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Orlando’s Dwight Howard Highlights 2009-10 All-NBA First Team
Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images
Via the Orlando Magic:
Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, the 2009-10 NBA Defensive Player of the Year presented by Kia Motors, and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the 2009-10 Most Valuable Player presented by Kia Motors, were unanimous selections to the 2009-10 All-NBA First Team, the NBA announced today. Joining Howard and James on the First Team are Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat.
Howard, an All-NBA First Team selection for the third consecutive season, became the first player to lead the league in rebounding and blocks (1973-74 was the first season blocks were kept as an official statistic) in consecutive seasons, averaging 13.2 rebounds and 2.78 blocks. Howard also paced the league in field goal percentage (.612), becoming the first player to lead the NBA in all three of those categories since the NBA started keeping blocked shots. Howard recorded an NBA-high 64 double-doubles, including three 20-point/20-rebound efforts.
Dwight Howard Headlines 2009-10 NBA All-Defensive First Team
Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images
Via the Orlando Magic:
Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, winner of the 2009-10 Defensive Player of the Year Award presented by Kia Motors, and guard Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics headline the NBA All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced today. By totaling 57 points overall, including 28 First Team votes, Howard edged Rondo (50 points overall and 23 First Team votes) as the leading vote-getter.
Also selected to the All-Defensive First Team are forward LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers (45 points), Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (34 points) and Charlotte Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace (30 points).
Howard became the first player to lead the league in rebounding and blocks (1973-74 was the first season blocks were kept as an official statistic) in consecutive seasons, averaging 13.2 rebounds and 2.78 blocks. He also became only the fifth player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounding for at least three consecutive seasons. With Howard anchoring the defense, the Magic allowed 95.3 ppg, which ranked fourth in the NBA, and held the opposition to a league-low .438 shooting from the field, including 24 games where opponents shot under .400. Orlando held the opposition to less than 100 points 57 times and to less than 90 points 24 times.
Tuesday’s Magic Word
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “True to their nature, Orlando Magic players looked relaxed as they left RDV Sportsplex following their shootaround Tuesday. If you didn’t know that their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Atlanta Hawks was starting tonight, you wouldn’t have been able to tell by the players’ expressions. ’I’m happy and ready to go, and I’m looking forward to this series,’ Dwight Howard said a few minutes ago. ‘It’ll be a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to having a great series. We’ve had six, seven days of great practices. So, I’m ready to go. The team’s ready.’ ”
- Tania Ganguli of the Orlando Sentinel: “Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Woodson stayed mum on his plans for Dwight Howard, claiming he still doesn’t know exactly how the Hawks will approach the Magic big man. Woodson cautioned against focusing too much on Howard. “It ain’t just about Howard,” he said. “It’s about Vince [Carter], [Jameer] Nelson, [Ryan] Anderson, I mean they got so many weapons. [Jason] Williams. [Rashard] Lewis. I mean, we just gotta key on anybody that plays. They’re so talented. Howard is kind of the head of the snake.” The Hawks are just two days removed from finishing a Game 7 against the Milwaukee Bucks and will face the Magic tonight. Over-focusing on Howard was a problem for the Charlotte Bobcats, but it wasn’t one they ever recovered from. Despite Howard playing fewer than 28 minutes per game, the Magic still swept Charlotte.”
- John Denton of OrlandoMagic com notes that the Orlando Magic are more than prepared to face off against the Atlanta Hawks in the 2010 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals: “The Orlando Magic have gone over scenarios where point guard Jameer Nelson is covered by Joe Johnson and they have drilled on what to do when center Dwight Howard is double- and single-covered. They have talked about attacking Atlanta’s zone defense and how to defend the Hawks many isolation plays in halfcourt sets with Jamal Crawford, Josh Smith and Johnson. Yep, the second-seeded Magic have basically been over almost every scenario possible they could face in tonight’s Game 1 against the third seeded Hawks in the eight days since they last played. “We’ve had a long time to prepare for just about everything,” Magic superstar center Dwight Howard said with an exaggerated sigh.”
- The NBA All-Star Game returns to Orlando.
- Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie votes Dwight Howard second in his MVP ballot.
