After an off day Saturday, the Magic returned to the practice courts inside the AdventHealth Training Center on Sunday morning and saw some depth return to action as well.
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Anthony Black (sprained ankle) and Noah Penda (hamstring) were both able to take part in practice and do more work as they continued to ramp up from minor injuries, Orlando coach Sean Sweeney said.
“They look good,” Sweeney said after practice. “Hopefully they came out clean. Looks like they did. They both said they felt great, so (they’re) working hard. It’s good to see them out there.”
Just three days away from their first preseason game Wednesday at Memphis, the Magic focused primarily on execution in the half court during Sunday’s practice, Sweeney said.
Orlando will shift back to running up and down the full length of the court in practice Monday before Tuesday’s session, which will feature a combination of both half-court and full-court work. Sweeney and his staff will then determine the distribution of minutes and lineup combinations in the preseason opener against the Grizzlies.
Sweeney shared his approach to the preseason after practice Sunday.
“Well, I think the preseason is where you’re trying to continue to build on your identity,” he said. “So, competition is certainly important. (You’re) being mindful of the different parameters that you may give guys in terms of minutes and stuff like that, but we still want to compete at the highest level we can.”
“We want to make sure we’re working on being connected and then we want to develop our toughness throughout,” Sweeney added. “So, just really drilling down on those things that we’ve worked, and then not losing sight of the brand and the identity that we want to have.”
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Magic guard Jalen Suggs wasn’t seen on the court during the media-viewing session of practice but not because of an injury. Suggs was considered to be a little under the weather, the Orlando Sentinel was told.
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Officials in attendance
The Magic were joined by a handful of NBA officials during Sunday’s practice, including veteran referee Ed Malloy.
The league recently shared points of emphasis it wants its officials to focus on during the upcoming season, which included freedom of movement by players. The NBA wants offensive players to avoid pushing off of defenders with their non-dribbling arm and also not extend their arms with force while setting a screen.
In addition, the league wants to make sure offensive players off the ball can move with the necessary space in the post and on the perimeter. The NBA also wants to see fouls called on contact made by defenders during straight-line pathway plays.
“The way that we talked about it with the team is (that) there are certain things that the league is going to be concentrating on going into the year and we want to understand what that is,” Sweeney said. “For us as coaches, that’s why we teach certain techniques that we teach to be within the confines of the rules.
“Having the officials here (Sunday), that helps reinforce those things and helps us understand maybe where we’re not as good as we want to be, or ‘Hey, you guys are doing this great, keep it up,’” Sweeney added. “Because we want to play right up to that line and then if we cross it, come on back.”
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Jason Beede can be reached at [email protected]