Magic 3-0 on the Road Trip

After losing to the Heat at home last Wednesday the Magic were on the road for the next three including a 4 games in 5 night schedule. Which meant two back-to-backs in a row with a day rest in between. It seems the schedule has been ugly for them as they've played the Cavs and Hawks both coming off days of rest before playing Orlando. Besides all that, being the resilient Magic team from last year, I think that characteristic is coming back. The Magic have picked it up since the lost to Miami and gotten down to business.

Dwight Howard:
The fiasco with Stan and him being too negative has hopefully died down by now, however Dwight looked to be still struggling. Now I think that session is over as I felt his first dominant game since playing the Nets (Nov 13th. 26 pts 12 reb) was against the Hawks on Thanksgiving (10 pts 6 rebs in the 3rd). It was also the first time Dwight scored 20+ since that Nets game. His sudden turn on sparked the Magic to come back from a 14 point deficit and the Magic to victory. The next game in Milwaukee, Dwight poured in 25 points and grabbed 20 rebounds. Another 20-20 on the map! Once again he was key in turning around the 17 point deficit the Magic faced that game. Also the last three games Dwight has scored 20+ points. So has the beast unleashed? How? Charles Barkley? I believe Dwight has been a bit smarter on some of the tacky fouls he struggled with but for whatever reason this is the way us Magic fans want to see him and even better.

Dwight Howard's last 3 games:
@ATL: 22 pts 17 rebs 4 blks
@MIL: 25 pts 20 rebs 4 blks
@NYK: 24 pts 16 rebs 2 blks

Cold Blooded Warming Up?
Since coming back from his 10 game suspension Rashard Lewis has been struggling with his shot. He did have a few games as the near triple-double (17 pts 10 rebs 9 asts) against the Thunder and a double-double against Boston (16 pts 10 reb) but never really found his shot. However that would be contested as the way he played in New York last night. He shot 8-15, 5-9 3PT, and 5-5 FT and scored 26 pts along with 8 rebounds. I think the difference was that he attacked the basketball more rather than just settling for jump shots. The Magic are a better team when he does take it do the basket and posts up than when he is a sitting duck at the 3 PT line.

Overall I think the Magic have begun to get things together and find a rhythm. The defensive has picked up for the better over the past couple of weeks and with the play of Dwight and Rashard looking better recently things can only go up from here. The point guard play so far has been superb. Jason Williams and Anthony "Dad" Johnson are doing great in their respective roles. After Wednesday's home showdown against the Knicks they will head out on a 7 day 4 game trip. Playing the Warriors, Clippers, Jazz and Suns. I think the Magic should come up 4-0 in this trip however a 3-1 is acceptable by me.

GO MAGIC!

NBA Week 5

Another week has gone by so fast! This week I felt the contenders really start to put their foot down and begin to make the pull away from the rest of the league. The Celtics, Lakers, and Magic have a multiple game win streak going and the East pans out with Orlando, Boston, and Cleveland in that order leading. The Suns remain hot and refuse to go away, I have to give them a lot of credit once again, a team some people didn't have making the playoffs (cough).

Off the Fly:
Allen Iverson-Well I was probably wrong about where he'd end up but at first it seemed the Celtics had an interest, now it's all Philly talk. With Lou Williams injured and Jrue Holiday not as promised to help this team, Iverson could be in a Sixer jersey again. I would favor this move on their part but at the same time try to get better on the defensive end.


Charlotte Bobcats-The Bobcats are currently winners of four straight and went undefeated in week 5. They hold the 7th seed as well. Stephan Jackson put it out there that this team will make the playoffs, and it's quite possible.

New Jersey Nets-Well Lawrence Frank is finally out and it took 16 games. I can't blame Frank at all, and with that roster his job was on the hot seat from the get go. They continue to lose as the Lakers showed no sign of giving them a first win. It's tough to go through a season like this as I know as a fan how it feels to lose 19 straight. (Magic in 03-04)

Slackers of the Week:
Atlanta Hawks-Well they go from leading the East to back at the familiar 4th seed. Their only two games of the week were against Orlando and Detroit which they lost. Joe Johnson isn't shooting well as of late and noting the obvious I knew they wouldn't be up there for long. There isn't promise they'll see higher than 4th seed now.