- Shaun Powell of Sekou Smith’s Hangtime Blog, however, doesn’t think Howard should be in the top three of MVP voting: “Let’s start with the obvious. Dwight Howard is the best center in the game, the best defensive player in the game and the top player on a team that might win an NBA championship this season. He is not, however, more deserving of the MVP award than LeBron James, or Kobe Bryant or even Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant. They have very little if any flaws. Howard, however, has flaws. He’s a notoriously poor free throw shooter, below 60 percent. His offensive game is fairly limited because he lacks a polished, go-to move. And he often gets into silly foul trouble. Very good player? Yes, absolutely. Best at his position? Not even close, really. Top 3? Not so close.”
- One thing is for sure, Howard is ready to play some basketball.
- Nada Taha Moslehy of SLAM ONLINE previews the matchup between the Magic and the Hawks.
- Head coach Mike Woodson talks about Orlando and Atlanta.
- Britt Robson of Sports Illustrated: “Logic points to an Orlando rout. At point guard, Jameer Nelson is playing like vintage Mike Bibby, circa 2004 or so, while the Hawks are stuck with the slower, less consistent 2010 Bibby. Atlanta may have the Sixth Man Award winner in combo guard Jamal Crawford, but the Magic possess a much deeper and more versatile bench overall. The first few times you watch Orlando, you wonder why it chooses to live and die with so many three-pointers, taken regardless of the shot clock and how many teammates are beneath the hoop. But after a while, you see that it isn’t really that risky: The Magic finished second (behind the Suns) in effective field-goal percentage (which factors in the added value of three-pointers) because their seven most-frequent long-range shooters convert between 36.7 (Carter’s seventh-best accuracy) and 40.5 percent (by team leader J.J. Redick) of their threes. [Stan] Van Gundy will find the two or three who are hot that game, and if defenses flood the perimeter, Howard gets single coverage at the rim.”
- Mickael Pietrus is ready to go for Game 1.
- Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post chimes in on the MVP voting process: “Overall, the internal politics of NBA balloting put the voters in rough spots, which is why I agree with SBNation’s Mike Prada when he calls for more national, independent voters and a transparent ballot. Howard Beck, whose employer, the New York Times, does not allow its writers to cast award ballots, also made the case for accountability and transparency here. Yahoo! Sports’ Kelly Dwyer, a credentialed media member who’s covered the NBA for various internet publications over the last 10-plus years, only received awards votes this season. Why aren’t more people like him given votes? Wouldn’t taking some votes away from team employees make the results a bit more palatable? Kevin Pelton offers another suggestion: keeping the current electorate, but preventing its members from voting for players on the teams they represent.”
- John Hollinger of ESPN Insider and Dan Devine of Ball Don’t Lie shed light on the next generation of point guards that are flooding the NBA with their talents. Jameer Nelson, the “graybeard” of the group, gets some pub.
- Jordan Schultz of NBA FanHouse ranks Howard in his own tier among all big men in the league: “A rare combination of size, power and agility, Howard has it all — on the defensive end. He’s led the league in rebounding the last three years, and he’s blocked the most shots the last two. His defensive ability shuts down the entire painted area. He’s won the last two Defensive Player of the Year awards and should stay in contention for the award his entire career. Howard’s challenge, though, is to become a consistent go-to scoring option. He has such quick feet that he can rely on his overwhelming explosion, but with his back to the basket, he’s still very much in the early stages of his growth. He needs to develop more finesse, because right now he’s all power, and when things aren’t going his way, he can literally be taken out of the game by foul trouble.”
- Bethlehem Shoals of NBA FanHouse sets the table for the series between the Magic and the Hawks.
Friday’s Magic Word
- John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “[Marcin] Gortat’s proudest moment in the NBA came last Saturday in Game 3 in Charlotte when he filled in for [Dwight] Howard down the stretch and then sealed the game with two clutch free throws. He was shocked when good friend J.J. Redick in-bounded the ball to him with 12 seconds to go, but he collected himself enough to bury the game-winning free throws. He literally made himself into a solid player with his tireless work before and after practices and games, and it came through with Gortat on the line in Game 3. ”When I was standing over there on the free throw line I just told myself, ‘It’s fine. Just do the same thing that I do every day before the practice and after the practice,’” Gortat said with a chuckle. “It was just like I was standing with one of the guys from the office, in an empty gym working on my game.” Gortat said that as much as he’s longed for a greater role the past two seasons, winning a title with the [Orlando] Magic would make it all so worth it. He already holds the distinction of being just the third NBA player ever from Poland and signing that $34 million contract last summer set him up financially for the rest of his life. But Gortat dreams now of how a championship would alter his life.”
