Posts Tagged → Dwyane Wade
Sneak Preview: Miami Heat at Orlando Magic
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- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Surprise, ahem, is in the voice of the Heat these days. Now that their force field of arrogance has been shattered, the Heat wobble into Amway Center at a ho-hum 8-6, misfiring on offense and missing some spare parts (Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller). All their woes place a ton of pressure on the 9-4 Magic tonight for Orlando-Miami II. What do you make of the [Orlando] Magic if they can’t beat the reeling, luke-warm Heat and square the series? [...] The Magic said that the Spurs game was a measuring stick. If that was a barometer, isn’t the Miami rematch, especially after Orlando was embarrassed Oct. 29 in South Florida? Absolutely. If the Heat aren’t vulnerable now, then when? At least against the Spurs, the Magic played well until the final minutes when they kicked the ball around. They could leave Texas feeling upbeat. It’s no wonder [Jameer] Nelson and teammates have nightmares of their 96-70 loss to the Heat, visions of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh shutting them down in mismatches. They left Miami’s building feeling deflated, not only wondering if all the hype about this South Florida steamroller was warranted but whether they’d stand a chance at playoff time. Other teams have poked holes in the Heat hysteria since then. The Magic need to join them, particularly since they are playing at home. Magic-Heat II is the biggest game yet at new, cavernous Amway Center. I haven’t been overwhelmed by the home-court atmosphere. Time to break it in proper.”
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Vince Carter received some welcome news on the injury front Tuesday. An MRI on his injured left knee revealed no significant structural damage, an Orlando Magic spokesman said. Carter might play when the Magic host the Miami Heat on Wednesday. He will be a gametime decision. The 33-year-old shooting guard sustained the injury Monday, midway through the fourth quarter of the Magic’s 106-97 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Carter made a gorgeous spin move and converted a layup on the play, but he landed awkwardly on his left foot. He didn’t return to the game.”
- Dave Hyde of the Sun-Sentinel: “The Heat has consecutive losses to Memphis and Indiana. It’s Spoelstra now on the [Stan] Van Gundy Hot Seat. And Spoelstra knows the rules. He’s a big boy and a good coach, no matter what anyone says today. But you don’t get handed the keys to a team like this without the wild expectations that come with it. Of course, that previous sentence is part of the dilemma itself. This team has significant holes, especially with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller on the shelf. At the crux of the question Jackson raises is this: Do superstars in the NBA, the most diva of sports leagues, need to be coached by superstars? That’s why Jackson was brought to Los Angeles with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. It’s also why Van Gundy got run out of Miami by his own players, mainly Shaq, even if modern legend claims it all Riley’s doing. Since this pertains to the Heat’s current situation, let’s take a quick history lesson. Shaq was upset Van Gundy kept running plays for an injured Dwyane Wade in Game 7 of the previous spring’s Eastern Conference Finals. Wade had nothing left by the fourth quarter. Plays kept going to him. Detroit won. Shaq decided, then and there, he was done with Van Gundy.”
- Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel: “Erick Dampier is in, Jerry Stackhouse is out, and Udonis Haslem may be gone for the season. In the wake of one of the franchise’s ugliest losses in years, Monday’s 93-77 setback to the visiting Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat quickly found their focus turned to personnel issues at Tuesday’s practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. On the practice court, Dampier, the veteran center, was working with coaches on the team’s playbook, after signing a one-year contract at the veteran minimum. Gone from the scene was Stackhouse, with the Heat electing to release the veteran shooting guard, rather than one of the four centers already on the roster. [...] Although the team would not confirm the extent of Haslem’s injury other than to say he would be out indefinitely, a source familiar with the procedure said it is a season-ending injury for most players. The source said the opinion had nothing to do with the possibility of the Heat seeking salary-cap relief for a replacement, which only would come if Haslem was deemed sidelined for the season by Nov. 30.”