Milwaukee Bucks-Well maybe the ride is over? They are now losers of 4 straight with Bogut injured and no promise of Michael Redd playing consistently. I really like Ersan Ilyasova, his game is very well rounded for a European player. Jennings will continue to impress but it's hard to see this team prevailing over veteran clubs.

Last Thoughts:
-The Spurs got back on track after they ended up in the slackers department last week

-The Cavaliers dropped a game to the Bobcats but bounced back with a win over Dallas. Shaq has returned but we'll see how they do.

-The Nuggets handed the Timberwolves their second win of the season...however I still think they have what it takes to catch the Lakers.

-The Wizards got a nice road win in Miami last Friday. Nick Young played Wade very well on both ends of the floor. Jamison looked fantastic and he led them in scoring, and Arenas didn't finish the game as Earl Boykins played great too.

-I'll give the Nets a shot at winning next week, maybe against the Bobcats?

-DWIGHT! You lead the league in rebounding now!

Play of the week:

On Top of the East!

12-4! As the Magic are at the top of the East currently, the defensive end is looking much better and Dwight Howard is coming off a great game. I do think the Magic are worse than their record which is pretty selfish of me as a Magic fan to say. On the other hand I think it's a process when you've got 10 different starting line-ups due to injuries.

Last time I blogged in about the Magic, slowly they were getting things together on the defensive end. Well like they got down to business, I shall follow. The win in Boston was a very good game and big win. Both teams were in a defensive battle which went down to the final minute. Vince Carter shot a sizzling 10-29 and clocked in 26 points. Dwight had one of his more quiet games this year with only 9 points but a huge block on Pierce with under a minute. After the Boston massacre the Magic would then take the show on the road to Toronto. This would be Vince's first time in a Magic uniform that he's playing against his former team. As Stan puts it "they [Toronto's crowd] don't even know why they are booing him anymore", as he justifies most of the fans are just doing it for a traditional more than a reason. I thought the Magic played very well, a little loose on the defensive end but they got the job done. Bosh had what I call a quiet night against us and Amir Johnson had a good game which was sad to see as a Magic fan.

Now for the horrible game of the week. Miami comes to town as the Magic have won five straight. I thought this game was well played for the most part only in the 3rd and parts of the 4th quarter on the Magic's end. The defense on Wade (excluding the 4th quarter) was very good. Pietrus showed why he's an underrated defender. However I'm never fooled by Wade, as he went off in the 4th quarter. The offensive rebounding for this Heat team is above average, they killed the Magic all game in that division and ironically that's how they won the game: A last second put back by Michael Beasley on a D-Wade airball. Now this game has it's frustrations for a Magic fan as they blew a 12 point lead, missed key free throws and failed to grab rebounds in the final moments. As always, the Magic look to rebound after losses like that so they would get the Hotlanta Hawks the very next night. Now this is the game I though the Magic would have some trouble winning, and it looked very much so in the 1st half. It was frustrating and a bit annoying to watch the horrible defense they played. The 2nd half however, was very delightful. Dwight scored 10 points and grabbed 6 rebounds alone in the 3rd. This would spark the Magic as well as Anthony Johnson who scored 17 points in the 4th quarter! The Magic defense some how transformed and only allowed 25 points from the Hawks in the 2nd half. I loved the effort they gave in that 2nd half and I wish they continue to build on that for the rest of the year.

The Point Guard Play:
Well I can't say I expected them to be this great. Jason Williams has been solid and had a great game against Miami, excluding the final minute. Anthony Johnson came off the bench and provided big help against Atlanta, which is good to see since he's been buried on the bench most of the season. Like I said in my last blog I don't think is necessary for Otis to looking into another point guard, Jameer is only expected to be out a month or so and these two veterans can get the job done.

