Denton’s Notebook – Sunday, March 7
By John Denton
March 7, 2010
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – Long before his current marital problems, Tiger Woods was known as a great champion and one of sports’ best closers who athletes everywhere admired. One such athlete who took inspiration from Woods’ unbreakable will was Orlando Magic superstar center Dwight Howard.
Howard credits his continual offensive growth this season to something that he took away from Woods. Howard, who enjoyed his finest month as a professional in February, said he stuck with his practice routine even when it didn’t always bear results early in the season.
``One thing that motivated me was something that happened to Tiger Woods a few years ago,’’ Howard said. ``Everybody thought he was falling and wasn’t playing as well as he should. But he didn’t change anything and stayed consistent. He just kept doing the same stuff over and over and working. Then, all of a sudden he had a year where he won everything.
``Everything in my life is about patience and letting things happen,’’ Howard continued. ``My offensive improvement has been about patience. Instead of trying to push it or force it, I just had to let it happen and it did.’’
UNDERRATED ODOM: The Magic undoubtedly had their problems with Los Angeles Lakers stars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol last spring in the NBA Finals, but it’s actually another member of the World Champs who gave Orlando fits.
Lamar Odom, the Lakers’ first player off the bench, averaged 13.4 points and 7.8 rebounds against the Magic in The Finals. And when L.A. beat the Magic in January, Odom had 16 rebounds (six offensive), five assists and nine points.
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy coached Odom for two seasons in Miami and said that he and the Orlando coaching staff spent much of the pregame game-planning for L.A.’s reserve power forward.
``At times people have been critical of Odom and I don’t get it,’’ Van Gundy said. ``I think he’s one of the most unselfish players in the league. He’s not as aggressive as some would like, but he does so many things. When he comes in the game he’s basically their point guard at (power forward). I think he’s one of the most underrated players in the league and no doubt a top 25 or 30 player in this league -- and he’s coming off the bench.’’
COLORFUL ARTEST: Mercurial Lakers forward Rob Artest showed up at Amway Arena on Sunday with gold-colored hair with purple symbols also carved into his hair.
Artest wouldn’t say the reason for the new hair style but his record label recently signed a Japanese artist and the symbols are apparently an advertisement for his new talent. And according to Lakers coach Phil Jackson, the purple swaths in the front pertain to Artest playing with more defensive intensity.
Artest said losing 15 pounds has made him a much better defender this season. He said he would often work out before and after games early in the season to become more trim and effective defensively.
``I like to lock people up but last year I kind of slacked off and I’m trying to pick my defense back up,’’ Artest said. ``I thought I could play at a heavier weight, but I couldn’t steal the ball the way I wanted. But teams were clearing out and attacking me because I was too heavy. But they can’t do that to me now.’’
ETC: While most coaches shorten their rotations for the playoffs, Van Gundy said that won’t necessarily be the case for the Magic because of the design of the roster. Van Gundy said because the Magic don’t have ``a combo guard,’’ he’ll likely stay with a rotation that includes Jason Williams, J.J. Redick, Mickael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat and either Brandon Bass or Ryan Anderson. Said Van Gundy: ``Ideally you would play eight guys (in the playoffs), but I really think we’ll play 10. That’s just the way our roster sets up.’’ … Jackson was intentionally slighting the Magic when he talked on Sunday about this being his final trip into Amway Arena. Of course, the two teams could meet once again in the NBA Finals. Said Jackson: ``I thought about this franchise and its history and the (1992) all-star game they had here a number of years ago. And this will be the last time we’ll see this arena.’’ … The Magic host the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday and the Chicago Bulls on Thursday.
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard each week on ESPN 1080 AM.
By John DentonMarch 7, 2010
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – Long before his current marital problems, Tiger Woods was known as a great champion and one of sports’ best closers who athletes everywhere admired. One such athlete who took inspiration from Woods’ unbreakable will was Orlando Magic superstar center Dwight Howard.
Howard credits his continual offensive growth this season to something that he took away from Woods. Howard, who enjoyed his finest month as a professional in February, said he stuck with his practice routine even when it didn’t always bear results early in the season.
``One thing that motivated me was something that happened to Tiger Woods a few years ago,’’ Howard said. ``Everybody thought he was falling and wasn’t playing as well as he should. But he didn’t change anything and stayed consistent. He just kept doing the same stuff over and over and working. Then, all of a sudden he had a year where he won everything.
``Everything in my life is about patience and letting things happen,’’ Howard continued. ``My offensive improvement has been about patience. Instead of trying to push it or force it, I just had to let it happen and it did.’’
UNDERRATED ODOM: The Magic undoubtedly had their problems with Los Angeles Lakers stars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol last spring in the NBA Finals, but it’s actually another member of the World Champs who gave Orlando fits.
Lamar Odom, the Lakers’ first player off the bench, averaged 13.4 points and 7.8 rebounds against the Magic in The Finals. And when L.A. beat the Magic in January, Odom had 16 rebounds (six offensive), five assists and nine points.
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy coached Odom for two seasons in Miami and said that he and the Orlando coaching staff spent much of the pregame game-planning for L.A.’s reserve power forward.
``At times people have been critical of Odom and I don’t get it,’’ Van Gundy said. ``I think he’s one of the most unselfish players in the league. He’s not as aggressive as some would like, but he does so many things. When he comes in the game he’s basically their point guard at (power forward). I think he’s one of the most underrated players in the league and no doubt a top 25 or 30 player in this league -- and he’s coming off the bench.’’
COLORFUL ARTEST: Mercurial Lakers forward Rob Artest showed up at Amway Arena on Sunday with gold-colored hair with purple symbols also carved into his hair.
Artest wouldn’t say the reason for the new hair style but his record label recently signed a Japanese artist and the symbols are apparently an advertisement for his new talent. And according to Lakers coach Phil Jackson, the purple swaths in the front pertain to Artest playing with more defensive intensity.
Artest said losing 15 pounds has made him a much better defender this season. He said he would often work out before and after games early in the season to become more trim and effective defensively.
``I like to lock people up but last year I kind of slacked off and I’m trying to pick my defense back up,’’ Artest said. ``I thought I could play at a heavier weight, but I couldn’t steal the ball the way I wanted. But teams were clearing out and attacking me because I was too heavy. But they can’t do that to me now.’’
ETC: While most coaches shorten their rotations for the playoffs, Van Gundy said that won’t necessarily be the case for the Magic because of the design of the roster. Van Gundy said because the Magic don’t have ``a combo guard,’’ he’ll likely stay with a rotation that includes Jason Williams, J.J. Redick, Mickael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat and either Brandon Bass or Ryan Anderson. Said Van Gundy: ``Ideally you would play eight guys (in the playoffs), but I really think we’ll play 10. That’s just the way our roster sets up.’’ … Jackson was intentionally slighting the Magic when he talked on Sunday about this being his final trip into Amway Arena. Of course, the two teams could meet once again in the NBA Finals. Said Jackson: ``I thought about this franchise and its history and the (1992) all-star game they had here a number of years ago. And this will be the last time we’ll see this arena.’’ … The Magic host the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday and the Chicago Bulls on Thursday.
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard each week on ESPN 1080 AM.
