Tuesday’s Magic Word
- Josh Cohen of OrlandoMagic.com: “Heart, passion and devotion are just some words that describe international athletic competition. From the Olympics to the World Cup to the Little League World Series, global sporting events reveal an unparalleled spirit in an athlete. Although some are more patriotic than others, it seems athletes unveil more vigor, emotion and commitment than they normally would. We witnessed such fortitude from the Americans during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing when the Redeem Team, featuring NBA stars such as Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, recaptured the gold in an epic final against Spain. [...] Perhaps instead of a customary All-Star Weekend or maybe replacing a portion of the exhibition schedule, I think an NBA “Battle of the States” competition should happen. Basically, the guidelines would permit only active NBA players to participate and teams would be sorted out based on where the player was born. I would, moreover, set up a playoff-style tournament to determine the grand U.S. champion. “
- Dwight Howard is going to star in a new movie, alongside Carmelo Anthony.
- At ESPN.com, 17 percent of panelists select the Orlando Magic to win the Eastern Conference. Here’s what J.A. Adande had to say: “They tried playing the “nobody respects us” card for the past two seasons and maybe it will finally take effect now. Dwight Howard was a dark horse MVP candidate last season, but now that LeBron is in South Beach, Dwight can no longer be considered the best player in the state of Florida. Take that, plus the humiliating first three games of the Eastern Conference finals, and if Howard and the Magic don’t enter 2010-11 in vengeance mode, then they never will.”
- For what it’s worth, I chose the Miami Heat as the champions in the East.
- Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie ranks Rashard Lewis as the 22nd-best power forward in the NBA: “If I’m honest, the only reason Lewis is ranked this high is because the skill he’s best known for contributing (sound shooting from behind the arc) is so hard to find at this position, and he can be a matchup nightmare. Can be. Because, too often, Lewis doesn’t take advantage of his own gifts. And when he passes on being aggressive offensively, his terrible defense and position-worst rebounding tend to bring out the worst in him.”
- Normally, I agree with Dwyer on just about everything but he’s incorrect in saying that Lewis is terrible on defense because he’s not.
