• George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Rich DeVos, 85, recently fell in his Grand Rapids, Mi. home. Despite breaking bones in his wrist and ankle, he is determined to get back on his feet so he can travel to Orlando and see his team start its playoff run later this month. Pat Williams, a few weeks short of his 71st birthday, is fighting an aggressive bone cancer called multiple myeloma. He is determined to fight this insidious thing. He calls his peril an ‘adventure.’ In other news, the Orlando Magic lost to the Toronto Raptors, one of the worst teams in the NBA, Sunday night. It’s easy enough to connect the dots. The two veterans in this organization — the man who owns the club and the guy who brought pro basketball to Central Florida — are hanging tough, swinging back with all the strength they can muster. The young guys in the organization made like puppies wanting to get their belly scratched against the Raptors. And here we thought dinosaurs were extinct and could do no harm. Leadership comes in many shapes, sizes and demographic groups. Perhaps the Magic should downplay this “fear the beard” deal and go old-school to find their playoff mojo. Dedicate your playoff run to the AARP guys. Win it for DeVos. Win it for Williams. You won’t find a better inspirational push than the tag-team of DeVos and Williams. They are beat up, but still determined to be there at crunch time. Can the younger generation say the same thing?”
• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “As hard as it is for him to do, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy needs to treat the last five games like the preseason. The Magic have to gear up, mentally and physically, for the playoffs. I think his players, Dwight Howard included, have told him as much. The Magic are hurt and they need rest, and frankly, these games won’t make a difference, given they are stuck at No. 4 in the East.”
• Head coach Stan Van Gundy is frustrated.
• After the Orlando Magic lost to the Toronto Raptors last night, Van Gundy declared “we didn’t care.”
• Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “How the heck do the Toronto Raptors grab 15 offensive rebounds — they got a second chance on nearly 40 percent of their missed shots — against Dwight Howard? This was a terrible display by Orlando. Credit the Raptor trio of Jerryd Bayless, DeMar DeRozan, and Leandro Barbosa for shredding Orlando’s defense to the tune of 61 combined points.”
• The Magic are on a crash course towards playing the Atlanta Hawks in the 2011 NBA Playoffs.
• Nada Taha of SLAM ONLINE: “Standing on the sidelines, I was amazed. This guy just came home from a west coast road trip and put up 31 points and 22 rebounds the night before in Milwaukee. There he was, playing a round of “Knock Out” with a group of kids who he and adidas just outfitted in new sneaks and gear. He joked around with them, gave them high fives and then stayed an extra hour after the event to sign autographs. This, I thought, is what makes Dwight, Dwight.”
• Dwight Howard with another Van Gundy impersonation.
• Zach Lowe of The Point Forward: “Back to that simple explanation: Howard is an elite offensive player. Fine. So is every MVP candidate. But none of the realistic candidates do what he does on defense. Only James is in the same league, but even his blur of arms and speed and strength doesn’t approach Howard’s level of total dominance on that end. The Magic have built an elite defense with only one player universally regarded as an above-average defender. Stan Van Gundy’s system has a lot to do with Orlando’s excellence, but that system — stay at home, let Howard disrupt pick-and-rolls, don’t gamble, seal the defensive glass — is based on Howard. The fact that the defense remains successful with Howard on the bench is a tribute to the team’s commitment to it and the ease with which a cohesive bench unit can defend other bench units. And if we’re going to take points away from Howard for his lack of clutch shot attempts, we should add some for the fact that he leads the league in clutch rebounds per minute and is near the top in blocks. Defense matters at the end of games, too. Also: If Rose gets credit for lifting an injury-riddled roster for parts of this season, then Howard should get some for keeping Orlando afloat despite a mid-December overhaul that completely disrupted the team’s rotation and handicapped its defense.”