Odd Man Out:
Brandon Bass hasn't played since his mop up minutes against the Thunder. This leaves to speculation of injury, flu or simply the doghouse of SVG. The rumors are truly rumors as Stan himself has said he's found his rotation that he's getting consistency out of. I can't blame him much but I feel bad for Bass who I really like. He's a great player with a lot of potential but at the same time hard to really fit him in on the team at the moment. I think against certain teams he's a great fit and the Magic would benefit but to make the offense work, he can't be in there to spread the floor, which the Magic strive on. Could he be a trade deadline stuffer? Or traded for someone else before to benefit the Magic? I think the possibility is there however Bass was signed here for a reason and he'll stay to fit in.

Next up:
The Magic will face rookie phenom Brandon Jennings and the Bucks tonight, play in MSG aginst the Knicks tomorrow and finally Wednesday night against the same Knicks before heading out to a 4 game 7 day West Cost trip.

NBA: Week 4

With the season a good four weeks in there are definitely a few surprises that myself did not expect. The Bucks are sitting at 8-3 and the Hawks are tied with Orlando in the East right now. The Suns are certainly putting me to shame right now, but of course I'm glad to see things can work out for them in the aftermath of the past year and a half. My disappointments have to go with the Spurs, Wizards and 76ers. At this point I expected all of these three teams to be better off than they are right now.

Off the Fly:
Atlanta Hawks: I didn't think they'd get off this hot of a start again but nonetheless you have to give them some credit. They beat Portland, Boston, Miami and Houston while taking their only loss of the week to the Hornets. I don't think they'll stick around the top spot for long as Orlando is right there with them but they do have a fairly easy schedule until the end of December where they face Cleveland on a home stand.

Milwaukee Bucks: Well they haven't slipped up yet. Taking a loss to the Mavs by a Dirk jumper in overtime is impressed for this team alone. At this point I might have to purchase a ticket to catch them here in Orlando. They have a nice blend of European players including Ersan Ilyasova who I'm impressed with. He can shoot the ball very well but played some excellent defense on Dirk in their loss.

New Orleans Hornets: They won two big games without Chris Paul, defeating two of the NBA's hottest teams, Phoenix and Atlanta. Last night they lost on a Haslem jumper but nonetheless doing better than expected without Paul and the coaching change.


Slackers of the Week:
Memphis and Allen Iverson: Oh the drama...if Iverson wants a ring good luck to him, but I do think one of these contending GM's are dare devilish enough to take a risk of him. Who do I have in mind? Well maybe Cleveland. I know it sounds a bit out there however with no promise that Delonte West is going to be 100% back and Mo Williams incapable of being a go to guy, Iverson could be AN ANSWER! Next to Lebron and Shaq he could help the offense and Mike Brown is dumb enough to start him right off the bat.

OKC Thunder: I was pretty high on them until now, maybe they are finally coming back to to earth? A few bad losses this week has them back at .500. They couldn't give Orlando or the Lakers competition.

San Antonio Spurs: I have the Spurs as a top 5 team and top 3 out West. However recently they are disappointing me. I do hope the get things together, of course it's a big issue when you can't see this team fully healthy. Duncan is still producing and Blair is a nice fit along side him. Have no fear though, if you see this team get a hold of the handles in the second half of the
season.

Last Thoughts:
-Following up the two games I wanted to see last week proved to be some thrillers. Washington got a big against the Cavaliers after being down double digits and ended up winning by double digits! My Magic defeated Boston in a well played defensive battle by both teams.

-The Thanksgiving special starts off with the Magic @ Hawks, the Hawks will be sitting on four days of rest while the Magic play them on the back end of a back to back. For the most part I believe the Magic have a huge advantage over this Hawks team. I wouldn't disapprove of a good game though.

-Things change fast but I'm not sure if the Thunder can make the playoffs with New Orleans looking a bit better than they have.

-Dwight....Noah still leads the league in rebounding.