- Israel Gutierrez of the Miami Herald: “One day after a numbing home loss to the Pacers temporarily shattered the Heat, the theme for Tuesday’s practice was reconnecting. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra wanted his team to rediscover the elements that would make the team successful — none of which showed up during Miami’s 16-point loss Monday. One of those key elements, though, won’t be reconnecting anytime soon. Possibly not for the rest of the regular season. Udonis Haslem had surgery Tuesday to repair a torn Lisfranc ligament in his left foot. The procedure was called a success, but the typical recovery period for that type of surgery is at least four months. If that were the case for Haslem, it would keep him out until at least late March. In Haslem’s absence, the Heat signed center Erick Dampier, a 14-year veteran, and waived Jerry Stackhouse.”
- Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald: “If three of the biggest NBA stars aren’t enough to get Heat fans in their seats on time, maybe $2 off a hotdog, and a gentle scolding by team management will do the trick. Or, maybe not. In most NBA cities, the prospect of seeing Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh on the floor together would be enough to have fans captivated by tipoff. But this is Miami, where socializing and showing up fashionably late is as much a part of the culture as ignoring stop signs. Heat management — tired of seeing thousands of empty seats at the start of game broadcasts — recently launched a “Fan Up” campaign in an attempt to get fans to be more punctual and spirited. That could prove more difficult than winning another NBA title. They may have to lock the arena doors at tipoff to get fans in on time.”
- Kevin Arnovitz and Tom Haberstroh of The Heat Index: “A season ago, the Orlando Magic were the proud owners of the league’s second best offense in the league but it’s slid 6.1 points per 100 possessions since then. What’s the problem? Magic point guards have been uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball. That’s especially true for newcomer Chris Duhon whose turnover rate so far in a Magic uniform has doubled his career norm. Jameer Nelson and Duhon combined for 5 turnovers in the Oct. 29 matchup. The Heat should be licking their chops since the transition game is the only thing that seems to be working offensively and turnovers award them those opportunities. Additionally, if the Heat seek to disarm Dwight Howard defensively, causing turnovers and jumping out in transition will be their best option.”
- Brian Windhorst of The Heat Index: “LeBron James will be the first member of the Miami Heat introduced in the starting lineup on Wednesday night at Amway Center. The Magic home crowd, like every other crowd outside Miami this season, will likely boo him. And then when James touches the ball early in the game there will probably be more boos. The boos will follow James as he travels the league this season, whether he’s checking in at the scorer’s table or walking to the foul line. The volume might vary based on region, the competitiveness of the game or general level of interest, but the pattern figures to be consistent. This is the new norm for James and one of the many things he admits he’s adjusting to as a member of the targeted Heat. James admitted last week after another night of routine boos in Memphis that he’s been perplexed by some of the grief he’s received on the road this season.”
- Michael Wallace of The Heat Index: “Erick Dampier should have been signed two months ago when he first met with Pat Riley and Erick Spoelstra before the Miami Heat’s training camp. But that doesn’t mean his arrival Tuesday in advance of Wednesday’s clash with Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic didn’t come right on time. The Heat are hurting right now, both figuratively and literally. The pain of their disappointing 8-6 start to the season has been compounded by the the loss of their leading rebounder, co-captain and resident tough guy, Udonis Haslem, for what might be the duration of the season. On the same day Haslem had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left foot, the Heat tried to regain their balance by signing Dampier to help fill their rebounding void and need for another big man with some semblance of a mean streak to bang inside.”
Tuesday’s Magic Word
- Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “Kay Kellogg loved Dwight Howard. Loved him to death. And, sadly, her death came on Sunday night. Kellogg passed away at her home at age 62 after a battle with Multiple Myeloma, an aggressive cancer that searches out and destroys the blood plasma in the bone marrow. Her disease was inoperable and incurable. You might know Kellogg from a couple of columns I wrote in the Orlando Sentinel. She became known as “Mama Kay” because that’s what Dwight Howard called her when he met her a couple of months ago. You see, her dying wish was to meet Howard, her sports hero, before she died. Not only did she meet him, she made an imprint on his life.”
