May 04
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Magic SF Mickael Pietrus — to no one’s surprise — said after Monday’s practice that he would play tonight in the playoff opener against the Atlanta Hawks. ”Yes, I’m playing,” he said. Pietrus sprained his left ankle during Sunday’s practice, walked out of the trainer’s room in a protective boot and said afterward …
Apr 26
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “The [Orlando] Magic will face Jordan’s desperate team tonight and try to accomplish something never done during the Dwight Howard era: Sweep a playoff series. In fact, the Magic have never won a seven-game series with a sweep — and they’ve had seven chances since 1994. The Magic have recorded only one …
Apr 24
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “When he thinks about what might go wrong this afternoon in Charlotte, N.C., Stan Van Gundy worries about his players’ collective psyche. Van Gundy envisions 19,077 people inside Time Warner Cable Arena cheering wildly, and he visualizes an already desperate Charlotte Bobcats team feeding off of that energy. And, in his nightmare …
Apr 21
Tania Ganguli of the Orlando Sentinel: “After a long film session and before practice began on Tuesday at the Orlando Sports Complex, Bobcats coach Larry Brown gathered his team in a huddle. “Yesterday, Orlando took the day off,” Brown said. “That’s how seriously they’re taking us.” As the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, Charlotte …
Apr 18
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Orlando Magic start the choreographed fun late in warm-ups while the crowd settles in. Players begin with a rhythmic clapping and jumping up and down in a semi-circle. Veteran point guard Anthony Johnson moves into the center as the ringmaster and does a “funky dance” to ignite the pregame ritual. He introduces …
Apr 01
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “During last June’s NBA Finals, ESPN analyst Jon Barry noted that [Dwight] Howard often looked ‘mechanical’ on offense and lacked a go-to move. But Barry feels differently now. He thinks that Howard has made ‘tremendous strides.’ ‘It’s reactionary game,’ Barry explained. ‘So you have to make moves according to what your defense …