Play of the Week:

Rashard is back...and Jameer is Out

Well it's been a week since I last complained about my Magic's efforts on the defensive end and the lack of playing Magic basketball. Since then the Magic have gone 3-0...and endured another injury. Jameer Nelson out 4-6 weeks recovering from a knee injury while Rashard Lewis made his debut. I really can' stress how frustrating and demoralizing injuries are to a sports fan especially when it happens to one of your star or key players. Jameer has always been an injury prone player but at the same time a guy that I hope over comes it each year. While his absence from the team will be missed, the Magic have games to play without him. The talent level on this team is pretty deep and shouldn't struggle much without him. I like Jason Williams being the uptempo type and pushing the ball not to mention better defensively than Jameer right now. I do think Jason Williams and Anthony Johnson should be able to get the job done as it's a short span of time Jameer is expected to be out. However Vince, Rashard, and Dwight will have to step up and lead the role players to as well.

One goes down as us Magic fans welcomed back another, and that being Rashard Lewis. He didn't have much of a great performance in his Monday's return against the Bobcats but last night against the Thunder proved how valuable Shard is to this team. 17 points 10 rebounds and 9 assists! Sure it's one game but Rashard is a huge part of this team's success. With him and Vince Carter back in the line-up together I think this team will get things together fast and really open up for Dwight Howard. Defensively the Magic played their best game against OKC last night. I was impressed with the effort because it's been the one thing that Orlando is slacking on this year.

Tomorrow is another big game for the second straight week as the Magic have to face an Eastern Conference rival in the Boston Celtics. It should be a good game for the most part, I know the Celtics will come out for revenge as they are another team the Magic beat in the playoffs last season. The match-ups are almost equal with each team having their advantages, but as you all know I hope the Magic land on top!

GO MAGIC!

NBA Week 2 & 3

Yo! Back again for another version of my NBA weekly update. Well I slacked off for week 2 so I'll have to do it on the fly and train myself to get it going weekly. First off I want to say yes, Brandon Jennings and Dwayne Wade will get some heavy coverage in this week's update from me. I'm a Wade fan outside of my Magic and I'm jumping on the Jennings bandwagon, I hope the best for this young guy because he is truly talented.

Off the Fly:
Kevin Durant and the Thunder: They conintue to show signs of growth and a playoff berth for Oklahoma City. The season is young but the Thunder have more wins already than they did three months into the NBA season last year! They whooped my Magic, gave the Lakers some thunder, and just beat the Spurs. On the flip side they just lost to the Clippers but again a young team that is prone to slipping up more than the average contender.

Denver Nuggets: I was high on them after the first week and in week 2 they would take a 6 game, 9 day road trip out East. It started off well with two wins against the Pacers and Nets but after took a little bump. They dropped the next two which was at Atlanta and Miami. Both quality teams and two teams I feel they needed to show some dominance on to contend with the Lakers. They would then get a one point win in Chicago before losing to the Bucks to end the trip. Overall coming out of the trip they fared at 3-3. Back home last Friday they did give the Lakers some hell at home which was a great way to bounce back. I'm still feeling the Nuggets can get the Lakers on their heels but only time will tell.


New Orleans: Well anytime things go wrong normally a coach is the first one out. Unfortunately this happened to Bryon Scott. I like him as a coach and he really helped the franchise these past years with the cornerstone Chris Paul. I know CP3 loved him as well and really didn't want Scott out but it happens. My take on this is that the Hornets are simply not talented outside of Paul. David West has been a huge lackluster after the 2008 playoffs where he played his best year. Bringing in Okafor for Chandler should of been an upgrade but it hasn't been decided yet. On top of that Chris Paul is down with an ankle injury as the days are gloomy in New Orleans. I hope the best for CP3 and I also hope that Bryon Scott finds work, both guys aren't to fault for the Hornets struggles.

Phoenix Suns: They will be the one team that I certainly underestimated this year. Pending a major meltdown in the season they will make the playoffs. Nash and his two 20 assist games are impressive as well.

Slackers of the Week:
The 3 teams that let Kobe score 40 in 3 nights: Enough Said

Golden State Warriors defense: He's talented and that great but at least make an effort to slow him down! Brandon Jennings for 55!

