Archive for July, 2011

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel has a good read on what Magic General Manager Otis Smith does during the lockout. As you all know, Smith is a very active and hands on general manager so this has to be a difficult time for him. No one knows how long the lockout will last. But if a season can be salvaged, Smith must hit the ground running as teams scramble to sign or trade players. “All you can do now is plan, plan, plan. But it’s even kind of hard to plan. You don’t know what the new rules will [...]

Per John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Ledger, Orlando’s second round draft pick, DeAndre Liggins, is considering playing overseas during the lockout. For Liggins, doing what he has to do means exploring the option of playing overseas. “We’re looking at trying to go overseas possibly,” said Liggins of his agent, Henry Thomas. “He’s working on that now.” Liggins said he would like a contract that would allow him to return when the NBA lockout ends. If that’s not possible, however, he talked like a year overseas is a viable option. Would that be for the money or for keeping in shape? [...]

Per Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, Dwight Howard will train with Hakeem Olajuwon for the second straight summer: Asked whether he’s working on his outside touch, Howard responded that he is working on becoming “more complete” as a player. When a follower asked what Howard meant, Howard answered: “shooting more” and “freethrows above 75.” Howard spent a couple of days last summer working with Olajuwon, and Howard has said the sessions made him more confident and made him more willing to try new things in games. In the season that followed, Howard unveiled a more diversified low-post arsenal that [...]

Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel caught up with Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy, who had some interesting things to say concerning Orlando’s strategy: TO FOUL OR NOT TO FOUL WHEN UP THREE IN FINAL SECONDS NBA coaches and observers still don’t have a full-proof defensive strategy of what to do when a team’s up by three points with less than ten seconds left. Do you foul? Do you not foul and take your chances? Even Van Gundy, who’s been around basketball his entire life, doesn’t know. “Let me just tell you this: We have screwed it up every [...]

Here is the official word from the Orlando Magic: ORLANDO MAGIC’S BO OUTLAW TO RAISE FUNDS FOR OMYF AT LOCAL CHICK-FIL-A -Funds raised as part of the Celebrity Drive-thru Event-   WHAT: Orlando Magic Community Ambassador Bo Outlaw will be participating in the Celebrity Drive-Thru Event at Chick-fil-A at Orange Avenue, located at 2885 S. Orange Avenue, Orlando. The Celebrity Drive-thru Event is designed to allow our local community leaders an opportunity to interact with customers while raising funds for local charities. Chick-fil-A at Orange Avenue will donate a percentage of the sales from each morning to the celebrities’ charity [...]

Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel has quote from Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy defending his team’s style of play: “Especially from an offensive standpoint, this is a personnel driven league,” Van Gundy continued. “You do with what you have. We get it from our media all the time and our fans. We’ll have those nights, 2-for-23 from three. They say you gotta drive the ball more. Who? Who? That’s my question. Who? Who’s going to drive the ball? That’s not who we have. If I had a different team, there are a lot of guys in the league [...]

After having surgery to repair a disk in his lower back on June 9, wing Quentin Richardson looks like he’s almost ready to return to the court. “Not being able to work with our training and strength staff has not slowed my rehab, though. Our staff did a great job getting me situated with my physical therapist before the lockout began. So I got all those things set up for me while we were still able to be in contact with them.” Richardson, 31, said he expects to begin shooting baskets again in about a week. Josh Robbins of the [...]

Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel has an interesting story about how J.J. Redick is spending his days during the lockout. It starts with a drive to Rollins College in Winter Park to work on his shooting. He grabs his sneakers and a ball from the back of his SUV and he walks briskly into the Harold and Ted Alfond Sports Center, the site of the school’s two primary gyms. He takes a few steps onto the main basketball court and sees volleyball nets set up from one end of the floor to the other. Gotta go instead upstairs to [...]

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com) and is the co-host of the ESPN1080.com Insiders Show Sunday mornings at 10:00 am EST. 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).

Former Magic guard Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway doesn’t think it’s a good idea for players to head overseas: Q: What’s your take on all these guys talking about going overseas? Is that a good look? A: It’s definitely not a good look. It’s not a good look because it means you’re not caring about what’s going on over here, you’re just gonna go and make money. But hey, that’s the way it works. Every guy has a right to do whatever they want to do and would just say good luck to those guys who are gonna go do that. OrlandoMagic.com [...]