AP Photo/Peter Cosgrove

• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “Pat Williams has always been the ultimate optimist. He’s always been the impossible dreamer. He’s always been the Magic man who could transform a no-horse town into an NBA city and turn little pingpong balls into mega-superstars. There’s a plaque hanging next to some flowers out by his swimming pool: ‘Plant smiles. Grow giggles. Harvest Love.’ He’s written dozens of inspirational books. He’s recited hundreds of philosophical quotes. He’s given thousands of motivational speeches. But now, more than ever, the dreamer and the doer who brought professional sports to Orlando must mobilize every bit of positivity and promotional passion he can muster. Except this time, he must motivate himself for what will be his biggest challenge yet. Pat Williams has bone cancer. ‘I’ve delivered many a motivational speech about the stuff you always hear about in sports,’ says Williams, the founder and executive vice president of the Orlando Magic. ‘I’ve stood up there and told other people you can’t give up and you’ve got to show courage, perseverance and will. Now, I get to live out the things I always talk about. That’s a privilege.’ ”
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “He may have to settle instead for his former teammates’ laughter. Tuesday, in his first trip back to the arena he helped launch, Lewis wandered into the Orlando Magic locker room after the team had finished its practice. Everyone cracked up when they saw Lewis standing there, wearing a Washington Wizards T-shirt and shorts and a smile on his face. Lewis will not be formally introduced when the Magic host the Wizards tonight — the teams’ first meeting in Orlando since the blockbuster, mid-December trade that sent him to Washington for Gilbert Arenas. A sore right knee kept Lewis out of Washington’s last two games and almost certainly will prevent him from playing tonight. ‘It most definitely would’ve been a lot of fun to come back and play in front of the fans,’ Lewis said. The fans’ best chance to honor him may arise if Amway Center’s jumbotron flashes his image during a stoppage in play.”
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “Orlando Magic Senior Vice President Pat Williams is a man who has climbed to the top of his profession in multiple sports, he’s written more than 70 books, he’s run in dozens of marathons and he’s raised 19 children. Now, Williams hopes to attack a form of blood and bone marrow cancer with the same zeal that he has attacked every mission in life. Williams, the man credited with bringing the Magic franchise to Orlando, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma two weeks ago and underwent his fourth chemotherapy on Tuesday. Williams, 70, said some irregularities in his blood were found during an early January physical examination and his care was ultimately turned over to Dr. Robert Reynolds, one of the area’s leading hematology and oncology experts. Williams said doctors feel they caught the disease early and that they have already started treating it aggressively.”
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: “Nick Young got humbled in his last meeting with Gilbert Arenas, when Arenas used nearly every trick in his arsenal to take the Wizards’ leading scorer out his game. Arenas roughed him up, snuck in some elbows, nudged him, and talked enough trash that at least three sanitation trucks needed to clean up afterward. Young missed 13 of 20 shots and scored just 17 points as the Wizards lost 110-91 on Feb. 4. Arenas gloated afterward that he knew Young’s game too well to let him get the upper hand. After the Wizards practiced at Amway Center on Tuesday, Young said he wouldn’t fall into the trap again and that he tried to avoid Arenas in the days leading up to the rematch. Arenas has been calling and texting, ‘but I ain’t been answering,’ Young said. ‘I pretty much learned from that game not to get caught up in the games with him. That’s what he do. He think he can take me out of my game.’ When told about Young’s desires not to go back and forth this time around, Arenas lowered his head and chuckled. ‘That’s a lie. He was with me yesterday. He was with me last night,’ Arenas said, unable to contain his laughter. ‘He was my Valentine.’ ”

Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images

Via Shannon J. Owens of the Orlando Sentinel:

In Hardaway’s eyes, his reputation in Orlando never fully recovered from the dark cloud of Hill’s firing. He was accused of leading the team’s mutiny against Hill.

“He was the captain at the time. But there was 16 guys in the room that voted, it wasn’t just Penny Hardaway,” said Nick Anderson, a friend and former teammate of Hardaway’s. “But everything came down on him because he was the captain. That was totally unfair.

Anderson said Hardaway was always someone who cared deeply about others’ opinions of him. So he struggled to accept the public’s negative reaction.

“Everytime I went back to Orlando they booed me pretty much off the Brian Hill situation,” Hardaway said. “I tried to reach out to Brian Hill and he would never return my calls and I thought that was pretty odd because all I wanted to do was explain to him. I never got a chance to talk to him personally about it. And I had to deal with it.”

But in some ways, Hardaway never came back. [...]

“I’ve moved on from it, but there isn’t any closure because I haven’t spoken to Mr. [Rich] DeVos or Bob Vander Weide and they knew what kind of guy I was,” Hardaway said. “I just would really love to speak to those guys. I’ve told [current GM] Otis Smith this before that it’s not going to be right with the fans until the organization makes it right with the fans.”

Attempts to reach Smith for a response were unsuccessful as he was on a scheduled vacation. [Pat] Williams said no one in the Magic organization holds a grudge.

Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images

Via Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel:

One of the league’s most popular players, [Dwight] Howard has been the driving force behind the [Orlando] Magic‘s comeback as a franchise and their 68-consecutive sell-out streak (including playoffs). He’s helped them to an NBA Finals appearance two years ago and to back-to-back 59-win seasons.

A two-time MVP, James sent South Florida into a frenzy with his free-agent announcement. People honked horns and cheered in bars, and the Heat quickly sold all their season tickets for the coming season.

Never has pro basketball looked so enticing and intriguing — even when Shaq played for both the Heat and Magic.

“We’ve never seen anything like this in the NBA or anywhere else in sports, really,” Magic vice president Pat Williams, a 40-year veteran of the NBA. “It’s unprecedented. It’s taken basketball in the state to its highest level.”

