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Interesting article on the Cauldron via SI.com about the importance of NBA coaches. The article examines 3 teams that have essentially the same personnel but have changed coaches. The Orlando Magic are one of the featured studies. There is a lot of digest here.

https://thecauldron.si.com/new-nba-coaches-that-inherit-set-personnel-are-in-tough-spots-e8cb8a5ac567#.97ccg9u4s

The 2015–16 season is the start of another litmus test, as three teams changed coaches while maintained essentially the same personnel, hoping that an ostensible upgrade on the bench would allow them to take the next step. We’ll get see what happens, and so far, it’s been so-so.

Scott Skiles has worked his usual voodoo on the 12–11 Magic, somehow cobbling together the league’s seventh-best defense despite starting Channing Frye, Nikola Vucevic, and Tobias Harris at the power positions for most of the season....

As has been the case for Skiles teams in the past, the team’s performance in the short-term has improved while the path to a fully actualized version with their cornerstone players appears no closer.....

Much more in the article.

for an article that is 2 days old, I felt like this was written more about the 1st ten games, than the last 10.

Fella needs to update his notes a bit regarding our team lol.

Harsh criticisms for a team that has gathered half of the win total they had all of last year... In December.

Skiles has done great. I'm curious about who the "star players" were last draft that were taken after Porzingis. WCS? Kaminsky? Winslow? Mudiay is a starter playing a ton of minutes, alright, but who exactly is he talking about? Russel?

Hezonja is also fine and we can all see his confidence growing by the game. It's by design that Skiles took Mario out of games when he wasn't ready and struggling; ya know, to make sure he didn't destroy his confidence ala Rudy Fernandez... And guess what! Mario has been doing exactly what he's here to do since then. Run the break, make great passes, and hit his threes.

I feel like this article was written entirely off of box scores and maybe watching a half or two of our play. Poor analysis without any real conclusion.

I'm fine with other people criticizing our team. It must mean good things that we're in the news again!

These opinions tend to be the broader opinion even if Magic fans think they are smarter than the world. Skiles is known for turning teams around without taking a team to the top, so his reputation precedes him maybe a little too much here. I dunno, time will tell. If he doesn't get too far away from developing our young talent then that would actually be great. In the past he has shown a tendency to favor vets. If we rely on our vets but only become a team that can beat bad teams and don't form into a real contender because we haven't developed anyone into a star or stars, then that is a fear I have.

Skin wrote:I'm fine with other people criticizing our team. It must mean good things that we're in the news again!

These opinions tend to be the broader opinion even if Magic fans think they are smarter than the world. Skiles is known for turning teams around without taking a team to the top, so his reputation precedes him maybe a little too much here. I dunno, time will tell. If he doesn't get too far away from developing our young talent then that would actually be great. In the past he has shown a tendency to favor vets. If we rely on our vets but only become a team that can beat bad teams and don't form into a real contender because we haven't developed anyone into a star or stars, then that is a fear I have.

I can agree with some of this, but it's sort of my point that the author of this article seems to have relied on armchair fan analysis to write his piece regarding the "immediate improvement/failure to reach the promised land". How many coaches exactly in the last 10-15 years have actually been to the finals? Phil and Pop sort of dominate that area, then maybe Spoelstra as coaches that were more than a flash in the pan.

As far as development, we know better than that, because we watch the games. Skiles doesn't play AG and Mario a lot, but he does play them. He does give them a chance. Mario is simply not ready, and AG maybe be an odd man out some nights due to match ups. There are so many factors involved for why rotations may be what they are that we as fans wouldn't see or know about.

Stay patient, and enjoy these wins that we haven't had in the last 3 years.

Nate Duncan is just a terrible writer.I remember he was in bball insiders(which are not really top shelf of NBA coverage) and somehow managed to get sacked/leave only to do awkward podcasts and live tweet during some games.

As has been the case for Skiles teams in the past, the team’s performance in the short-term has improved while the path to a fully actualized version with their cornerstone players appears no closer.....

This just isn't correct if you look back at any of Skiles' former teams. I mean, what stars/cornerstone players has he had to work with before that blossomed after him? None. Tyson Chandler went on to become a DPOTY player a decade after Skiles, and Jamal Crawford took a full decade to become a difference making 6th man, but beyond that I can't think of a player whom Skiles has done a poor job developing other than Tobias - and he's not a star or cornerstone player. Jennings is a good example of a guy who declined after his years with Skiles.

Bensational wrote:

As has been the case for Skiles teams in the past, the team’s performance in the short-term has improved while the path to a fully actualized version with their cornerstone players appears no closer.....

This just isn't correct if you look back at any of Skiles' former teams. I mean, what stars/cornerstone players has he had to work with before that blossomed after him? None. Tyson Chandler went on to become a DPOTY player a decade after Skiles, and Jamal Crawford took a full decade to become a difference making 6th man, but beyond that I can't think of a player whom Skiles has done a poor job developing other than Tobias - and he's not a star or cornerstone player. Jennings is a good example of a guy who declined after his years with Skiles.

I'd say Jennings played better for SVG than he did Skiles.

the Magic still can’t stop anybody with Vucevic on the court. He has the worst defensive rating on the team by almost five points per 100 possessions, and the Magic defend like the 28th-best team in the league when he’s out there.

I don't know where he is getting this. Vooch's drtg is 100, which is only one less than Dipo and Gordon, whose 99 is best among players in the regular rotation.

And then there's this:

it would be a mistake to view Orlando as up-and-coming until their young players become the drivers of its improvement.

Vooch and Harris lead us in PER, and Dipo has been our most important defensive player--all young guys. The only vets even in the rotation are Frye and Smith, who are 11th and 12th on the team in usg%.

Confirmation Bias: The Article

Stay live-tweeting games and making **** podcasts Dunc

This guys probably watched <5 of our games. Oh cool, someone wrote an inaccurate article about us, lets just for joy at the fact someone wrote about us. Wrongo. I like hearing from the NBA channel on serus xm. They tell it like it is.