- Vince Carter has a sprained knee. Good news for Magic fans.
- What are the best five-man units for the Orlando Magic?
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Dwight Howard received a technical foul with 5:37 remaining in the first quarter of Monday night’s game between the Orlando Magic and the San Antonio. Howard pumped his fist after he made a shot, appearing to call for an “and-one” shooting foul against Tim Duncan. A referee gave Howard a “T” because of the gesture. From the Magic’s perspective, it could have been worse. After all, the NBA giveth. The NBA taketh away. Orlando Magic President of Basketball Operations Otis Smith said before tipoff that league officials have rescinded one of Howard’s earlier technical fouls and replaced it with a Flagrant 1 foul. Howard was called for a technical in the first quarter of Saturday’s game in Indianapolis for an elbow on the Indiana Pacers’ Roy Hibbert. At the time, it looked like it was Howard’s fifth technical of the season. But the league has now made that infraction a Flagrant 1 foul instead, Smith said.”
- Rest assured, the Magic will be ready for the Miami Heat in tomorrow night’s grudge match. John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com has more: “Within minutes of Orlando coming up short in a measuring stick game against the surging San Antonio Spurs on Monday night, the Magic quickly moved on mentally to the next litmus test dead ahead. But then again, it’s not as if the rival Miami Heat have ever really left the Magic’s consciousness. The Magic were embarrassed in their second game of the regular season by the revamped Heat and the unsightly 96-70 beatdown has never strayed far from Orlando’s psyches. [...] Still, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy knows the Magic have their work cut out in trying to keep Wade and James from slashing and Bosh from scoring inside. Van Gundy was upset at Orlando’s inability to handle San Antonio’s drive-and-kick game on Monday night, and the Heat will once against test Orlando’s defensive mettle.”
- Breaking news: Rashard Lewis is overpaid.
- Eric Freeman of Ball Don’t Lie prays that Howard stops singing.
- Britt Robson of Sports Illustrated details Carter’s importance to Orlando: “From admitting he didn’t always give maximum effort while playing in Toronto to his lackluster performance against Boston in last year’s conference finals, Vince Carter justifiably attracts a significant amount of criticism. But statistical measures are pretty emphatic about Carter’s value to the Magic. According to 82games.com, Orlando scores 19.5 more points and allows 9.8 fewer points per 100 possessions when Carter plays compared to when he sits. The more sophisticated, “adjusted plus/minus” metrics at Basketball Value reinforce his worth. For those who like to keep it simple, Carter — who left Monday’s loss at San Antonio in the fourth quarter because of a knee injury – is shooting less frequently but more accurately from the field than ever before, and he’s also converting a career-high 42.2 percent from deep.”
- Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie chimes in on “Mama Kay.”
- More from Dwyer: “At this pace, Howard is going to be earning a one-game suspension for every two technicals he picks up by late January, and I’m sorry, but that’s not exactly what MVPs do. I also find it a little curious that the man who insists on quoting scripture at every given opportunity seems to take his lord’s name in vain quite frequently and loudly and matched with another curse word in close proximity to microphones, children, or the microphones that relay that message into people’s living rooms in front of children. I don’t care if he cusses until he’s Magic-blue in the face. Go nuts, Dwight. Just don’t try to have it both ways.”
Thursday’s Magic Word
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “The [Orlando] Magic haven’t taken part in a competitive game since camp began, all their games lopsided one way or the other, speaking of the Miami Heat. [...] Strangely, [Otis] Smith said he could see it coming, given the Magic were on a back-to-back, had rolled through the preseason and were the Heat’s guest on an emotional opening night. [...] After the Magic were trounced in Miami, I wrote that they will not be fine, not at playoff time against Miami or Boston. I believed before the game that this team — this season or next — needs to trade for more star power to beat the Heat and Celtics. More than a few e-mailers agreed. Writers and fans are one thing. Then there’s coach Stan Van Gundy. Van Gundy said after the loss to the Heat that his team does not have a player who can routinely create his own shot. It was not a new observation from Stan, just a recent reminder. Smith told me Stan’s comment didn’t bother him. He didn’t totally disagree with the analysis, either.”
