No excuses, undermanned Orlando Magic step up and embrace their culture

No excuses, undermanned Orlando Magic step up and embrace their culture

Well uh what do we have to say about that down to eight men down to down 18 in the third quarter the Orlando Magic come through with their most impressive win of the Season we got culture we got a triple double we got a career night we

Got so much to talk about that I’m going on here early at least for me because I have haven’t written my thing yet for London Magic daily it’s time to get it all out there on locked on Magic you are locked on Magic your daily Orlando Magic podcast part of the locked

On podcast Network your team every Day hey you are in Black Magic today is January 6 2024 my name is Philip Rosman I’m the expert in sight editor over at orlandomagic.com follow me on Twitter Philip rror on today’s episode of Locked on Magic somehow someway down to eight men the Lineo magic steamroll in Denver and

Upset the defending Champion Denver nuggets 122 to 120 we’ll go over the big performances from Star players the magic got and what this game says about the culture look it’s all that coming up here in just moment first we want to thank you again for making lockdown

Magic part of your day every day no matter when you listen to us whether it’s first in the morning whether it’s right when we upload we truly appreciate you making locked on Magic part of your day every day remember there’s a great lock on podcast covering every single

Team in the NBA just search for locked on and the team you’re looking for the lockon podcast Network it’s your team every day um if you don’t know the circumstances of this game let me get you up to speed France voger sprained his ankle in Wednesday’s loss to the

Sacramento Kings out uh marel folz Joe Engles Jonathan Isaac still out Gary Harris calf strain out wend Carter right KNE tendonitis was questionable before the game out Goa bad got sick out Anthony black also sick tried to play got through four minutes of the game looked over at the coach and said I

Don’t have it tonight he was out for the rest of the game the Orlando Magic played entered the game with nine available players they played the game with the minimum eight I mean not minimum they have to start the game with eight but they played the game with

Eight players and you know yes Denver was on a backto back uh but that is a tall t task at the altitude especially it is a hard thing to do and you know we talked about this after the magic lost to the Kings on Wednesday in the double

Overtime game against the Kings on Wednesday about how your culture how who you are as a team as an organization is tested in these moments everything that you are about as a team it’s tested when You Face adversity and I know I have sat here in this

Chair and told you all in training camp every player on this roster is going to contribute something at some point this season 82 games is a long time very very few players make it the full 82 games it’s hard it’s hard and so if you’re on

The roster you may not play very much on a night toight basis but there’s going to be a game there’s going to be a stretch of games where you are called upon and who you are as a team and what you stand for as a program

Is going to be determined by how your team responds when that when that moment comes and so these last two games Sacramento and Denver we really about this team’s culture and what they’re growing but look the place we have to start is at the top because as much as

All that stuff is nice and chumo KK making B you know making some big plays Trevor and queen finishing the game uh you know Admiral scoffield doing his his best all that stuff is great all that stuff is important but at the end of the day

You go as far as your best players and if you want to know what leadership looks like if you want to know what it means to lead a team it comes with your best players understanding the situation and understanding what’s called of them look poo banero has been putting up insane

Numbers through December since December 1st I think he’s averaging 26 points per game close to 27 points per game he’s been averaging up near five assists per game he’s been averaging eight nine rebounds seven eight rebounds per game this dude has stepped up his game considering all the injuries to Magic

Face considering everything that this magic team is dealing with he’s increased the scoring he’s done all the things that his team need him to do so what do you ask a 21-year-old second-year play player to do when you’re down to eight men I mean I think I jokingly said uh during this during

The the second during the second quarter the third quarter of the game Wednesday that Pao might have to drop 50 for the magic to win this thing and obviously what he did Wednesday night in a double overtime loss of the Kings he scored 43 career-high and scored 18 straight

Points for the Magic in the fourth quarter in overtime I know the magic kind of you know that was a back and forth game like he made some big shots and some big plays throughout the course of that game unbelievable effort from pal the magic needed him to do that

Again and like to ask a player to enter a game saying hey we’re gonna need 50 from you tonight we’re gonna need 40 yeah 50 is asking a lot we’re gonna need 40 from you there are only so many players that can do that and so the magic entered this game

Knowing they were down to N9 men probably gonna be eight men I think they understood that that Anthony black probably wasn’t going to make it but they they tried anyway because they just they needed it they needed something he was willing to try he tried it didn’t it didn’t make it far

Um they knew they needed another big game from Palo B Caro and so what does he do he delivers his first career triple double had it by the end of the third quarter delivers 32 points 10 rebounds 11 assists yeah he shot only eight of 21 he

