I went to Game 4 of the Pistons-Magic series on Saturday, and I still can’t believe what I saw. Not only did the Magic completely blow a chance to tie the series at 2, they also didn’t get Dwight Howard the ball down the stretch. I mean he only had two points during the final three quarters, to finish with eight total.

How can an All-NBA first team center only have two points during the last three quarters, and barely touch the ball down the stretch? I couldn’t figure it out, until I saw a column in the Sentinel, from Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp.

Sharp’s column had several good points, namely that,

“Howard didn’t get the ball enough, especially late, because he didn’t want the ball enough.”

I agree with Sharp. I don’t recall Howard ever getting extremely mad about not getting the ball. I never saw him go to the bench and yell at his teammates to give him the ball either.

And…

“Howard’s offensive repertoire remains at a rudimentary level. He’s not comfortable making an away-from-the-basket offensive move. He rushes shots, clumsily throwing up garbage and then complaining that the referees aren’t giving him a fair whistle.”

This was a tremendous observation by Sharp, and one that I have not read from the Sentinel’s columnists. Could it be that Howard didn’t want the ball in the clutch because he is still not comfortable when he has the ball in his hands?

Could it be that his teammates are still hesitant to give him the ball in the post, because he looks so uncomfortable with it when he gets it?

As I think back over the season, Howard really has dominated at points, but there aren’t many times when I can remember him getting the ball in the post, making a move, and putting it in the basket. Most of his points still seem to come off rebounds and tips, especially when he runs the floor.

I have read so many times this year about how much Howard has improved, how dominat he has become, and I think he has, but not to the point where most local media members believe. He still has a long, long way to go. Howard should want to be the most dominat player on the court. He should want the ball every time down the floor, and each time he gets it, he should score.

Defensively, his game is there. Also, he might be the best rebounder in the league, but a truly dominant player needs to take over offensively as well.

Last summer, I spent some time working out at the RDV Sportsplex, where the Magic practice. While I was there I watched a pickup game, between a few people, including Howard and Bo Outlaw. I understand that it was just a pickup game, and I understand Dwight is just a kid, playing against some 40 year olds, but I watched him dribble down the floor and heave up jumpers the whole time.

I get that he was probably just trying to have some fun, but it was still kind of strange. If I were him, I would be in the gym working on my post moves, the enitre off-season. Maybe he did, but his performance thus far, especially in the post-season shows that he needs some work.

If the Magic have any chance to get back in this series, Dwight needs to show up on both ends of the floor. He has got to want the ball.

Howard is one of the best players in the game, but there are still times when he disappears offensively. If I were the Magic, I would go find Hakeem Olajuwon and have him work with Dwight all off-season.

The Blog currently resides in Atlanta, on the job search once again….

A few thoughts to get yourself through the day….

The Magic looked terrible in the second half of game 1 against the Pistons…they don’t look mentally tough enough to win this series, but if they win tonight, they will give themselves a chance.

Tim Hudson dominated the Reds on Friday night, but Edinson Volquez looks like the real deal…

The “Kanye West Glow In the Dark” concert is pretty impressive…the whole spaceship theme is kind of strange, but the show he puts on is pretty cool….

Another day, another questionable Mike Bianchi column. As I’ve already discussed here, I think Bianchi is one of the best in the business when he puts his mind to it. There are just some columns, like the one in today’s Sentinel, and the one from a couple of weeks ago, that leave me scratching my head.

In today’s column, Bianchi argues that Otis Smith deserves a big share of the credit for the Magic’s playoff success. I agree with him, to a point, because Smith put this team together, but what I don’t agree with is the timing of the column, and the reasons Bianchi lists as to why Smith deserves so much praise.

First of all, Bianchi wrote this column after the Magic advanced into the second round of the playoffs, by beating Toronto. My problem is that the Magic were a better team than Toronto, any Magic fan will tell you that the team they have struggled with the most in the last few years is Detroit.

Now, if they can beat the Pistons in the second round of the playoffs, I will be impressed, and I believe that is when Otis Smith should get all the credit he deserves, and then some. He will have identified what the team needed to get past Detroit, a squad that has given the Magic fits, in the last few years.

It is definitely an accomplishment to be playing in the second round, but if the Magic can’t get past Detroit, what have they really accomplished?

