Vogel concedes Gordon was out of position at small forward

Frank Vogel has always been a bit of an old-schooler. He has prioritized size, and his Indiana Pacers teams rolled with conventional two-big lineups long after it was fashionable to do so, up until Larry Bird effectively forced him to modernize.

In his first year coaching the Orlando Magic, though, Vogel wound up with more frontcourt players than he knew what to do with. The offseason trade for Serge Ibaka and signing of Bismack Biyombo forced third-year forward Aaron Gordon, a natural four, to play big minutes on the wing. It was largely a failed experiment - owing mostly to Gordon's lack of shooting and playmaking ability - and the Magic balanced their roster by dealing Ibaka for swingman Terrence Ross just before the All-Star break.

The move has allowed Gordon to slide back to his natural position, and Vogel acknowledges it's for the best.

"Everybody's now in their right position, quite frankly," Vogel told reporters after the Magic smoked the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. "I think Aaron being a four is better for him. He did well at the three defensively, but he's better at the four."

Gordon put up 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting with a plus-27 rating in the win, while Ross slotted in perfectly on the wing, dropping a game-high 24 points while shooting 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

"The floor's more spaced," Gordon said of the adjusted roster. "I feel like we're quicker. There's a lot more room to operate on the offensive end."

Gordon's greatest asset is his combination of size, quickness, and athleticism, but that combination is less of an advantage when he's matched up against small forwards and handling the ball 25 feet from the basket. Against power forwards, he becomes a matchup problem.

"Speed is beating size league-wide right now," Vogel said. "What you saw (against the Hawks) with Aaron - it was an example of that. He was able to beat his man off the bounce - not just in regular close-out situations but being a screener and getting the ball as the roller in pick-and-rolls.

"He made some great, great plays. He's getting the ball now with space and no one between him and the basket, whereas when he was playing on the perimeter, they were backing up and there was a body in front of him at all times."

"Aaron's going to have the advantage just about every night with his speed getting around those fours," added Magic point guard Elfrid Payton. "So I think that's going to be a big help to us."