Got to his spots and and and Denver was throwing double and triple teams at him and he just kept making the right pass and the right play and kept pacing himself like honestly like what I was as impressed with by as anything was he he never felt like he was in

Overdrive until the last minutes of the fourth quarter and that’s when he really started to Force action and force contact and yeah he had 19 free throws in the game he was he he was willing to get downhill and be the engine for this team when they needed a bucket he was

Going to score he was going to score but otherwise he was going to try and make the right play feed the pocket pass to Mo Vagner to kick out to Cole Anthony for three that’s what Pao was doing all game he said it after the game in fact I

Was just out there trying to make the right play but really with the magic down by two points after a 60 nuggets run in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter it was Pao getting the ball and quickly attacking Aaron Gordon drawing a foul and sinking two free throws it was Paulo

Running the floor after a great defensive effort by the magic forced on a pick and roll with Jamal Marin to niic they forced the ball to kavi called Bell Pope in the corner they were able I think Trev and queen ultimately got the steal on the play um they knocked it

Away Mo vager picks it up at midcourt he takes two long strides drops it off to Pao poo gets the f makes two free throws with six seconds left to win the game and in the magic played hairon fire defense to close the game out and force a bad miss and miss

Force a wild Miss from Jamaal Murray to SL to clinch just won1 122 to 1220 see the score over there Paulo was asked to carry everything and they mentioned this on the broadcast a million times like the burden that he is carrying is immeasurable because every team is sending double and

Triple teams his way every team is putting their full attention on him and he’s beating it I mean it says something that after the magic completed this humongous upset win that Jason Tatum said this kid’s an All-Star you know Kendrick Perkin’s on ESPN I know he’s you know not the most

Popular pundit but National Guy saying this guy’s an All-Star did you know we talk in college football about players having their Heisman moment having a Heisman play having that highlight real that says okay this this this award is wrapped up this was a Pao All-Star game just like Wednesday was

Because the magic needed their star to carry them and yeah like everyone contributed we’re going to get to them in a minute they needed their star to carry them and Paulo carried them Paulo did everything soaked up all the attention played 41 minutes on the last

Night of a road trip in altitude in Denver just did whatever his team needed him to do and this is star stuff maybe this is SuperStar stuff like I think he’s the I think I think uh sport radar said he is the youngest player to get a triple

Double the youngest player to get a 30o triple double since Luca it’s like the only players younger than him are Luca LeBron and I think Darren Fox like he’s doing stuff that not a lot of people do and and I’m sorry I’m recording this late triple vote day is over we’ll get

Another triple vote day on Friday uh and we’ll be in Miami for that day um this was simply an incredible effort simply a St making effort and the magic your team is not anywhere without its Stars I mean like fron vogner’s on the Shelf we’ll get to Jaylen suser in a minute Paulo

Was the star and that’s where everyone’s confidence starts of course as good as Pao was individually he cannot do it alone and he got a lot of help from a magic player that’s going to have to continue to step up and be a big factor we’ll talk about Jaylen Suggs and

His career night coming up here in just a moment don’t forget you can check out the locked on podcast Network’s 247 streaming Channel on YouTube the lockon sports today streaming channel has you covered with all the latest sports stories from local experts like me as well as the national shows here on the

Locked on podcast Network tune in today to YouTube’s first everever 247 streaming Sports channel locked on sports today you know and basketball’s a team sport you know you’re not one guy is it going to carry a team and and obviously with how dangerous and how good Denver is

Um uh it was going to take everybody um like look Paulo could be amazing I mean jool and be uh Philadelphia I think got beat by you know 20 25 points tonight jel embiid still scored 30 you can have a strong individual game and not you

Know make an impact on winning and and look I’m not here to say that MB had an empty 30 you got to put the points up um you know at the end of the day you know we’re we’re still kind of in this stage with Pao where he is learning what a

Good shot is learning you know when to seek his own when to he’s learning a lot of things about stardom and and it has its ups and downs obviously um but Pao wasn’t going to be able to win this game by himself there’s just there’s just no way that he was

Going to be able to kind of put this game away and there there’s just no way like he needed support and he got it really from the opening tip it was clear that the Magic’s two best players on this team with this group with this eight-man group we’re here to play

And we got to give a special recognition and a special shout out to Jaylen sucks at this point Jaylen Suggs kind of sets the culture for this team like if you want to Vibe check if you want to know what the temperature of this team is it’s all in jayen sugs um that’s

Putting a lot on him but that dude is the heartbeat of this team uh like Ser I know I’ve said this a million times but he is the literal heartbeat of this team they go how he goes and if he’s thumping and bumping this team’s tough to beat

