From the start of training camp to the midway point of the preseason, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley has continued to emphasize conditioning as a key factor for his team’s success this year.
Orlando has made it clear it wants to turn up the tempo on offense after it ended last season with the slowest pace league-wide, according to NBA.com.
Finding a balance between producing a top defensive rating (Magic’s 109.1 rating was second last season) and playing faster on offense is no simple task, but that’s why conditioning has been a focus of Mosley’s in camp.
“You’ve got to be able to play both sides of the basketball,” he said after practice Thursday at the AdventHealth Training Center before the team traveled north. “We talk about being able to run, but us being a defensive team, that’s where we hang our hat. You’ve got to be able to do both.”
Although they’ve practiced as an entire team eight times already, they’ve only faced another team once. The Magic won their preseason opener last Saturday against the Heat in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Mosley believes this weekend — which includes a Friday night game at Philadelphia and a Sunday home contest vs. Miami — will provided a clearer picture of where his teams stands from a conditioning standpoint.
“This upcoming game we’ll be able to tell a little bit more,” he said. “Eight or nine days into training camp, our ability to see that against a different opponent, I’ll be able to evaluate a little bit more as we get into this next game.”
Orlando once again will be without guard Jalen Suggs (left knee trochlea cartilage tear) and backup Moe Wagner (left knee torn ACL) as they continued to go through individual non-contact drills this week.
Mosley said the rest of the team is “sore but they’re all healthy.”
As for who else plays and how many minutes they see the court, Mosley wouldn’t share his plans. Against the Heat, Magic forward Franz Wagner sat out to rest after an extended time spent with Germany at EuroBasket.
Mosely said it’s “wait and see.”
Orlando’s first opponent this weekend, the 76ers, already have two preseason games under their belt because the team played earlier than the rest of the league in Abu Dhabi.
Philadelphia lost both international exhibitions against the Knicks. Neither five-time All-NBA center Joel Embiid nor six-time All-NBA forward Paul George played in either of the contests, and it appears unlikely they’ll suit up against the Magic.
The No. 3 pick in June’s draft, VJ Edgecombe, didn’t practice Thursday due to left hip soreness, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
GMs high on Orlando
The NBA’s annual GM survey released Thursday morning and 47% of voters view the Magic as the team that will be the most improved this season.
Mosley shared his reaction to the results of the survey, which asked all 30 GMs 49 different questions that touched on the league’s best teams, players, coaches and more.
“I look at it as everybody’s undefeated right now,” Mosley said. “So, statistics can say one thing, opinions can say it’s one thing. We’ve got to get on the floor. And that’s why our job is just to get better every day and not think about the outside voices of what they say and their opinions of what we’re doing.”
Orlando trading for sharpshooter Desmond Bane was viewed as the most underrated player acquisition of the offseason, while Bane himself finished second behind only Kevin Durant as the player acquisition that will make the biggest impact.
“Great that they think that, but now the other side of it is we’ve got to go out and put a product on the floor that we can be proud of every night,” Mosley said.
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
Up next …
Magic at 76ers
When: 7, Xfinity Mobile Arena
TV: NBA TV