Honorable Mentions:
Dwayne Wade: As I said, watching him is just amazing. Although they dropped the game to Cleveland we can't forget the poster he laid on Varajeo. However the game winner on the win-less New Jersey Nets was epic as well.

Brandon Jennings: Come on...do I need to continue? 55 points 5 Assist 5 Rebounds. 21/34 shooting 7/8 from 3Pt land.

Last Thoughts:
-Boston, Cleveland, Orlando all have three loses while Atlanta and Miami currently sit one and two in the East. Ok, nothing to panic about but the stakes might be higher this year around if they keep up the competition. The West is not different as Phoenix and Portland are one and two out there.

-I'm debating whether to give the green light to the Thunder making the playoffs. I like what I see from them defensively, and obviously the offensive is there with Durant, Westbrook and Harden. If New Orleans drops any lower than they are now, I think the Thunder will take their place for playoff contention.

-If someone told me the Bucks would be 5-2 through seven games I wouldn't really buy it. Depending on how you look at them, they've beaten some quality teams if you ranked them in the gutter. If not their most notable win is against the Nuggets. I'm sure Jennings will keep them in some form of playoff contention but once things settle down they might be brought back down to earth.

-Joakim Noah currently leads the league in rebounding....come on Dwight get your act together!

-Looking forward to Wednesday's match-up of Cavs @ Wizards and Friday's Magic @ Celtics. Two games that should be some good basketball.

Play of the Week: (easily)


Performer of the Week: (tough)

9 Games in...

The countdown is almost final: 1 more game until Rashard Lewis makes his 2009-2010 season debut. After tomorrow's game against New Jersey the Magic will welcome back last year's league's leader in three point FG made!

Back to where the Magic stand right now though. Coming off a horrible game against Cleveland at home on ESPN, there are no excuses to this loss. Stan admitted his coaching wasn't right and nobody on the team came to play with a Cleveland team that wanted revenge. As Van Gundy puts it, "We are not good right now." There is no doubt he's right. The defense is horrible and among the worse in the league right now. Solutions? I also agree with Stan as he says it starts with the captains: Jameer and Dwight. Defensively they've got to lead and set an example for the rest. Everyone knows the defensive force Dwight can be, lately here is how he fares. 1 block in the past 3 games (Avg 2 a game last year) and he only has 5 games with double digit rebounding. Basically Dwight isn't playing like we know he can. I'm not bothered much by the loss due to the season being so young but the effort the Magic put in was a bit shameful. As always you expect them to come back stronger the next time Cleveland is on the schedule.

Injury Bug:
Of course injuries can affect a team at any time during the season. Unfortunately, the bug has hit the Magic quite early. Vince was the first to go down and missed three games before returning. Pietrus caught the flu and Anderson is still on the mend with a sprained ankle. All were contributing fairly before they went down.

Rashard's return:
His return should help boost this team, another guy that can score but at the same time can help on the defensive end as well. He rebounds well and a guy familiar with SVG's defensive unit from last year.

It's not rocket science at all, the Magic have their share of problems right now. I don't think it's time to hit the panic button just yet as we aren't even 10 games in. What can be done is a simple regrouping on the team's part to get on the grind. Dwight preaches all great teams have great defense and Stan wants to see it from his team, so ladies and gentlemen let's see how they get it done.

Lil Wayne-No Ceilings Mixtape

First off, if you didn't know I'm not much of a Lil Wayne fan. There is very little of Lil Wayne that I can tolerate though. I liked Weezy before Tha Carter III session and remember how good of a CD Tha Carter II was. One of my favorite mixtapes ever is the Drought 3. I remember my home boys and I spun that mixtape like hell! We knew almost every song and verse and that's really what helped everyone jump on Weezy for Tha Carter III. So basically I liked Wayne's sound from the Drought 3, anything that he dropped that sounded similar I couldn't hate on. The whole auto-tune and singing like he's about to pass out really turned me away from him.

Moving on as most of you know he dropped a mixtape called "No Ceilings", it leaked a few days before the October 31st release. So basically I've been banging this mixtape lately and most of it was similar to his Drought 3 sound.

