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James Augustine's Summer League Blog
Orlando Magic second round Draft pick James Augustine will be participating in this year's Pepsi Pro Summer League. Throughout the week, James will be blogging about the Summer League experience on OrlandoMagic.com. Check back each day to get a player's perspective on the five-day event.

Friday, July 14, 2006 - 3:00PM

I think the whole week went well and it was nice to end on a good note with a win. The team played well today and we had really good chemistry. I played well for the most part as far as being more aggressive towards the basket. I think I was able to show what I can do - show my energy and where I can help the team. But I still got a long way to go and a lot of steps to take to get there.

The last couple of months have been real crazy. I've been on the road so much and really haven't had a chance to be home. These next couple of weeks are going to be great, because it will be the only time I've had off in the last three to four months. I'm just going to try and enjoy these next couple of weeks, hang out with family and friends and try to gain some weight. I'm going to stay away from basketball for only two or three days and then I'll get right back at it to get ready for the future.

I don't have a lot planned in the coming weeks, but I'm going to go see my cousin in Washington, D.C. I'm going to go up there and try and gain some weight with him. I'll probably just relax, workout and get away from everything for a while and just have some fun.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read my blog this week. I enjoyed my experience here at Summer League and liked getting your feedback. I'll be back in Orlando soon and will be ready to get things going.

Thursday, July 13, 2006 - 7:08PM

Four games down, one to go.

We picked up our second win this week tonight and I'm happy with it. The team played well obviously and I think the team is syncing well together. We're now 2-2 and hopefully we can come out tomorrow and finish Summer League on a high note. Personally, I don't think I played that well. For the first three quarters, I could have just stayed at home because I just didn't play well. But I'm just going to try to bounce back, keep my head up and keep playing. I'm just trying to make strides and learn everything step-by-step.

With tomorrow's game, I really just want to end on a high note. Obviously as a team, we want to win. I want to go into the rest of my summer and workouts when I go home and feel confident with how I played and how I ended Summer League.

I've tried to stay in touch with my family and friends while I've been in Orlando. They know that I'm busy of course with games and practices and all. They've been trying to stay up on things by watching on the Internet and reading the blog and stuff. When I talk to them, they all tell me, "I read your blog today". A couple of my buddies have been giving me a hard time about it. But it's been cool, having the blog so everybody can read it and keep up with me - that way I don't have to sit on the phone all night long and tell everybody the same story over and over.

Not much going on tonight, just going to get something to eat and get some rest. I'm excited for the last game tomorrow and can't wait. I'll finish my Summer League blog tomorrow after we've played our last game against the Heat.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - 5:20PM

Hey everybody,

Some of you have asked about if I have any pre-game rituals. Before each game I just try to relax - sit around and watch TV and just try to take my mind off the game, but at the same time trying to stay focused for it. When I'm on my way to the game, I'm away trying to picture the things that I want to do. When it gets closer to time I try to get more focused by listening to some music and get ready for the game, so I'm there and not spacing out.

I think today's game against the Bobcats went well - even though we lost. We played well and played hard, but there were just parts of the game where they outplayed us. As far as right now, we're playing well as a team. For me, I think I'm making strides at getting better. I still have a long ways to go to make the team.

Charlotte is good. They've really got some good guys on that team like Morrison and May. We played them well at certain points, but we've got to put a whole game together.

Since we had the early game today, we'll have a little bit of extra time to kill this evening. We are under discussion still about what we're going to do. I'm sure we'll probably go see a movie or something, try to get out for a bit and take our minds off the game.

It's been fun hanging out and getting to know a lot of the guys this week. I've gotten to know J.J. and some of the other guys a little better. I've known J.J. and guys like Gerry McNamara for a while, but we all hang out together most of the time. There's not really one specific person that I hang out with because most of us guys are together much of the time, so there's some good chemistry there.

Tomorrow we just need to come out and play better and put a whole game together. We'll be alright. We're playing well together as a team.

