OK, so basically, I have all this stuff to cover since my last blog so I am just throwing it all into one blog. I figure if a trade happens, there will be lots to cover, so I’ll get this stuff out of the way now. It's a long read...but well worth it!
Well, I Guess We Solved That Nickname Question! All that talk about what nickname Dwight Howard should have came to a head this past weekend. We no longer have to worry about whether “Daily Double” or “D12” is good enough. Superman has arrived and the name isn’t likely to go anywhere. Especially considering that the Magic are already planning promotions using the name and images from the dunk contest.
It is too much biased hyperbole if I say that Saturday night’s dunk contest was the greatest non-game basketball event that I have ever witnessed? I remember being floored by Vince Carter’s performance in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest. But see, I didn’t have an emotional investment in him. He wasn’t on my team. I found myself actually shaking, physically shaking, when Jameer unfurled the cape and Dwight unveiled his Superman shirt. I was that excited. My heart raced and I felt such strong pride in being a Magic fan and having a player like Dwight Howard on my team.
His ability to engage everyone made the dunks themselves secondary. The fact that Howard was able to energize an entire arena and millions of viewers around the world was just a tremendous moment. His performance was the highlight of the entire weekend, and not just for us Magic fans. We will see his “behind the backboard” dunk, his “Superman throw-down” dunk, his “self-ally, switch hand” dunk, and his “little basket to big basket” dunk for many years to come.
One thing that gave me great satisfaction was hearing the announcers – primarily Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Reggie Miller – mention that we could have been witnessing this type of performance last year if only the judges – yes, you Michael Jordan, and you, Dr. J – had been paying attention. In fact, Howard should be celebrating his 2nd straight dunk title right about now. Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith are absolutely tremendous. Smith can be over the top sometimes, but it is usually highly entertaining stuff. As for Sir Charles, he should forget about his political aspirations and start doing stand-up comedy. He’d make a lot more money.
In general, TNT does a fantastic job with the All-Star weekend. I only have one request. Can you please, please get rid of Cheryl Miller? I know she’s one of the greatest female players ever, I know she is a knowledgeable female reporter in a sport with very few of them, but she’s awful! It doesn’t help that she has the exact same face as her younger brother and that he is on the same telecast! They could just put a wig on Reggie and he could fill-in! Can we at least look into this?
On a side note: I would like to present the “Tyronn Lue Memorial Award For the Non-Star Who Crashes the All-Star Festivities” to Damon Jones of the Cavaliers. Jones barely gets off the pine for the Cavs this season, but you would have thought he was leading the league in scoring by how much camera time he and his mohawk got during the weekend’s events. At one point, Reggie Miller even asked if Damon Jones was still in the league! God bless you Reggie Miller, you still shoot with high accuracy. A close runner-for the award has to go to Dikembe Mutombo who has spent much of his 37th season on the inactive list for the Rockets. Mutombo and Jones did some kind of tandem body flailing when Dwight doffed his jersey. As if that wasn’t bad enough, after Dwight’s Superman throwdown, who does he chest bump? Not Jameer Nelson, who gave him an absolutely beautiful pass, not LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Caron Butler, or some other all-star standing courtside. No, Dwight Howard chest bumped Jerome “Junkyard Dog” Williams, a player who retired a couple of years ago. I’m not sure that Dwight even knew who Williams was, nor should he have.
Dwight hinted shortly after the event that he doesn’t know if he will compete next year. To paraphrase, he doesn’t know if he will have any new dunks by next year. As nice as it would be to see him go out on top, I think the league and all the fans, need Dwight Howard back next year. Instead of scaring opposition away, perhaps he can convince his fellow mega-stars to compete with him. If you think this dunk contest was good, imagine having Howard compete against a field featuring LeBron, Kobe, D-Wade, and Amare Stoudemire, just to name a few.
To Trade or Not to Trade? So, we are only a day away from the trade deadline and still no activity from the Magic. But for all I know, a trade will have occurred by the time you are reading this. Personally, I would prefer that we move our expirings for a solid PF. I just don’t know that we can do anything with our salary cap flexibility this Summer. But I do know that we can get help now.
“I get tired of the "next year" mindset. Fine, so we won't win a title "this year," but come on at least make a strong playoff push. At least lock up a top-4 seed, at least get into the second round. Hell, at least win a single playoff game! For now, I'll settle for winning the games we are supposed to win (re: non-playoff teams) for the rest of the season, and splitting the ones against playoff contenders.”
