The Orlando Magic are taking a bet on Sean Sweeney to elevate the team as the 16th head coach of the franchise, who was officially named to fill the role on Monday by President of Basketball Operations, Jeff Weltman. 

Sweeney comes to Orlando as a first-time head coach, but he does so with a strong defensive acumen and an ability to connect with star players that was built over years of serving as an assistant coach with various teams. 

As the associate head coach of the San Antonio Spurs this season, Sweeney played a large role in getting them to the NBA Finals by leading a defensive effort that was third in defensive rating in the regular season and second in the playoffs. Now, he will be tasked with getting the Magic back to being an elite defense, but what is it that makes his acumen special?

In a recent episode of Game On with Brandon Kravitz and Mike Bianchi, Weltman discussed what makes Sweeney an elite defensive mind when most of the NBA is not adopting a unique approach.

"That's a great question," Weltman told Kravitz. "Without getting into the weeds on it — We can talk about it for a half hour —But I do think that all these things are measurable, and I do think that’s where a lot of NBA teams are different, I think it's probably more the defensive end than the offensive end, and it's kind of a little bit of paradox to say that. But in a way, I think a lot of creativity gets expressed more on the defensive end than the offensive end, in a way.

"And, I think that, obviously, Sean's been a part of great defensive teams," Weltman added. "Sean's been an offensive coach, too.So I don't know how those tags get slapped on people. But a lot of it comes down to basic principles and teaching the game in a way that the players have to adhere to, you know?  And so I think he's had success doing that in the places that he's been. Obviously, he's never done it from the number one seat. 

"That'll be a new experience for him," Weltman continued. "But again, when you put together the ingredients of those things that we talked about, plus his natural intensity and his integrity and his character and his work ethic. He is relentless. I think that those ingredients are kind of what you hope for could lead to him being a real special coach."

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