Magic Notebook: Frustrating Zones and Changing Roles for Bigs

Without shooting, zone defenses continue frustrating the Orlando Magic. And, roles will likely fluctuate based on matchups for Orlando bigs the rest of the way. More on each of those topics in the latest installment of the Magic notebook.

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) shoots a three point basket against Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. (10) during the second half at Kia Center. / Mike Watters-Imagn Images

The latest installment in the Orlando Magic notebook touches on how the team's shooting inaccuracy is affecting other areas of their game and the continually fluctuating roles for the Magic's big men.

Ahead of Friday's contest with the Washington Wizards, let's dive in:

Without shooting, zone defenses continue frustrating Magic

In the spirit of March, and because most basketball-related discussion revolves currently (and rightfully) around the NCAA Tournament, let's draw a connection between that and the Magic as of late.

Tune into any first-round or second-round matchups this weekend, and you may see an instance where two teams – wholly unfamiliar with one another no less than a week ago – clash playstyles as David goes to knock off Goliath.

One of the ways David sometimes tries to draw even is with a zone defense. Sometimes it's merely to offer a different look to the customary man-to-man approach. Others, its to try and entice a stronger Goliath to settle for outside shots rather than enforcing it's more powerful physicality.

Regarding the Magic's case, the NBA rarely can pit two teams against one another that are drastically different talent-wise. After all, 30 teams of 15 professionals comprise rosters that can beat each other on any given night if all comes together.

But Orlando is getting quite used to seeing a zone defense of late. The problem? It's working, making life even tougher for the Magic's 28th-rated offense. The Houston Rockets, who Orlando fell to for the second time in nine days on Wednesday, employ a particular look that plays a role in stalling out their East foes.

After the Magic posted 84 total points and a woeful 92.3 offensive rating in the March 10 loss at Houston, Orlando took a day of practice to refocus its offense and again find the purpose needed to overcome the look.

Facing it again Wednesday, the end result was the same. But, Orlando maintained its process was correct. Orlando's 9-for-35 three-point accuracy, however, didn't help flip the script.

“I think the zone slowed us down a little bit and ... we had good looks but we didn’t make them, and they were hitting their shots," Cory Joseph said.

"It’s unusual to play so much zone and they played a unique zone as well," Franz Wagner said, echoing his veteran guard's comments. "On some possessions, it stalled us out but on a lot of possessions we just missed shots."

This season marks another where shooting is one of the Magic's debilitating downfalls. Among the limitations it presents is only seldomly being a threat to force a defense to alter plans.

"Ultimately, [shooting is] what comes to breaking zones down," Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said.

"If we weren’t getting the shots, it’d be something different. But we got the shots in Minnesota, we got the shots in New Orleans, we got the shots last time we played against [Houston]," Mosley continued. "The more we can focus on the process of what we’re getting, you just have to stick to that, trust your work and know that they’re going to drop at some point."

But with 12 games to go in the regular season, the Magic are 2.5 percentage points from the 29th-best three-point shooting team and 4.9 from the league's average.

With the Magic's offense keyed in on getting to the rim and operating inside-out, expect to see more teams continue packing the paint against them.

Roles for bigs likely to continue fluctuating

Orlando's core of big men has reeled due to injuries all year.

Wendell Carter Jr. dealt with knee and foot injuries earlier this year that he recently told the Orlando Sentinel still have lingering effects, and spells with a foot tendon strain and a concussion have kept Goga Bitadze out of games earlier this year.

Moe Wagner's torn left ACL was especially painful, considering it ended a breakout season for Orlando's best bench scorer, and he was building candidacy for a potential Sixth Man of the Year award.

And, even though Paolo Banchero is a point-forward first, him missing 34 games with a torn right oblique earlier this year took away the Magic's capability to utilize him as a small-ball five.

That's left Jonathan Isaac as the Magic's most available big this season. Since being drafted in 2017, his 61 total games played this season are already the second-most in a single season.

Yet, besides Banchero, Isaac has been the least-utilized of Orlando's options to play the five. Over the Magic's last three games, the 6-10 forward has played only 24 total minutes.

After just eight minutes Wednesday versus Houston, Mosley confirmed Isaac to not be on a minute restriction. His sporadic use, Mosley reasoned, instead comes down to matchups.

"As we're looking at these games as playoff-type, win-the-next-game, you've got to look at matchups, and Goga (19 points, eight rebounds) was having an incredible game," he said. "And there was moments where you thought about bringing him back in. Paolo had it going, he guarded Steven Adams a few possessions, so it was mainly the flow of the game [and] whether we were going to go two bigs, because that was the plan initially, and then he took the two bigs out, and we go back and forth.

"So I think realizing what's happening within the game has nothing to do with how Jonathan's playing more than it is the matchups in that moment and the flow of the game."

Houston is one of the few teams that, especially without Wagner available, is bigger than the Magic. Orlando opted to match it rather than counter it with a different look on Wednesday, which led to the variance in roles and the consequent limiting of Isaac's minutes. Carter got two early fouls and finished with five total, and Bitadze then played over 20 minutes for the second time in the last 10 games.

Following the same reasoning, there's likely to be more rotational shakeups over the season's final portion. But, few teams will pose the size threat to the Magic as the Rockets did, so it's an interesting case study regardless.

Other notes...

• The Magic are almost certainly headed for the Play-In Tournament. Here's the latest on the jockey for position between seeds Nos. 7 through 10. Click here.
• Orlando G League affiliate Osceola took over first place in the Eastern Conference Thursday night, defeating the Maine Celtics to improve to 19-10 in the regular season. Osceola's final road game of the regular season is Saturday, March 22.
• Paolo Banchero's 29.5 points per game is second-best of all NBA players post-All-Star break. Only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 35.1 is a higher mark.
• Fourteen Magic player's former schools are represented in this year's men's NCAA Tournament.

Up Next

Orlando travels to Washington D.C., for a one-off road game against the Wizards on Friday, March 21, at 7 p.m. ET.

Related Stories on the Orlando Magic

• SHOOTING, MISTAKES DETERMINE MAGIC'S CEILING: Orlando is far and away the NBA's least-accurate three-point shooting team. That makes margin for error slim, and that haunts the Magic. CLICK HERE
• AB THE X-FACTOR?: Second-year pro Anthony Black's year has been up and down, but the ups translate more directly to wins. Can the Magic unlock his consistency? CLICK HERE
• TDS STAYS THE COURSE: Tristan da Silva has had plenty of changes to adapt to in his rookie season. CLICK HERE
• AGGRESSION KEY FOR SUPPORTING CAST: The players around Magic stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner need to tap into the aggression they showed Sunday, one player said. CLICK HERE
• THE DEFIBRILLATOR: How Cory Joseph still lives up to a self-given moniker from over a decade ago. CLICK HERE
• MORAL VICTORIES NOT ENOUGH: It's "nut-cutting time" for the Orlando Magic down the stretch of the regular season. CLICK HERE

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