MAGIC: Magic Players Blog

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By Mickael Pietrus
August 11, 2009

Offseason Update

Hey -

I hope all of you are enjoying your summer.

I just got news that a good friend of the Orlando Magic, Bruce Rossmeyer, passed away on July 30 in a motorcycle accident. For those of you that don't know Bruce, he was the owner of the largest Harley Davidson dealership in the United States, a huge supporter of Daytona Bike Week and a regular at our home games. I got to know him over my first year with the Magic. We would always joke around when we saw each other during the regular season and playoffs. He was a great guy who was very passionate. He even offered me his watch in exchange for a NBA Championships...I wouldn't have taken his watch but I appreciated the offer! I will miss seeing him after games. My thoughts go out to his friends and family.

I just got back from Guadeloupe two weeks ago. I had my youth basketball camp and played host to the Stanfields. They won the Guadeloupe prize package we put together with the Board of Tourism and the Orlando Magic. It was great to show them my beautiful island.

The Magic have added Vince Carter, Brandon Bass and my long time Warriors teammate Matt Barnes. Every team in the East has gotten stronger this offseason, but I think these guys will make our already great team better. I am working hard this offseason and I am looking forward to the start of the 2010 season.

I am enjoying my time with my son. I am teaching him how to play basketball and loving it. He wants me to do well this year and bring home a Championship ring...or I think that is what he is trying to tell me. Sounds good to me! LOL.

Anyway, I better get some practice in. It is my son's nap time and I have to get everything finished before he wakes up.

Peace.

MP

For more information about Mickael and some MP designed gear, please check out Mickael-Pietrus.com.

By Mickael Pietrus
June 2, 2009

Here We Come L.A.

Hi -

First off, I want to say that my heart goes out to the families of the crew and passengers on Air France Flight 447. For those of you that don't know, their plane went missing going from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on Monday. I have been following the news during my time off. I am hopeful that the plane is found and there are some answers to what happened. Please keep the families of the 228 people on board AF447 in your thoughts and prayers.

Orlando went crazy the night we beat Cleveland. I headed down to one of my favorite restaurants in downtown Orlando, Kress, after the game. We had to take back ways and avoid roadblocks because there were so many people outside celebrating. It was really cool to have all of the fans cheering and wanting their photos taken with me. Since I played on the West Coast before I came to Orlando, I don't think the fans knew me when I first got here. Now, everyone has something to say. It is great to win at home and to see the city so excited.

I am writing this before we head to Los Angeles for the NBA Finals. I am feeling very relaxed and have enjoyed a couple days away from basketball.. I have spent the last couple of days chilling out at home. I played some pool, cooked some BBQ, swam and most importantly got my play list organized for the road trip. The "On the Road to LA for the Finals" mix has Rick Ross, Run DMC, Zouk music (from Guadeloupe) and some more songs to pump me up before the game. I am sure I will keep adding to it as we go through the series. I have also been doing a lot of interviews which have been fun. The reporters are starting to get creative with the way they ask their questions. Last series it was, "something something LEBRON" and now it is "something something KOBE." It doesn't really matter how they put it, they are asking the same thing. I love my job and I am glad I don't have their job...yet...ha ha ha.

I know all of you are only watching Magic basketball right now but I wanted to congratulate Barcelona on winning the Premiere League Championships. They beat Manchester United last week 2-0. I was on a plane during the game but I caught the highlights of the match. I really like the aggressive and very offensive style of Barca. Fun to watch.

It is great that we won the Eastern Conference Championships but our work is not done. We want to win the NBA Championships...period....full stop. Thank you to all the fans for their support. We appreciate everything and we look forward to bringing the NBA Championship trophy to Orlando.

Please keep an eye out for my tribute to the passengers and crew of Air France 447.

Peace.

MP

For more information about Mickael and some MP designed gear, please check out Mickael-Pietrus.com.

By Mickael Pietrus
May 16, 2009

Ready for Game 7

Hi -

I thought I would check in with you after that great Game 6 versus the Celtics. I am so glad we won that game and caused the series to go to Game 7.

We have had a couple fun games against the Celtics over the past couple of weeks. They are a very competitive team which makes for a tough series to play in and probably a little stressful for the fans. I wish we had played some of the games harder at the end. Either way we are where we need to be as a team heading into Boston on Sunday for Game 7. Both teams are hungry. We are expecting to bring our best playing for the last game of this series.

