The Orlando Magic are heading into this upcoming season with a new-found identity, and for incoming third-year forward Jonathan Isaac, a lot of it had to do with the team making the playoffs last season.
Isaac had a recent Q&A session with HoopsHype's Alex Kennedy, and when asked about how last season's playoff run has impacted the team, he said that it made every member of the roster eager to win more.
I think it was great. I think you don’t know what you don’t know, so being able to get into the playoffs and having guys taste it for the first time was great. Tasting the playoffs made us hungrier. It’s made me hungrier, it made our guys hungrier and it made our coaching staff hungrier. Being able to do that in our first year under Coach Cliff (Steve Clifford) only speaks to where we’re headed. Now, we have another year with Coach Cliff, another year to refine ourselves and make our defense better. We finished eighth in defense and we’re looking to take that to the next level.
After struggling during the early stages of the 2018-19 season, the Magic had a late surge of victories that propelled them to the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. They faced the eventual champions Toronto Raptors in the first round, where they lost in five games. Still, that has given Orlando a boost of confidence, which they hope to combine with hard work as they look to become an even better team next season.
Isaac is expected to get better after posting averages of 9.6 points and 5.5 rebounds next season, and if he can take his game to a while new level, don't be surprised if the Magic finish at the top five of the conference standings.
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