- Head coach Stan Van Gundy was pleased with the ball movement in last night’s game.
- Dwight Howard likes to send blocks out-of-bounds, unlike Bill Russell.
- Trey Kerby of The Basketball Jones has more on Howard’s ‘philosophy’: “We’ve all heard the stories about how Bill Russell would block shots. He’d do his best to get a hand on every shot he could. When he did, he’d try to tip it to a teammate or himself in order to start a fast break. Those shot-blocking techniques are just a part of the huge legacy that Russell built as one of the NBA’s most prominent winners. The guy was so unselfish that even his blocks were part of a team concept. Dwight Howard goes about blocking shots in a very similar manner, except for the exact opposite. Dwight’s content to toss a weak shot attempt in to the stands, even if that means the other team still gets the ball back. That’s his way of not showboating.”
- Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk chimes in on Howard’s decision to play in the 2012 Summer Olympics: “I guess we’re doing this now. It’s not like we are 19 months and basically two full NBA seasons away from the USA Basketball camps where the team for the London Olympics will be chosen. We’re asking now who wants to go.”
- Jack Jensen of Dime Magazine with a must-read article on Howard: “With so many expectations and the weight of an entire fan base and team counting on Dwight each game to produce, Orlando can only hope the pressure to succeed doesn’t wear on their young star. He does have a mean streak – any one of his flailing elbow’s victims will agree – but maybe Dwight really is too nice to get it done by himself. Maybe Superman 2.0 needs a dominant Justice League co-pilot to lead him through the playoffs and into the Promised Land. Shaq had Kobe and Dwyane. Garnett had Pierce. Duncan had Parker. Orlando has … balance. The Magic have surrounded Dwight with arguably the best collection of all-around talent in the League, but a consistently dominant go-to star has yet to emerge. Hedo Turkoglu looked like he might have become that guy during Orlando’s 2009 run to the Finals, but he bolted out of Central Florida that summer, and 33-year-old Vince Carter is coming off the worst season of his career. Still, Howard whole-heartedly believes he can lead Orlando’s current squad to a ring, despite the growing concern that he often downplays his toughness. Is Dwight too forgiving to get it done riding solo? It’s something that he’s ready to put firmly to rest once and for all.”
The Clock is Ticking for the Orlando Magic
Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images
Via George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel:
The Orlando Magic are going to win a bunch of games this season.
My guesstimate is that the bar starts at 50 and shoots up from there. Expect lots of good times in the fabulously-plush Amway Center.
But the celebratory spirit may come crashing down in the playoff crunch, when the creampuffs disappear and the Magic are forced-fed peas and broccoli.
The Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics are not yummy-yummy for the Magic. Perhaps it’s a bit premature to make that call so early in the season. It was just a few days ago that NBA Commissioner David Stern was in town commemorating the start of the season in a new arena and the Magic were carving up the Washington Wizards.
But some things never change.
The Magic don’t have any players who can break down a defense by going one-on-one, unless Vince Carter steps into a Hot Tub Time Machine and it’s 1997 all over again.
Without one, they won’t have a prayer of beating the Celtics or the Heat in a playoff series. [...]
It is not too early in the season to break out the gloom-and-doom scenario. Listen to Stan Van Gundy‘s analysis, breaking down his team’s strengths and weaknesses, after Friday’s loss.
“Against a good defensive team we have trouble a little bit,” he said. “We don’t have — and this isn’t to put down anybody in our locker room — but we don’t have the great one-on-one players. We don’t have Wade and James and Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant.”
What they do have are bad matchups against the Heat and the Celtics. And matchups are what this league is all about.
And so here we are.
Two games into the regular season, and all the goodwill that’s been built up with the Orlando Magic has been wiped away.
