Archive for April, 2011

Could it be? As we all get frustrated by the general lackluster play of Hedo Turkoglu, perhaps we aren’t paying enough attention.  He IS being guarded by one of the better wing defenders in the league in Josh Smith and is giving up somewhere around 528% percent in the athleticism department.  Maybe we aren’t giving Hedo enough credit for the work he is doing on the defensive end. In the 5 games that Turk has played against Smith this season, Josh has averaged 14.8 points per 36 minutes in the regular season (3 games) and 13.6 per 36 in the playoffs (2 [...]

During the Stan Van Gundy era, the Magic have been one of the league’s elite three-point shooting teams. The Atlanta Hawks, who the Magic have tortured with the outside shot as much as anyone over that span, are now defending the Magic as well as anyone. After Orlando’s win Tuesday, in which they shot just 34.6% from the field and 21.7% from beyond the arc, Van Gundy joked that he should actually show the ball going though the basket when he diagrams plays. All joking aside, something is clearly wrong with Orlando’s shooters and it’s not just Atlanta’s defense. On [...]

Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post But a Hawks head coach mismanaging Horford’s minutes is not news. That Stan Van Gundy altered his point guard rotation is, though. Orlando’s head coach used only Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu at point guard after halftime, leaving Gilbert Arenas and Chris Duhon benched. The decision forced the usually gunshy Turkoglu to play more aggressively, and though he missed 12 of his 16 shots, he a least ran the offense well and made proper passes. The 6-foot-10 matchup nightmare dished 5 of the Magic’s 9 assists, with just 1 turnover, in splitting his 39 [...]

Van Gundy and the Magic won game 2 88-82. (Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).

The Magic secured Game 2 of their first round series with the Hawks and managed to at least salvage some hope of home court advantage.  Orlando defeated Atlanta 88-82 to tie the series at one win a piece.  I take a look at the positives, negatives, randomtives and keys to Game 3 below. To read the full recap of tonight’s game, click here. Positives -          Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard. DWIGHT HOWARD. Do I sound like a broken record yet? Looking beyond the obvious great box score numbers (33 and 19), the effort expended by Dwight Howard tonight was truly phenomenal. [...]

The Orlando Magic got a much better defensive effort and another monster night from Dwight Howard to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 88-82 and even their first round series at one. Dwight Howard led the Magic with 33 points and 19 rebounds while Jamal Crawford had 25 points for the Hawks. The Orlando Magic started the opening quarter with good energy and played solid defense but were absolutely atrocious on offense. They scored just 16 points on 6-of-20 shooting, missed all five three-pointers and turned the ball over six times (Dwight Howard had four himself). The Hawks again made some tough [...]

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).

Here are a few quick notes from Magic head Coach Stan Van Gundy’s pregame media availability: Stan Van Gundy said he didn’t think Orlando gave the Hawks that many wide open shots or layups. He did said they needed to close out better on Atlanta’s shooters but mentioned pressuring the shooters too much could result in easier shots for the Hawks. “That’s tough,” Van Gundy said. The more you give up, the more you give up drives and things that, but we are going to have to do better.” Van Gundy went on to say the Magic are going to [...]

The Orlando Magic’s playoff dominance against the Atlanta Hawks ended with a 103-93 game 1 loss on Saturday. The Magic will host the Hawks again Tuesday and will fall into a massive hole heading back to Atlanta if they don’t get a victory. The game will be shown nationally on NBA TV locally on FS Florida. As always, if you can’t watch the game, you can listen on the radio – in English on AM 580 WDBO and in Spanish on AM 1270 WRLZ. Tip off from the Amway Center is scheduled for 7:30 pm EST. The Line: Orlando – [...]

Here is the official word from the NBA courtesy of the Orlando Magic: – All-Star First Player to Earn Honor Three Straight Seasons – NEW YORK, April 18, 2011 – Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic is the recipient of the 2010-11 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the NBA announced today. Howard becomes the first player to earn the honor three straight seasons; only Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace, with four each, have won the award more times. The 6-11 center led the league with 66 double-doubles, including six 20-point/20-rebound efforts, while ranking second in rebounds (14.1 [...]