- Tania Ganguli of the Orlando Sentinel has more on Gortat.
- Happy birthday, Brandon Bass!
- Words of wisdom from general manager Otis Smith in response to Howard’s complaints about the officials: “Howard was limited to just 9.8 points and 9.3 rebounds, dramatically fewer than the 18.3 and 13.2 he averaged during the regular season. Smith, who was once a no-nonsense player, has been a no-nonsense general manager. He criticized his star player instead of criticizing officials. ’Officials are human. They make mistakes, sometimes in your favor, sometimes in the other team’s favor. But it all balances out,’ he said. ‘Just play basketball, and stop worrying about the calls. Are you going to get some bad calls? Sure. Are you going to get some good ones? Sure. Those people running around in stripes are just like me — the more you yell at them, the worse they get. If you smile a little bit more, and you talk to them, you may get one.’ A few of Howard’s fouls in the opening round were foolish fouls when he should have shown more restraint. Others came when he was wrestling in the lane with one of the three Charlotte centers who were more interested in aggravating him than making basketball plays. ‘He needs to be on the floor longer than 28 minutes. That’s not on the officials. That’s not on Stan. That’s on Dwight. Life’s tough. You’re a big guy. Sorry. Move on.’ Howard struggled with foul trouble early in the playoffs last season, too. Like many stars in the game today, though, he rarely admits to a personal foul against him, complaining to officials when calls don’t go in his favor. And that’s not something Smith likes. Howard still believes he doesn’t get the ‘star calls,’ that others like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant often receive. ‘I don’t buy into that concept at all. Zero. I think over the course of a 48-minute game, it all comes back around,’ Smith said. ‘This time of year, the officials do a pretty good job. We’ve got another round of this, and it’s going to be just the same. He needs to be on the floor longer than 28 minutes. That’s not on the officials. That’s not on Stan. That’s on Dwight. Life’s tough. You’re a big guy. Sorry. Move on.’ ”
- Trey Kerby of Ball Don’t Lie: “I’m with Otis, even though I’m not quite sure Dwight is capable of smiling any more than he already does. He’s a big guy and refs have a hard time calling games for people that huge. Any time Dwight touches another player, that dude goes flying and it looks like a foul. The whistle blows and more often than not, the guy on the floor is getting the call. That’s one of the prices you pay for having shoulders the size of human heads. All that being said, if there is some way we can get Dwight Howard to smile even more, I’m all for it. Happiness is contagious, y’all.”
- John Krolik of ProBasketballTalk chimes in on Smith’s comments.
- Howard is excited to get back to work.
Dwight Howard Maintains Top 5 Ranking on Most Popular NBA Jerseys List
Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images
Via the Orlando Magic:
The Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard has maintained his position in the top 5 on the NBA’s Most Popular Jerseys List, the NBA announced today. Howard appeared on the list in the top 5 for the first time when the rankings were released in January 2010. The list is based on sales at the NBA Store in New York City and on NBAStore.com since the start of the 2009-10 NBA season through April 2010. Both stores are having record sales years with a combined increase of 20 percent over last year.
Thirteen players competing in the 2010 Playoffs appear on this year’s list. The Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant once again tops the NBA’s list of most popular jerseys, where he has reigned as No. 1 since the start of the 2008-09 season. The Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James remains No. 2 and the Boston Celtics’ Kevin Garnett climbed one spot from last year to No. 3. Chicago Bulls sophomore Derrick Rose continues to make a name for himself, coming in at No. 4.
The Orlando Magic also rank in the top 10 on the list of Most Popular NBA Team Merchandise, holding down the No. 7 spot.
Thursday’s Magic Word
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy is letting his opinions fly and — another $35,000 later — he’s learning freedom of speech isn’t free. Not in the NBA. We’ll get to another topic — what Van Gundy thinks about Michael Jordan, his Charlotte Bobcats and Jordan’s place in basketball history as the supposed all-time greatest player in a second. You’ll want to stick around for that.But late Thursday, Van Gundy and Magic small forward Matt Barnes — the team’s two most outspoken members — were fined $35,000 each for their public comments regarding the officiating after Wednesday night’s Game 2 against the Bobcats at Amway Arena. Van Gundy and Barnes were talking to the media about how star center Dwight Howard is being treated by the referees in the first-round series. Orlando leads Charlotte, 2-0.”
