Archive for October, 2010

Here is the official word from the Orlando Magic: ORLANDO MAGIC SINGLE-GAME TICKETS FOR FIRST HALF OF THE 2010-11 REGULAR SEASON ON SALE FRIDAY –Magic Open 2010-11 Regular Season October 28 vs. Washington in Amway Center–   Orlando, FL – Single-game tickets for the first half of the 2010-11 Orlando Magic regular season will go on sale to the general public Friday, October 8 at noon. The Magic will make its regular season debut in the Amway Center when they host the Washington Wizards in the brand new facility on Thursday, October 28.  Tip-off is 8:00 p.m.  Tickets that go on [...]

Yardbarker.com It’s that time of year when every talking head and nerd with a laptop (me) makes their predictions for the upcoming season.  In a refreshing break from this, the NBA actually puts out an annual survey of the league’s GM’s on different topics ranging from whom will win the championship, all the way down to which players get the most from the least (J.J. came in third).  Andrew Melnick took a look yesterday at some of the specific Magic highlights from the GM survey. I’ve decided to take a different spin on the annual preview.  Nobody cares what some [...]

The annual NBA General Manager surveys are out. The Magic aren’t as popular of a pick as they were last year. We can thank Pat Riley, LeBron James and the Heat for that. Here are some highlights: Dwight Howard was one of only four players to receive votes as a potential league MVP. Howard tied for third in the category of “who you would build your franchise around?” and third in “who forces coaches to make the most adjustments?” Howard received 96.7% of the votes for Best Center in the league. 11.1% of GMs think Orlando will win the East, [...]

Dwight Howard was fantastic in game one of the preseason. Howard finished with 19 points and made nine of his 14 shot attempts. In the first quarter, he sank a pair of midrange jumpers, banking the ball softly off the glass. He also dribbled past immobile and rusty Yao Ming, deking right and driving left to complete an acrobatic reverse layup that brought Magic bench players to their feet. “I thought Dwight was terrific all night,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “He hit those two face-up bank shots. He put the ball on the floor. He was real good. [...]

You may have already seen this video since it’s making the rounds around the web today, but just in case you haven’t seen or just want to watch it again, here you go: (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).

Basketball  is back, folks. Enjoy it. In what was a fairy entertaining game for a preseason battle, the Orlando Magic defeated the Houston Rockets 97-88. The Magic executed pretty well on offense. The offense looked a little different – the Magic posted up more than usual and it got them some open looks from beyond the arc. The defense looked a little sluggish but wound up playing much better at different points in the game. Some sloppy play is expected early in the team’s first game. After all, the preseason is there to prepare for the regular season and work [...]

The Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets will do battle in Hidalgo, Texas at approximately 8:30 pm EST Tuesday night. If you’re in the Central Florida area, you can watch this game on Sun Sports. Starters: Orlando Magic Dwight Howard Rashard Lewis Quentin Richardson Vince Carter Jameer Nelson Houston Rockets Yao Ming Luis Scola Shane Battier Kevin Martin Aaron Brooks What to watch for this preseason: Will Dwight Howard show off what he learned from Hakeem Olajuwon? Rashard Lewis is starting at power, how much time will he spend at the 3? Will Marcin Gortat get more action at the 4? [...]

Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Rashard Lewis will be starting at Power Forward while Quentin Richardson will start at Small Forward. Rashard Lewis will start at his usual position of power forward, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy told me a short while ago. Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter, Quentin Richardson and Dwight Howard will join Lewis in the starting lineup. Still, you can expect that Lewis will play some small forward tonight. Ryan Anderson, Brandon Bass and possibly Marcin Gortat will man the 4 spot when Lewis plays the 3. You can read more from Robbins here. [...]

Brian Schmitz explains why the Magic won’t add a third point guard. I asked Stan Van Gundy why not add, say, veteran Anthony Johnson. Johnson knows the team, having played here the past two years, and could use some preseason audition time to hook on with another club. Van Gundy understood the premise, but then revealed why the club is hesitate to add another PG. Money. I’m not buying it. A franchise that has a $480 million arena and a $90 million payroll can afford another minimum contract. You can read that story here. Zach McCann previews Brandon Bass. McCann [...]

Here is the official word from the Orlando Magic: MAGIC LAUNCH ELORLANDOMAGIC.COM – ElOrlandoMagic.com serves as the official Orlando Magic source for the Hispanic community– ORLANDO, Fla. – The Orlando Magic have announced the launch of ElOrlandoMagic.com, the new and improved Spanish website which serves as the official source for the Hispanic community to obtain original content and coverage of the Magic, including in-depth game coverage, breaking news, features, video clips, photo galleries, podcasts and more. In an effort to further connect to the growing Hispanic fan base in Central Florida, the new site features up-to-the-minute news articles, press releases and team [...]