I think that we can do this by making a small trade to get a PF. I think that ultimately, a small deal will get made. It is more likely to for someone like Kurt Thomas or Chris Wilcox of the Sonics as opposed to Ron Artest or Udonis Haslem. Too many other teams are wanting Artest. If he had a say in the matter, I think he'd prefer to move East again. He has a greater chance of impacting a team's playoff chances in the East. As for Haslem, I think that Riles will just demand too much to improve an in-state rival.
If we do make a small move, I hope it doesn't involve Maurice Evans. He is a guy I'd love to see us resign in the offseason. If we can get him for 3 years and 10 million, it would be tremendous and he helps add offensive and defense energy, even if it is off the bench.
Pre-game Warm-ups I’ve been arriving early for all the games and standing just off the court when the Magic are doing warm-ups. Before every game, Dwight is out there with Patrick Ewing, practicing some moves and practicing free throws. There is usually another big man there as well, sometimes Marcin Gortat, James Augustine, or Adonal Foyle.
Ewing is constantly in Howard’s ear; constantly coaching. He is in warm-ups as well and actually looks like he is still in game shape. When you see them standing side-by-side in high-tops, it is obvious that Ewing is slightly taller than Howard, but not near as wide.
One time, Dwight was working against Foyle from the corner of the key and he spun out and away from Foyle and made a beautiful fade away from about 18 feet. If Dwight could consistently hit 18-footers, he would be unstoppable.
The irony about Dwight’s free throws is that each time I’ve watched him practice during warm-ups, he nails them. I mean they are perfect: great arc, great follow-through, and the ball snaps the net. So, clearly Howard has the mechanics down…there just must be a mental issue during the actual games.
Observations from Media Seating - Magic's Homestand
Magic vs. Heat – Jan. 30th, 2008 (Win 107-91)
No Dwyane Wade, No Shaquille O’Neal, No Udonis Haslem. No problem??
Does a victory over this team provide any personal satisfaction for Stan Van Gundy if they are this depleted?
Dwight is nailing them free throws!
End of 1st Quarter: 30-25 Magic. I expected a much bigger lead. I mean, seriously, no way this depleted Heat team should score 25 points in a quarter!
2nd Quarter: Foyle goes in for Howard and provides a big lift. You must fear the Foyle. Can you smell what the Chef is cooking?
Jameer Nelson’s first game back after sitting out 5 games…comes of the bench, gives solid minutes and handles it like a pro.
With Wade, O’Neal, and Haslem out, the burning question is how many shots can Ricky Davis get up?
They just showed Orlando Arena usher Larry Powers on the jumbotron. I’m pretty sure it was actually “George,” Donald Trump’s right-hand man from the Apprentice.
This game finally reverted back to normalcy in the 4th quarter. The blowout should have started much, much sooner.
Magic vs. Mavericks – Feb. 4th, 2008 (Loss 98-107)
I’m reading the press game notes for the Mavs game and it has Arroyo listed as 6 foot, 2 inches. Nelson is listed at 6 foot. I’ve seen Arroyo and Nelson standing side by side from up close. It is hard to believe that Arroyo is two inches taller than Nelson.
You know what I miss? The unique pre-tip off entrances that we used to have from guys like Nick Anderson. He would always jump off the scrub mat just in front of the scorers table as Paul Porter announced the tip-off.
Avery Johnson is 173-54 as the Mavericks head coach. How much you want to bet he remembers those 54 losses much more vividly than the 173 wins.
Maybe I’m just getting cranky in my old age, but does anyone actually LIKE the music they blare in the O-rena? Near as I can tell, it all seems to revolve around slammin, bumpin, and booming.
Proof the Magic started the game cold: the Mavs had 9 rebounds in the first four minutes.
Brian Cook enters the game in the 1st quarter! Only good things can come of this!
Here’s a crazy statistic: 5 players on the Mavericks roster have averaged over 20 points per game for a season at some point in their careers. The players are Dirk Nowitski, Jerry Stackhouse, Eddie Jones, Juwan Howard, and Josh Howard. A sixth player, Jason Terry, came extremely close with 19.7 points per game one season. I wonder if there has every been a team with that many one-time and current scorers on their roster.
My sentiments at the start of the second half: “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Magic vs. Lakers – Feb. 8th, 2008 (Loss 113-117)
Wow! Lots of loud boos for Kobe Bryant during introductions!
Jameer Nelson is back in the starting lineup. Not a big surprise. The point guard position is a study in the “first-to-worst” phenomenon. If you are not starting, then you are not playing. Unless your Keyon Dooling. He seems to be unaffected. It’s like those desk toys you see with the balls on strings. You lift up the ball on the end drop it and it hits the next ball but it is the ball on the other end that goes flying. Dooling is the middle ball, Nelson and Arroyo are the two balls on either ends, taking turns flying. Geez, did I just type all that? Let’s just move on.