When he is struggling and a little bit down they’re a little vulnerable they’re a little weak tonight Jaylen Suggs was on his game on both ends of the floor to be perfectly honest with some incredible stops incredible defensive efforts on Jamal Murray at the end of the game like

There is one play with about two and a half you know two and a half maybe minute and a half left in the the game sugs just you know it they say when you’re trying to work around screens you want to get skinny because if you get skinny

You can you can get you know you can get past that Gap that you know because no one R runs off screens particular perfectly um there’s always GNA be a little bit of a gap for you to shoot through and so like I remember when I

Was grow when I was growing up when I was learning how to play defense at a higher level which I didn’t execute well but I understand the concept was always get skinny you know and and actually a skill for a Defender is to have broad shoulders but be able to get really

Tight to be able to get around those screens and be in front of your man sugs like had two or three times where they tried running this just like back and forth pick and rolls with yic just to try and create some separation and Suggs just ate it up just just completely shot

The Gap and just he’s he’s an unreal Defender and we know that and and obviously made big defensive plays down the stretch Jamal Murray had 20 points for 23 shooting missed all six of his three-pointers did have seven rebounds did have nine assists um so again not

You know this this was a crazy game both teams shot really really well but sus had a career offensive game and it’s always been his offense that’s had to catch up scored a career high 27 points nine for 15 shooting seven for nine from Beyond The Arc just you know he was

Dialed in from three like he was feeling it from three and and and considering that he also had a really strong shoe game I think he made 63 in Wednesday’s game all of a sudden he’s like shooting 37 38 almost 39% from three for the season and you know sugs

Again like I said Suggs is the heartbeat of this team and he talked very openly and candidly about that after the game uh you know he said that you know he he’s been kind of battling some mental health some mental health just just like confidence and you know issues that we

All battle with um you know we got we do the better help reads um you know again go check out better go check out better help if if you feel like you need you need therapy you feel like if you need someone to talk to it’s all good like

Jaylen you know Jaylen Suggs has found a lot of confidence and a lot of peace through his faith uh I’m sure he’s had someone that he’s talked to as well um but he he noted you know the last couple weeks he was feeling a little down on

Himself and you could see that a little bit in his play um and so you obviously your first sting is to say take care of you as a person Jaylen like Jayla like I know I tell myself this a lot it’s something that I think we all struggle

With sometimes because a lot of us want to be people Pleasers we want to do things for other people sometimes you do forget ourselves so sometimes you just just got to do something to take care of you like I I like I take a theme park

Day every month to just kind of reset reset myself and take a day for me um just to have a little fun um that’s okay like that it’s okay to take a day for you it’s okay to take some time for you and you know I go if you haven’t you

Know magic PR twitter.com sagicor PR they usually post all the postgame press conferences um go listen to what Jaylen Suggs had to say Obviously we’ve been following him all year he has had such a refreshed outlook on life uh I think he I think in the

Article he had in the interview he did last week with David Aldridge you know he spoke about how this summer felt he sometime you know done a couple interviews he did an interview with Michael Pina of of the ringer I believe um he he’s spoken a lot about how this

Summer he kind of took a break from basketball a little bit he kind of got away from basketball just had to kind of reset himself and find himself and you know again I want to tread lightly here because you know we’re just talking about basketball um

And you know I don’t want to minimize all the individual and personal work that he’s done to he made shots he must be feeling great he didn’t make shots he must be feeling terrible um that’s not who he is you know he’s made this point basketball is what he does it’s not who

He is and and understanding that is certainly a very mature and professional thing for him to do and and and honestly like that’s gonna make him a better basketball player it’s gonna it’s gonna make him a better person well I know he’s a great person but it’s keeping

That in perspective is going to help him kind of wash away some things but he’s admitted in the past that he has succumbed to the pressure that he has succumbed to the expectations everyone put on him and failing to meet those expectations at times um that is

Certainly part of that is certainly part of his story and part of you know why he struggled the first two years um you know again it’s it’s hard this is a hard business um it is a very public business um it is unfair to to put this on 19 to

20 year olds who are still growing up and developing um and you know it’s it’s it’s it’s an impossible thing to ask of people um and so you you can do nothing but tip your hat and give credit to jayen Suggs as a person for for doing

The individual work to find peace with himself um and it’s obviously you know to his admission and it’s important to remember this too it’s always a process it’s always a struggle it’s always something you’re working on God knows I struggle through that I’m sure you do too uh in your own

