ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic will make their first impression to the world in Mexico City on Sunday afternoon.
Head coach Jacque Vaughn is very pleased with the team's progress over the four-day training camp. Still, he does not know what to expect when the Magic face off against the New Orleans Hornets for their international preseason opener.
"We'll see," Vaughn said. "I'll roll the ball out there, and we'll see what happens."
For Vaughn, the game will answer a lot of questions about the team's direction going forward, saying the game will be a good learning opportunity for everyone.
The players have been getting to know Vaughn and his style all week, but point guard Jameer Nelson has been studying his coach even longer than that.
"I played against him maybe two or three years. I can remember him always making good decisions on the court," Nelson said after joking that he scored about 30 points on him one night.
"But I never felt like, ‘I had this guy.' I always felt like I had to work extra hard when I played against him. No matter how many points you scored on him, it was going to be a tough point."
Vaughn has instilled that same defensive mindset into his team now as a coach, saying that it will be the team's backbone this season. He knows that without the defensive luxury of an excellent shot blocker, each player will have to buy into team defense as a whole. That is why his practices have been mainly defense-centered over the past week.
But for the last day of training camp, Vaughn organized a scrimmage, wanting to get some last impressions of the players in a game context before they have their first real opponent. He said a lot of the young guys really came to play, one being guard E'Twaun Moore.
"E'Twaun really had a good practice today," Vaughn said Friday. "Each day he has improved,"
Moore, a rookie for the Celtics last year, had the best game of his career in Amway last season, scoring 16 points in just 17 minutes in the Celtics 91-83 win Jan. 26. Now he is suiting up in a Magic jersey for his sophomore season hoping he can duplicate his Amway debut.
"That was a great night," Moore said.
Nelson believes that Moore will bring some versatility to the team with his ability to play both the point and off guard positions.
"He's a smart player," Nelson said.
After the hard training camp the Magic just endured, the younger players are all excited to finally be playing a game. Vaughn is expecting to limit the older guys' minutes, giving the younger players a chance to get their feet wet in the preseason opener. Starting lineups will be figured out on the plane ride to Mexico, but Vaughn did release one player he will for sure be starting.
Mexico native Gustavo Ayon, acquired by the Magic in the trade that sent Ryan Anderson to the Hornets, is expecting up to 60 family members to be there supporting him in the stands in Mexico City. For many of them, it will be their first time seeing him play on a NBA team.
"I'm smart enough to know to start Gus," Vaughn said.
Although the game will be the 20th NBA game played in Mexico, it will be the first time a native has played in Mexico with his NBA team.
Not only will Ayon be playing in front of his family, he also will be suiting up against his former team.
"It's more important for me to play in front of my family and in front of my fans," Ayon said. "It's just an added bonus to play against my former team."
Magic players have sensed Ayon's anticipation for the trip all week long.
"He's excited," Nelson said. "I'm just ready to get there and be a good teammate for him, help him have a good trip."
A win would certainly help the trip to go well, but Nelson says that is not the team's main focus.
"This is more of an opportunity to practice against somebody else," he said. "These first few games tend to be a little shaky, but after that you start to get more of a rhythm. We just got to go out there and work."
