POSTGAME REACTION: Orlando Magic vs. Philadelphia 76ers 1/19/24

POSTGAME REACTION: Orlando Magic vs. Philadelphia 76ers 1/19/24

It was a four-point game with about four minutes left in the third what what did you see as the the reasons that they were able to gain separation to close out the third and entering the fourth turnovers and fouls I think we turned it over they went on easy run got a couple

Baskets so that pushed the lead up and then we filed when we didn’t have to uh that was that was a lot of the game right there how did Wendell Carter impact the game tonight coming off the bench as he continues to you know work back I mean from your perspective I thought

He did a very good job I think he did a good job moving the basketball finding his spots on the floor did a good job in the pocket you know hitting they hit him with the roll made some tough shots uh rebounding the basketball I I think he

Did a very good job impacting the game was it just challenging attempting to slow down Joel embiid tonight he’s MVP for a reason I mean you we can have every game planned you can have every scheme but you know he’s getting to that area and you put a hand on him it turns

Into a foul if you don’t put a hand on him he’s making that 15 17 footer that he shootting and a 60% clip uh but again you you got to give them credit for how they came out uh they they they knocked shots down you know Maxi got going a

Little bit as well so I think those are the things you have to continue to look at we’ll go back and look at the film and see where we can continue to improve and Coach you mentioned um turnovers being a problem you guys had 16 turnovers uh which resulted in 21 points

M um you know a lot of the turn turnovers were from miscommunication sometimes like lazy pass what’s your message to the team on on how to eliminate those on time on target passes recognize where you’re going on the floor you know don’t jump in the air to

Make a a pass uh it’s all those the fundamentals of the game and a lot of times it’s it comes down to a little bit of spacing I think our guys are getting in the gaps but we don’t have to force it uh sometimes the right plays just hit

The open man when he’s open 10 minutes last game just under 13 tonight for Jonathan Isaac his impact is obviously felt when he is out there on the court you really feel those minutes the presence that he brings but I know you’re trying to distribute minutes out

To everybody but is there an opportunity where we can possibly see Jonathan out there you know getting more minutes in his rotation well the the interesting part about that and that’s a that’s a very good question it it’s working his way back this is a young man that’s

Working his way back into playing you know full full go and that’s what we have to continue to be smart with how they respond back to get being games being played and him being out for a while we want to be smart about that and as we’ll continue to ramp it up slowly

But being smart about how we go about doing it and just quickly about Jonathan as well too it looked like late in the third quarter you’re able to kind of get him on embiid he was able to Rattle him a little bit um did you kind of like

That matchup compared to you know Wendell and Goa well I I think you know Wendell had four Goa had four you know and you know Jonathan does impact the game at such a high level defensively so yes I I’m not afraid to put him on

Anybody uh to where he can sit down and guard obviously the team team had the really hot start to the start to the season you know injuries have obviously kind of slowed the pace down but how do you kind of fight frustration from maybe not being able to scratch out winds and

Kind of build build that and and knowing that you know maybe some full health is coming but how do how do you fight some of that perhaps frustration that maybe they were feeling out there tonight you address it you talk about it what’s going on in the game they see it you

Watch it on film you understand the different situations where you can be better uh but you don’t hide from it you just you say this is what it is this is what we’re going through this is the the portion of where we can continue to get

Better and how we can improve and then you got to give Philly a ton of credit for how they came Mountain played you know they’re top five defense top five offense for a reason they have the MVP over there so you give them a ton of

Credit but it’s part of our growth to continue to understand how we can improve black checked in late in the third quarter and then he played all the fourth was that part of the plan or just more of the flow of the game and what

Did you make of his minutes you know I thought he came out aggressive I thought he did a good job trying to defend the right way uh get got into the basketball couple deflections here and there pushed the break found some easy passes uh knocked down that Corner three uh but I

Just think his his ability to just keep playing the right way defending getting into the basketball the things that we’ve asked him to do uh Jamal I wanted to ask you about Marquel how he’s doing how he’s building his way back um you can see some of the

Old Marquel magic causing kaaos in the inside with his passes and distribution how is he looking as to way working his way back into the full flow well as you see it it’s and that’s the the part about these guys all coming back from injury at different times you’re trying

To make sure you you you Manu it the right way uh so you don’t press their minutes too high but it’s then it’s trying to realize how they can respond to it um and it’s going to be you know a process of us feeling that out uh the different lineups the different

Different guys that we’ll put out there just so they can feel and understand how they’re playing with different lineups in rotations coach tonight this makes five losses out of the last six games a lot of close losses in that stretch as well one of those being Miami now you

Got Miami coming here on Sunday do you look at that it’s a opportunity as like a you know Florida Sunshine State rivalry as like a a way to really you know kind of nip this in the butt and get back on track I I think every game is another opportunity that’s the the

