Orlando Magic Coach Jamahl Mosley Emphasizes Getting Off to Strong Start
ORLANDO - Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley had a lot to say about the beginning of the team's schedule and the start of the season.
"The way in which we start this year is going to be very important," Mosley said. "Now we know it's not an easy schedule, but that's also not an excuse. We've got to make sure that we come out and again detail our work. We have to make sure we're not the team that's beating ourselves."
The Magic starts off the season at home against the Houston Rockets and then immediately travels to the west coast for a four-game road trip against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers and then the Utah Jazz.
Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero is coming fresh off of winning Rookie of the Year in 2022-23.
USA Today Sports
The hope is to start strong in a season where Orlando has hopes to make the play-in tournament, and possibly the playoffs.
"We have to take care of the basketball," Mosley said. "We have to do the small details of boxing out and finishing our possessions. We got to get back in transition all of those little things are going to be big. And so if we're talking about learning from the things from last year, those were the cases that we're going to have to continue to improve upon."
The Magic have an extremely young core, headlined by Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, with new additions of 2023 first round picks Anthony Black and Jett Howard. Mosley will be tasked with leading that young core and improving upon the 34-48 record that Orlando put up last season.
The Magic's season opener against the Rockets will be at the Amway Center at 7 p.m.
