Orlando Magic News for August 13th: Respect, A Dwight Howard Update, and More
by erivera7 on Aug 13, 2009 6:01 PM EDT
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Do the Orlando Magic get enough respect?
Tania Ganguli gives Orlando Sentinel readers something to look forward to.There's been a lot of talk about the Magic entering the 2009-2010 season as underdogs, again, and getting no respect, again. Even after an Eastern Conference championship, and an aggressive offseason.
But is that perception or reality?
For tomorrow's paper, we'll publish a poll in which my colleague Josh Robbins asked several NBA analysts to rank the teams in the East. With thoughts from analysts nationwide all in one place, you'll get a chance to see if it's true -- if NBA pundits really aren't giving your Orlando Magic a shot again this year -
a craaaa-zzzzzy summer
Dwight Howard posts on his official blog, today.Some folks in Orlando are concerned that I’m not working enough on basketball while I’m doing all of this traveling, but yall have nothing to worry about. Everywhere I go my two trainers go with me. Just last week, we were going through workout sessions at 5:30 in the morning and again in the afternoon. We usually spend 90 minutes a day in the weight room and 90 minutes on the court. Trust me, I’m working harder this summer than I’ve ever worked in my life.
Getting to the NBA Finals just made me hungrier than I’ve ever been. I know I have to come back better next season for us to get that ‘ship. I want it really, really, really bad. So ya’ll aint got to worry about me getting my work in. Your boy is getting better, believe that!!!!! -
Welcome Home
Mickael Pietrus, courtesy of NBATV, tours his home island of Guadeloupe. -
Nets Giving Away Celtics Jerseys
Tom Ziller of NBA FanHouse reports this interesting tidbit.As long as the NBA has existed, teams with poor attendance have sold the visiting team as a main attraction. "See Larry Bird in Kansas City!" and so on. But the Nets are taking this to a new level.
New Jersey is promoting its 10-game ticket plans by offering up five (!) complimentary reversible jerseys. Unlike most reversibles, the Nets are only represented on one side of the kit. On the other side: LeBron, Kobe, Dwight, Dwyane or KG. Yes, the Nets are effectively giving away Cavs, Lakers, Magic, Heat and Celtics jerseys to ticket buyers. This is going to get really awkward if the Nets capture the eighth seed and face off against one of the East's Big Three.
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LOL.
Yeah, I know. There’s no way for me to link to Pietrus’ video, directly, that I know of. Have to do it manually.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
is it just me,
or is 90 minutes a day not exactly what you envisioned dwight to be putting in this summer?
www.last.fm/user/mhetrick04
What? He's putting in 180 minutes a day, 90 in the weight room and 90 on the basketball court.
Might be more, if he’s saying he’s essentially doing two-a-days.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
Seriously? I'm proud of myself if I hit the treadmill for half an hour.
"Fun fact: Larry Hughes, who couldn’t stay healthy if all his human parts were replaced with bionic implants, is out for the next four weeks with a bruised leg. Do you think that Willis Reed ever reads about all these players missing time with bruises and sprained fingers and throws up in his mouth a little?"
Hah.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
i don't care about the weight room,
i’d just like to hear something like “he’s taking 500 free throws a day” or “we can’t get him out of the gym”. i’ve never really got the impression from HIM that he needs to work to improve his offensive repertoire. hope i’m wrong.
www.last.fm/user/mhetrick04
I'm sure he's working on it.
Just have to trust Dwight that he’s doing what he needs to do to be a better player.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
Agreed
an Hour in the Half on the court is plenty..
"No matter where you go, you are what you are playa"-Jay Z
Twitter Account
I believe
D12 when he says he’s working harder than ever. I watched Jameer and him while the Lakers celebrated. These guys are motivated! I just hope he’s getting more time working with Ewing than he got the last, what, 3 seasons, while playing USA basketball. And I hope some of that court time is being spent on free throws. If Dwight can average 60% from the charity stripe, it could take his scoring and game to a whole new level.
I've always wondered...
why it is so difficult for some players to improve in free throws? I’m pretty sure they constantly work on it, but when you throw the same shot thousands upon thousands of times, it should start to sink more right? Of course pressure plays a role, but I’m talking about just regular free throws. Why is it that some players can never pick up their percentages?
i think the best answer is that it is impossible to simulate game conditions in practice
i.e. the bumping, banging, running, emotions, going 15 minutes of real time without taking a shot, having 20,000 people watching you, etc. you can try a lot of things in practice, but those conditions can’t be recreated.
but i do hear you, and it surprises me that there isn’t more of a trend of improvement over the course of a career. my perception is that the average player improves about 5% from his first year to his, say, 8th year. i’d expect that number to be closer to 10%.
dwight shot 59.5% last season and 63.5% in the playoffs. i’d love to see him crawl into the 65-70%, and be able to stay there. i think that is a respectable enough level that he’s not a real liability at the line and you can comfortably go to him at crunch time.
Excellent points, as to why practices and games are different.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
Fundamentals is part of the reason.
I think that’s why you see more foreign players, who are also big (Dirk, Yao), are better shooters from the free-throw line because fundamentals are being stressed and a good form is being developed.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
65%-70% would be great
I just have doubts that it’ll ever get there…
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