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As the preseason rolls on, I can’t help but to feel more confident with the Magic’s current team as opposed to last year’s squad. Even though the team is not a complete overhaul from last season there are quite a few new faces. I know what you’re thinking, we lost our number one scorer (Afflalo) and our veteran point guard (Nelson), how is there any way we can win 30 games? Here’s how.
This is an extremely young team. The average age is 24.6 years old. Aaron Gordon is 19! That just screams potential. At any point one of these young guns could explode. And with the addition of some seasoned veterans in Luke Ridnour, Channing Frye, and Ben Gordon, the younger players have several people to look to for help.
We could have one of the quickest backcourts in the game. Oladipo and Payton are very good defenders and should be forcing a lot of turnovers. On top of the speed of those two, newcomer Evan Fournier is a quick guard that should have no trouble getting open looks off screens. If we can get fast breaks and in transition outside shots to fall we are going to be a tough team to beat (I’m looking at you, Ben Gordon).
We lost too many games last year that we should have won. A lot of them came down to the final seconds and we could not close out. Guys that were on the team last year should keep that in mind and let it fuel them to finish off opponents and celebrate instead of walking off the court with a bad taste in their mouth.
Last but not least, we play Philadelphia three times. They are so bad I could be on the roster. Plus my number is available. Regardless of that, those three games should be guaranteed victories.
If everything comes together the way it should, we should have a team that holds teams to low point totals and we win thanks to key shots in transitions off of good defensive plays. Holding teams below 100 is crucial. Our defense is capable of that night-in and night-out. Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton need to learn to shoot (no, dunking is not a shot, Aaron). Elfrid has been showing improvement thus far in the preseason. As for offensive execution, the smartest go-to plays should be a drive and kick to someone in the corners or feeding Vučević in the paint. This, to me, is the recipe for success. Well, at least the recipe to get thirty wins. Let’s go Magic.