The Pressure on Orlando Magic Coach Sean Sweeney

The NBA preseason begins in just over a month, and fans of the Orlando Magic will finally get their first glimpse of Sean Sweeney coaching the team. For Sweeney, this is uncharted territory. He has never been the head coach of a franchise, let alone one with the expectations the Magic have. The organization has constructed and paid a great deal of money for a roster it believes can contend, and it is hungry for more. Orlando has not won a playoff series since 2010, and in two of the last three seasons, it has fallen in a Game 7. Sweeney has accrued plenty of experience in high-leverage moments as an assistant, and now it is on him to bring it all together as the leader of this group. To do so, he will have to employ multiple philosophies as a coach. Some will be used for game planning, while others will be used to foster the intangible, behind-the-scenes atmosphere needed to gain player trust and respect. In the latest episode of the Full Court Magic Podcast, I discussed how Sweeney can be successful in Orlando: "And then, once again, losing in the first round is that it wasn't just injuries, right? There were core flaws with how the team was playing basketball. And, you know, credit to the organization: they did not completely rest on their laurels and retain Jamal Mosley for another year; they decided to move off of him and go in a different direction. And we know that Sweeney is an architect of defensive prowess and production. We saw what he did with the Spurs' defense last season as the lead assistant. And we know, based on the precedent of what he's done as an assistant in other places as well, how he can help a team rise to the occasion on a consistent basis when it comes to the defensive side of the floor. And in terms of offense, you know, I kind of circle back here to his philosophy of spacing and the responsibility of anyone who has the ball; I want to see how that's going to work out in practice. And of course, there's going to be bumps in the road; there's going to be obstacles. This team needs to get used to him. But I do find it interesting to see, you know, what he can do, right, to really elevate them. And so I think that's going to be something to watch out for. It seems like he has a good vision, a concrete and organized plan for how he is going to uplift this group, and I think one of the most important things with Sweeney, and one of the most important intangibles, is the type of communication that he's going to establish with this team. He's not going to talk at them; he's going to talk with them. And I think that is important, especially in, you know, a star-driven, player-first league like the NBA. You need a guy like Sweeney, who is a tough one he needs to be- but is also empowering for his players and will make sure that their voices are heard. So those are a few of the things that we should really be starting to get excited for here in the days leading up to media day, training camp, in the early days of preseason, and finally the beginning of the regular season." Best Newest first Oldest first