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By John Denton
Dec. 5, 2015
LOS ANGELES – This Elfrid Payton – the one being more assertive and the one resembling last season’s confident and aggressive rookie – has been a driving force behind the Orlando Magic’s recent string of success.
Payton, who finished fourth in the NBA’s Rookie of the Year voting a season ago, strained a hamstring in the preseason and missed two weeks’ worth of games. The comeback from injury and the adjustment to Orlando’s new offensive scheme led to some early-season struggles for Payton, who averaged 9.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 6.0 assists while shooting just 34.2 percent in the Magic’s first 14 games of the season.
However, Payton has picked it up of late largely because he’s played with more vigor and assertiveness – things demanded of him when he met with head coach Scott Skiles recently to discuss ways he could be more effective.
Payton, 21, went into Saturday night’s game against the Clippers averaging 13.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 7.6 steals while making 47.6 percent of his shot attempts over the previous five games.
“It’s just about me wanting to put an impact on a game any way that I can – defensively or offensively,” Payton said. “Sometimes there are some little lulls in the game and I’m trying to pick it up. Whether it’s defensively, trying to stop the ball in transition, with a rebound or diving on a loose ball – whatever it may be – I’m just trying to impact the game whatever way that I can.”
Skiles feels that Payton has been on the biggest benefactors from the Magic’s lineup change because the insertion of sweet-shooting power forward Channing Frye creates more driving lanes for cat-quick point guard. But Payton’s progress has also come about because he is playing with more confidence and with more consistent energy.
“No question, he’s more assertive in all parts of his game,” Skiles said. “That’s one thing that we’ve talked to Elfrid about. When he’s really at a high energy level, he puts a lot of pressure on the other team. He pushed it, he’s got nice dribble moves and he generally makes good decisions. And his ability to be a pesky defender and keep the other team’s point guard under control helps and he doesn’t gamble as much as he used to. He’s an incredible valuable player to us when he’s playing like this.”
DOC MAKES THE CALL: When Glenn “Doc” Rivers coached in Orlando from 1999-2003, he always joked that “Doc” was just a nickname when he was asked about injuries to various players.
Despite his lack of medical knowledge, Rivers said he backed up the advice of the Clippers’ trainers on Saturday when they ruled guard J.J. Redick out of action against the Magic. Redick, a former standout with the Magic from 2006-13, sprained his ankle on the first possession of Wednesday’s game and did not return. Redick attempted to get himself ready to play on Saturday night, but that try was squashed by Rivers as a precautionary measure.
“He tried to talk his way into playing, but it wasn’t going to happen,” Rivers said of Redick. “You can usually tell by the trainer’s tone if it’s a good or bad idea and that’s what happened today (with Redick). … We’ve all learned more about injuries and the safe way is always better. Early in our careers, a player would say that they can play and they don’t care what the trainer says and you’d be like, `OK, you’re playing.’ I don’t think we do that anymore. But I think we’re smarter about it than we used to be. It’s because we go more on science now than our feel.”
Despite spending the past 12 years coaching in Boston and Los Angeles, Rivers still keeps a home in Central Florida and he watches the Magic from a little more than other Eastern Conference teams. He made it known over the summer that he fully supported Orlando’s hiring of Scott Skiles and he expected the Magic to be a more disciplined and tough-minded team. On Saturday, Rivers complimented Orlando’s recent stellar play and he said the team very easily could have one of the NBA’s best records if not for some bad luck early in the season.
“It’s amazing watching them. They haven’t made a lot of changes in their personnel, so you just watch how they play now and they play with a spirit and discipline and they really move the ball,” Rivers raved. “They have great spacing, they cut and defensively they all pull in and help. They look different and it’s because of Scott.
“They’ve won five in a row, but you look at the first five games of the year and they probably should have won all five of those games,” he added. “Probably the only reason they didn’t was youth and being new to Scott. So they have put themselves in the race and it’s nice to see.”
MEMORIES OF L.A.: With the Los Angeles Kings hosting a NHL game on Saturday afternoon, the Staples Center was unavailable to the Magic for their usual pregame shoot-around session.
That led the Magic to find another basketball facility and they held their Saturday morning practice at the Los Angeles Lakers headquarters in El Segundo. Being back in that facility sparked some special memories for Magic forward Aaron Gordon and Payton.
In the days leading up to the 2014 NBA Draft, the Lakers had Payton and Gordon in their facility for a workout. The two future Magic standouts teamed up against Marcus Smart and Doug McDermott and got the best of the two-on-two game, in part, because of the chemistry they already had from playing together in the Under-18 Games for USA Basketball a year earlier.
“I remember (the workout) going really well. Me and A.G. were on the same team and it was kind of unfair because we had played together before,” said Payton, whom the Magic acquired on draft night in a trade. “Me and A.G. had a good workout. … I don’t dwell on if I had gone to the Lakers. Everything happens for a reason.”
Added Gordon, the No. 4 pick by the Magic: “It basically wasn’t fair because we were just taking turns coming off the pick-and-roll and dominating. Kinda, but not really (does he ponder that he could have been drafted elsewhere). I’m extremely happy with where I am. I love everything about this (Magic) organization. … I’m extremely happy with where I am.”