This time of year is so interesting. We actually have some down time to rest up that we don't have during the regular season. I have been able to watch the Lakers/Houston match up as well. Great series for Houston. I feel they never give up and they believe even with their key guys out. They have a lot of confidence and everyone has stepped up their game.

Thank you for all of your support. Have fun watching the game on Sunday. After we win this series, we will see you in Cleveland on Tuesday ;-)

Peace.

MP

P.S. We added some new Original products to my store at Mickael-Pietrus.com. Please check it out.

For more information about Mickael, please check out Mickael-Pietrus.com.

By Dwight Howard
April 23, 2009

Whew! That Was a Tough One

I’m not sure which was more difficult to deal with last night in Game 2: Being in foul trouble all night on those flops or having to sit and watch my teammates close out that win against Philly.

It was killing me not being able to be out there on the court down the stretch, but I’ve got a lot of confidence in my team to get the job done when we needed it. That’s what it’s going to take for us to keep winning in the playoffs – dudes are going to have to pick each other up when we’re missing shots or in foul trouble.

I’m so proud of my guy, Courtney Lee, who I predicted was going to be a big key in this series. I knew that we were going to need him to play well in this series to win. Philly is leaving him open and daring him to shoot and he’s really making them pay.

A lot of rookies would be scared in this situation, but he’s so cool out there. He’s still under my wing – even though he’s a few months older than me.

Philly is going to be crazy playing up there, but we’ve got to weather that storm. We’ve been really good on the road for two seasons and we have to keep that up if we’re going to be championship contenders. We’ll be ready. We all know that it’s a series now.

Peace out. – D-12

For more information about Dwight, please check out DwightHoward.com.

By Mickael Pietrus
April 19, 2009

Ready for Philly

Hello -

We just finished our regular season. It feels awesome to end on a win. I got a lot of time on the court and that felt good.

The next couple days before we begin playoffs mean a lot to me and my teammates. We had such a great regular season but all of know we all have to bring up our game to the next level. Now that the season is over, we can now focus on our first opponent Philadelphia. I have been thinking a lot about the game on Sunday and the entire series. I think they have played very well the second part of the season. They are a great team. We are expecting their team to come out with a lot of energy, talented players and a fast tempo game.

I am really happy with our attitude at this point. We are all very focused on winning and it will be our year. It is going to be a long and at times not an easy ride. As long as we stay together we will succeed as a team like we did in the regular season.

FANS, WE NEED YOU!! Fans get ready to support your Magic. We get so energized when are fans are behind us.

rendez vous Sunday 5:30 p.m. ET.

Peace.

MP

For more information about Mickael, please check out Mickael-Pietrus.com.

By Mickael Pietrus
April 10, 2009

A Busy Week

Hey -

Thank you for all of your kind notes/messages about my knee.

For those of you that don't know, I had a bazaar drop earlier this week. I landed on my knee as I was going on defense. I felt something was a little wrong but nothing serious. I sat out for a couple days but I played on Wednesday and I am playing on Friday night. I would obviously prefer to play but I always enjoy being on the floor. It makes me want to get better faster. I am feeling ok now. I am still trying to recover from my wrist injury from a couple of months ago. As most of you know, I am still not 100 percent but I am getting better.

We have a day off today before we play New York at home on Friday. I am rehabbing my wrist a little bit today, relaxing and thinking about our next game. On a day like today, I will go to Publix to get my groceries. I am feeling like some fried chicken tonight so I have to pick up all of the ingredients.

We have had a busy week. Lots of back-to-back games. When I was a rookie, those were tough for me to bring my energy. As I grew, I realized that any game at any point in the season will count a lot at the end of the season. If you are holding that 8th spot for a long time, you don't want another team to slide in your place.

Next week we are finishing up the end of an awesome season. Thank you to all of the fans for their support...hopefully you guys can carry us through the playoffs. It is a dream for all of us. We can accomplish our goal together...Fans and Players.

Wishing all of you a happy Easter. I don't have any plans but I hope the Easter Bunny knows I am in Orlando now and that I like Chocolate Eggs.

Peace.

MP

For more information about Mickael, please check out Mickael-Pietrus.com.

By Mickael Pietrus
April 3, 2009

Getting Ready for Cleveland

Hey -

It is Friday and we are playing Cleveland tonight. King James and Mo Williams are in town. They are a great team and they have been playing pretty good basketball all year. We are coming out from a tough loss on Wednesday night against. It is going to great for us to play teams like Cleveland especially as we get closer to the end of the regular season.

