Five games away from the midpoint of the season the Orlando Magic are record wise 5 games worse than last season. But last year's roster was done in by a horrid January, only 2 wins to go along with 12 losses. At 1-1 so far this month, first year head coach Frank Vogel knows what it looks like when his team is playing the right way.
“We played with much better energy and effort on both sides of the floor,” head coach Frank Vogel said. “That’s how you got to play every night. Anything less that that is not acceptable. We still have some work to do on the defensive end, but we played harder offensively, we ran the floor, we screened harder and we cut harder, we just worked harder, and as a result we got the victory.”
The Magic have been up and down this season to say the least. A three game winning streak in early December was followed with three straight losses. But with 5 newcomers who receive significant minutes it’s a process to get this team playing in accord, and it all starts with playing hard.
“This is the NBA, sometimes teams come out and don’t play with the necessary energy,” Vogel said. “The teams that play with it most consistently are the teams that win 50 games and go to the playoffs, and go on playoff runs. The teams that don’t they go home every year, so we gotta bring that energy every night.”
The schedule for January is tough one, Orlando will play twice as many road games as home games. But with how they’ve played so far this season, winning more away games than the ones in the Amway Center it could be just what the Magic need to make a push towards the playoffs.