His team’s back is against the ropes and their legs are wobbly, so Dwight Howard pulled the only card he had left in the motivational playbook: He made a guarantee. Sort of. “You want me to get up here and say the season is going to be over tomorrow? That’s not what anybody should do or anybody should think,” Howard told reporters going into today’s Game 5. “I believe that we’re going to be going back to L.A.” So it didn’t exactly have the bravado of Jim Fassel‘s “We’re GOING to the playoffs” poker speech, or even Mo Namath‘s “We’re the best team in basketball” line from the Cavs/Magic series, but Dwight got the point across … Read More »
In the two-day break before Game 5, we’re thinking this is how it’ll go: Saturday will be devoted to figuring out ways the Magic can stay alive, while Friday was the time to talk about how dead they are. In the Game 4 aftermath, everybody had some blame passed their way: the refs for missing crucial calls (just don’t get the Lakers fans started on that), Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu for missing free throws, Jameer Nelson for wandering into Derek Fisher‘s sniper scope, Stan Van Gundy for having Jameer on the court, Rashard Lewis for playing ball like Carl Lewis — some were even blaming Nick Anderson for his mere presence in the arena … Read More »
Having already released the ever popular “Marty McFly” colorway twice already, Nike decided to go ahead and give their Hypermax NFW (No Flywire) the McFly treatment.
Everybody has their opinion on how and why the Magic lost Game 4 and, ultimately, their shot at a championship. Take FOXSports’ Edgy And Controversial token Jason Whitlock, who echoes the most common reaction by putting the blame on Stan Van Gundy:
Van Gundy is responsible for one of the greatest choke jobs in NBA playoff history. If he had any pride, he’d resign today and let Patrick Ewing coach Game 5 on Sunday. Read More »
I won’t even pretend to understand the origins and details of America’s economic crisis, but I do know it’s hitting the NBA and doing some significant damage. The fact that there’s even the slightest validity to rumors that New Orleans could trade Chris Paul simply to save money is proof enough.
Today, on the tail-end of a story in the Charlotte Observer about the Bobcats’ draft plans, we see another example of the economy directly impacting a team’s potential success/failure on the court. Read More »
You knew that this series couldn’t come and go without someone making an issue over Jameer Nelson‘s playing time. Though Rafer Alston didn’t exactly say that he has an issue with how much time Jameer is on the court, he does have a problem with his being on the bench.
This is the second time someone on the Magic has been critical of Stan Van Gundy‘s coaching decisions during the playoffs. Maybe if the Cavs piped up about Mike Brown‘s series-long brain fart, they’d be in the Finals instead.
Read More »
The League is reviewing this today to decide if it warrants a fine, suspension or downgrade. It doesn’t actually look all that bad until the final slow motion replay at the 40-second mark – then it looks suspension-worthy. How will the League rule on Pietrus today?
Two years ago, I was interviewing Washington State (now OKC Thunder) swingman Kyle Weaver for the Pac-10 part of Dime’s annual Player’s Ball NCAA preview when Weaver briefly mentioned Jordan Hill, predicting the Arizona big man would have a big sophomore season. I’d seen Hill play before, and wondered exactly what Weaver saw in this kid who averaged just four points and four boards the year before.
Two years later, Hill put up 18 points, 11 boards and almost two blocks per game for the Wildcats, and left school early as a Top-5 NBA Draft prospect in just about everyone’s book. Read More »
-->