HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Keep working your Magic the way you did against the Lakers (above) Dwight Howard and maybe, just maybe, your Orlando Magic can find their way back into the league’s elite.
The Magic finally fed their low-post monster the way they are supposed to and they held the Lakers to a season-low 75 points in the process. Howard got all the touches he needed and posted a 31-point, 13-rebound, 3-block performance (the six turnovers weren’t pretty, but you can take that when he’s dominating on both ends).
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy is clearly on board with feeding Howard the ball as often as necessary. He made that clear after a Friday night loss to the Hornets and then followed that up by featuring Howard at every turn against the Lakers.
Some of Howard’s teammates, however, see things a bit differently.
“Some nights he’s not going to get it,” Arenas told the Orlando Sentinel. “Some nights there are going to be guards dominating. We just made plays tonight. When you have a guy that’s on, and their big men weren’t controlling him down there, he took advantage of it. He made plays. If you look around the beginning of the third he was getting frustrated again that he wasn’t getting the ball. It just takes time. He can’t get it every time. When you’re a dominant player you want it every time. He did a great job tonight and we found him.”
They have plenty of time to get their chemistry issues resolved and get back into the mix at the top of the East. Whether or not this win over the Lakers serves as their final wake-up call remains to be seen.
CAVS START ANOTHER STREAK
Just when we started feeling good about the guys in Cleveland, they go off and lose to the one team that cannot win on the road … until now.
The Wizards snapped their road losing streak at 25 games with a win over the Cavs, who snapped their NBA-record losing streak at 26 games Friday night.
Cavs coach Byron Scott stayed positive throughout his team’s disastrous losing stretch. But he let loose on them after seeing the previously hapless-away-from-home Wizards find their mark at Quicken Loans Arena, courtesy of the Plain Dealer:
“I’m still trying to figure them out,” Scott fumed afterward. “Because to me, that was ridiculous.”
“I don’t think there’s any way in the world we should have been in that locker room thinking after we got a win against the Clippers that we’ve arrived or we’re better than anybody else,” Scott said. “We have to come out with that sense of urgency, and I just didn’t see that tonight from the start. It’s disappointing.”
HERE COME THE HT GRIZZLIES
Have you checked the standings lately?
Do you see who is making a push in the Western Conference playoff chase, and just in time for the post-All-Star Weekend push?
That’s right, those Hang Time Grizzlies are making a move. Of course, they are chasing another team that’s on a nice roll. The Trail Blazers currently own the eighth spot in the standings. Winners of four straight, they are going to have to fight off our Grizzlies, winners of three straight after Sunday’s solid win over Denver.
O.J. Mayo‘s return from a 10-game suspension for Tuesday’s game against Philadelphia should be interesting. Things have changed dramatically in his absence, as my main man Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal explains:
Mayo hasn’t played since Jan. 24. The suspension ended Sunday following the Grizzlies’ 116-108 win over the Denver Nuggets. Although Mayo was allowed to practice and travel with the team over the past 21/2 weeks, Coach Lionel Hollins said Mayo’s return will present a major challenge for the third-year player.
“The team is not static. It’s fluid. It’s changing constantly,” Hollins said. “He’ll be trying to find out where the team is and trying to catch up to that rhythm. It’s going to be difficult. The team has moved in a positive direction.”
Memphis went 8-2 during Mayo’s suspension. The team is 9-2 without Mayo overall this season.
The bench also developed a different identity in Mayo’s absence. The reserves have gone from deferring to Mayo for scoring to following veteran guard Tony Allen‘s lead with gritty, defensive-minded play. The Grizzlies have also enjoyed more ball movement and an effective zone defense from their second unit.
Don’t jinx us O.J. We need you to come back with a vengeance, on a mission to prove your doubters and critics wrong about you. But mire important than any of that, we need you to help get the HT Grizzlies scratch out a playoff berth.
Is it me or are the refs just getting worse as the season goes? Kobe shoots a three before half time and is bear hugged by Arenas; no whistle. Also in the Heat/Celtics game the officiating was terrible. Just because Rondo is smaller doesn’t mean the refs should give him leeway to hack Lebron.
But that gave Wade a right to push KG just cause he set a hard screen. Nobody pushed Big Z when he set the hard screen on Rondo. I think Rondo played a great game defending the bigger & stronger Lechoke. Anyway that was still 2 good games.
