It was a LONG day
By Wyatt Nebergall
The one common thing I heard from people who had been to media day previously, was that it’s a long day. Boy, how right that was! Not in the sense of hours spent or even like it was hard labor, but the excitement of the day and the amount of attention paid to all the information that was coming out.
Statement Jersey
After a long night of not sleeping from pure excitement, one of the first things that kicked off media day off, was a post from Orlando Magic on Instagram of the new “statement jersey.” Now the reviews are in and they are mixed. Haha. I personally love these new iconic style jerseys. I’m big on design and they nailed it for me.
Vooch
Evan
AG
The simplicity of this really nails the “statement” theme of the jersey. Keep in mind this photo is missing a number, so the middle of the jersey won’t appear so empty. I love that they kept the pinstripe pattern on the sides and wrapped around the bottom of the shorts. The shorts are really what nailed it for me. I’ve waited a long time for an alternate jersey style I was excited about. Overall just clean and simple, very iconic and could mark an era of Orlando magic basketball.
I won’t go play by play on the interviews if that interest you check out the videos on the Orlando Magic media page. My favorite quote of the day was when Terrence Ross was going on about Isaac’s improvement’s this summer. “the way J.I. moves is unreal, it’s like a giraffe moving like a lion. It’s unreal the way he moves for his size”. Not only did he get a few laughs, but he painted a vicious image of the killer J.I. is becoming. Of all Magic men drafted in years past J.I. seemed to have the highest “ceiling” while some believing a really low “floor”. Isaac last year was said to be the X-factor and while Markelle mania has peaked an all-time interest even to be trending on Twitter, Isaac still seems to be that X-factor. Coach Cliff talked about how hard he’s been working on his long-range shot. At 6’14” you don’t have to be a great 3-point threat, but you’re certainly built to make it difficult to stop you! J.I. early last year seemed to be hesitant to shoot open 3’s. He didn’t shoot an absurd amount of practice shots this summer or really do much differently, he’s just shooting confidently and believing in his shot. Coach Clifford also went on to how he’s working on putting the ball on the floor so that he can drive when defenses close out on him which they will have to do if he really has become a sniper.
Ah, coach Cliff. He certainly had a lightness to him; shirt untucked all smiles. It’s been a long time since I’ve been happy with a Magic coach. I couldn’t be happier. He is very humble about what he’s building here, so quick to credit the players for buying in. They’ve bought into you Cliff, you deserve the praise. Vucevic made a point to say how long it had been since he’d had a coach two seasons in a row or without a major player or personal changes, “I know what to expect of him and he knows what to expect of me.” For the first time in a long time, this team is picking back up where it left off and not in rebuild purgatory.
Interview after interview you start to catch on that all of these guys are saying the same thing. They believe they can be the same team that finished the season 22-9. They believe defense is their identity and they’re built for it. They believe in themselves, however, none of them think this that will come easy! Mostly everyone who wasn’t playing FIBA was in the gym putting in work this summer. D.J. stated very assertively “last year is over, we need to get off to the start we finished the year with”. Nothing will be handed to them and they seem to embrace it. Everyone echoed “we learned how to win” and Markelle and Chief were brought on as guys who can help us win, which before last year, had been a long time since we’ve been winning.
Which brings me to Jeff Weltman the man I like to call The Illusionist.
Aminu
Ross
Anyone who has followed the team for any number of seasons knows it’s been a LONG time since we’ve had a front office we can trust. They have strategically built a team that can defend multiple and damn near every position on the floor. At any given time, our guys will most likely be longer than their matchup, which makes scoring hard especially when you bring in a guy like coach Clifford who is all about stifling defense. I’m not concerned with them trading Mo Bamba before we see what his potential really is, unlike some armchair GMs who jump at an opportunity to throw him in as a kicker in a ridiculous trade machine scenario. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, “The best way to hide something is quietly and in plain sight.” Jeff has been saying the same things since he’s got here and I think he will continue to say the same things, because it is starting to work. This organization, not just the guys on the court, the entire room seemed to have a sense of family to it. They have set a standard for everyone who works for this team and that’s that “we take things a day at a time and do our very best to get better every day.” When everybody is getting better individually the team as a whole gets better.
Lastly ladies and gentlemen, Markelle Fultz. After last week’s outpouring of videos and Fultz’s interview with an intimate group of media members interviewing him, I had questioned whether they’d set him loose with the media again. I mean he just went through a very similar process this would just be, more. To my delight, he did come and talk to the media and I was very impressed. It’s very easy to see how much this guy loves the game of basketball. He can’t wait to get back to playing. He talked about being excited to start training camp and how it was definitely a goal for him to play in the first preseason game against the San Antonio spurs Saturday. “I just want to go out, have fun, and help this team win.” Cliff didn’t beat around the bush in saying Markelle is a guy who can help this team win. J.I. went on about how impressed he was with him in pickup games. Whatever you’re doing right now if you haven’t yet, go and watch T-Ross interview when he is asked about Markelle. Around the 6:20 mark, T-Ross says “from what I’ve been seeing (insert long almost speechless pause with a smile across his face) he’s going to be fine. He’s going to be great.” As much as these guys rave about how good of a person Kelle is and how hard he works, they seem to be thrilled to have him as a teammate and excited about what he can bring to this team. With that magic fans, it has been a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time since I’ve been this excited. This is the year to get excited. Get your tickets if you are able to come to the home opener, it’s time to make a lot of noise, basketball is back in Orlando!
Isaac
Fultz