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Archive for April, 2009

WE GOTTA PLAY HARDER NEXT GAME

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

I’m disappointed in our effort as a team. That’s not the effort we needed Friday night in Game 3. We act like we want to win the series, but Philly is outplaying us. They are playing harder, going for loose balls and extra rebounds and just playing harder.

It felt good to see us come all the way back and keep fighting after beinbg down by 17 points, but it should have never come to that.

We have to keep fighting. We talk about winning a championship and being a great team, but we’ve got to fight. We’re down 2-1, but that doesn’t mean the series is over with. We played well for 18 minutes at both ends, but if we want to beat a Philly team that is playing great we have to do it from the jump ball.

More than anything, it’s the effort that just really bothers me. For 82 games this year, we haven’t been outworked and in this series we’ve been outworked and we can’t hide from that. We’ve never let a team work harder than us. It’s disappointing that we’ve allowed Philly to play harder than us and they have confidence now.

We have to play how we know how to play on Sunday. It’s a game that we have to have to win this series. We haven’t lost the faith, but we just need to play with more effort and energy.

Take care, homies. – D-12

Tags: 2009 NBA Playoffs, Dwight Howard Blog, Philadelphia 76ers
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WHEW! THAT WAS A TOUGH ONE

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

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

Tags: 2009 NBA Playoffs, Courtney Lee, Dwight Howard Blog, Philadelphia 76ers
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GAME 2 IS FINALLY HERE

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

Finally, Game 2 is here. We’ve had to wait forever since Sunday’s loss and I think we’re ready to play. I really believe that we will play a lot better tonight and bring more focus and energy.

With Philly, it’s all about us getting back on defense because they get so many of their points by running the break. Andre Miller is a great points guard and Andre Iguodala is a super athlete.

I think our team is ready to show what we’re really made of. Losing that big lead the other night hurt us bad, but we’ve looked at what we did wrong and I think we’ll correct those errors tonight.

As for winning the Defensive Player of the Year, that was a great, great honor for me. Tony Battie got off a good line at practice yesterday, saying I should thank all the guards for letting their men drive past them so I could get so many blocked shots. That was a good one and we were all laughing pretty hard.

I know now, especially after listening to Fatrick Chewing, uhhh I mean Patrick Ewing, that defense is how I can make my mark as a great player in this league. Defense wins championships and getting rebounds and blocking shots is what’s going to help us most to win games and get that championship to Orlando. I’ve got to be an enforcer in the paint and dominate on both ends of the floor.

I got a new Kia for winning the defensive award, but I donated it to the Orlando Day Nursery. It’s a seven-passenger ride and they didn’t really have a vehicle for class trips, so it should come in real handy for them.

During the ceremony, I actually gave the truck keys to this adorable little girl who had pigtails and she was rocking some pink, old-school Chuck Taylors. There were tight shoes. It was a blast for me. I had as much fun as the kids did.

We need everybody to stick with us tonight. We gotta get this win.

CHILL. – D-12

Tags: 2009 NBA Playoffs, Awards, Charity, Defensive Player of the Year, Dwight Howard Blog, Orlando Day Nursery, Patrick Ewing, Philadelphia 76ers, Video
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WE GOTTA BOUNCE BACK

Monday, April 20th, 2009

I’m as upset as anyone that we let an 18-point lead get away from us on Sunday and lost Game 1 to Philly. We normally don’t do that sort of thing and have been really good this season at closing teams out, but we let the Sixers get the momentum in the fourth quarter and we just couldn’t stop them.

I felt going into the game that everyone was ready to play. I think we kind of got worried about the offensive side too much. We knew we could score, but we have to stop the other team if we want to win. Philly can put up good numbers. They shot the ball well and Donyell Marshall played 25 games all season and he hit some big threes. We can’t let a team keep their confidence going.

When we come out in the next game on Wednesday, we have to let those guys know that we’re going to dominate from the tip.

Our effort has to be better, especially on the defensive end. Our defensive effort, as a whole, wasn’t there. There were a lot of the plays that gave Philly momentum and those six or seven points throughout could win a game or a series. For Game 2, we have to have a better effort on the defensive end and everyone has to know what certain players do.

There’s no need to panic. It’s just the first game. But we do need to come out with a better effort on the defensive end. We have to get back on defense and cut our turnovers down because Phi lly loves to run. And we have to keep both Andres out of the paint.

We’ll be much better in Game 2, trust me. And we won’t be letting another 18-point lead slip away.

CHILL. – DWIGHT

Tags: 2009 NBA Playoffs, Donyell Marshall, Dwight Howard Blog, Philadelphia 76ers
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DON’T MISTAKE HAPPINESS FOR WEAKNESS

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

Sports Illustrated put me on the cover of its NBA playoff preview edition this week, but they wondered in the article if I could ever be serious enough to lead the Magic to a NBA title.

Trust me, that magazine will be going up on my mirror at home. But it will be there to serve as motivation for me in the playoffs. I want to show people that I can dominate AND have fun at the same time.

I remember three years back someone locally wrote that they hoped that I never lost my smile that I flash from time to time while I’m playing. But now, a few years later, my smiling and having fun on the court is seen as negatives? C’mon man, I just don’t get that.

People who watch the games sometimes take my kindness for weakness, but I don’t think the guys on the floor playing against me feel the same way. I can smile and still get the job done.

I’ve been smiling my whole life and I’m not going to stop. Basketball brings me joy and I’m having fun blocking shots and dunking, so I am going to smile. It’s not going to stop me from being who I am. I’m not going to change it for anybody.

My coach understands that my personality is to smile and have fun. I’m going to smile, but I’m going to get the job done too.

I just can’t play angry. I’ve tried it, but it only works for a couple of minutes. I have to smile, that’s just me. My dad use to try to stop me from smiling when I was growing up, but then he realized that basketball is my sanctuary. I’m going to smile and have fun, but at the same time I’m still going to dunk on you.

Tags: Dwight Howard Blog, Magazine Cover Stories, Sports Illustrated
Posted in Uncategorized | 23 Comments »