Transition defense a concern
The Phoenix Suns are generally considered one of the worst teams in the NBA. But if the Orlando Magic play transition defense as poorly as they played transition defense Thursday night, then the Magic just might lose when they host the Suns tonight.
On Thursday, the Magic lost to the Philadelphia 76ers 118-98. Although budding stars and led the way for the Sixers, the Magic had themselves to blame for their inability to slow the Sixers in transition.
In the game’s first three quarters, the Sixers outscored the Magic in fastbreak points 27-2. No single play exemplified Orlando’s futility more than a play that occurred midway through the second quarter. Simmons collected a defensive rebound, ran upcourt and sprinted through a gap between
and for an absurdly easy dunk.
Asked to describe play, coach said his players showed “a gross lack of awareness” and the play looked “egregious and offensive.” That also explained why Vogel immediately called a timeout after Simmons’ dunk and subbed out Mack, Vucevic, that and
The Suns have played at the NBA’s fastest pace since former Magic point guard started playing for them. So the Magic can expect Payton and his new teammates to test their transition defense, too.
“Hopefully, Philly prepared us for improving our transition defense because we were God-awful last night getting back on defense,” Vogel said Friday. “If we play like we played last night against Phoenix and Brooklyn and Chicago, we’ll lose by 30 to them, too.” knows what it feels like to go to bed hungry.
As a child growing up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there was a period in Biyombo’s life when he subsisted on just one meal a day.
On Friday, Biyombo, 250 Magic staffers and 100 United Healthcare employees assembled 12,500 packs of food for local children who otherwise might go hungry over the weekend without access to school cafeterias.
“Some people just talk about it,” Biyombo said. “Other people do something about it. So it’s good to see some people doing something about it. I think I’m most grateful to be able to know that every bag that I’m going to pack is going to help somebody to [eat] for another day, and they’re going to be able to smile. Anything for kids.”
Each pack of food included mandarin oranges, macaroni o’s and beef, sunflower seeds, low-fat milk, a juice box, toasted rice cereal, macaroni and cheese, multi-grain bars and graham crackers.
Wearing white T-shirts, the Magic’s entire full-time staff, including all of the coaches, participated in Thursday afternoon’s event.
“Hunger is a bigger in Central Florida than I think we care to believe or that we really know the details of as a community,” Magic CEO said. and are unlikely to play against the Suns, Vogel said.
Isaac missed Thursday’s loss to Philadelphia because of a strained left foot, and Simmons missed his second consecutive game because of a bruised right wrist.
The team has listed Isaac and Simmons as doubtful to play today.