With the Miami Heat re-signing Dwyane Wade and bringing LeBron James and Chris Bosh aboard, and the Orlando Magic opening the Amway Center in October, we might be entering a golden age of NBA basketball in the state of Florida with two high-profile teams. The Magic have been an elite team in the league the past two years, and now the Heat will join them in the same rank. This has been mentioned before, but Orlando and Miami have never competed for titles at the same time … until now. A rivalry that has been brewing below the surface, for far too long, is ready to explode.

It’s fun to think about, actually.

Magic fans are understandably concerned about the ramifications of James, Wade, and Bosh uniting under one banner and what it means on the court. But off the floor, the Heat’s re-emergence to the national spotlight, not only in the NBA but in sports in general, will only serve to boost the Magic’s profile. Orlando’s true rival is Miami, and the storylines are oozing with sub-plots that will capture people’s attention — the “Three Kings” vs. Superman, teacher (Stan Van Gundy) vs. apprentice (Erik Spoelstra) with their mentor looming in the background (Pat Riley), and more. And the star power will be absurd, with Dwight Howard headlining the Magic’s side with the help of Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, and Vince Carter. The Heat, of course, have their trio. That’s three of the best players in the league right now, coupled with numerous All-Stars.

Basketball will be played on a micro level, yes, but it’ll be neat to see Orlando and Miami battle for division titles, conference championships, and the Larry O’Brien Trophy on a macro level. Great teams in the NBA are remembered in the history books, but the same can be said about intense rivalries. After their prologue in the 1997 NBA Playoffs, the Magic and the Heat might potentially write a book to an amazing rivalry that is long overdue.

Savor it, because it should be a joy to watch.

Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

Via Chris Tomasson of NBA FanHouse:

Just ask Pat Williams, Orlando’s senior vice president, what a disaster it was to lose Shaq in 1996.

“It took me 10 years to halfway get over it,” said Williams, who has been with the [Orlando] Magic since before the team’s inaugural season of 1989-90. “To lose a 24-year-old that is the franchise is just very, very painful. … The wounds didn’t start to heal until eight years later when we drafted Dwight Howard (a center with the No. 1 pick in 2004), and we began to make our way back. We were impacted for a decade. It was very, very difficult.”

It took 12 years before the Magic would again have a 50-win season after Shaq’s departure, although Orlando did go 33-17 (the equivalent of 54-28) during the 1998-99 lockout season. The Magic finally made it back to the Finals in 2008-09.

Ask Magic players from the summer of 1996 where they were when the news hit that O’Neal was definitely gone, and they can tell you. It still hurts.

“I’ll always remember that day,” [Nick] Anderson said. “I was watching the Olympics (from Atlanta) and there was a bulletin that flashed across the screen and then there was (Lakers general manager) Jerry West holding up a Shaquillle O’Neal jersey. And then my dad called me and said, ‘The championship just went to L.A.”’

Not just one, but three. O’Neal led the Lakers to titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. As if to further add pain to the Magic, O’Neal won a fourth with in-state rival Miami in 2006.

“I remember Shaq calling me up and he says, ‘Hey, bro, I’m going to L.A. They really wanted me more than the Magic,”’ Scott recalls. “John Gabriel (then Orlando’s general manager) is a good friend and every time I see him now, he says, ‘You were right.”’

Scott said he had told Gabriel that the Magic, when offering O’Neal an $88 million package, was putting too little on the table. The Lakers, after clearing salary-cap space by giving players away for next to nothing, carved out enough to give Shaq a seven-year, $121 million contract.

Williams said the Magic, who could go over the cap to sign O’Neal, eventually raised its offer to more than what the Lakers could pay. But it was too late.

Want more? Fran Blinebury of NBA.com has more on O’Neal’s memorable departure.

