The Magic hit the court for the first official practice of training camp Tuesday morning, and new Orlando coach Sean Sweeney was pleased with how his team got underway at the AdventHealth Training Center.
“I thought the intent was phenomenal,” Sweeney said. “I thought they did a really good job with their effort. (The) defense was ahead of the offense, all the normal stuff with training camp. But for the first day, I loved the way they attacked it.”
The team primarily focused on learning the defensive side of the ball, which is what Sweeney was most known for as a top assistant coach in the league.
Both Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner shared their insight into what a practice run by Sweeney is like for the players.
“It’s just very organized,” Wagner said. “Every drill is scheduled to the second, pretty much. It’s running to the next drill. It’s jogging to the water bottles when you get a little break. So, those little things. It was not too long but very intentional, very intense as we were going.”
Added Banchero: “I’ll say loud. Definitely high energy. Just a lot of moving parts, a lot of defense, details. Pretty fun.”
The Magic were set to hold a second practice session later in the day, but it was expected to be different than the morning. Instead, the team would focus on the offensive side, and the practice would be non-contact only. Sweeney said the second session would be hard and fast-paced, but much more mental than physical.
The first-time NBA head coach shared what he hopes his team gets out of the weeklong training camp. Orlando plays its first preseason game Oct. 7 at Memphis before opening its regular season Oct. 12 versus the Hawks at Kia Center.
“For camp, in general, we want to do a great job with our teaching,” Sweeney said. “We want to make sure we are giving these guys things that are actionable in the games. And then as we go, we want to make sure we do a good job with what I would call ‘immediate coaching.’
“If guys need feedback to change something or acknowledgement because they did something right, we want to make sure we’re on that right away,” he added. “And then afterwards as a staff, we’ll get through the tape and look at it and figure out what did we do well, what do we need to improve on, what did we miss on, and then, just keep building.”
New terminology
Banchero said the hardest thing to learn about Sweeney’s system is the different terminology used by the new coaching staff. That’s to be expected after the firing of Jamahl Mosley (now coaching the New Orleans Pelicans) and hiring of Sweeney.
Most of Orlando’s roster, including Banchero and Wagner, had only played for Mosley throughout their time in the league.
“There’s some different terminology being used (for) different calls, different coverages, stuff like that,” Banchero said. “The way we’re doing some things defensively is different than what we’re used to. … But I think it’s going to definitely turn our defense up with the way they want us to play.”
Added Wagner, who mentioned the way practice was run reminded him of his time with the German national team: “I think it’s difficult because most of us, we played five years with the same terminology, pretty much. So, it’ll take some time to get rid off that, but they’re doing a good job of holding us accountable. I think we’ll get it pretty quickly.”
Left to right, Magic forwards Paolo Banchero (5) and Franz Wagner (22) pose for photos during the team’s media day at the AdventHealth Training Center on Monday. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)
Sweeney didn’t sound worried about it either.
“The buy-in has been great,” the Magic coach said. “Just in general, the guys have been really committed to not only their individual execution but team execution. We saw that (Tuesday) in their effort and their intent.
“The thing I like about this group – Kevin Garnett was great with this when I was around him with the Nets – (is) in between plays and in timeouts, they’re talking to each other,” he added. “So, they’re trying to coach and teach and learn. The thing that I like is that the language that we’re using as coaches, the players are using as well.”
Isaac update
After Magic forward Jonathan Isaac revealed at the team’s media day Monday he’d only be a partial participant to begin camp after ending last season injured because of a left knee sprain, Sweeney shared an update about what he was able to do Tuesday.
“He went through a number of the breakdown drills and I think, just more than anything, (we’re) just trying to be smart,” Sweeney said about Isaac. “We’re not building for Sept. 30, we’re building for the season. But he did a number of the breakdown drills, and he did live-ish stuff. And he did a good job.”
Beyond Isaac and rookie Izaiyah Nelson, who’s still recovering from a fracture in his left ankle he suffered at Las Vegas Summer League, the rest of the Magic roster made it through the first practice all right, Sweeney said.
Prunty connection
As Sweeney leads an NBA team through training camp for the first time, he’s got a familiar face on staff. That’s Joe Prunty, one of the few coaching staff holdovers from Mosley’s time in Orlando.
Not only was Prunty with the Magic last season but he also previously worked with Sweeney in Brooklyn (2013-14) and Milwaukee (2014-18). Sweeney described Prunty’s role on the staff as “very important.”
“He’s got 30 years of championship NBA coaching experience,” Sweeney said about Prunty. “So, anytime a guy like that is on your staff, from a competency standpoint, from a trustworthiness standpoint, he’s at the top of the line. And not to mention, he works his butt off, he’s a great dude and very important to what we’re doing.”
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com