All Jamahl Mosley can seemingly do is encourage his team and try to pump them up.
Through the first three games played without star Paolo Banchero, Jamahl Mosley has had to play team psychologist as much as tactician with the team clearly discouraged by the injury to their top player and the difficult losses they have faced.
Monday’s 102-86 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder featured more positive play. The team defended well, putting together strong quarters in the second and fourth quarters. They were moving the ball and getting to the line. They scored in the paint.
One element was missing: The shooting.
For the second straight game, the Magic shot worse than 20 percent. The Magic could not keep up with the Thunder without making the open threes they were generating. The Magic gained more confidence elsewhere but were ultimately blown out again because they could not buy a bucket.
The Magic will not win until they make threes at a reasonable rate. They are buried in this version of the NBA where shooting is not an option, but a requirement.
It is easy to blame many of the Magic’s problems right now like the shooting issues and how that tilts the defense on Banchero’s absence. Some of it might have to do with Banchero.
But the Magic were not quite right even before Banchero’s injury. They gave up big quarters to the Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies. As much as the shooting was a featured issue against the Chicago Bulls, the two 34-point quarters stood out, helping the Magic lose an early advantage.
All is not right for the Magic overall. Take the team’s bench scoring.
Last year, Orlando’s bench was among its superpowers. The team was fourth in the league in bench scoring. This year, they are 16th with 33.5 points per game. The bench players are shooting 37.7 percent overall.
That is not a group Banchero typically plays with. But it is a group the Magic leaned on heavily to succeed last year. That part of the team’s formula has not been present to this point this season. And they have seen major regressions from Moe Wagner with his efficiency and even Jonathan Isaac with his shooting and some of his overall defensive impact.
They have not found their footing. And that is something that was happening before Banchero’s injury and independent of Banchero’s overall impact.
To be sure, Orlando has a lot of issues it needs to resolve in the next month while Banchero is recovering.
Whether Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs can increase their usage is one of the big questions. But that is a question the team will be able to put away when Banchero returns in the next two months.
But issues like these persistent shooting struggles – even on open and good looks – and the bench scoring are issues that are independent of Banchero. And the Magic are going to have to find a way to improve them during this stretch.
