While the Jacque Vaughn news might not be that surprising given the Orlando Magic’s performance, the manner in which they’ve done it again shows just how broken this franchise is. This isn’t the first time they’ve pulled a stunt like this as the team’s previous head coach, Stan Van Gundy, felt so backed into a corner at one point that he publicly went to the media to tell them that the team’s star center Dwight Howard was trying to get him fired.
For Vaughn, the story was a bit different. A week ago around Super Bowl time, Yahoo Sports reported that a source told them that it’s not a matter of ‘if’ anymore and only a matter of ‘when’ that Vaughn gets axed. Still, the Magic waited for three more losses to pull the trigger, hanging their coach out to dry.
The way the Magic have treated their last two coaches will definitely impact who is available to them to take over the roll but for now, let’s take a look and see why Vaughn got the pink slip.
[related_post_one]
The Bottom Line: Wins And Losses
Wins and loss numbers are almost always the biggest reason coaches get fired, unless of course you’re Mike Malone. Vaughn is not making the grade in this one basic element of running the Magic from the bench. Last season, Orlando finished 23-59, which computes to a .280 winning percentage. Through 52 of 82 games this season, Orlando is 15-37, a .288 winning percentage.
Being stuck in the mid-20s in terms of a win total (because that’s the pace Orlando is on right now) is not what this franchise had in mind for the season. Cracking 30 wins was a minimum goal and getting into the mid-30s in terms of a win total was a desired goal. You’re just not seeing this team move forward despite another year of seasoning. What has to be extra depressing for the Magic is that last season, they won only four road games. This season, they’ve already won 10 road games. However, whereas last season’s team had some relative success at home, this season’s team is just 5-17 in Orlando. Playing so poorly at home impacts dollars and cents and fans won’t come to see the games if they play so poorly at home. They’ve seen a slight dip in their home attendance from 8th in the NBA last season to 11th this season.
No Movement On Offense Or Defense
It is true that wins and losses are fairly static for Orlando relative to last season, but what’s accompanied by that fact is that the Magic have not at least managed to show that they’re demonstrably better on offense or defense. Last season, Orlando scored an average of 96.5 points per game and allowed 102. This season, Orlando is scoring an average of 95.9 points per game and is allowing 102.3. If the Magic had made substantial improvements – say three or more points – at one end of the floor, any lack of progress at the other end of the floor would be understandable. The complete stagnation of this team on a statistical level is something the Magic’s executives find appalling, and it’s hard to blame them for feeling that way.
Young Players Not Developing
More was expected of a roster with Victor Oladipo and Nikola Vucevic as returning talents, two top ten picks in the 2014 NBA Draft (Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton) and the offseason additions of Channing Frye and Ben Gordon. The cupboard is not bare. The inability of the Magic to translate this high skill level into better win-loss results or better offense-defense stats is a problem.
But it’s not only about cold, hard numbers. Had this team started to show flashes of a foundation or seen some of their youngsters start to approach All-Star caliber, then there wouldn’t be such anxiety about the franchise. From a distance, it looks like Vaughn isn’t getting the most out of these guys. They have far more talent than the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers, yet they are only a few wins better. That’s why Vaughn is gone.