My other problem with this column are the reason Bianchi lists as to why Smith should be praised. His words are in quotes, mine will come after those.

*We critics said Smith was crazy for believing in point guard Jameer Nelson and signing him to a lucrative extension during the offseason. Well, in the first round of the playoffs against the Toronto Raptors, Nelson averaged 17.2 points and outplayed perhaps the best point guard tandem in the league.

It’s true that Nelson played very well in the first round, and outplayed Toronto’s point guard tandem of T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon. The problem though, is that Nelson has never struggled against smaller guards like Ford, and slower guards off the dribble like Calderon. He’s struggled against big, physical guards, specifically, Chauncey Billups, whom he will face in Round 2, when the Magic play the Pistons.

For years, Billups has dominated Nelson, continually posting him up in the blocks on offense, and getting into his head on defense. Again, if Nelson and the Magic can get by Billups and the Pistons in the second round, then this column would make a lot more sense. Otherwise, how can you justify that giving Jameer Nelson a 6 year, 36 million dollar contract before the season was a good move?
If they don’t beat the Pistons, then why does Smith deserve any credit?

*His critics said Smith was insane for signing free agent Rashard Lewis to a $118 million contract during the offseason. Lewis (27 points and 13 rebounds) carried the Magic in Game 4 against the Raptors and his steadiness and unselfishness have been key components to the franchise’s breakout season.

Lewis played very well in almost every game of the first-round series, but Smith will probably still be viewed as insane by his peers, if the Magic don’t win a championship. Again though, that’s my problem with this column, the Magic have made it to the second round of the playoffs, if they go and get beat by the Pistons, and they are still on the hook for almost 140 million to Lewis and Nelson over the next six years, then where do they go? For better or worse, this is the team the Magic will be playing with for the next few years, because of their salary cap situation. If they can’t beat the Pistons, then they’ll be right back where they were before, on the outside looking in.

*His critics claimed Smith was asleep at the wheel for standing pat while other teams like Dallas and Phoenix were pulling off high-profile deals ( Jason Kidd and Shaq) at the trade deadline. Guess what? The Magic are still playing while the Mavs and Suns are out of the playoffs and either firing their coaches or on the verge of it.

Out of all of Bianchi’s claims, this one made the least sense to me. This is like comparing apples and oranges. The Magic play in the Eastern Conference, the Mavericks and Suns play in the Western Conference. The Magic didn’t have to make any moves to get out of the first round in the Eastern Conference, they were the better team, they were supposed to win. The Mavs and Suns had to try and make some moves, because they wouldn’t have made it out of the first round with they way they were both constructed.

A good GM is like a good gambler — you have to know when to hold ‘em (standing pat at the trade deadline) and know when to fold ‘em (dumping Francis). Smith doesn’t make moves just to make moves. He doesn’t just look at talent and technique; he looks at chemistry and camaraderie.

Again, how can Bianchi claim, right now, after the first round, that the Magic were smart to stand pat at the trade deadline? How can he claim, as he did in the column, that it is “easy to overlook Smith’s questionable draft picks,” when you make moves like he has. Consider this: How good would this Magic team be if they hadn’t selected Fran Vazquez and J.J. Redick in the NBA Draft? Or if they hadn’t traded away their pick in ‘07 to get Darko Milicic?

The part of the column that stood out the most to me, were the last few paragraphs.

He regularly walks the halls and asks everyone in the organization, “What have you done to make the Orlando Magic champions?”

If we were to ask the same question of Otis Smith, he’d probably answer, “Nothin’ much.”

But we know better.

We know he’s done just about everything.

Done just about everything? Seriously? After the first round of the playoffs? Look, I have no problem praising general managers, but the praise should at least be deserved. If the Magic can find a way to beat the Pistons, and advance in the NBA Playoffs, then people should praise Smith, but not after a first-round win over the Raptors.

The Magic are headed into the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1996…

That’s great. But now they are probably going to face off, once again, against the Detroit Pistons.

I’ve been saying it all year, and I’ll say it again here, I don’t think the Magic can beat the Pistons, at least not this year. The difference in my mind will be at the point guard position. Each time the Pistons play the Magic, Chauncey Billups eats Jameer Nelson alive. He posts him up, he blows by him off the dribble, and each time the Pistons advance, and the Magic go home.