Today, I am just relaxing and getting ready for the game tonight. I have been looking around Orlando to get to know the city better. I still haven't seen my first gator, yet. (For those of you outside of Orlando, this is pretty surprising to most natives.) I am still looking. I have had a pretty busy schedule lately. Hopefully, when I do see my first gator, I can show it the Magic's NBA Championship trophy. LOL LOL.

I missed the big ER finale last night. According to the news, tons of people watched it. One of my favorite tv shows is Prison Break. I lost track of it though when I went to France last summer. Definitely check it out if you get a chance. I normally have MTV or sometimes BET on most of the day when I am doing stuff around the house. That said, I have gotten hooked on Real World Brooklyn this season.

On game day I always have the same meal...Chicken, pasta and yogurt. Like most players in the NBA, I know what works for me and gives me the right amount of energy to play well. When I don't have a game, I love to cook. Last night, I made some chicken curry Guadeloupe island style. It was very good. I fell asleep right after dinner. Hopefully, with all of this chicken I am eating it will give me more wings in time for the game so that Air France can take offffffff.... Ha Ha Ha.

Thanks for reading my blog and playing the "Discover Guadeloupe Islands" game. Hopefully, you are finding my hints on Mickael-Pietrus.com helpful. I appreciate all of the fans giving me their feedback. Also, we just added some new items to our store. Check it out.

Peace.

MP

For more information about Mickael, please check out Mickael-Pietrus.com.

By Mickael Pietrus
March 29, 2009

Division Champs and More

Hey -

We clinched the Southeast Division this week. Even though it isn't our ultimate goal as a team it is always good to enjoy every step as you get closer to the NBA Championship. It took me almost six years to finally win a division. This is all new to me. We just need to keep moving toward our goal.

Right now it is business as usual. We are not celebrating anything. Every game is still important and we are continuing to improve as a team which is great to see.

I have to give out a big thank you for all of the positive feed back I have received from fans. All around town people stop me and tell me how much they enjoy watching our team play. The Magic fans have been wonderful to me and they are excited that I am on the team. I really love it and it means a lot to me to see how people appreciate you as a person and as a player. Like all of you, a little appreciation goes a long way and it makes you want to give fans more and more...

I think we played well the second half of the game tonight against Milwaukee. After the great win against Boston, we came out very focused as usual and took care of business. Every win is a good win especially in the NBA.

A couple of you have asked what I am listening to right now. I am not as up on music as I should be. It is that time of year where we just focus on basketball. That said, I really like T.I, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Gucci Mane ( Yeahhhhh....Yeahhhhh....) and Young Jeezy.

Thanks for all of your support. Have a relaxing weekend.

Peace.

MP

For more information about Mickael, please check out Mickael-Pietrus.com.

By Mickael Pietrus
March 20, 2009

Welcome to My Blog!

ORLANDO -- We are back in Orlando after two games on the road. We had a great trip even though we lost to the Cavaliers. At least it was a very competitive game and fun for the fans to watch. We bounced back after our loss and played against the Milwaukee Bucks. They are a very good team and they are fighting for the last playoff spots. Everyone on our team got a chance to play. That is important because it helps all of us to have confidence going into playoffs in a couple weeks.

We seem pretty relaxed right now. We really have the best job in the world. Even on the team plane, we have great chemistry. Some of my teammates watch movies, play cards and we are all laughing until we land. It is so much fun to be on a Magic flight, I wish all of you could join us.

Playing on St. Patrick's Day was interesting this year. Before I came to the States, I wasn't that familiar with the tradition of dressing up in green. That said, I really enjoyed seeing all the people dressed like they are going to a Boston Celtics game even though they were at Magic v. Cavs. LOL

A fan asked me this week what city I like to play in besides our home court of Orlando. My first response was wherever city the Magic are playing in the 2009 NBA Championships. But after some thought, I would like to add that my second choice would be Chicago. It is one of my favorite cities to play in. It is where history happened. Before I was in the NBA, I grew up watching Michael Jordan and the Bulls win the NBA Trophy in front of their fans. That image gives me a lot of hope because that is what we are trying to do for the Magic fans.

I better get back to relaxing before the game tomorrow. Thank you to all of the Magic fans. We have playoffs coming up and we wanna give you what you deserve...a Championship Trophy.

peace.

MP

For more information about Mickael, please check out Mickael-Pietrus.com.