The Orlando Magic dropped another game in which they failed to reach 70 points. The 69-74 defeat at the hands of the Sixers is their 5th loss in six games as well as their 4th in a row. Finally, the Orlando Magic team I expected to see from the get-go has shown up… but for some reason, many seem to want to blame the recent suckiness on Dwight Howard, and I don’t get that. He’s not playing hard enough, he gave up his right to lead the team, blah blah blah… it’s as if people think they should actually be good or something, and that driving force behind the collapse is how Dwight Howard is going about his business. How about this: before you start pointing fingers at Dwight, consider who he’s working with. Ryan Anderson? Solid young player, but not a second option. Hedo Turkoglu? Hasn’t given a sh!t about basketball since he signed his big deal. Jameer Nelson and Jason Richardson? Complete shells of their former selves. Keep in mind that Richardson was the major off-season signing, along with Big Baby Davis. I’m sorry, but if you expect to keep a player of Dwight’s caliber interested in playing for you then you’ve got to do better than that.
As for his supposed forfeiture of his right to lead the team… just get off Dwight’s nuts, everyone. He didn’t construct this pitiful roster, and he doesn’t have the ability to go and fix it, so maybe he wants to leave. As of today I’m pretty sure he still plays for the Magic, though, so why are you mad at him for questioning his team’s effort after losing by 20+ to the f@cking Hornets? Is he or is he not currently the best player on the Orlando Magic? B-b-b-but he gave up his right to lead the team when he expressed interest in leaving! Get the f@ck out of here with that bullsh!t. Is he or is he not still being paid by the Orlando Magic to be the franchise player? Does he or does he not continue to average 20 and 15? Basketball fans should be thankful that he even pretends to care at this point–be happy that he’s not making a circus of the whole thing like Carmelo Anthony did. Go be mad at Turkoglu, Richardson, and Big Baby for playing like garbage. Be mad at Otis Smith for constructing a sh!tty team. This is professional basketball. If you put sh!tty players on the floor you will get sh!tty results. Don’t buy the soap opera the media wants to sell you. The Orlando Magic are sinking like the Titanic because that’s what the f@ck happens to a basketball team that depends on Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson in 2012. Whether Dwight still has the right to lead or not… what difference does that even make? Why is this being made into a story? If you want to write a story about the demise of the Magic you ought to write one about Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, Agent Zero, and Hedo Turkoglu… or maybe one about the man who brought those guys to Florida. There’s the root of your problem right there: poor personnel decisions.
How about the Northwest division? As I watched the Utah Jazz come back to beat the Portland Trail Blazers last night it really hit me: this division is not only great right now, but it has an unbelievably bright future. Currently there are four teams from the Northwest in the playoff picture. The 5th team is just two games out. It’s very likely that Oklahoma City, Denver, Utah and Portland will be playoff teams. It’s a possibility that Minnesota could make it too, in which case the entire division would be in the playoffs. I’m pretty damn sure that’s never happened before (I could be wrong, but I don’t think so)… at least not since the NBA expanded to 30 teams.
The thing that’s even crazier to consider, though, is how young all five of these teams are. OKC’s entire starting lineup is under 30 and their three best players aren’t even 24 yet. The T-Wolves have Kevin Love, Derrick Williams, and Ricky Rubio all in the first three years of their careers. The Blazers have some older guys in the rotation, but LaMarcus Aldridge, Wes Matthews, and Nicolas Batum, who should be considered the key pieces going forward, are only 26, 25, and 23 years old respectively. Both of Utah’s prized big men, Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap, are yet to reach 28. They’ve also excellent prospects in Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter, neither of whom can even buy a drink yet. Comparatively speaking, Denver looks older than the hills… but even they don’t start anyone who’s over 29. Their best player, Danilo Gallinari, just extended for four seasons at the age of 23.
That’s five teams (possibly all playoff teams THIS YEAR) with not a single building block over the age of 29. If smart moves are made by GMs and major injuries can be avoided this division could become even stronger top to bottom than the Southwest of the middle part of the ’00s. That division regularly put four teams into the playoffs and produced a champion in San Antonio, so I’ve got to give them the edge… for now.
JR Smith’s family got into another altercation with Chinese fans during one of Smith’s games. This time it was supposedly JR’s girlfriend who got into a shoving match after someone threw one of those thunderstick thingies on to the court. His sister then turned around and flipped the bird at the crowd, igniting the situation. I watched the end of the game in which this happened and noticed that the crowd seemed to be extra worked up. I figured it was because their lowly Tianjin team was about to upset a potential playoff squad with the best American player in the league on it, but I guess is was just JR’s band of hooligans acting up again.
Did you see the Clippers last night? I don’t know if that was some sort of freak thing or what, but I liked what I saw (in case you didn’t hear they beat the Thunder 112-100 despite 67 from Durant and Westbrook). I see that they made 56% of their shots, which is obviously unusual, but I noticed that Blake Griffin was given the ball in the post on the first two possessions of the second half. This followed a first half in which the Clipps buried 10 of 14 threes, making it seem as if Griff’s involvement early in the third wasn’t something that just happened by mistake. I thought that was promising. I’m also noticing that DeAndre Jordan had 7 field goals attempted… I love it when his attempts are high because it usually means the team is seeking out easy scores in the paint. Also, when the Thunder got to within 10 late in the fourth Chris Paul took over and scored 8 straight points. So… it was hot shooting early, Blake Griffin in the middle, and Chris Paul down the stretch. Isn’t that the way you would script a Clipper victory over the NBA’s best team (by record)? I don’t feel that the hot shooting was coincidental, either. I mean, they can’t rely on making the three like they did last night, but part of the reason they made so many is because they got good looks. The ball went into the paint first and then it was kicked out for the open jumpers. Those are the threes I like… not Chauncey Billups pulling up off the dribble a foot behind the line. Learn from this game, Clippers. With the talent on this roster there’s no need for a bunch of bad shots to be taken.
Highlight Recap: Should’ve been continuation. Gerald Wallace stuffs Gordon Hayward. The lob, THE JAM! DeAndre Jordan swats James Harden, knocks him over. LeBron, you needed to smash this. Jeremy Evans, OJ Mayo, do their things in the top 10.
How r u not going crazy about Blakes dunk on Perkins?