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Magic suffer heavy home defeat
“Stuck in shit”: Moritz Wagner becomes clear – Magic continue to puzzle
The Orlando Magic remain a mystery this season. The game against the Charlotte Hornets once again showed what the Magic are missing. Moritz Wagner becomes clear.
There’s just no consistency in Orlando. With the short-term loss of Franz Wagner and the still injured Jalen Suggs, the Magic were once again missing two key players, but an ambitious team still has to beat such a Hornets team (who were even in action the day before).
“I have never experienced such problems in my time in Orlando and we are currently looking for answers,” added the Berliner. “That’s how it is sometimes in sport and now we have to find a solution together.”
Magic: Banchero criticizes the lack of a plan
A good 24 hours earlier, the Magic had emphasized in unison that they wanted to slowly start a series in order to get into a good position for the playoffs, but with ideas like this, the view should be put in the rearview mirror. “It’s easy to say something, but hard to do it,” noted Jamahl Mosley.
The coach will now have to deal with more critical questions again, at least he is no longer in the saddle. Paolo Banchero’s words were also fitting. “We have to be prepared and have a plan,” said the former top pick. “If something doesn’t work, changes are needed. You have to find solutions and have a plan. We haven’t been able to do that yet.”
Is this a criticism of the coach? There were rumors months ago that things weren’t going particularly well between Banchero and Mosley, but for now that’s pure speculation. The forward will also have to put up with criticism again; since his return from injury he has not been playing at the same level as last year.
Magic: The next weak start
Against Charlotte, he put up 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 30 minutes, but he still had the worst plus-minus value at -25. Over the season, the Magic even lose minutes with the All-Star on the field and have a positive net rating when Banchero is on the bench (+3.1 per 100 possessions).
“We are not yet a unit,” the 23-year-old continued. “It shows in the way we play. We’re not consistent and that’s frustrating. We all want to win, but we don’t work hard enough to make it happen.”
Here lies the crux. The potential is there, there have been good moments this season too, but too often there are quarters in which the Magic are not on the field. Heads went down quickly against Charlotte when they hit nine three-pointers in the first quarter. There was virtually no resistance to the impending defeat.
Magic: Play trendsetting against Cleveland
“We have to control what we can control,” demanded Mosley, referring to the effort in defense. “It’s about attitude and commitment, it’s all part of basketball.” The Magic have made a name for themselves with defense in recent years, but at the moment Orlando is just mediocre in this regard.
But this is not the claim for a team that put a lot of chips in the middle with the trade for Desmond Bane. Orlando wants to attack, wants to attack the top around New York, Detroit or even Cleveland. But something has to happen – and soon.
The next two games are now against the Cavs, who are also having problems but are currently just ahead of Orlando. In order not to lose touch, the Magic will have to win at least one game in this home-and-home series.
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