making the player himself more determined.
"Just do whatever it takes to help your team win, and that’s what I’m doing. I’m going to embrace it. I’m going to get it poppin’, like I always say. Whatever it takes to win, that’s what I’m going to do."
Oladipo’s role hasn’t even technically decreased since he became the leader of Orlando’s second unit. He’s playing less minutes than he had for the season up to that point overall, but more than he had in Orlando’s five games prior to benching him.
On the bench, Oladipo has seen per game improvements in scoring (18.3 from 12.8), assists (5.3 from 3.6), steals (1.5 from 1.3) and turnovers (1.3 from 1.5). His shooting percentages have also risen, particularly with his field goal percentage up significantly to 44 percent from its previous mark of 37 percent.
It’s a good look for him in terms of advanced stats also. Most importantly of all, Oladipo is getting more of a chance to run the show when he’s on the court with his usage having increased to 27.7 percent from 21.4 percent since he became the team’s sixth man.
Since the adjustment, Oladipo has the team’s fourth best defensive rating (89.1) and second best offensive rating (111.7). Unsurprisingly, that combines for him to be the Magic’s leader in net rating during their streak, posting a remarkable score of 22.6. As a starter, Oladipo’s net rating was -5.3.
Orlando has a long way to go with this experiment, and with four games remaining on their five game Western Conference road trip, there’ll still be tougher tests to come.
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As of now, the early returns are exceptionally good for all parties, and sixth man could yet prove to be the making of Orlando’s young star Victor Oladipo.