Ibaka sought minutes at center
TORONTO —
wishes the Orlando Magic had played small ball more often with him as a center during his brief tenure with the team.
Ibaka made that revelation on Monday morning, after his new team, the Toronto Raptors, prepared to face the Magic on Monday night at the Air Canada Centre. Ibaka and Magic coach
had discussed the possibility of the Magic adopting a small-ball lineup.
“At some point, I spoke with Coach about playing small ball,” Ibaka said. “At some point, he agreed with me. But we never did it. We never did it.”
Instead, Vogel primarily stuck with lineups that featured two big men playing simultaneously: Ibaka and
together or Ibaka and
together or Vucevic and Biyombo together.
The decision to go big when most other NBA teams are going small profoundly hurt the Magic on both ends of the court. It forced the Magic to play
at small forward instead of power forward and at shooting guard of small forward. instead
Ibaka played 57 games with Orlando.
Magic officials thought the team would contend for an Eastern Conference playoff spot with him in the fold, but the team faltered and posted a 21-36 record.
Ibaka made his comments Monday in response to direct questions about his time with the Magic.
Vogel felt a bit constrained from playing Ibaka extensively at center.
The Magic had signed Biyombo to a four-year, $68 contract over the summer, and the team also had Vucevic.
“We had three really solid big guys,” Vogel said Monday.
“I felt like those three guys were three of our best players, and rather than sit down your best players, you play your best players. Playing Serge at center would have meant less minutes for Vooch and less or no minutes for Biz. I think that wasn’t best for our team: to sit some of our best players down. So what you do is you try to play ’em together, and that’s what we did the first part of the season.”
In June, the Magic traded
the
11th
and the rights to overall pick,
to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Ibaka.
Ibaka, a former NBA AllDefensive first team standout, was billed as someone who would protect the rim and improve the Magic’s defensive versatility.
“I remember in the beginning, I was so excited,” Ibaka said. “Even mentally I was so fresh and excited about the season. But in life sometimes the way we try to do things, or the way we think things can go, may not happen. That’s the case out there in Orlando. But I had good moments there.”
Ibaka sank enough shots that he became the Magic’s most consistent shot-maker. He averaged 15.1 points per game and made 48.8 percent of his shots overall and 38.8 percent of his 3-point tries.
But the Magic stumbled as they played several players out of position and went with big lineups.
Ibaka acknowledged Monday that he felt pressure when he arrived in Orlando. But soon that pressure was replaced with another emotion.
“At some point, there was no more pressure, and it was just frustration,” Ibaka said.