Losing board game
Frustrated Clifford: We need to fight for more rebounds
The Orlando Magic have lost several games this season they have said they should have won. It’s happened so many times, however, that it is becoming tiresome for the players and the coaching staff.
They have expectations of themselves and they are not meeting them. After 22 games, the Magic are 10-12 and can point to seven games they feel they should have won and legitimately had opportunities to claim victories.
The rhetoric, however, is becoming old. They are asked the same questions after every potential win that has turned into a loss. It’s becoming difficult for them to find answers. The problems seem obvious, but it’s apparently not an easy thing to fix.
The Magic have lacked a killer instinct to finish off opponents when they have them down.
The past two losses are perfect examples.
The Magic watched Golden State erase an 18-point lead during a short period Monday, then saw an 11-point lead become an 11-point deficit at Portland on Wednesday.
The Portland result irritated head coach Steve Clifford so much that he answered one question from the media afterward and then exited the interview area in a huff after about 40 seconds.
Clifford had calmed a bit Thursday after getting a chance to watch the film from the Trail Blazers’ loss. The Magic practiced in Phoenix in preparation for Friday night’s game against the Suns, and he addressed the media afterward.
“The ball movement was there. We shot the ball well. We got good quality shots, the same thing, in a close game we scored 28 on the road, you know, so that part was good,” Clifford said. “... It’s the physicality part, the rebounding part has gotta get better.”
The Magic have been out-rebounded in two consecutive games and Clifford wants his squad to be far more physical. The NBA has evolved into a perimeter-shooting league, which means there often are longer rebounds coming off the rim. But far too many times Wednesday, shots caromed off the rim and the Magic did not even have a player in the paint to battle for the ball.
“It’s hitting more, getting more guys in there. I know it sounds silly but if we got five guys in there fighting for the ball and they got three ... I just showed them a couple of clips where it happened last night, where [if ] we got everybody in there fighting for the ball, then we have a better chance to get it,” Clifford said. “It’s a major challenge for our team and we gotta get better at it.
“Say what you want, Lillard was phenomenal last night (41 points), both [Kevin] Durant (49 points) and [Klay] Thompson (20 points) were great at Golden State and if we rebound better, we win both of those games. We’re doing a lot of good things, but if we don’t get the rebounding stuff down, it may not matter.”
Turning the corner on what has been six straight sub-.500 seasons for the Magic is becoming more of a priority. Panic mode has not set in yet and so far the Magic have shown the ability to bounce back from poor or disappointing performances. Now they just need to put it all together on a consistent basis.
After the Portland loss the look on the faces and tone in the voices of every player in the Magic locker room was that of not only disappointment, but also of irritation.
The Magic are tired of playing well enough to win but coming out on the losing end. They’re even more tired of talking about it. When asked how Orlando can end the trend, many players had no answers. They say they just need to keep working and the process will begin to show results.
It’s good, to an extent, that the Magic have that sort of optimism, but if the trend continues, that optimism can turn into complacency or, worse, skepticism, and that does not make for a healthy, productive locker room atmosphere.
To their credit, the Magic remain confident. They have missed Aaron Gordon for most of the past two games. Gordon left the Magic’s loss to the Warriors in the middle of the third quarter and he did not play at Portland.
Jonathan Isaac said the Magic just have to keep trudging forward — listening to the coaches and sticking to the game plan.
“It’s extremely frustrating. We have to win these games. That’s the bottom line and It’s not something that should happen and we gotta take care of it,” Isaac said Wednesday. “In this league, to a certain extent, you have to have a shortterm memory. … But you know, losses like [Portland] are very frustrating and we have to find a way to dwell on it and fix what’s going on.
“Through the entire game, especially down the stretch we have to find another level of focus and another level of determination.”