Scott Skiles on preseason hockey-style line change: 'Know your job'
When the Orlando Magic took the court for the first time this preseason, there were a lot of positives. But one late stretch had head coach Scott Skiles hot under his collar -- which led to a substitution pattern straight out of the NHL.
When the Magic seemed to let up late in the second half, Skiles stopped the game and substituted all five players on the court, sending the message that giving anything less than maximum effort won't be tolerated.
But it wasn't all doom and gloom from Skiles. After the game, he said that his players are growing and learning, and that there are two keys to a successful 2015-16 season, according to the Magic's official team site:
As Skiles told reporters, it's going to take time for the Magic to change some of the losing habits they've developed. But the team has the right man for the job on the bench as head coach.
"You can’t win if you don’t expect to win and you can’t win if you don’t work hard, know your job and have confidence," said Skiles. "(Change) is not going to happen in a week. … (Saturday night’s performance) wasn’t about playing Charlotte at home in the first exhibition game and saying, 'Well, it was OK for an exhibition game, guys.' It’s about, 'How are we going to win a Game 5 in the playoffs on the road?' We did a lot of things last night that would have lost us a Game 5, but they were OK for an exhibition game."
