Orlando Magic's D.J. Bakker Reacts to First Summer League Loss

The Orlando Magic dropped the first of their four Summer League games via an 86-74 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday in Las Vegas.

After the game, Magic coach D.J. Bakker talked about what he saw.

"Yeah, I thought it was a good performance by our guys, especially in the first half," Bakker told the media. "You know, I think the biggest thing that we talked about at halftime and then at the end of the game was just sustain energy in the fight, but I thought we did a lot of good things in the first half, moved the ball, our talk was really good, rebounded well, spaced well, obviously made some open shots, which always helps with energy."

Orlando Outscored Charlotte, 21-13 in the first quarter before being outscored in the following three. In the second half, the Hornets outscored the Magic, 49-31.

"But you know in the second half, coming out with that same fight, same intensity, keep moving the ball," Bakker said. "Keep playing our style of play for 40 minutes, but you know this thing to me is about continual improvement. 

"You know, win this game, lose this game, you know, we're here for the next 10 days, right, so we got to go to film tomorrow, we got to watch it, make the corrections, and just keep teaching, keep improving, and keep coming together as a group," he added. "But proud of the guys, fight and compete, and just got to sustain it for longer periods of time."

The high man for the Magic was Noah Penda, who scored 23 points on 9-for-15 shooting from the field and 5-for-10 from 3-point range. Penda, who is in his second Summer League season, has been encouraged to shoot more.

"Yeah, we're encouraging that," Bakker said. "You know, he's been working at it, I think it's about taking the right shots is probably the biggest thing, you know, understanding what our shot quality is, what shots we want to generate, and then once we do that and you catch it, be aggressive, let it fly, but he could do so much more than just shooting the ball. 

"He's a big body," Bakker added. "He's strong, he does a very good job screening and rolling, we put him in different scenarios for that, and we trust him in the paint. He did a great job tonight playing off of two feet and playing with patience and balance. So, saw some really good strides from him in that department, which is really encouraging."

Another returning player Bakker praised was Jase Richardson, who finished with 15 points, four assists and two steals. Leading up to Orlando’s game against Charlotte, Richardson made it clear that he wants to be more of a pesky defender.

"Yeah, I mean, first of all, his leadership is tremendous," Bakker said. "He wants those matchups, you know, he wants to guard in this team, you know, that five, six guys in the league, so great opportunity, great battle for him, but he did a great job picking up the ball, you know, knowing tendency is a big part of that, and then like not letting them get in their actions easily. 

"I think that's the biggest thing when you talk about ball pressures, you know, not letting the offense get to where they want to go," Bakker added. "Not let them set up their set, and he did that a number of times where they picked up the ball high up the floor or, you know, they didn't get to their actions easily, so that's what we're looking for there, and then doing it consistently."

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