What’s next? Is it time to find a better coach?

By: CJ Hill

The 2019-2020 season has been somewhat of a bust but has it really? Three seasons ago Orlando picked 6th in the 2018 and it looked as though they were headed for a complete rebuild. The front office decided to further evaluate an obvious lottery team into the next season but somehow found Lady Luck and snuck into the playoffs.

Fast forward another year and here we are essentially a lottery team searching for Lady Luck. Coach Clifford, which was thought to be a solid hire has done a decent job at best of creating a defensive culture similar to the Van Gundy teams in the 2000s. This year Clifford has helped lead this team to a top 10 in defense, top 5 in the least amount of team turnovers per game, and top 3 in not fouling the opponents. Unfortunately, those team's successes have not meant that the rest of Clifford's coaching is as successful. His struggles as a coach that got him removed in Charlotte are being magnified now as he continues to use the same in-game schematic and rotational mistakes as year one. Both last season and this season Magic teams were in the bottom 10 slowest teams in the league and bottom 5 in team offense.

So what’s next for a lottery team with bad coaching? Some people might want to sell off veterans and tank for the #1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Others would like to trade players that don’t fit and picks for stars players that want out from their current teams. Truth is, Orlando has talent! A young playmaking Point Guard with a tremendous upside in Markelle Fultz. Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon are big athletic two-way wings. A talented Shooting Guard and Center that both provide spacing and shooting. Young players with tremendous defensive potential such as Wes Iwundu. So the question. Is it time to move on from Clifford?

At any level of basketball, good coaching is extremely important. X’s and O’s, offensive and defensive schematics, and leadership win you a handful of games that talent alone can’t win. Clifford lacks 2 out of the 3 listed above and some could argue his leadership tends to run its course extremely fast. Orlando hasn’t checked out on Clifford yet but you can tell by the vibe of the team the continuity Clifford built last season could be fading.

Orlando lacks shooting so any good, to elite coach, would make schematic changes to correct some of the shooting woes. Pushing the pace, playing small (AG at PF), switching up lineups, benching cold players, are all things elite coaches do to try and solve roster issues. Example. Playing Birch at Power Forward has cost Orlando countless games, and he solves none of the spacing and shooting issues the team has. Fortunately, Birch has not been seen at Power Forward as of late, and the team has looked a lot better. Unfortunately, that change should have happened much sooner.

Clifford is a great teacher and essential what this young Magic team needed to gain traction and build an identity. However, in order for this team to make a jump, it may need better coaching along with a star player. The front office has employed its style of players and building a roster they like. They seem to be content with Clifford for now. However, my theory is Clifford may very well not see a second contract with this team. He may have resin the team's floor but seems to have a limit on the team reaching its ceiling.