That being said, it’s fair to question whether or not the Magic have the roster to usurp the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference. When head coach Stan Van Gundy readily admits that Orlando doesn’t have a great individual scorer, that speaks volumes. It really does. It makes people wonder whether or not general manager Otis Smith will pull the trigger on someone like Carmelo Anthony, a player that’s readily available on the open market and is the type of shot creator the Magic desperately need right now. Still, it’s too early to speculate on that possibility because there’s too many variables involved.
Now is not the time for hasty action.
Orlando had a bad game against a rival. At the very least, the Magic deserve the opportunity to right the wrongs and fix the problem internally. That being said, if this continues to be a problem with the Heat and Celtics in the next few months, let alone the Los Angeles Lakers, then the organization for Orlando is going to have to take a hard, long look at themselves. Ownership has invested millions of dollars in allowing the Magic to compete for a championship but if the roster isn’t calibrated to beat the teams ahead of them, changes need to be made.
Or else the money spent is a waste.
Before the February 24 trade deadline, Orlando faces off against Miami and Boston a total of five times. If the Magic can prove that they can beat the Heat and Celtics in a manner that’s sustainable for a seven-game series in the playoffs, great.
If not, Magic fans will be clamoring for a trade.
The clock is ticking.
Video Analysis: A Look at the Orlando Magic’s Inability to Score Against the Miami Heat
In the Orlando Magic‘s loss against the Miami Heat on Friday, a six-point halftime deficit ballooned to 20 points in the span of roughly three minutes during the third quarter. It was a haymaker that served as a knockout blow for the Magic, and it had to everything to do with the Heat’s defense which was devastating in its own right. Everyone marvel’s at the offensive firepower of James, Wade, and Bosh, but sometimes people forget that they’re pretty good defenders too. Bosh gets pegged, unfairly, as a bad defender but watch him in the 2008 Summer Olympics and it becomes clear that in the right defensive scheme, he can be a net positive on defense. As for James and Wade, they love to roam defensively and wreak havoc whenever possible.
During Miami’s 14-0 run, there was little Orlando could to do create on offense. One of the main things that stands out from the Heat is not only their pick and roll coverage, which was superb, but just their swarming team defense. Miami has a lot of athletic players on the roster and that makes for a stingy set of defenders. The Magic learned that the hard way as they had to take difficult shot after difficult shot and dig themselves deep in a hole they couldn’t get out of. It’s easy to criticize Orlando for not running enough pick and rolls, for example, but they were having little success when they tried. The Heat’s defensive rotations were fantastic.
And watch James on defense — he was everywhere.
Recap: Miami Heat 96, Orlando Magic 70
Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
After months of the Orlando Magic yapping away and tossing verbal grenades towards the Miami Heat in the offseason, it shouldn’t be too surprising that they got what was coming to them last night. In their regular season home opener in front of a nationally televised audience and a sellout crowd draped in black, the Heat were able to defeat the Magic by the score of 96-70. Dwyane Wade killed Orlando, as he always has in the past, putting up 26 points, six rebounds, and two blocks. LeBron James was the maestro of the destruction, finishing with 15 points, six rebounds, and seven assists. Chris Bosh chipped in with 11 points and 10 rebounds. And the Heat got excellent contributions from the bench. For the Magic, there were only two players that had a pulse when the game mattered — Dwight Howard and Brandon Bass. Howard had 19 points and seven rebounds while dominating in the first half on offense like he never has before. Bass had nine points, six rebounds, but most importantly, he played with excellent energy and effort (one of the few to do that last night) on the defensive side of the ball. It seemed like only Howard and Bass were the players on the Orlando roster that were prepared for Miami’s fury.
The first half of yesterday’s game between the Magic and Heat was everything that people envisioned. It was physical. It was defensive-minded. It was bloody.
When J.J. Redick got popped in the face (below the eye, to be specific) by a James’ elbow as he took a charge and had to get stitches in the locker room to quell the bleeding, he unintentionally served as the sacrificial lamb to christen the rivalry.
It was on.
