This will be a proving ground to see how quickly the team is buying into their new coach and whether the team can launch into something greater.<\/p>\n
The NBA Cup is not the goal. But Orlando can still get a lot from the NBA Cup this year. It is still important.<\/p>\n
A tournament for those on the rise<\/p>\n
The NBA Cup is still a weird creature.<\/p>\n
It begins only a week into the season this year! It hardly feels like it is a good measure of who is the best team for the entire season. That will likely always be its flaw.<\/p>\n
It is more about which team has its ducks in a row the earliest. Who is operating efficiently early in the season.<\/p>\n
That played into the Orlando Magic’s hands during the last three years because of the continuity on the roster and with the coaching staff. The Magic knew who they were earlier in the season. That caught other teams a bit by surprise.<\/p>\n
This is a tournament for energy. It is a tournament for teams that have that chip on their shoulder and are eager to prove something.<\/p>\n
For teams that have not won much of anything, having the chance to play games with even simulated winning pressure is valuable for their growth and development.<\/p>\n
The Magic embraced that from the beginning of this thing. <\/p>\n
They failed to advance out of group play in the first year after a 3-1 record, holding first place and suffering the point-differential defeat after some last-day shenanigans from the Boston Celtics. But even in that defeat, needing to rally to have a chance to advance simulated the pressure they would face in their playoff chase and in the Playoffs.<\/p>\n
Even if it is not exactly the same, it meant something in their growth. And it still did in subsequent years.<\/p>\n
They advanced out of their group to the knockout rounds in each of the last two years, winning their group last year and reaching the semifinals in Las Vegas. <\/p>\n
Orlando found value in this tournament. It has been instrumental in their rise.<\/p>\n
Sweeney’s proof of concept<\/p>\n
The Orlando Magic’s goals have graduated frm the NBA Cup. <\/p>\n
Winning the tournament — the team has advanced further and further in each season — would be a nice feather in the cap. But it is not the main goal. Orlando should be eyeing the trophy at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
But this is also a new day for the Magic.<\/p>\n
They have a new coach in Sean Sweeney<\/a>. There is a new way of doing things.<\/p>\n There is some trepidation about how the team will start the season because they will be running a new offense and defense. Nobody knows how the team will react or interact with it.<\/p>\n If the goal is ultimately to win a championship at the end of the season and go deeper in the Playoffs, knowing how the team performs under pressure and how bought in they are early will be valuable.<\/p>\n The NBA Cup steps in just a few weeks into the season. It will give the Magic a look at where the team stands and how the team plays under pressure early. The Magic will have a sense of where the pressure points are and what the team trusts early in the season.<\/p>\n In other words, the same reasons why the NBA Cup was important for the team on their rise as a proof of concept that they could win pressure games and play with high-intensity stakes exist with a new coach too. The Magic will want to see how much they trust the basics of what Sweeney has installed.<\/p>\n
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