The Lakers are very tall now across the frontcourt: Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Radmanovic. It isn’t too often we come across a frontcourt as tall as Howard, Lewis, and Turk.
There is a ridiculously large amount of Lakers jerseys, caps, and shirts in the audience. At one point in the first quarter, there were enough Lakers fans to start a very loud “MVP” chant while Kobe was at the line.
It doesn’t do much good to score a record 44 points in the first period when you let the opposition score 33. I kinda wish we could stop the game right now because I don’t see this continuing.
Ok, more on the Lakers fans…every time Kobe scores, the place erupts! I’m so disappointed. Interesting bit of karma in the 2nd quarter: two quick fouls on Howard (total BS by the way) followed by two quick fouls on Kobe! Nice!!
Proof that the Magic starters were in foul trouble: Pat Garrity and JJ Redick make first half appearances.
I loved the exchange between JJ and Vujacic…I’m dying to know what Vujacic said to JJ to get him so riled up.
You know what, I don’t mind admitting this: after all these years, I still love the Fat Guy.
We still lost the game, but Keith Bogans played exceptional individual defense on Kobe. There is only so much you can do to that guy, but Bogans made him work a bit harder and kept him honest.
Magic vs. Cavs – Feb. 11th, 2008 (Loss 111-118)
Another Magic sellout, and yet another crowd filled with jerseys, shirts, and caps from the visiting team. It is very frustrating to hear just as many people yell when the opponent scores as when we score.
The best thing that came out of the first quarter is that the Magic tried to feed it into Dwight Howard and establish the post. In fact, there was only one three-point attempt!
2nd quarter: so, how quickly can a game turn? We go from an 8 point lead to start the 2nd to a 3 point deficit in less than 4 minutes.
You know, I’d love to see the Magic get Udonis Haslem or David Lee. But I’d be pretty darn happy to have Drew Gooden back.
Much like the other night against Kobe, our two guards are playing solid defense on LeBron James. However, our point guards are getting absolutely eaten alive by the much-maligned Larry Hughes.
This game was over in the third quarter…too much Larry Hughes. I can’t believe I just typed that.
Magic vs. Nuggets – Feb 13th, 2008 (Win 109-98)
We keep having these announced sell-outs…but where is everybody? I see thousands of empty seats.
The Nuggets starting five is tremendous, yet they are only 8th in the East! This team is fighting it out with Golden State for the final playoff spot. This Nuggets team would be a top-4 seed in the East.
So, do you think Howard is responding to his call out by SVG? In the first three minutes of the game he had 4 points, 5 rebounds, and a block.
During a break they brought out this dance act from the Villages. Now I feel sorry for Davcivic.
Linas Kleiza…this guy killed us during the game in Denver. Can we convince Linas to go wait for the Great Pumpkin?
Brian Cook just had an offensive put back! I wasn’t aware that he had a short game.
Dooling and Cook were absolutely tremendous off the bench tonight...Cook should get 30 minutes a game if he can keep performing this well.
It would appear that Rashard Lewis has decided to take over this game. ‘Bout time.
I’m sorry, I know that you shouldn’t enjoy seeing your own player ejected, but I absolutely loved the fire that Maurice Evans showed in arguing a foul call and getting “T’d” up twice. We could use more passion like that and I believe it energized the team.
Not the greatest home stand – only 2-3 – but at least we ended it on a positive note with great performances by Lewis and Howard.
I’m Just Saying... As honored as I am to win the Garrity for Most Valuable Poster, I think that Marc Acres 3:16 was more deserving. Nonetheless, I’ll gladly hold this over his head for the next year.
Coming Soon! A question and answer session with John Denton, Orlando Magic beat writer for the Florida Today and USA Today. Keep checking this space, you don’t want to miss it!
This message was not subject of approval by the NBA or the Orlando Magic. The views expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of the Orlando Magic or the NBA, but solely the writer.