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “[Marcin] Gortat, who averaged 13.4 minutes per game this season, has played about 20 minutes in each of the first two games. Howard only has managed around 28 minutes per game — about 10-12 minutes fewer than the Magic expected to play him this postseason. ‘I think it’s always good to have a back-up center. Everybody wants them, but there are not a ton of them,’ said GM Otis Smith, who matched the Mavs’ five-year, $34-million offer sheet for Gortat, a restricted free agent. ‘Marcin comes in and keeps us somewhat whole. He’s not the same guy (as Howard), doesn’t demand the same respect, but he can hold his own at the position when Dwight’s in foul trouble.’ ”
- Click here to read what Barnes and Van Gundy said to get fined by the NBA. Van Gundy, not surprisingly, stands by his comments in defense of Dwight Howard.
- John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com examines Howard’s foul troubles: “Van Gundy’s theory that Howard is the most foul-prone superstar in the league certainly seems true when analyzing numbers from the regular season. Howard was whistled for 287 fouls this season, most in the NBA. His 3.5 fouls a game were the third-most in the NBA behind Portland’s Greg Oden (4.0), Sacramento’s Jason Thompson (3.7) and Memphis’ Marc Gasol (3.7). Indiana’s Roy Hibbert (3.5), Utah’s Paul Millsap (3.5) and Carlos Boozer (3.5) were tied with Howard. Of the five players expected to be on the first-team All-NBA team this season – Cleveland’s LeBron James (1.56 fouls a game), Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (2.08), Miami’s Dwyane Wade (2.35), Los Angeles Kobe Bryant (2.56) and Howard (3.50) – the Magic’s big man is far and away the most foul-prone.”
- Basketball Prospectus proudly reveals the first Internet Basketball Awards. Take a look.
- Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie chooses his Defensive Player of the Year: “By March, or even February, this was a foregone conclusion. Dwight Howard changes games. He changes a team’s offensive game plan before it even has the chance to hit the floor, and then once the ball goes up, Howard changes shots. He changes plays, he changes the arc on a shot taken within his vicinity, and he changes the chances a team has at a second shot should it escape his grasp and carom off the rim. No other player in the NBA changes things, defensively, as much as Dwight Howard. No guard, no other big man, no roaming wing. Nobody.”
- Henry Abbott of TrueHoop chimes in on the Jekyll and Hyde act of Vince Carter, with an excerpt from yours truly.
- Austin Burton of Dime Magazine compares Howard to Shaquille O’Neal in that they are two of the most difficult players to referee: “Last night’s Magic/Bobcats matchup was another case of the refs not knowing how to deal with Dwight. He got his first foul when Theo Ratliff was literally hugging him in full view of the refs, but no whistle blew until Dwight used an elbow to free himself. His third foul was also pretty weak, and then Dwight picked up his fourth when he blocked Gerald Wallace at the rim but the refs called him for body contact. I’ve seen plenty of similar plays where dudes like Joel Anthony would get away with that; you expect a superstar like Dwight to get away with it, too. Just like in Shaq’s prime, the refs can’t figure it out because Dwight is so strong and so physical.”
- Rob Mahoney of Hardwood Paroxysm: “This series is just ugly. That’s fine, honestly. I’m sure Orlando doesn’t mind facing a pretty tough defensive opponent in the first round, even if it makes things a bit more difficult than they could have been. That’s exactly what’s happened in Games 1 & 2: Orlando has struggled to develop an offensive rhythm, even with Dwight Howard seemingly providing a mismatch against Charlotte’s bigs. Good defense and questionable foul-calling have limited Dwight’s effectiveness in both games, and his 15 points and six turnovers are definitely manageable for the Cats. The rest of Orlando’s starters’ scoring — Jameer Nelson’s 13, Rashard Lewis’ 13, Vince Carter’s 19, Matt Barnes’ 11 — also seems fairly pedestrian, until you realize just how slow this game was. There were 80 possessions. That’s it. 80. That’s a full 10 possessions slower than the slowest team in the league (Portland), and even more impressive given the combined 33 turnovers. That’s 33 possessions ended early, one way or another, and yet the pace just hit 80. Not only is that a bit of a slog, but it’s actually kind of impressive, when you think about it.”
- Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post provides commentary on the Orlando Magic’s commitment, as an organization, to winning a championship.
- Eric Freeman of The Baseline doesn’t give the Bobcats a good chance of coming back and winning their series against the Magic.
- Bethlehem Shoals of NBA FanHouse asks a few interesting questions about Carter and Howard.
- Ric Bucher and Chris Broussard of ESPN Insider wonder which player currently in the playoffs needs a championship ring the most.
- John Hollinger of ESPN Insider explains why the matchup between Orlando and Charlotte has been one of the top stories in the playoffs, so far: “Theoretically, Charlotte-Orlando should be a competitive matchup between the league’s top two-ranked defenses, and a compelling chess match between arguably the two best coaches in the East, Larry Brown and Stan Van Gundy. It hasn’t been, however, because only one of these two teams can play offense. While the Magic have been able to shrug off bad games from their two key offensive performers — in Game 1, Dwight Howard had five points and Vince Carter shot 4-for-19, and they still won easily — every possession from the Charlotte side has been excruciating.”
MBN Roundtable Discussion: Previewing the 2010 NBA Playoffs for the Orlando Magic
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
And the grand finale.
I gathered writers, the best of the best in the blogosphere, to participate in a roundtable discussion and answer some of the most pertinent questions concerning the Orlando Magic as the 2010 NBA Playoffs are set to begin.
So, without further ado, here are the participants:
Kevin Arnovitz, TrueHoop
Tom Haberstroh, Hoopdata
Kurt Helin, ProBasketballTalk
Matt Moore, Hardwood Paroxysm
Kevin Pelton, Basketball Prospectus
Each individual provided his opinion on Vince Carter‘s potential impact in the playoffs, how things may shake out if the Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers meet in the Eastern Conference Finals, and more.
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Who is the x-factor for the Orlando Magic in the playoffs?
Kevin Arnovitz: The x-factor, as he’s long been for Orlando, is Rashard Lewis. If Lewis is accurate from the perimeter, effective at exploiting slower defenders with improved dribble game and able to use his size to post up smaller defenders, then he gives the Magic even more flexibility in the half court.
Tom Haberstroh: Matt Barnes. They’ll need him to do the dirty work. Can he neutralize the opponent’s top scorers?
Kurt Helin: I wanted to go with someone a little more exotic here — Matt Barnes, Rashard Lewis, and those guys will need to have key moments and games — but in the end it’s about Jameer Nelson to me. Dwight is going to be Dwight. But nobody else in the East has a second option as good as a healthy Nelson. Maybe nobody outside the Lakers does (Gasol behind Kobe). And in the playoffs, when things get tight, that second guy comes up huge. Nelson is a shooting guard who can score when the offense breaks down and there are 6 seconds left on the shot clock, and you need that in the playoffs.
If Nelson can come up huge in the playoffs. That’ll be the test. When it comes down to Cleveland in the conference finals — and it will — the Magic will need to pick-and-roll them to death because neither Shaq nor Big Z can defend it well consistently. If Nelson is All-Star Nelson, running the P&R as god intended… well, the Great Cleveland LeBron Freak Out will begin earlier than expected.
Matt Moore: The bench, quite honestly. I could drive it down to Matt Barnes or Brandon Bass or Marcin Gortat or Mickael Pietrus or J.J. Redick or Ryan Anderson but that’s the whole point. It could be any one of them. They’re all capable of producing at an insanely high level, and the 10-15 points they can put in (if SVG gives them time) could be the swing. Mickael Pietrus was the dagger in the ECF last year. In the semis, J.J. Redick’s defense on Ray Allen was the tip of the sword. It could be any one of those guys. That’s the trouble with the Magic. There’s simply no way to stop all of them.
Kevin Pelton: At the risk of copying Kelly Dwyer, this has to be Rashard Lewis. Lewis’ ability to stretch the floor was the difference-maker for the Magic in last year’s postseason, and you can trace Boston’s addition of Rasheed Wallace and Cleveland’s move for Antawn Jamison to wanting to have similar presences. Lewis has had a down regular season and Orlando could really use him to step up at both ends of the floor.