Friday’s Magic Word
- Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel: “Perhaps the most surprising element of the Orlando Magic’s 112-83 victory was the play of Mickael Pietrus; specifically, the fact that he didn’t play in the first half. Stan Van Gundy wanted to stick to a nine-man rotation, and that surprisingly left both Pietrus and Ryan Anderson on the outside looking in. We knew there was a chance Anderson might not play – it was either him or Brandon Bass – but Pietrus riding the pine? Not many saw that one coming, including Pietrus himself. [...] Pietrus won’t have long to hold on to it, as he’ll most certainly be called on tonight against the Miami Heat. With LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on the floor most of the night, Pietrus’ abilities will be necessary to guard one of those players throughout the game.”
- Dwight Howard on tonight’s game: “We can make a statement. But we don’t want to go out there and be so hyped emotionally that you forget your purpose. We know we’re going to be playing against a team that’s gotten all the hype all year. And our biggest thing is coming out and executing the right way, limiting their possessions and making them play against us. That’s the biggest thing. I think when you go into a game that’s hyped up and very emotional, that stuff wears off as the game goes on. So, we just come out and weather the storm, because they’re going to come out hyped and ready to go. If we weather the storm early, we should win.”
- Howard missed a lot of free throws against the Washington Wizards, and had to do push-ups because of it. Willie Mays Hayes, anyone?
- Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post performs an excellent interview with Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus and asks him a variety of questions related to the Orlando Magic. Here’s a snippet from Pelton: “In some sort of hypothetical situation where I did not have to deal with the players’ reactions to their minutes, I would probably play Anderson and [Rashard] Lewis fairly equally at power forward, give Lewis 10-15 minutes a night at small forward and leave Bass on the bench. Anderson is, to me, pretty comfortably the superior player. I totally understand why Stan Van Gundy wants to use all three guys, however.”
- Michael Wallace of The Heat Index previews the rivalry between the Magic and the Miami Heat.
- Five things to watch for with the Heat.
- Rob Peterson of NBA FanHouse does a fantastic job of chronicling head coach Stan Van Gundy’s press conference decorum: “Like Phil Jackson, who sometimes speaks to reporters as if his 11 championship rings gives him carte blanche to condescend and Gregg Popovich, who on occasion treats the media as if they were dim cattle, Van Gundy suffers no fools. But compared the other two, Van Gundy is an unvarnished grinder, buoyed in the knowledge that his knowledge of the game is far greater than your knowledge of anything else. Most impressive was his use of the word “look,” which could take on many implications depending on the tone of his voice or his body language.”
- Tim Povtak of NBA FanHouse: “The Magic, beaten by Boston last spring in the conference final, has been quietly impressive this fall, even if no one else cared. They won all seven exhibition games by an average of 26 points. They won their opener against the dreadful Wizards by 29 points. Now they will play the game they’ve been waiting to play for months.”
- I wonder what that game is?
- Zach Lowe of The Point Forward takes a look at in-game strategy for Orlando and Miami: “The Heat will almost certainly have to help center Joel Anthony, who is listed as 20 pounds lighter than Howard but is probably giving up more weight than that. Orlando loves to play an inside-out game and allow its elite three-point shooting to burn opponents that double-team Howard. But if there are two defenders capable of helping on Howard without sacrificing too much team defensive integrity, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James fit that description. They are long, quick and athletic enough to create some chaos without yielding clean passing lanes and uncontested shots. As I’ve said before, I expect Miami to take a page from the U.S.’ gold-medal winning World Championship team when facing an elite back-to-the-basket big man. That is: Have your most athletic players fly around the court to create confusion and force turnovers. It worked for the United States in Turkey, but it never faced anyone like Howard or a three-point shooting army as accurate as Orlando’s. Of course, Miami could choose to stay at home and let Howard go to work on its big men. We’ll see.”