Ways and it’s different for everybody you know you can only you could give advice but it’s it’s an in it’s something an individual has to kind of come to grips with and you know again sugs has obviously done a lot of work um and and he’s done a lot of work on

Himself and he’s done a lot of work on the court and you just frankly love to see when the process meets the results um you know that that that’s such a cliche in the NBA that you do process over results if you do the right things

Over and over and over and over and over again eventually the results will take care of themselves if you trust in yourself if you trust in the work if you trust that you’re doing the right things event over the long run the results will take care of themselves you work you

Focus on the process and that I know that’s a message that is in the magic locker room they put it on one of the whiteboards in the in the training facility um sorry just kick my table um it if it’s it’s it’s something that is easy to conceptualize but often difficult to

Execute and what we’ve seen the last two nights especially is so is is that like click on for sucks like look we know he’s going to be the hardest working player on defense he takes a lot of Pride on in his defense he he he busts

His butt um you know Matt Matt Moore uh he contributed a locked on nuggets you know covers the team out in Denver you know was really praising Jaylen sug so much uh saying that he should be in your Defensive Player of the Year running and I think every magic fan would agree with

You there would agree with that um that he should be that that he has played that well and I think he’s still got to was you know defensive player of the year is such a reputation-based award all defensive teams are such a reputation-based award you know sugs may

Not make it this year even if he deserves it but start you know especially when we get to the playoffs he’ll start building that reputation as that kind of a player and then the awards will come again process over results do the work and everyone will start to notice you um that’s a

Difficult thing for a young person to grasp especially sugs has been building toward nights like these we believe that he can be this kind of player we believed it on draft night it maybe took a little while for him to realize what it was going to take to be this player

And obviously right now and I think this is the bigger po bigger picture and the bigger point of all this right now with the magic down so many players they’re asking so many individuals to step up they’re asking so many players to rise to the occasion they have to for the

Team they have to and tonight and and they need Suggs right now to be the second scorer they need him to give a player like poo ban Carol to support you know are they going to get 59 are they going to get 60 points from Pao and Suggs every night no

That’s not sustainable there are a lot of things the magic have to do better unlike Wednesday’s game I’m not gonna harp on those Wednesday they played with their hair on fire played an incredible effort I was too hard on them after Wednesday’s game for the things that

They they weren’t able to accomplish I was more upset they didn’t get the win because the wins matter sandings are tight the magic did what they had to do they knew they weren’t going to be perfect and they played hard anyway and honestly that’s that’s the overall

Message of these last two nights we’re not going to go over the box score well we’ll get to some numbers here in a minute but we’re not g to go over the Box we’re gonna talk instead about what these two games mean for the culture first Buzzy even a word

That is it’s time to reset what this culture is about and why these last two games exemplified it we’ll get to that coming up here in just a moment so I talked about this after Wednesday’s game against Sacramento Kings that a game like that double overtime loss down so many players

Playing your two-way guys you know guys thrown into the mix that had not been in the rotation and giving yourself a real chance to win games like that are those are the games that show you what your team is about um like look at the end of the

Day the magic won this game 122 to 120 um even if they lost the effort they displayed means something um you know wins and losses sometimes are just coin flips like Cole Anthony had two threes to make it a five-point game two wideopen threes great ball Moon some of the best threes

That they shot all game long um and missed them and Denver came back missed on one end Denver came back scored twice once to tie the game once to take the lead by two that the game very easily could have ended because the magic missed two good looks and you just

Have to live with it um and so again this is very much a process over results thing with so many guys down you have to find your way you have to find who you are you know the the B Sports Florida broadcast Bose Bo Outlaw

Said you know in a game like this just keep things simple at a game like this you strip yourself down to your core at the end of the day what are you as a team about you may not execute it perfectly you may have some really bad moments but

But when you’re facing this kind of adversity when you’re when you’re struggling like this what are you gonna stand for like what are you gonna be about what are you gonna lean on I know I say this a million times um when I describe the regular season the regular season has

Its ups and downs I mean the magic for a second straight game shot 47.2% from Florida there 17 for 36 from three Cole Anthony was three for eight Caleb Houston two for five Pao one for four mo mo Vagner two for four Jaylen Su seven for

N you know perhaps being down to so many players ratchet up the focus a little bit the magic again I think settled for threes a little too much they got outscored in the paint uh 66 to 38 which is not usually a formula for the match

To win but they got to the line 34 times that is um so again they swapped out the paint for the threes they got to the foul line they limited offensive rebounds they you know had 15 turnovers for 24 points it was a weird game again

