Archive for December, 2010

During his Saturday press conference, Otis Smith said Gilbert Arenas has been a Magic fan for quite some time, citing the fact that Penny Hardaway is his favorite player of all time. Smith has been a kind of mentor to Arenas since their days together in Golden State and Arenas even spends a good part of his summers in Orlando. Arenas arrived at halftime of Orlando’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel got to speak with Arenas and he seems very excited. “This is a new beginning for me,” Arenas said. “This is a true [...]

This post was written by Brian Serra. The Magic players and staff will certainly be thankful once they finally fall asleep tonight. After a long and emotional day, the team fell tonight at home to the Philadelphia 76ers by a score of 97-89. The story of the game was once again defense. The Magic defended well in the first half and didn’t in the second half. Stan Van Gundy called the second half defense, “absurd” in his post game press conference and emphasized to the team that the 4 new incoming players won’t be the ones to turn the defensive [...]

Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy answered several questions about Orlando’s four new acquisitions before the Orlando Magic took on the Philadelphia 76ers Saturday night. Van Gundy said that sending Rashard Lewis to Washington was one of the “hardest things he’s ever had to.” He said that it was “an absolute honor and privilege to coach him.” Van Gundy went to say Lewis was one of the keys to turning the franchise around, citing the fact that Orlando had won just 40 games the year before Lewis arrive and had lost Darko Milicic and Grant Hill to free agency and [...]

With all of the news about Orlando’s big acquisitions, the fact that they have a game Saturday night has been lost in the shuffle. The Magic, who are coming off a terrible west coast road trip that saw them go 1-3 with their lone win coming against the Clippers in Los Angeles, will have to play with a short-handed roster because of their deals. After winning four of their previous five games, the 76ers were defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night. The 76ers are now 10-16 but are clearly are playing better basketball. Their only other loss in [...]

Update: Both deals are now official. Things have become more clear than ever. Last night (well at about 3:00 am), Howard the Dunk reported Dwight Howard was pushing the Magic to strike a deal (or 2). It sounds like two deals are near completion. A deal that would feature Rashard Lewis being dealt for Wizards Guard Gilbert Arenas has been discussed throughout the night but if the Magic were going to make that move, it was clear they had to make another move as well. It sounds like they have. The Magic are likely to deal Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat, [...]

With the Magic in the midst of several different trade rumors, most of which are centered around Gilbert Arenas, many are wondering why the Arenas rumors have popped back up. Of course, Orlando’s recent struggles combined with the rise of the Miami Heat and the consistency of the Boston Celtics seems like reason enough to strike deal but there is apparently more to it. A source close to the situation indicates Dwight Howard has been pushing the Magic to make moves. Howard can become a free agent after the 2012 season so he obviously has leverage in the situation. This [...]

A source has told Howard the Dunk the Magic are close to striking a deal. It sounds like a deal could be done in the next few days. Several outlets are reporting the deal would involve Wizards Guard Gilbert Arenas. Orlando Pinstriped Post reports the chance at deal may be as high as 90%. Adrian Wojnarowski thinks the deal may involve Vince Carter and other Magic players who have larger, long-term contracts, such as backup Center Marcin Gortat. Arenas has privately told people for days that he believes a deal will soon send him to Orlando, where he’ll be reunited [...]

Although it was just briefly mentioned Thursday night, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reported the Magic were still actively pursuing Carmelo Anthony. With teams — Dallas and Orlando, in addition to New York and New Jersey — trying to put together trade packages for Carmelo Anthony, Portland’s phone is ringing off the hook. The Blazers have several assets that would be desirable in a three- or four-team deal. Wonder if Miller could be one of them. HtD has said all along that it is unlikely the Magic have the pieces to pull off the deal and unless Denver saw something in [...]

Here is the official word from the Orlando Magic: DWIGHT HOWARD LEADS THE EASTERN CONFERENCE IN VOTING AFTER FIRST RETURNS OF 2011 NBA ALL-STAR BALLOTING –Howard ranks second overall in the NBA– Dec. 16, 2010 –Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic leads the Eastern Conference in voting after the first returns of 2011 NBA All-Star Balloting presented by T-Mobile. Howard ranks second overall in voting for the entire NBA behind only Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant, The Finals MVP last season, is the overall leader with 722,682 votes, while Howard paces the East with 611,561 votes. The [...]

Having a poor performance here and there certainly isn’t out of the ordinary for any NBA team, which is why the Orlando Magic don’t panic and most of their players usually offer the same type of response after subpar performances – “it happens.” “You just have those types of games,” Chris Duhon explained. “You play 82 games and you’re not always going to shoot the ball great.” “We just have to learn from stuff like this,” Dwight Howard said. “Sometimes we don’t have our best game but that happens. We’ve got a long season and we’ve got to stay positive. [...]