Man get out of here. Big Z ain’t even that kind of player. Rondo got caught off guard and KG took it to another level. If you actually watched the game from a unbias standpoint you’d see he put some of his shoulder into the screen. Wade just sent a message that it wasn’t cool and even the announcers said KG flopped. If you don’t like Lebron fine but stop being bias. I can’t stand Kobe but I saw the fact the refs last night were one sided on the calls. Grow up and stop hating because you sound like your 12yrs old.
i agree with the refs situation. They aren’t consistent and they play favorites. The technical rule now is ridiculous. Hopefully it is over-turned by next year . . . it takes the life and energy out of the game. The game isn’t the same without the emotion. But I strongly believe Lebron deserves to get hacked nightly. He gets away with so many moves on the court. He will sometimes not get a call and still get into a refs face yelling and not get called for a technical. He is a flopper. Terrible Terrible Flopper, who doesn’t get fouls called on when he decides to foul.
Agreed, I think the refs should let the players be more physical, its more fun too watch and the players are getting soft. I remember Perkins got called for a tech in the ECF last year when he walked away, he did the same against Miami after a block and didnt get a tech, what is with that? Either call a tech on both or dont call it at all. Also Lebron isnt the only flopper, there are tons out there, Lebron is actually one of the less floppers unlike Artest, Pierce, etc. And yes at times the refs play favourites, Lebron, Blake, Kobe.
Yo peeps, why is it that when the Lakers lose, you guys don’t put it on the front web ? Marketing ? Both games were good and i love the speed and the hustle. But i hate how the NBA treat the Lakers different than the other teams. Pau and Bynuw just couln’t handle the beast. Go D12 ! Please Arenas, bump Jameer from the starting position. Hedo more energy please ! Shannon Brown, i like the way you play. Even though everybody gives Phil Jackson props even for breathing, he do you wrong every single game. Trust me on this one. I’ll tell y’all once again: Boston is gonna win it all, and i’m not even a Boston fan. But that’s what objective mean. For all who disagree: It’s all about ONE LOVE ! Actually TWO LOVES today lol HAPPY V-DAY !!!!!
Come on Sekou, your blog is usually spot on but I have to disagree with you on Dwight Howard. This season he hasn’t had a problem with lack of touches, how else do you think the guy manages to average 22 a game. D12 main offensive flaw is his streaky free throw shooting which prevents him from averaging more than 25 points.
People complaining about the Kg screen, that was a legal screen just like the one big Z set to prevent rondo from hounding Lebron. The difference is rondo blamed perk for not telling him about the screen and Dwade and team mates should have recognised they were also at fault for not alerting mike miller.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koM0_buamS0 (rondo is in your head miami heat)
James, I think what Sekou is talking about is during the 3rd and 4th quarter stretch. I mean if you watch most of the game you can see D12 lays out 10-15 points in the 1st half but in the 2nd half only gets the ball maybe 5 or so times. He is playing well but in the clutch hasn’t been getting the ball as much. That’s why he has been frustrated.
One reason, Magic are a 3 pt shooting team, when it comes to clutch times, they jack up 3s, cause Im sure if Howard gets the ball, he will be either triple team or fouled, but jacking up 3s only works when there is like 1-2mins left in the 4th, he needs the ball in the 3rd.
dwight howard is the most understimated player in the league… he is really carrying a team by himself he is all alone and that makes him so special in the league.. he is the best defender and he is really powerfull on offense and no matter what pigbaby davis says or what oldkg says about his offensive game he is the most dominant center in the league i think that if melo really wants a shot at a tittle he should join dwight.. howard has already proved that he can take a team to the finals..
Lakers wont get into the nba finals. they wont get pass the mavs or the spurs. they will if they get lucky enough to not play them in the 1st or 2nd round. kobe sucks and their fans sucks because they are ignorant in the game of basketball. i dont know why kobe fans likes kobe. maybe because they think its cool to be a fan of kobe which makes me LOL
Dwight Howard is by far the best center in the nba. But it seems to me that a guy who is averaging 22.6 points on .588 FG % , 13.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 2.1 blocks gets little love. Everyone talks about Kobe, LeBron, and D-Rose. But they never talk about Dwight when it comes to who is the best player in the league. Superman needs more love!!!!
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