Archive for August, 2010

On April 20th, 1994, Shaquille O’Neal had one of his most brilliant games in a Magic uniform when he dropped 53 points and 18 rebounds on the Minnesota Timberwolves. (Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, a contributor on the Fansided Front Page, and co-host of CB Sports Radio from 5-7 pm week days (1420sports.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).

Marcin Gortat and Poland defeated Portugal. Aside from his ultimate goal of helping the Orlando Magic capture their first NBA championship, the Polish Hammer is in the midst of trying to lead his home country to EuroBasket 2011. After a disappointing opening qualifying game against Georgia on Monday, Poland rebounded to earn a convincing 86-64 triumph over Portugal on Thursday. Gortat registered a game-high 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and added 11 rebounds, two assists and one blocked Josh Cohen of OrlandoMagic.com has that story here. You can see highlights of that game here. Matt Humphrey of [...]

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, a contributor on the Fansided Front Page, and co-host of CB Sports Radio from 5-7 pm week days (1420sports.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).

Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk wonders if the Magic can beat the Heat inside. Nobody is going to be better than the Miami Heat at the two, three and four spots. But picture them playing Orlando. Jameer Nelson has the ball (guarded by Mario Chalmers) and Dwight Howard (covered by Joel Anthony) comes out to set the high pick. That is a hard-to-stop P&R combo for any team, and the undersized Anthony is really going to struggle to stop the strength of Howard rolling to the rim. LeBron, Wade and Bosh are going to have a hard time helping [...]

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, a contributor on the Fansided Front Page, and co-host of CB Sports Radio from 5-7 pm week days (1420sports.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).

With Tuesday’s re-signing of veteran point guard Jason Williams, the Orlando Magic now have 13 guaranteed contracts on the books for the 2010-11 season. And that might not be it. Second round pick Stanley Robinson is a training camp invitee and could very well earn a spot on this roster. In fact, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he did, mostly because first round pick Daniel Orton doesn’t look like he is going to be ready to contribute any time soon and the Magic will inevitably have to deal with injuries. It also looks like the rotations will [...]

Here is the official word from the Magic: MAGIC TO OPEN 2010-11 REGULAR SEASON ON OCTOBER 28 VS. WASHINGTON AT AMWAY CENTER Orlando, FL — The National Basketball Association tonight released a number of highlight games for the upcoming 2010-11 season.  The games, announced on NBA TV, are the nationally televised games for opening week, Christmas Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The Orlando Magic will open the 2010-11 regular season at the new Amway Center on Thursday, October 28 against Washington.  Tip-off is 8 p.m. and the game will be nationally televised by TNT. Other games involving the [...]

Earlier Tuesday, we heard the Magic would be opening their new arena October 27th against the Washington Wizards and would be traveling to Miami to take on the Heat in their second game on October 29th. The game against the Wizards will actually be on the 28th and the game will be shown by TNT. The Magic’s game against the Heat will be broadcast by ESPN. Both tip-offs are scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EST. Funny the Magic have to start the season with back-to-back games, one coming against LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the new-look Heat. Now we [...]

Here is the official word from the Magic: MAGIC RE-SIGN FREE AGENT JASON WILLIAMS Orlando, FL – The Orlando Magic have re-signed free agent guard Jason Williams, General Manager Otis Smith announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deal are not disclosed. “Jason (Williams) played very well for us last season,” said Smith. “He provides veteran leadership to our backcourt and knows what it takes to win. We are happy to have him back on our team.” Williams (#44, 6’1”, 190, 11/18/75) played in all 82 games last season for the Magic, averaging 6.0 ppg., 3.6 apg. and 1.5 [...]

Per John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com, the Magic and Jason Williams have agreed to a deal keeping Williams in Orlando for a second season. The Orlando Magic have their third point guard – and it is a very familiar face. Veteran guard Jason Williams and the Magic reached an agreement on a deal that will return him to Orlando for a second season, according to NBA sources close to the negotiations. Although Williams broke down late in the season and there were other options out there, it will be nice for the Magic to have a player who’s familiar with the [...]