- Matt Moore of CBSSports.com with a must-read article on Howard’s attitude towards the Heat: “After talking to Howard this summer? I immediately started predicting he would average over 30 points a game against the Heat. And I’m still convinced that will happen. That’s pretty much what you get out of Howard when you bring up the Heat. As he has dealt with the talk of this team all. Summer. Long. Howard has heard no end to the talk about Miami and the new super core. It started plaguing him right after it happened, prompting him to decline questions about Miami for a time, until he realized it was pointless. In Chicago, he was friendly with Wade, the way superstar NBA players are. It’s a brotherhood, after all, and in the end these guys know that one another helps them get paid. But there were still moments where you could tell Howard’s motivation has grown and expanded after listening to the Heat hype for three solid months. Make no mistake, behind the lighthearted superhero facade is a man who is very bitter over the way three players have supplanted themselves not only above him in the preseason rankings, but butted him out of his own state. Florida is supposed to be Howard’s home, and instead all he hears about are his neighbors to the south. This has disturbed him, compounding the anger and frustration left over from a postseason where the Celtics took the bite out of the dog and left his team whimpering as they advanced to the Finals. Boston returned Orlando to where most people consider it: also-ran status. Miami has made it a sideshow. Howard doesn’t like that. Howard Smash.”
- Trey Kerby of The Basketball Jones explains why Howard has broad shoulders.
- Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie has more on Howard’s in-game calisthenics: “Howard, clearly bemused and frustrated all at once, went to the end of the bench, and started doing push-ups. The TNT cameras, as you can see above, clearly caught him. Then the cameras panned away toward live action, but, yep, Dwight was still doing push-ups in the background. [...] But Magic coach Stan Van Gundy seems impressively unaware.”
- You know who else is tired of talking about Miami? Yes, Marcin Gortat.
- Sebastian Pruiti of NBA Playbook breaks down the Magic’s win from last night.
- Seats are still available for the Heat’s regular season home opener!
- Bill Simmons of ESPN’s Page 2: “You know who has the most to gain with the 2010-11 Miami Heat other than LeBron and Wade? Dwight Howard. He could and should rip them apart much like Wilt ran amok in the 1960s against 6-foot-8 white guys who smoked butts at halftime. Does he have it in him? Will Howard ever be anything other than an awesome physical specimen who happens to play basketball only because it’s the sport that made the most sense for him?”
A Rivalry to Be, or Not to Be: That Is the Question
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There is no rivalry between the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat.
There is no rich history between the two franchises.
Celtics vs. Lakers it is not. History? Boston and L.A. have decades of it. Geography? They are the East vs. West. Bad blood? Five words: Kevin McHale clotheslines Kurt Rambis. Great players? Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Jerry West are only the beginning.
And when it really comes down to it, a big reason why the Celtics and Lakers have an intense dislike for one another, is because the other was the only thing standing between them and a championship.
This isn’t Bulls vs. Pistons. For three years, Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all-time, was humbled by the collective power of head coach Chuck Daly and the “Bad Boys.” The “Jordan Rules” tested the Bulls to their very core. It took everything Jordan had — from extreme conditioning and toughness, the triangle offense, and his evolution as a teammate, to make it to the Finals.
This isn’t even Heat vs. Knicks. That was just violent.
Orlando and Miami, up to this point, have never competed against each other for even a conference championship. Whenever the Heat were an elite team, the Magic were merely good and vice-versa. They have played for state of Florida bragging rights, and little else. Sure, they had a somewhat memorable first round series in the 1997 NBA Playoffs, thanks in large part to Penny Hardaway’s Herculean efforts in Games 3 and 4 (back-to-back 40 point games) to make what was a one-sided matchup into a competitive battle.
That’s it, though.
For the Magic and Heat, countless players have come and gone. As such, not many star players have had a chance to leave an indelible mark on the head-to-head series. It’s true that Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard have been the most consistent faces, in terms of in-their-prime superstar talent, between Orlando and Miami in recent years, but there’s never been a signature moment between them.
No, it’s not a rivalry.
Not yet.
