Dime Magazine has posted previews of all the NBA teams on their website and in this month's edition. This year, Dime decided to do things a bit differently and contacted the best team blogs around for their take on the upcoming season. Here is the preview for the Orlando Magic, by yours truly.
Magic beatup on the injured Grizzlies, 112-89, in a game that wasn't even close from the beginning. Pat Garrity plays well tonight, dropping 18 points on the Griz. Dwight Howard has 15 points and 8 rebounds as the projected starting 5 played together tonight. The only change from the starting five (Nelson, Dooling, Turkoglu, Howard, Battie) we might see is coach moving Howard over to center and brining Darko Milicic in at power forward. There is a possibility that Grant Hill might start in place of Keyon Dooling, but I expect Dooling will start the season at the position.
I was cruising around on YouTube and came across a couple nice Dwight Howard videos. You can search "Dwight Howard" on YouTube for all the related videos or click the link below. Also, I've provided a couple links to videos that I liked. *Note: there are some explicit lyrics in the songs.
All Videos
Howard Mix
Kblaze Tribute
Roller Coaster Ride
Top Ten Dunks
Manchild
Magic take revenge in Birmingham on the Hawks, beating them by 21, 109-88. The Magic were in control the entire game. Dwight Howard, The Daily Double, posted another double-double in the preseason - scoring 20 points and picking 16 rebounds. Carlos Arroyo played a good game tonight, contributing 16 points and 7 assists. The game was hard to keep track off because the box score was not updated live on NBA.com like usual. We did see the return of a few familiar gaces and the team seems well on there way to having a full squad ready by opening night. Speaking of, Hedo Turkoglu put up 21 points in limited minutes.
The Orlando Magic lose their first game of the preseason to the Atlanta Hawks, at home, 100-96. The game was close all game long, with the Magic up for the majority. The Hawks had a big fourth quarter to pull out the win. Dwight Howard, a.k.a The Daily Double, put up 27 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks against the Hawks. Howard always seems to play well against his former team. Jameer Nelson, Carlos Arroyo and Hedo Turkoglu all returned to action tonight. As expected, they were off just a bit but the main thing is that they are back. Keyon Dooling had a decent night with 15 points.
Travis Diener makes good use of his playing time and leads the Magic to a 92-87 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. Diener finished with 23 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds. Dwight Howard had a quiet night. The Magic only played 9 players tonight compared with 18 for the Spurs. Magic only committed 15 turnovers while dishing out 22 assists on 33 field goals. Even without most of the starting lineup, the team is playing very well together.
The Magic win the second game of the preseason against the New Orleans Hornets, 100-85. Dwight Howard continues to show improvement in his game, leading the team to victory. Howard finished with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Pat Garrity comes to life with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Kasib Powell and Jackie Manuel are playing well in the extended minutes they are receiving in place of our mess of injured players. Magic are still without Trevor Ariza, J.J. Redick, Tony Battie, Keyon Dooling, Carlos Arroyo, Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu. Several players are expected back by this time next week.
According to a report on ESPN.com this morning, charges have been filed against Stephen Jackson for his role in the incident last week. It's about time. I can tell you that if I fired a gun in my neighborhood - my butt would be in jail. I can't imagine what would happen if I did that around a night club.
New article on ESPN.com today about the NBA cracking down on whistle whiners. It appears that David Stern is finally tired of all the complaining after the calls. What took him so long? I've been tired of this for awhile now. So what, the call didn't go your way. No amount of complaining will change that call.
The Orlando Magic, led by Dwight Howard aka The Daily Double, beat the Charlotte Bobcats, 109-90. Howard scored 18 points and 10 rebounds. Grant Hill returned to action for the Magic and scored 16 points. Much of the Magic regular season lineup was out due to injuries. Tony Battie, Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu, Carlos Arroyo, J.J. Redick, Trevor Ariza were all out for tonight's game.
The Indiana Pacers are a disgrace to professional sports. Last week, Stephen Jackson was involved in an incident at a strip club with two other members of the team. During the incident, Jackson ended up pulling a handgun out and firiing several shots. I cannot believe the media has left this alone. Am I the only one who thinks there is something seriously wrong here?
The Magic begin training camp today in Jacksonville. J.J. Redick will most likely be held from practice due to an injured left foot. Grant Hill is expected to practice with the team. There should be an open practice Saturday at the University of North Florida. As soon as I can track down the details, I will post it for everyone.