• Tania Ganguli of the Orlando Sentinel: “It was [Matt] Barnes who revealed last week that his assignment for Game 1 was Ray Allen instead of Pierce, whom he guarded during the regular season. Pierce is averaging 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game in the Eastern Conference Finals. Today both Barnes and Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said the defensive assignments have yet to be determined. And while Barnes said he would do his job on whomever the coaches wanted him to guard, when asked if he could stop Pierce, he replied confidently. ’I think that I can,’ Barnes said. ‘You don’t really stop anybody; you just want to slow him down.’ ”
• More from Ganguli: “Magic coach Stan Van Gundy reminded his players this week that over the last few years very few teams have won a playoff series without winning on the road. It was his way of telling his players that even though their home court advantage was smashed to smithereens this week, that is something they can overcome. Something they might have had to overcome anyway. [...] Van Gundy said he didn’t implement any drastic changes to the game plan today. He does not plan to change his starters, either. [...] But they did insert a few new plays to help Rashard Lewis’s offensive game, and worked on improving ball movement, shot selection and offensive and defensive transition games.”
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com states that Matt Barnes will likely guard Paul Pierce in Game 3 of the 2010 NBA Eastern Conference Finals: “The likelihood is that Barnes will hound Pierce in Game 3, while Carter will move back to checking Allen. That’s the way the Magic schemed defensively against the Celtics during the regular season. And Barnes grew accustomed to checking the other team’s best players, having big defensive nights against the likes of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson and Stephen Jackson during the regular season and in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Being the Magic’s defensive stopper is a role that Barnes, a potential free agent at season’s end relishes.”
• Shaun Powell of NBA.com comments on the prospective matchup between Barnes and Pierce.
• Tim Povtak of NBA FanHouse has more on the same subject.
• Rob Mahoney of ProBasketballTalk takes a look at some of the adjustments the Magic need to make against the Celtics: “The key is for Stan Van Gundy and his staff to identify the most problematic areas and the Magic players to adjust before its too late. In a seven-game series, changes in approach and execution are only as influential as the time at which they’re implemented. Everyone within the Magic organization can only hope that there’s still time to implement a change, go about making the necessary adjustment, and do their best to perform beginning with Game 3. One possible adjustment is to yank the injured Matt Barnes from the starting lineup, and replace him with the far more effective J.J. Redick.”
• Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post goes a step further and explains why J.J. Redick should start: “I’m not trying to slam Barnes here–he’s playing through back pain right now, and he’s had a great year–but the individual and team-wide numbers condemn him, and strongly suggest that Orlando stands a better chance to compete with Boston when Redick’s on the floor. Look at the efficiency differentials the team posts with those players sharing the floor with the other starters. Redick’s worth 37.31 points per 100 possessions over Barnes so far in this series! That’s just too glaring to ignore.”
• Rashard Lewis needs to score.
• Austin Burton of Dime Magazine chimes in on head coach Stan Van Gundy’s plan to get Lewis involved more on offense against the Celtics.
• Senior vice president Pat Williams doesn’t think it’s time to panic if you’re a Magic fan.
• Dwight Howard: “Well, the sun came up today and life went on like normal. I know we’re in a really tough spot right now going down 0-2 to the Celtics, but I’m not about doom and gloom at all here. Repeat after me: We can still do this!!! We need to get over the hump. All that matters now is getting our minds and our games right for Game 3 and not worrying about what has happened in the first two games. Of course, we’re upset about losing a tough game like we did Tuesday. We poured everything we had into that game. We looked at the film today and saw that the game came down to doing all of the little things. In games like this it’s more about having energy, running back on defense, rebounding and scrapping for loose balls. Those are the things that win big games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Right now, Boston is making those plays, but we know we can turn it around and swing things in our favor.”
• Zach Harper of Hardwood Paroxysm takes a look, with the help of video, at Howard’s post game in Game 2.
• Trey Kerby of Ball Don’t Lie: “In the first two games of the series, Lewis has played a little more than 83 minutes. Based on his per-minute stats from the regular season, you’d expect about 35 points and 12 rebounds for that amount of tick. Lewis has fallen a little short of that — he’s scored 11 points and grabbed 11 boards in the two games. That’s not good. Furthermore, the normally dead-on Lewis has made just 25 percent of his shots thus far. And as you can see by his shot chart, in typical Lewis fashion he’s been hesitant to mix things up inside, preferring to hang out by the perimeter and chuck threes. Once again, not good.”

AP Photo/John Raoux

BOX SCORE

After 21 years, it’s ironic — props to Matt Guokas and David Steele for pointing this out in their television broadcast — that the Orlando Magic played the Philadelphia 76ers in the final regular season home game at Amway Arena. Why? Because the “godfather” of the Magic, Pat Williams, had ties with the 76ers way back when as their former general manager. And Guokas, Orlando’s first head coach in 1989, also had Philadelphia connections as a player and a coach. So, it’s fitting on a night where fans reminisced on the good times at the O-Rena that the Magic defeated the Sixers by the score of 125-111 to officially clinch the overall No. 2 seed and secure themselves home-court advantage against any team they would potentially face in the NBA Finals from the Western Conference, if they got that far. Orlando’s starting backcourt was outstanding, as Vince Carter had 17 points and six assists while Jameer Nelson had 21 points and four assists. Dwight Howard chipped in with 15 points and 12 rebounds but more importantly, secured his name in the record books by becoming the first player in NBA history to lead the league in blocks and rebounds for a second consecutive year. Plus, Orlando broke the record set by the 2005-2006 “Seven Seconds or Less” Phoenix Suns for the most threes made (841) in a season. Two impressive accomplishments, without a doubt.

With the win, the Magic finish the regular season with an identical 59-23 record as last year.

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