Interview with Kevin Arnovitz and Tom Haberstroh of The Heat Index
Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images
After nearly four months, the wait is over.
We know the story by now. LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined forces with Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat to create the SuperFriends. Afterwards, general manager Otis Smith and head coach Stan Van Gundy had a few words to say about the way James handled his decision (literally and figuratively), president Pat Riley fired back with comments of his own, Van Gundy offered a rebuttal, and here we are. The players for the Orlando Magic have been sick and tired with talking about the Heat, and tonight will be their chance to air out their frustrations.
To preview tonight’s matchup, I enlisted the wisdom of Kevin Arnovitz and Tom Haberstroh — both write for the Heat Index at the TrueHoop Network.
Arnovitz and Haberstroh provide their opinions on Mike Miller’s eventual role with Miami when he returns from injury, the matchup advantages for the Magic against the Heat, and more.
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It’s been two games, of course, but how have LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh looked together on the court?
Kevin Arnovitz: It’s far too early to assess meaningfully, but they’ve looked a little disjointed in the half court as a unit. They haven’t been on the floor enough yet to establish a rhythm to their sets or develop an intuitive sense of where the other two guys are going to be in less structured moments. Wade has been the least deliberate of the three — for better (W at PHL) and worse (L at BOS).
Tom Haberstroh: Like they have only played a handful of minutes together. The Heat seem to be experimenting with different sets to try to spark some chemistry and dust off the rust. But they’re not hitting on all cylinders yet and believe me, we’ll know when they are. There’s plenty of time to change this but LeBron has been far too conservative with the ball. He has barely attacked the basket in each of the opening quarters this season and that’s a large reason they’ve sputtered out of the gates so far. That will change as he gets more comfortable alongside Dwyane Wade.
Where Do the Orlando Magic Stand As of Today?
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Via John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com:
Will Anthony and Paul be traded and swing the balance of power in the NBA? How bad does Anthony want out of Denver? The franchise has been trying to get him to sign a $66 million extension for months and he’s turned his nose up at it. But I give ‘Melo credit for wanting to win a championship and he knows that is never going to happen in Denver with the Lakers bullying everything west of the Mississippi River. But I hate to break it to Anthony, but the Knicks or Nets aren’t going to win a title anytime soon either.
Could a franchise such as the Magic, Celtics or Bulls pull off a blockbuster for Anthony or Paul midseason that would vault them ahead of the Lakers and Heat as championship favorites? As currently constructed, the Magic love their roster with their loads of depth and talent at every spot. President of Basketball Operations/GM Otis Smith has never been a big fan of mid-season moves, but Smith knows that the Magic aren’t going to pay the luxury tax forever and they might need to take their biggest, hardest swing at trying to win it all this season.
So Anthony and Paul, who both want out of their current situations and would prefer to team up somewhere a la the Miami Thrice, could very well swing the balance in the NBA come February. Denver and New Orleans aren’t winning much this season, and the trade deadline could be the point where they are moved to a contender.
Until the trade deadline comes and goes, the possibility of the Orlando Magic acquiring either Carmelo Anthony or Chris Paul will continue to linger in the background. And if it becomes clear that the Magic — in their current state — will not be able to beat the Miami Heat or the Boston Celtics in a seven-game series, the trade winds will start to swirl harder.
Especially when it’s common knowledge that general manager Otis Smith has accumulated a plethora of assets to execute a blockbuster trade — in theory.
Tonight, the SuperFriends will face off against the Celtics and everyone will finally have a chance to see LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh on the floor together (barring an injury) in a game that matters. This will, undoubtedly, be one of the most anticipated regular season openers in NBA history and for Magic fans, it’ll be a great opportunity to scout the competition.
Not everything, regarding the Heat and C’s, will be figured out tonight but the process of unveiling the fog of war will begin. Rest assured, the same attention will be given to Orlando and Miami when they square off on Friday. For now, it’s a three-way dance in the Eastern Conference and the Magic, Heat, and Celtics are the participants.
Should be fun to watch.
