Orlando Magic: 3 worrying NBA stats for this young group
By Luke Duffy
Worrying NBA stats regarding the young group on the Orlando Magic: 2. Pace (99)
The Magic’s pace, which ranks 15th in the league among NBA stats, is bang in the middle of the pack. You would think then that this would be an area to celebrate instead of one to put under the microscope.
After all, they fare much worse in other statistical categories such as assist to turnover ratio (29th, 1.39) and field goal percentage (28th, 41.5 percent).
Instead, let’s come at this from the perspective that this is an area where the Magic actually could truly be among the best in the league, and there’s really no reason why they shouldn’t be. It’s lazy to say that simply because a group is young they will be quicker getting up and down the court.
After all, guys like Andre Iguodala and Danny Green continue to move with these young guns. But the Magic’s average age is 24.8, with only seven younger rosters than them in the league. Teams like the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder, who are both also awful, also play at a higher tempo than the Magic.
This has led to them having some joy against older opponents coming off a tough stretch of games who are experiencing injury issues, or who simply know it is a long season and not to burn out too early. It is far from the sole reason the Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers twice recently, but is likely one of the reasons.
This gets even more interesting when you consider that the Magic actually have the youngest starting five (an infantile 21.2 years of age) in the entire league.
This absolutely explains the missed rotations, poor offensive execution, and general miscues all over the court. But it should also mean they can turn on the turbos and attack opponents in transition more frequently. If they do this, good things will start to happen.