Great part about the NBA you know you can you know hurt for the one that you lose but then you got another opportunity to you know change it on Sunday and Coach only three of our players were in double figures do you feel like um maybe a maybe some players

From the second unit or are afraid to to be aggressive or do you feel like there’s a lot of bad shot selections why do you feel like maybe there’s a lack of scoring sometimes they kind of Drive In kick it out instead of just driving and attacking why do you feel like that

Happens a lot you have to give Philly a ton of credit you know they did a heck of a job defensively they packed the pain in you know guys were stepping into their shots and you know they didn’t fall for the most part but again I think

I thought we got downhill I thought we got a lot of the things that we did want but you have to give this team you know Philly credit for the way in which they played you me you mentioned earlier about kind of bringing guys back from

Injury and and and kind of kind of melding the lineups and then melding bringing everyone back in how do what’s the process process of evaluating when to make rotation changes when to make kind of those lineup changes and when a player is is ready to maybe take on more

Or their the role that they maybe had before they they were injured well that’s the the thing about it’s games are coming so fast you know you don’t you have to look at the different sample sizes so you’re going to get some of the in-game feel the in-game adjustment so

Different guys will get different minutes of time just being able to feel and see the right combinations um and with you know little practice time with a back toback coming up you’re going to have to look at that you know real time within the games for the third and then

They were able to pull away entering the fourth you know what did you kind of see the difference over that stretch that allowed them to gain such separation um I think we just paid a little bit more attention to detail I think in that span

We didn’t commit um as many fouls uh you know uh it was just tough honestly know most of the game guarding Joel um being aggressive without fing you know that was the G the game plan going in um but you know we committed a couple silly

Fouls but in that stretch I think we did a really good job of locking into the to the game plan um but at the end of the day it’s it’s still hard cuz you want to be aggressive you want to play hard but um he’s a guy who who Who’s mastered

Draw fouls so yeah 69 bench points tonight for you guys when you comes to the in the playoffs how is that going to be a factor that allows you to get a little bit deeper um I mean it’s going to play a huge part um know in the playf I’ve never played

In the playoffs but from when I’ve seen and talking to other players who’ve played in it you know um every little bit helps and to be able to have a unit that can come off the bench and um put up as many points to 69 I think that

Gives you know that team a really good shot at winning that game and then um you know it it allows you to mix up the the the ending unit um in games so I think it’s like really good that we have versatility from the starters and and the guys coming off the

Bench obviously Joel is is Joel on you know he’s the MVP MVP for for a reason but you know that’s a team that you guys could potentially match up with in the playoffs it’s it’s a team that’s kind of where where you want to go what lessons

Can maybe can you maybe learn from from how they approached a game like this and and and the way that they they attacked you guys um you know they kept it simple um you know when when something worked for them they went back to it they exhausted it until we stopped it and

Then they went to something else um I think with them being such a veteran team um know they paid really good attention to the small details um understanding where guys like to drive where guys like to get their shots um like for example um weekend Joe Engles

And pick and rolls making him use his right hand um just little things like that um shows you know how how good of a team they are as a unit and then at the end of the day they have Joel and Joel um he’s Joel so yeah wend I asked you

After the Atlantic game about your confidence of that first game back really coming back off an injury you said you felt like you were getting your Swagger back and now backto back great games what are you kind of seeing from yourself offensively and kind of the way

Your teammates are setting you up right now um honestly I’m I’m not really surprised in myself you know I know what I’m capable of um so just just to be back out there you know it’s it’s really really good you know I just finding joy in just that and whatever else happens

Happens you know um know my teammates are finding me in my sweet spots and I’m making my shots shooting with confidence make a Miss I shoot them over and over to you know whatever the results is that’s one of the things that we preach in the locker room is process over

Results you know we get good shots we shoot them make a Miss we’re not trying to miss any shots so um you know my my work has just been showing in these last three games so uh yeah you know just hopefully I can just well I will uh

Continue that for the next couple games and U you guys had 16 turnovers tonight uh I wanted to ask you what’s your message as a as a player as a teammate to your other fellow teammates you know how to correct that issue kind of how to work together you know solve that issue

From coach Mosley and what you guys hear from your assisant coaches what what what do you what do you do to kind of help in that situation um we got to keep it oh we got to keep it simple uh I think sometimes we get we speed

Ourselves up so much to OPP we feel like we got to make a home run play you know sometimes it’s the simple bounce pass the simple one more instead of you know trying to skip it across court or trying to make a tough um pocket pass you know

This it’s just about just keeping the game simple you know you look at the the 76ers of the world or the Celtics of the world you know there’s there’s nothing crazy that they’re doing out there they just exhaust the simple and I think that’s something that we got to do a

Better job at continuing to do not getting bored with what’s working

The Orlando Magic fell to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. Hear from Jamahl Mosley and Wendell Carter Jr. after the loss.

0:00 – Jamahl Mosley
6:29 – Wendell Carter Jr.

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