Interview with Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post
Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images
Ben Q. Rock is a man that needs no introduction, at least to Magic fans that frequent the blogosphere, but deserves one. Rock covers the Magic at Orlando Pinstriped Post, my former stomping grounds for over a year, and has done excellent work for the past three years. For instance, Rock has been doing a great job of previewing the first round series between the Orlando Magic and the Charlotte Bobcats the last few days. I highly suggest reading what Rock has written, so far, as it’s about informative as it gets.
Rock promised, when I left OPP, that he’d collaborate with me from time to time so here we are.
A few days ago, I was able to ask Rock a few questions concerning some of the major storylines surrounding the Magic with the 2010 NBA Playoffs starting on Saturday.
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I’ve always been of the opinion that Jameer Nelson is the x-factor for the Orlando Magic. When he goes, so go the Magic. But certainly the same thing could be said about Vince Carter, given his talents and what he’s proven to be capable of in a Magic uniform. So, between Nelson or Carter, who must produce and take his game to another level for Orlando to win a championship?
Well, I mean, both Vince [Carter] and Jameer [Nelson] are important, and I’m not sure there’s one who’s more key to Orlando’s title chances than any other. I suppose you could say that Vince is going to end more possessions and thus will have more responsibilities, and thus he’ll have more chances to affect the Magic’s playoffs. Thing is, I feel like he’s more consistent. He’s going to get his 15-to-18 points per night, as he’s done for the last few months. Whereas Jameer’s been more up-and-down.
Given the choice, most opponents would rather limit Carter and take their chances with Nelson firing away, so Jameer has to answer the call there. To me, the biggest thing for Jameer is to cut the one-on-one play. Get into the teeth of the defense, kick the ball out. He has to take enough of those 18-footers in pick-and-roll situations, but he can’t keep settling for them. Vince has to avoid that as well, but you and I both know that Carter’s much more likely to put his head down and draw contact than Nelson is.
So now I’ve talked myself into believing Nelson is more crucial. Fair enough, but it’s not a huge margin.
What makes this discussion easier is that J.J. Redick and Jason Williams have been so reliable off the bench. I trust them more than I did, say, last year’s version of J.J., or Anthony Johnson. If Vince and Jameer don’t have it some nights, I’d be comfortable counting on their backups if I were Stan Van Gundy.
Monday’s Magic Word
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said after Sunday’s game that he didn’t expect Mickael Pietrus or Vince Carter to be out too long with injuries. The Magic’s next game is Thursday in Dallas, and Carter might be able to return from a sprained right toe he sustained in Sunday’s win against Denver. The team said that x-rays revealed no serious damage. Joel Glass, the Magic’s vice president of communications, said Monday that Carter is day-to-day.”
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel states that the Orlando Magic played some of their best basketball in the month of March: “The Magic displayed the feisty swagger of a contender in March. Van Gundy was relentless as usual. [Matt] Barnes agitated Kobe Bryant in a nationally televised win. Carter howled after hitting some big shots. [Dwight] Howard floored Derrick Rose again. He kept collecting technical fouls and wondering out loud why the Magic are overlooked. Confidence has spread through a team that carries a sizeable chip on their shoulders.”
- Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post wonders how much J.J. Redick is worth?
- Looks like things have soured with Hedo Turkoglu in Toronto. Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie doesn’t mince words when he explains why the Raptors made a mistake by signing Turkoglu to a long-term contract that doesn’t expire until 2014. Yikes.
- News flash. Redick can still shoot.
- Are divisions in the NBA relevant anymore? Henry Abbott of TrueHoop attempts to answer the question: ”[...] through it all — do you care? How much bragging can you do if your team wins its division? Are Denver and Utah locked in a contest for a better playoff spot, or a division crown? I could be wrong, but I put it to you that division crown means almost nothing, and if you ignore it entirely, you miss almost nothing.”
- Tom Haberstroh of Hoopdata explains how the Magic excel on defense: “[...] As opposed to the steal-centric Celtics who own the second highest opponent turnover rate, the Magic alter shots (lowest opp. eFG%), don’t allow offensive rebounds (lowest opp. rebound rate), and keep their opponents away from the charity stripe (seventh lowest free throw rate). While it helps to have Dwight Howard on the floor, this is a collective effort.”