Thanks for checking in again and will write more tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006 - 7:41PM

We just had our second game today and I think it went well. Obviously the team won, which is most important. We played well together tonight and I'm happy with the way I played. I could have taken a couple of jump shots. Travis yelled at me a couple of times that I should have taken the shot. I didn't make the ones that I took, but the confidence is going to be there with more shots taken.

As far as rebounding, I did well in the first quarter and throughout the game. I thought I could have been a little more aggressive throughout the game and been more consistent with it, but I'm happy as a whole on how the game went.

Summer League has been good for me so far. As a team, our chemistry is really good and everybody is getting along and playing hard. Personally, I think I'm playing well. I'm making the strides at getting better and better. Tomorrow's going to be the next step and hopefully I'll continue to get better tomorrow. I don't want to take a step back and have another bad game, so hopefully I'll be able to take a step forward and play better on the offensive end, learn more on the defensive end and play better there.

During our off-time this week, we've just been sleeping a lot because we get up so early in the morning for practice. We were all talking this morning about how last night none of us could sleep. I don't know if it was because we were excited about the games and what is going on or what. So, a lot of us are just eating and sleeping a lot and just trying to get through the week.

Well, better get back to the hotel and rest up for tomorrow's game. We play the first game tomorrow against the Bobcats. Thanks for reading again and I'll give you an update after the game.

Monday, July 10, 2006 - 9:38PM

Hi everyone,

We had our first Summer League game tonight against the Nets. I think the game went alright. There were definitely some high points and some low points. As a whole, I don't think I played as well as I wanted to. I wanted to get more rebounds. As for the energy side of the game, I played well. I felt in shape. I think I did a lot of the little things right and tried to do as much as possible. It feels good to get out there and get that first game out of the way. I don't feel like I played the best that I could, but I'm glad to have that first one out of the way.

Over the weekend we had a lot of practices. The coaches have stressed to us to be energized for the games and ready to play hard. I've really focused on being mentally ready for these games. It's been a while since I played competitively. It's a different feel to the game than a two-on-two or three-on-three you experience for the workouts, so it feels great to be back out there.

I'm not going to do much tonight. Get some rest and get ready for tomorrow's practice and game. I'm just going to take it easy and get my energy back - focus on the little things that I did wrong today, think about the game a little bit. After that, I'll try to just calm down and relax and get ready for tomorrow.

Thanks for checking into my blog again and keep reading all week.

Friday, July 7, 2006 - 1:21 PM

I just got into Orlando on Wednesday and on Thursday we had our physicals. For the first fews days there's been a lot of sitting around and stuff. This morning we had our first practice session with all the guys that are playing on the Summer League team and it was great to get back and play some five-on-five in a team format. The Orlando Pre-Draft Camp was as close to that as I've been lately and that wasn't really a team-oriented camp. It's really nice to have 18 guys out here practicing with each other, cheering for each other and all for the same purpose. It's good to be out there for the first practice."

As for me, I feel alright. I'm in pretty good shape, but I'm not in mid-season shape or good practice shape yet. I think the couple of days off of just sitting around and doing nothing kind of hurt me a little bit. But I'm just going to try and get through the next week, get a lot better and hopefully prove myself so that I can make the team.

I don't know my way around Orlando at all just yet. I haven't had a car with my in any of my visits to the city so far. When I was here for Pre-Draft Camp and at the Magic headquarters for my workout, I took a van from one hotel to each place. And when I was here the day after the Draft, we took a limo from our hotel to here. For Summer League, all of us guys are taking a bus from the hotel to the RDV Sportsplex, so I really have no clue what's out there. All I know is that we have a Waffle House right next to the hotel and Chipotle about a mile and a half down the road.

We have another practice session tonight at 6:00 and two practices each day over the weekend. It's good to get back to work and back in shape. My main goal is to show the team my skills and to show Coach Hill and Otis Smith and the rest of the coaching staff my mentality and hopefully I can get in here and make the team.

Thanks for checking out my Blog. I'll check back in on Monday after we've played our first game against the Nets.

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