Dwight Howard

As long as the Orlando Magic has a healthy Dwight Howard, they will always win a lot of regular season games. But unless they can have their entire core playing together and playing well, they have little chance as repeating as the Eastern Conference champs.

Continue reading "Jameer Nelson Out 4-6 Weeks"

Courtney Lee? Really? 

Game 4-Offensive defensive indifference! Although Dwight Howard threw up enough clutch-time bricks from the charity stripe to build an estate, it was Jameer Nelson's mind-numbing mind-numbness that truly cost Orlando down the stretch. Lets recap: Magic cling to a three-point lead with seconds remaining. Derek Fisher brings the ball across half-court. Nelson, who by this point should have lodged his way into Fisher's shorts, inexplicably remains behind the three point line with a disarming did-I-leave-the-gas-on? expression clouding his face. Fisher takes full advantage of Nelson's ill-timed moment of self-reflection and nails the game-tying three, forcing the game into an overtime period and causing Stan Van Gundy to lose a lung on the sideline. Mother.. 

Continue reading "Another Disappointing Finals"

Yes, Dwight Howard doesn't have a ton of post moves, but he's only 23 years old.  HE'S GOING TO GET BETTER.  He's already the best rebounder and shot blocker on the planet, and he can

Continue reading "Easy on Dwight"

Last night's Celts versus Orlando Magic game was different from the other games in this series. The Celtics came out looking determined to win this one and end the series in 6. The Cs had the lead the whole entire game (biggest lead 12) until the last 3 minutes. This is the first time during this playoff that a Cs lead in the 4th did not lead to a close out. Rondo had a good night scoring 19 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals, and so did Perkins scoring 15 points, 10 rebounds, an assist and 3 blocks. But it wouldn't be enough with Ray Ray only scoring 5 points and Davis 6 points -- this is not what C-Nation is used to! The Cs bench did play great Defense though, especially Scalabrine, and if he can keep that up, it will be huge in game 7.  But no offense from the bench -- I was hoping to see House step up when Allen was off, but no such luck.    Their "Superman" D. Howard had the night that Magic fans were waiting for and scored a game high 23 points and game high 22 rebounds and with help from R. Lewis scoring 20 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, it was just enough to give the Magic the win 83-75.  I thought that when the Cs were up 8 with 9 minutes left in the game, we were leaving with a win, but Pierce and Allen were 3-15 in the second half and that's what cost us. Pierce played an overall good game, scoring 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists keeping the Cs in the lead the whole game. But right down the stretch when Pierce usually single-handedly closes out the other team, he just didn't have it  and no one else stepped up. The Cs handed this game to the Magic!!! Pierce missed two free throws in the last 3 minutes and then the Celts just couldn't score and Orlando took advantage. They got the lead with under 3 minutes and kept it, sending this series to a game 7. Another crazy series but as Dato, G, Jon, KC, Rach, Ro,JR, Bobafet, Even-Murray, and I said from the start, this was going to a Game 7!!!( Rach has believed from the beginning that this series iwould be just like last year's, and she's right.) This will be back in Boston Sunday night at 8:00 where the Cs franchise is 32-0 in game 7. MIT believes the Cs are a lock. The Professor and I believe it's going to be a battle and could come down to the last possession. We will see Sunday. So Go Celts, get your green on; you don't want to miss this one!!!

Continue reading "Boston Celtics: It Can Get Awfully Hot in Orlando"

The Celtics came out with that fire and determination in their eyes last night and showed Orlando exactly where they were(OUR HOUSE) and who the Champs are (The Cs, of course]!!!  The Cs got a quick lead from the beginning of the game and did not let it go; in fact, they did what I had hoped--if House, Scale, and Marbury could give us one good quarter of ball, we'd take it.

Continue reading "Boston Celtics: Now that's Playing in our House!"

Last night the Celtics came out fatigued as we had the feeling they would. The Cs came out of the gates so slowly I felt as if we were watching the game in slow motion and the

Continue reading "Celtics Dragged in Game One"

ates in the 2008 Olympic Basketball gold medal game, raining down threes, making plays and putting Dwight Howard on a poster with a fierce slam dunk down the stretch.

People in Portland are excited about basketball again, and many expect big things from this team this year (grumblings of a playoff berth have become distinctly audible).  I’m not sure if I’m drinking that kool-aid just yet, however the prospect of the Blazers making the playoffs is not that far fetched.  The bottom of the Western Conference will be wide open this year, with many teams losing key pieces to contending squads (Denver, Golden State, the Clippers), and with other perennial contenders looking as though they’ve lost a step (San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas), it’s very reasonable to expect the Blazers, who posted a .500 record in the toughest conference ever last year, to be right there at the end.

Continue reading "Welcome Distractions Courtesy of Spain"

bsp;Orlando is still young, razor thin at the point, and lacking a true power forward to compliment Dwight Howard.  What about the Pistons?  They still have the same group of guys that haven't been able to get over the top for several years, and it appears as though the rest of the NBA has surpassed them.  As for the cavaliers, they scare me more than anyone else in the East, especially after adding Mo Williams to provide another reliable offensive weapon next to King James, but they too still appear to be a step or two away from being a championship level team.  

Continue reading "Little Wing?"

llege to mature, where do players like LeBron James, Martell Webster, Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O'Neal, Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Rashard Lewis, Amare Stoudemire, Monta Ellis or Al Jefferson fit in?  What about those guys with NBA ready bodies and/or minds?  Is it fair to keep them from something that they're obviously ready for just because some of their peers are not?  How can we really justify robbing those players (and many others) of several years (or potentially a lifetime, if a player gets hurt in college) of NBA salary?

Continue reading "Bull-Plop!"

series with Cleveland, 2-2.  Orlando also presents some tough match-ups for the Celtics, with Dwight Howard in the middle and Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu on the perimeter.  While none of the Orlando players present as difficult a cover as LeBron James (Howard is close, but his game is not as diverse as LeBron's, nor does he have the same combination of speed and strength that makes James almost impossible to contain), the Magic have three legitimate scoring options that are capable of sinking any opponent on any night.

Continue reading "I Swear I'm Not Crazy..."

The always entertaining and God praising Magic Johnson professed that the excitement and allure of the NBA All-Star Weekend "is back! It is Back!" Wow, Magic, that is amazingly profound! The truth of the matter is that the All-Star Weekend is NOT back ... it just happens to be the ONLY All-Star event in professional sports that is any good and can captivate a decent pool of the sports viewing public. I mean seriously, what is it competing against?

Continue reading "All-Star Weekend is Back?! Sure it is!!!"