Orlando Magic: 5 big goals for 2018-19 NBA season
By Chris Murch
1. Develop an identity and stick to it
At Media Day a few weeks ago, a hot topic was the question of what the Magic’s identity will be this season. An identity that has been missing from Orlando for basically, this whole decade. According to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, Aaron Gordon had the best answer for it when he said:
"“We’re going to be tough every single game. We’re going to bring it every single game. There will be no nights off. We’re going to give no team no passes. When they see that they have Orlando on the schedule, they know they’re going to have a fight.”"
This “toughness” identity makes sense given the offseason moves of the franchise. While they failed to make any moves for a scoring point guard, they did draft three players who all have wingspans over seven feet, acquire talented defensive standouts Jerian Grant and Timofey Mozgov and hired Steve Clifford, who is known as a defensive-minded coach.
This toughness identity will go a long way in establishing a new era in Orlando. The hope is that this team will no longer be a bottom-feeder in the Eastern Conference and will be competing every night.
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If the Magic can instill a bit of fear in opponents each night and no longer be a pushover, they can win games. A goal of theirs should be to win more than the 35 games they won in 2015-16 (their highest win total since 2011-12). While this wouldn’t necessarily make them a playoff team, it’d be a step in the right direction.