4:22AM Saturday Morning

If the first game of the season was a shot across the bow demonstrating where this team could go this season, this game was a damning confirmation of offseason worries and predicted deficiencies. The more things change, the more they stay the same, as they say.

It is incredibly hard to defend any aspect of a 32 point loss. However, putting on our reasonable hat for a moment, just as it would be overeager to say the first game was the coming out party of an unlikely playoff contender, it would be just as premature to consign this team to the cellar of the NBA after this game.

This is, after all, a work in progress. A team adjusting to a new system of play and a new coaching staff.

That being said, this was a pretty bloody horrific game to watch.

Offensive Woes

From the get go, the lack of coordination on offense was truly astounding. It felt like there was little rhyme or reason to when shots were going up, to the point where it was genuinely difficult to tell whether the constant Hornet hands in Magic faces was due to a cohesive, swarming (get it?) defense or baffling offensive incompetence. The answer, as a wise old man once said, may well be a little from column “a,” and a little from column “b.”

The team finished on a dismal 38.4% from the field and a truly woeful 19.4% from 3 point range. Watching the game, it felt like the Magic were shooting on a smaller rim, or using a bigger ball (did anyone check for this?). They were clanking everything from every range, and there was no one on the team that you could have confidence in to force their way in and get the offense going. Aaron Gordon finished with only 5 points on 9 shots – half as many shots as he took in the previous game, which is a fine demonstration of how a bad rhythm led to a timid and shy offense.

What made it all the more frustrating was seeing Kemba Walker and his teammates push through their own shooting troubles and start consistently hitting outside shots. If i was to sum up how Steve Clifford must’ve felt watching this game on the offensive end, it would be with this gif:

That’s a fine looking backcourt!

Guards – Chickens coming home to roost.

"There's not much to say. When you lose by 40, it's almost like you can flush it down the toilet. That's got to be the mindset, and we've got to bounce back tomorrow. It was a poor performance on every level. You can't have nights like that." -Evan Fournier — Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) October 20, 2018

Evan Fournier has a combined +/- over two games of -49, and is shooting 30% from the floor. DJ Augustin finished with 2 points and 2 assists over 21 minutes. It is hardly revolutionary to suggest that the Magic are severely lacking in the backcourt, but how on earth you are supposed to develop and share the ball with a young, raw front court when the other team can disrespect your perimeter shooting so freely, and your passes are leading to silly turnovers possession after possession?

Fournier’s discombobulation in particular was tough to watch, particularly so because there is just nobody on this team who can plug into Fournier’s role. He is the supposed linchpin of their perimeter scoring and premier floor stretcher, so to see this level of play over two games with the possibility of being guarded by someone like Ben Simmons tomorrow night is harrowing stuff.

Mo Bamba – Definitely a Rookie

After the game against the Heat, calls for a Vucevic trade were at an all time high. Bamba impressed greatly with the second unit on Wednesday night and looked like a much more polished player than we had anticipated coming in to the season. Tonight, Mo was a victim of the team-wide crisis of confidence and timidity that came from the relentless clanking of the rim. He finished on 0 points off 4 attempts, 2 of which were from deep. This was a decidedly rookie kind of game for Mo, the kind truly great players take as a “welcome to the league, big fella” moment and utilize to better their own development.

And hey, it’s only Joel Embiid up next.

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“Should I have skipped it and gone to bed?” rating: 8/10. Briefly questioned what I am doing with my life.