Granted, the Magic are much better than they have been in years past. Hedo Turkoglu is playing great, Rashard Lewis has played very well, especially in the last few weeks, Dwight Howard is well….Dwight Howard.

But I think they key to this series might be somebody who is flying under the radar right now, and that’s Maurice Evans. As Brian Schmitz of the Sentinel pointed out, Evans will probably be the one guarding Rip Hamilton. Evans spent some time playing with Hamilton and the Pistons a few years ago, so he will be familiar with all the moves Hamilton will make.

Detroit still has to finish off the Sixers, but even if Philly wins tonight, I still don’t see them beating the Pistons, in Game 7, in Detroit.

The Magic have a chance to win to beat the Pistons, but only if Nelson can figure out a way to keep Billups from going off.

“It really hasn’t hit me yet that we’re past the first round….It is just an incredible feeling.”—Dwight Howard

That makes two of us Dwight.

Can you believe they actually made it past the first round?

Let’s hope the Magic can keep this going…..

I had a bad feeling that this was going to happen once the Magic got to Toronto…

The Magic looked rattled through a majority of the game. I’m not sure whether it was the crowd noise, or whether the Raptors just started hitting their shots, but they better get it together before game 4…

Hey Jameer, you played great in Games 1 and 2 at home, but you got to Toronto and went off for….6 points….yep, the point guard of the future….

Anyone else realize that Marcin Gortat, who hardly played all year, has taken Adonal Foyle’s minutes?

Was that the artist formerly known as J.J. Redick who made an appearance in the fourth quarter?

Bottom Line: The Magic need to get their perimeter defense together if they have any shot to win game 4….

You’ve got to give the Orlando Magic marketing people credit, they are trying to get everybody swept up in the “Blue and White Ignite” promotion….even the media. I went to the game last night and sat almost directly behind the section where the press sits behind the floor.

As it was on Sunday, each seat in the O-Rena, had either a blue shirt or a white shirt on it, and people were encouraged to put them on. I was in the white section this time, and I guess so were the press people.

That’s because on almost all of the chairs I saw, there was a white shirt laying on them. To every press person’s credit at the game, I did not see anyone put on the shirt, I even saw some writers throw their shirts to fans in the stands.

Are the Magic serious though? Why even put any shirts in that section? Do they really believe that any member of the media was going to put that t-shirt on. Were they trying to influence them, or was it just an honest mistake by the people who put the t-shirts on the chairs?

Either way, it was embarrasing to have to watch working media members, have to sit on the white Magic t-shirts.

“They’re all pansies.”

My mom in reference to all the flopping she saw from the players during the Magic’s Game 2 victory over the Raptors.

As I flipped through the Sentinel this morning, I realized that there was a huge ad on the back page. Sometimes, a car dealership will buy a full-page ad in the back page so I wasn’t expecting much, but when I saw what the ad was for, I was surprised.

That’s because it was a full-page ad for Powerade, and the person featured in the ad was none other than Rashard Lewis. Now, let me start off by saying that I think Lewis is a very good player. The Magic would not be where they are this year without them, and from all the reports I’ve seen, he seems like a genuinely nice guy too.

Having said that, I think Lewis is extremely overpaid. I am not blaming him for that at all though, hey if somebody wants to give me 118 million dollars I’ll take it. I blame the Magic for making that decision.

The thing is, I can’t understand why a major company, like Powerade, would pay Lewis to be a spokesperson for their product, and why they would feature him in a full-page ad. Like I said, Lewis is a good player, but is he really worthy of a full-page ad, and endoresement deal with Powerade?

Endorsement deals should be reserved for athletes who can actually help sell a product. When was the last time you heard anyone say, “Hey I want to go to the game to see Rashard Lewis play.” Or how about, “Hey, I’m going to drink Powerade because Rashard Lewis drinks Powerade.” I just don’t see that happening.

Having worked for an agent, I know how important they can be to an athlete’s success, especially in terms of how they are marketed. That’s where I think the credit should go in this situation. Lewis’s agent Tony Dutt, not only got Lewis a max contract, he now has gotten him a Powerade endorsement deal as well.

While he’s no Tom O’Connell (my old boss), he has definitely proven that he can make his clients some money.