"My life will go on, this much I know. Cars and games will come and go. But never once will I forgetta, the way we danced, dear Dick Bavetta." - from "I Left My Heart In Dick Bavetta"
Posts: 8146 | Location: Catching up with the OCTB. | Registered: February 09, 2006
Originally posted by Live or Die Magic: The Fan Voice: "Mixed Bag O' Dunks"
On a side note: I would like to present the “Tyronn Lue Memorial Award For the Non-Star Who Crashes the All-Star Festivities” to Damon Jones of the Cavaliers. Jones barely gets off the pine for the Cavs this season, but you would have thought he was leading the league in scoring by how much camera time he and his mohawk got during the weekend’s events. At one point, Reggie Miller even asked if Damon Jones was still in the league! God bless you Reggie Miller, you still shoot with high accuracy. A close runner-for the award has to go to Dikembe Mutombo who has spent much of his 37th season on the inactive list for the Rockets. Mutombo and Jones did some kind of tandem body flailing when Dwight doffed his jersey. As if that wasn’t bad enough, after Dwight’s Superman throwdown, who does he chest bump? Not Jameer Nelson, who gave him an absolutely beautiful pass, not LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Caron Butler, or some other all-star standing courtside. No, Dwight Howard chest bumped Jerome “Junkyard Dog” Williams, a player who retired a couple of years ago. I’m not sure that Dwight even knew who Williams was, nor should he have.
You sir, have just made my day.
Posts: 6320 | Location: Getting a stew going | Registered: July 03, 2007
I also agree with resigning Maurice Evans. He has been pretty solid and consistent for us as the starting 2 guard. His energy and demeanor alone make me smile when I see him in the game. He means business and truly looks like a guy who wants to just play the game of basketball, have fun doing it, and win at the same time.
Posts: 6320 | Location: Getting a stew going | Registered: July 03, 2007
"Michael, you are not quite the ladies man I had pictured. Hopefully, we will remedy that when we are in the spa spreading body chocolate on each other."
Posts: 5720 | Location: "No dejes q este tren se pare, Yo quiero q tus manos a mi me reparen, Ayudame a llegar a tu estacion, Seguir hasta que explote el corazon" | Registered: February 27, 2006
This blog is just one example of why you were a more than worthy winner of that MVP.
Has anyone ever seen Reggie and Cheryl in the same place? Are we certain they are not the same person?
I agree 100% on Kenny and Charles, I watched the dunk contest, then went back the next day and watched all of the Sat. night events just to hear Kenny and Charles, how many commentators can you say that about?
You know what I liked best about the dunk contest? Dwight being a goof. There are too many people out there that are stuffy and predictable when they get in front of a camera. Dwight has a good sense of humor and that goes a long way, lots of people can dunk but how many of them have a big goofy grin on there face when they are doing it? I can honestly say that even if Dwight wasn't on my team I would still cheer for the guy because I want someone with that kind of personality to win. The fact that he is on my team just makes it even better.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Marc Acres 3:16,
"So who would win in a fight: Darko Fanatics, Arroyo Maniacs, Hedo Worshipers, or JJ Lovers? Answer? Gortat. Bring on your armies, the Warlock is prepared. And by prepared, I mean in existence."-TheRevTy
Posts: 9525 | Location: Trying to figure out why the Fan Voice Blog gets 10 views and JJ/Carlos/Jameer/SVG sucks threads get a million views | Registered: February 15, 2006
I agree 100% on Kenny and Charles, I watched the dunk contest, then went back the next day and watched all of the Sat. night events just to hear Kenny and Charles, how many commentators can you say that about?
By far they are probably the most entertaining sports analysts out there. I actually look forward to the T-Mobile halftime show and Inside the NBA. If only you could get them, Kornheiser and Wilbon from PTI, and Guokas and Steele all together as our broadcast team.
Posts: 6320 | Location: Getting a stew going | Registered: July 03, 2007
Maybe I’m just getting cranky in my old age, but does anyone actually LIKE the music they blare in the O-rena? Near as I can tell, it all seems to revolve around slammin, bumpin, and booming.
Posts: 5030 | Location: The Magic Castle | Registered: November 16, 2006
It is too much biased hyperbole if I say that Saturday night’s dunk contest was the greatest non-game basketball event that I have ever witnessed? I remember being floored by Vince Carter’s performance in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest. But see, I didn’t have an emotional investment in him. He wasn’t on my team. I found myself actually shaking, physically shaking, when Jameer unfurled the cape and Dwight unveiled his Superman shirt. I was that excited. My heart raced and I felt such strong pride in being a Magic fan and having a player like Dwight Howard on my team.
You weren't the only one. I was actually nervous before each one of his dunks. I was standing in front of my couch with my fingers crossed and after he dunked I would start yelling like I was in a sports bar or something. I've never had that feeling during a dunk contest.
Quote from Davcicic, "I love the Magic so much that I would take them to the back of the school and get them Pregnant!!!!"
Posts: 6356 | Location: Posting as often as I can so that I can be a moderator by the year 2035! | Registered: March 13, 2006
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