Frank Vogel has been around the NBA long enough to know tough times can sneak up on a team even when things appear to be brightest. So as the Orlando Magic raced out to an 8-4 start and Vogel fielded questions about his team's early season success and change in style, he was careful to couch the building expectations for his young group.

"Don't pat me on the back too hard just yet," Vogel said. "It's very, very early and we haven't really done anything yet."

Those words have proven very prescient for a Magic squad that comes into Friday's game against the Boston Celtics having lost six straight. The cautious optimism that surrounded the Magic's unexpected start to the season has been replaced with the reality that the group is still having the same growing pains it has experienced since trading Dwight Howard five years ago.

With a rough stretch ahead over the next two weeks -- including a home date against the defending champion Golden State Warriors -- it doesn't appear as if the wins that were coming easily last month will return immediately. However, the good news for disgruntled Magic fans is that the changes Vogel made this offseason could give this group a foundation on which they can get back on track.

The 44-year-old still chuckles at the kinds of rock-'em, sock-'em games he used to coach in during his six-year stint with the Indiana Pacers.

"I remember being tied 74-74 going into overtime against Charlotte," Vogel said recently.

As he studied the ups and downs of his first season with the Magic, a disappointing 29-53 campaign, the basketball lifer embarked on a philosophical change for his new group. While the principles of defense and playing "selfless basketball" weren't going to change, Vogel knew the Magic had to adapt to both how the league was changing offensively and the strengths of his unproven nucleus.

The Magic not only had to play at a faster pace than Vogel's Pacers did, they had to play smarter and be more efficient with how they used passes. Despite the recent losses, the data is encouraging. Last season, the Magic had an offensive rating of 101.2, ranked second-worst in the league according to ESPN Stats & Information, and a defensive rating of 108.0, which was seventh-worst. That net rating of minus-6.8 was second-worst in the league, ahead of only the Los Angeles Lakers.

This season, the Magic's offensive rating has improved to 104.5, good for 13th in the league. Their defensive rating (105.1) has also improved, and though their net rating is a negative right now, it still ranks nine spots higher than it did a year ago. The new style is one that the players clearly favor over what they used to do.

"I think last year we were trying to go big when the whole league was going small and it wasn't really working," Magic center Nikola Vucevic said. "A lot of guys were out of their comfort zone, a lot of guys were out of position. It just wasn't working, it wasn't clicking. I think this year players' roles are more clear."

Frank Vogel implemented a new system to make best use of the young talent on the Magic. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Vogel points to the arrival of Terence Ross prior to last season's trade deadline as a reason the Magic have found more offensive success. The move, which sent Serge Ibaka to the Toronto Raptors, allowed Aaron Gordon to move to the 4 and Evan Fournier to be a 3.

"We changed our style of play on both ends of the floor with the way we're doing things offensively and just taking advantage of our speed defensively," Vogel said. "I think those seeds we planted at the end of last season have carried over into this season to doing some things that I'm really excited about, really encouraged about."

The key for the Magic, and a reason that they might be able to shake out of their current funk, is that they are shooting the ball much better than they did a year ago. Last season, they shot 44 percent from the field and 32.8 percent from beyond the arc. Coming into the week, they are shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc. The biggest improvement has come on the corner 3-pointer, where last season Orlando shot a league-worst 30.2 percent. This season the Magic are shooting 43 percent from the same area, good for seventh in the league.

"One of the big takeaways I kind of picked up from watching the Boston/Cleveland series is how little they force at the rim," Vogel said. "Everything at the rim, if it wasn't a clean look, it was an inside-out pass for a 3. And it's why you see the 3-point shot being so prevalent right now is a one on two shot at the rim is not as good as an open 3."

Another big reason the Magic can be optimistic about turning the corner is the evolution of fourth-year forward Aaron Gordon, who is averaging career highs in points (17.5) and rebounds (8.1). After shooting just 28.8 percent from long range a season ago, Gordon came into the week shooting 46.9 percent from deep. As the 22-year-old goes, so goes the rest of his team. In the seven wins the Magic have with Gordon on the floor, he is shooting 62.8 percent from the field and is 19-for-28 (67.9 percent) from deep. In the eight losses, he is shooting 41.8 percent from the field and 28.9 percent from deep.

Aaron Gordon, Last 2 Seasons In his fourth NBA season, Magic forward Aaron Gordon is proving to be much more than just a dunk contest darling. 2016-17 2017-18 PPG 12.7 17.5 RPG 5.1 8.1 FG Pct 45.4 51.6 3-pt FG Pct 28.8 43.8* *3rd in NBA among power forwards

"I think what he's done is he's finding a rhythm to his game, a pace to his game," new Magic GM John Hammond said. "I think he's just scratching the surface, too. Joe Dumars always used to say this: 'Every offseason you should come back with one little part of your game better. Whatever it is. Just one thing.'"

The improvement comes as Gordon is poised to become a restricted free agent this summer, but Hammond sounds convinced that both Gordon and the Magic will be able to come to terms on a long-term contract keeping him in Orlando.

"You look at a guy like that and say, 'He's one of those guys as you move forward with, that you got to have,'" Hammond said. "And we feel that way."

With Gordon, Fournier, Vucevic and rookie Jonathan Isaac, the organization has the type of young talent that should provide a foundation for sustained success. But do they have the type of transformative star that any elite NBA team needs in order to succeed -- the kind of player they've lacked since Howard's departure in 2012? Gordon could develop into that kind of player over time, but in the short term, the biggest positive for the young group is that they have the same coach in place to lead the way.

Hammond, who replaced fired GM Rob Hennigan after last season, and new team president Jeff Weltman decided to keep Vogel on board for a second season, before Vogel had decided on any of the scheme changes that defined the early part of the Magic's season. While the front office gives credit to Vogel for those changes, the players were simply happy to see him back on the sideline.

Aaron Gordon is averaging career highs across the board in 2017-18. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

"This is the first year that we've had the same coach back-to-back years," said Gordon, who played for two coaches as a rookie in 2014-15, then one season with Scott Skiles, before Vogel arrived. "So that makes a world of difference. We understand what he's looking for. We understand the offense and the defensive schemes much better. It's easier to buy in so that's probably the biggest difference, especially with the same core group."

Both Vogel and Hammond understand the Magic have a long way to go in order to earn a playoff berth for the first time since 2012, but both men see positives in the future for an organization badly in need of a confidence boost. Hammond understands the challenges of building a small-market contender, having most recently left the Milwaukee Bucks to join Weltman in Orlando -- but even he couldn't help but crack a smile when the topic of possibly luring big-time free agents to Orlando came up.

"We always say, 'If you build it, they will come,'" Hammond said. "Look, if we get to the point where we're a good enough team, obviously the organization has a lot of things that [it can sell]. Great ownership, stable ownership, the fact that it's a great city, it's a warm-weather city. That may be a ways off, but I do think people want to be a part of winning. So if we're winning, we'll have a chance to recruit those guys."