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By John Denton
Dec. 5, 2015
LOS ANGELES – A firm believer in the analytics of basketball and also steeped in experience from his many years on the bench as a coach, Scott Skiles never makes Xs and Os decisions without weighing all factors and considering the potential ramifications.
Despite all of those preparations and contemplations, Skiles never could have imagined his most daring move so far as the Orlando Magic’s coach could have worked out this well.
Not long after disappointing losses to Sacramento and Cleveland, Skiles made the decision on Nov. 24 that the Magic needed to juggle their rotations in order to get more shooting and spacing into the starting five and more offensive firepower off the bench. To that end, Skiles moved standout guard Victor Oladipo to a reserve role and inserted power forward Channing Frye – moves that were in no way punitive, but ones designed to address the Magic’s inconsistencies in the guts of games.
Five games after the moves, Orlando (11-8) have five wins and are riding its longest winning streak since January of 2012. And tonight when the Magic face the Clippers (10-9) in Los Angeles, they will be looking to push their winning streak to six and their start to this five-game, 10-day road trip to 3-0. And if the Magic do beat the Clippers tonight (10:30 p.m. ET), it will likely have a lot to do with the newfound production that they are getting from their first and second units.
“We’re a very, very deep team and one of the struggles that Scott was having earlier was, `How do you get everybody playing time?”’ Magic forward Aaron Gordon said. “He’s doing a good job with that now and we’re capitalizing on everybody’s talents with the new rotations.”
The Clippers could be looking at some new rotations tonight Chris Paul (inflamed rib cartilage) out and former Magic guard J.J. Redick (sprained ankle) unlikely to play. Austin Rivers, son of head coach Doc Rivers and a former Orlando high school star, will likely start at point guard. Lance Stephenson and Jamal Crawford will likely see most of the minutes at shooting guard in place of Redick, who sprained his ankle on the first possession of Wednesday’s loss to Indiana.
Since Skiles’ changes to the Magic’s rotation, Orlando has seen dramatic improvements both offensively and defensively. Since Nov. 24, Orlando ranks third in the NBA in offensive rating (107.1 points per 100 possessions) and fourth in defensive rating (93.9 points per 100 possessions). Over that same period of time, Orlando is averaging 104.6 points a game (sixth in the NBA), while giving up just 91.8 points per game.
Skiles certainly isn’t seeking credit for sparking the Magic, but he is fully aware of the positive effects that the moves have made. He can see how the new lineups have made Oladipo and small forward Tobias Harris more efficient, how the threat of Frye’s threes have created more driving space for Elfrid Payton and how Andrew Nicholson has brought scoring punch to the reserves.
“I don’t know that if we had kept the lineup the same that we wouldn’t have won five in a row anyway,” Skiles said. “I know (the changes) get attention and Victor is scoring so well off the bench and there’s some data obviously that (the changes) may have helped, but you never know.
“It seems to have (brought balance),” Skiles continued. “At some point here I have to stop saying that it’s a small sample size – it’s still relatively small with just five games. But it seems that maybe roles are a little clearer and we’re playing less small ball. And Andrew’s production, bringing him into the second unit and having another scorer and inside/outside player has been very helpful.”
