The Orlando Magic have a new coach. Let’s see if he can turn the franchise’s prospects around.
Confirming months of speculation, Orlando officially named Scott Skiles head coach on Friday afternoon. Below are pertinent details of the team’s release on the matter, including quotes from GM Rob Hennigan and CEO Alex Martins.
The Orlando Magic have named Scott Skiles head coach, General Manager Rob Hennigan announced today. Skiles becomes the 12th head coach in franchise history.
[…]
“Scott (Skiles) clearly distinguished himself as a tremendous fit,” said Hennigan. “Our young roster will benefit greatly from Scott’s extensive head coaching experience and commitment to teaching smart, physical, unselfish basketball. We believe in Scott’s ability to establish a culture of winning habits and accountability that will help guide our team in a positive direction.”
“As we began our search, our internal discussions centered on finding a head coach with a solid resume of NBA head coaching experience, great leadership qualities, a motivating communication style, and someone with a strong strategic acumen,” said Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins. “We feel Scott (Skiles) brings a balanced approach in all those qualities and we look forward, with great confidence, to him leading our young men in helping us reach our collective goal of sustainable success.”
Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Skiles signed a four-year deal with the Magic.
Orlando fired Jacque Vaughn in February after two and-a-half underwhelming seasons of the franchise’s post-Dwight Howard era. The notoriously mild-mannered Vaughn compiled a 58-158 record as coach of the Magic. Assistant James Borrego served as the team’s interim coach for the duration of the 2014-2015 season.
Rumors of Orlando’s interest in Skiles surfaced immediately upon Vaughn’s dismissal, and we analyzed his fit with the Magic in greater depth last week. Though the intense former Milwaukee Bucks coach is not without flaws, he’s a sensible choice to lead the franchise back to respectability. Not only should he get the best out of Orlando’s wealth of gifted young defenders, but Skiles will instill a sense of dedication and accountability in this talented, unproven roster that Vaughn never could.
Will that lead to a turnaround for the Magic in 2015-2016? It’s tough to say for certain one way or another. But Skiles has experienced success at each of his three prior coaching stops, and there’s no reason to expect he’ll eventually achieve anything less with Orlando.
[Magic]