But at the end of the day the magic had to figure out these last two games who are they when you strip down everything about this team when you’re playing that random game on a Tuesday in January it’s January it’s a dog days of the season right now what are you gonna be

About what are you going to um what are you going what what are you going to do how are you going going to compete and that was the core of this game that was the core of these last two games because the magic showed us who they are the magic

Did not relent they may not have been perfect they may have turned the ball over they may have missed shots they may have missed some rotations they have they may have had no one to defend Nicole yic for for long stretches but they didn’t relent they didn’t quit they kept grinding they kept

Pulling forward and if there is a reason why I am very optimistic still about this team despite going five and 10 I think in their last 15 games entering this one despite dropping down in the standings despite how difficult this January looks this team’s gonna fight

This team is not going to quit it is not going to stop they’re gonna work hard they’re gonna outwork you they’re going to find a way you know Cole Anthony had 18 of his 23 points in in the second half Mo voger had 19 going up against yic did not back down one

Inch Trev and queen had five points five rebounds used all four of his fouls two Steals and a block just pure pure effort at seemingly every moment that’s who this team is and look it you know the Dan Savage of Orlando magic.com asked you know just kind of

Laid it all out last game of aad trip down to eight men on and on and on and on all the excuses the magic could have used to to used in this game to excuse this game to say you know we didn’t have it playing Nuggets playing the champions

Last game of road trip we’re going home uh we don’t have our guys they could have all used that excuse and it would have been okay I was at halftime I’ll admit you know team was kind of hanging around but that early third quarter run

They push it out to 18 I was just like it just not their night Wednesday they had it tonight like the effort’s there I can I I could I could see the effort I could acknowledge the effort they they just didn’t have it they didn’t let that be an excuse and

At its core and and this is going to be the ultimate lesson that hopefully this team internalizes and understands moving forward through the next 40 Seven games 49 games however many it is 48 games what however many it is is at its core this team does not give up the

Fight this team is going to work is going to out hustle is going to just grind you down they may not be perfect God knows they aren’t perfect but they’re going to keep at it and they’re gonna bet this is the ultimate bet that the magic made this

Season that well yes you’re going to try hard too you aren’t going to out compete and outwork this team and that is half and in the regular season at least that is half the battle if anything these last two games have hardened this team’s culture have confirmed that what this team is doing

Is working is the path they should be on is something to commit and buy into and honestly this was a bad road trip one and three on this road trip a chance to win all four games double overtime in Sac a late lead in Phoenix late lead in

Golden State they had a chance to win all four games they dropped those first three had to gut out a win to close it I mean it’s they went three and one on the first West Coast Road Trip they went one and three but honestly we feel just as

Good coming out of this one and three road trip as we did that three in one road trip because just like that three in one road trip we have an understanding of what success looks like for this team and what’s going to make this team successful uccessful and if

The team internalizes that buys into that the winds are going to start piling up again and the magic are going to be very well positioned for what is a very very tight playoff race there were no excuses Friday night in Denver and that’s why the magic ultimately

Won I want to thank you again for listening to today’s episode of Locked on Magic you course follow me on Twitter Philip rror OMD subscribe to the podcast and apple podcast you’re tuned in him Google play Spotify Odyssey and all s podcast to your podcast advice you can

Also check us out on YouTube if you’re not already at youtube.com lockon magic uh for all the goodies you can see my smiling face my fancy Magic Hat my podcasting sweater all that good stuff my my little bears in the back and my other magic memorabilia um you can check that out at

Youtube.com or lockon magic for the latest on the Orlando Magic be sure to check out Orlando Magic daily.com you can follow us on Twitter Magic daily and of course be sure to check out my patreon page Orlando magichub at patreon.com Orlando Magic Hub and of course thank you all once

Again for your support don’t forget to check out the locked on podcast networks new 247 streaming Channel on YouTube it’s the first ever 247 sports streaming Channel on YouTube if my copy is correct um you can check that out wherever you can check that out on YouTube see hear

From the local experts like me as well as our National shows for the latest around the Sports World whether it’s NBA NFL NHL MLB college and more check it out today on YouTube just search for lock on sports today that’s going to do it for me though I want to thank you all

Again for listening to today’s episode of Locked on Magic we’ll be back on Sunday night Monday morning to recap the Magic’s game against the Atlanta Hawks until then for Orlando Magic daily lockdown magic this been Philip Rossman right we’ll see you again next time for another episode of lockon magic

The Orlando Magic were down to eight players to end their road trip going up against the defending champion Denver Nuggets. They did not back down, grinding their way to a win behind career nights from Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs and contributions from everyone on the roster.

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