My favorite tracks:
Swag Surfin'
Ice Cream Paint Job
Wasted (DOPEST track on the Mixtape IMO)
Watch My Shoes
I Think I Love Her (Shanell killed it!)
I'm Good
Banned From T.V.
Run This Town

The rest are decent but I most likely skipped over them when listening to the CD. I'm still not that much into him as the best or even top 10, but I can't deny that I won't listen to this sound of Wayne if he continues. The word on the street is both Rebirth and Tha Carter IV will drop before 2009 is over. I'm not believing that until it happens though, Wayne has been known to push back continuously.

NBA: Week 1 in the Books!

Well it isn't exactly a week but the first week of the NBA season is officially over. With some surprises, few spectacular plays and the usual dominance of certain guys I shall name and teams...it's back!

Let's start off with the media whores though....that being the Cleveland Cavaliers. I enjoyed the whole 0-2 start but to be honest I wasn't one to jump to conclusions about them so fast. Last year my Magic started 0-2. They lost they home opener to Atlanta, then went to Memphis and lost on a Rudy Gay buzzer beater. My hopes for a great season were kind the down but the Magic would then go on a 24-4 run, eventually the NBA Finals. So my point? An 0-2 start isn't much to be bothered with Cavs fans. There still is time for Lebron and Shaq to get acquainted with the whole team as well. They got back on track with decent wins against the Bucks and Bobcats and back at .500. It does make you wonder though, how good they will be.

Moving on, the Lakers already have a loss. I wouldn't guess they'd lose so early but the Mavs looked poised to get some respect against the heavy Western favorites. I was impressed with the way they did win doing it without Josh Howard. The Celtics look like the Celtics we know from 2008. Rasheed Wallace is a great fit and Garnett is slowly dusting that rust off. Rondo continues to progress and was rewarded a 5 yr. 55 mill contract in the process. I did pick the Celtics to finish with the best record this season and they aren't disproving right now.

The Undefeated:

Photo from NBA.com

Orlando-Well my Magic Men have come out the gates fast with red hot shooting. Vince Carter has a mild injury but Redick filled his void excellent in Sunday's game against the Raptors. Jameer Nelson also had a big game against Toronto with his hot hand. An honorable mention is Ryan Anderson who continues to impress the rest of you who don't have a clue!

Denver-Two Words, one name: Carmelo Anthony. He continues to support why I think he'll lead the league in scoring this year. He's explosive and in my opinion, the best scorer in the game right now. Billups and the tough front line of the Nuggets is really looking to contest the Lakers, similar to the Mavs. If the Lakers aren't out to capture the top spot Denver will take it.

Boston-Like I said before they are looking as the team from 2008. The big 3 are in tact once again, and as long as they stay healthy the Celtics are running things.

Slackers of the Week:
Los Angeles Clippers-A lot of expectations for this team were higher than they have started. 0-4 start and a dysfunctional team has to be in question for Dunleavy's future.

Cleveland Cavaliers-Definitely their 0-2 start has them at 8th seed in the East with a 2-2 record. The good news is that there are 82 games in a season!

Honorable Mentions:
Oklahoma City Thunder-Off with a winning record, I think they will be good enough to maybe challenge for an 8th spot in the playoffs. Durant is looking fantastic and his supporting cast is doing all that they can to win games.

Ryan Anderson-Who wants Rashard Lewis? Completely shocked by his shooting, and even more so his basketball IQ. He's a perfect fit in Orlando and making the best of it.

Gilbert Arenas-Say ain't so but is Agent Zero back? He's really got himself back into great form, now stay healthy and the Wizards are going places.

Manu "Batman" Ginobili-Anytime you swat down a bat in an NBA game you've got to be mentioned. My joke for this one was: "The Spurs are so old they even have bats in their arena!"

Last thoughts:
There isn't much we can really decide on just from the first week, teams are still trying to get a fit for the usual NBA grind, and coaches are still manipulating their roster. Through the first 10 games we should start to see most of the expectations happen and a few surprises.

Play of the Week:

Performer of the Week: Carmelo Anthony