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Posts Tagged ‘Miami Heat’

Having fun with some trick shots

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Heyyyyyy wooooooorlllllld!!! We played one of our best games of the season Wednesday against Toronto because we focused on our defense first and foremost. We all know that defense is how we’re going to get back to the Finals this year, but sometimes we forget and slip back into bad habits. But it was good to play the way we did and get some stops vs. the Raptors.

We all got to see Turk, who got a pretty nice ovation from the fans in Orlando. I don’t blame Turk for leaving last summer because he had to make a business decision for what was best for his family.

Now onto today’s real topic…When I’m out and about in the community people ask me all the time about the crazy stuff that I do before games. If ya’ll watch me close, I’m firing up shots from the ball rack at halfcourt and I’m doing silly dunks in the pregame layup line. We work so hard all the time, I really think that’s a time when I can sort of just relax, have fun and get my mind right before the game.

I usually get in most of my work before the fans even get in their seats. I’m working out, shooting free throws and getting up post-up shots. So when the game is about to start you can’t wait to get going. So to try and relax I’m shooting my half-court shots and my one-handed shots and my shots sitting down.

I think our team is kind of known for hitting those trick shots before games. There will come a time in a game, trust me, when one of those shots will come in handy and I’ll make one.

Me, Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus shoot half-court shots every day at the end of practice, and we make them a lot more than you might think. When we make them before the game, I always hear the ooooohs and aaaaaahs from the crowd. It sort of gets them going and it gets me going too.

So it’s just all about having fun and getting my mind right to play. Of course, I gotta do my Dream Shake with the sticky paper before every game, too. LeBron has his chalk and I have my Shake-and-Bake with the paper.

I don’t know, it’s just a routine that works for me. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? It’s fun and I’m all about having fun and winning.

We in Miami tonight for what will be a tough game, I’m sure. We owe those guys one after they beat us a couple of weeks ago. Ya’ll hit me back and let me know what you think about my pregame trick shots and I might try some of your suggestions in the next couple of weeks.

Holla.

—DWIGHT

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Happy Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

Heyyyyy World!!! We had a really tough game last night against Miami and tonight we’re back in the A-T-L to face the Hawks. It’s kind of messed up because we’re on a back to back and the Hawks have had four days off before playing us.

But I don’t even care because I like playing on the holidays. When you think about it, they only pick the best teams to play on TV on the holidays. So the fact that we’re playing on Thanksgiving and again on Christmas in a few weeks is OK with me because that’s a sign of respect for our team.

It’s actually good because I’ll be back at the crib in Hot-lanta today with my family, eating some good Southern food for Thanksgiving. Ya’ll may not know it or not but my mama’s chit’lins are one of my favorites to eat for Thanksgiving. Chit’lins are what have made my muscles as big and sexy as they are now.

But I can’t eat too much with a game later in the night. This is a business trip and not a homecoming. We really need this one, especially after the way we lost to Miami. I can’t believe we let them get those two offensive rebounds down the stretch, especially one off an airball!!!

Playing Miami, I got to see my boy, D-Wade. If there’s anybody in the NBA not on my team that I’d like to play with it would be him. We’ve talked about it some at the Olympics a couple of years ago and over the summer when we were shooting our movie together.

We both really love our own teams and teammates, but it is something that we’ve dreamed about. He’ll be a free agent this summer, along with Bron and C-Bosh, so I’ll be right there with everybody trying to see where they all wind up. It’s going to be really interesting to see. Maybe they can all come to O-town and we can build a dynasty. Now that would shock the world, huh!!!!

We’ll, ya’ll have a good Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for, on and off the court, and I’m thankful that you guys are always here to support me. Peace out.

—D-12

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EMOTIONAL NIGHT FOR ‘ZO

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

My coach, Patrick Ewing, has told me a lot of stories about Alonzo Mourning, and ‘Zo was one of the big men who helped when I was first coming into the league. He gave me advice on how to approach the game of basketball and life, and I’ve always admired the way he played the game.

Me and all of my teammates were talking before the game and I had to get out there at halftime to see if ‘Zo was going to cry. We all figured that ‘Zo was going to shed a few tears because he was always such an emotional player. He did cry, but it’s all good. He’s really led the way for a lot of young big men who have come after him. I appreciate everything he’s done for me and for the game of basketball.

Watching the event at halftime, I was even getting a little bit teary-eyed, just seeing how emotional it was. It was a special night for him and I was happy that we were there to witness it.

Seeing that No. 33 go up in the rafters, made me think about my own career. Hopefully, one day after a long Magic career I’ll have my jersey retired, too. It’s a long way off and it’s just a dream, but that has to be the coolest feeling ever. I can see it now, No. 12 going up as the fans cheer. How cool would that be?

I got my 5,000th rebound Monday night, and I give credit for that to God for keeping me healthy throughout my five-year NBA career. It’s an honor that I’ve been able to accomplish what I have.

The most important thing of the night was that we beat Miami again and stayed ahead of the Celtics. We feel lie we’re going to have to win the rest of our games if we want to get that No. 2 seed and also get our goal of 60 win s. I think we can do it, but we’ve got a tough grind ahead of us.

OK, I’m out. Take care everybody. — DWIGHT

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LET THE MARCH MADNESS BEGIN

Monday, March 16th, 2009

We did what we had to do against the Utah Jazz after they had just played three overtimes the day before in Miami – we were aggressive from the start and jumped on them early.

I had another double-double – before the end of the first quarter!!! I was really aggressive at the start of the game and had 12 points and 11 rebounds in the first quarter. It’s the third time this season that I’ve hit a double-double by the end of the first quarter.

I’m always seeking perfection and my word going into games is “dominate.’’ I say it to myself before the tipoff, I write it on cards and leave them around my house and I’m thinking about it all throughout games. I had 28 points and 20 rebounds, my seventh 20/20 game of the season, but there are still a few areas I need to clean up. The turnovers (seven) and missed free throws (nine) kept it from being a really great game for me, but what is important is that we got the win.

“Once I have one of those games where I don’t turn the ball over and I’m making my free throws, then that will truly be a dominant performance,’’ I told the media after the game.

It was cool seeing my guy, Carlos Boozer, Sunday night. Carlos, Chris Bosh and myself hung out and did drills against one another every day during the Olympics in China. He’s a really good dude. And it was good to hear that he was taking up for a fellow big man by saying that I should be getting more pub in the race for the MVP.

Next up for us: Cleveland and LeBron James. The grease board in our locker room lists all of our goals and a win in Cleveland will help us reach some of them. We want 60 wins and the top seed in the East. We’re four games back of Cleveland and if we want to catch them we need to beat them in the two games we have left against them. Cleveland is really good at home, but we’re a good road team, too. We’ll come out with a lot of energy and it should be a good game.

Check back tomorrow and I’ll talk more about Tuesday’s game against Cleveland.

Peace. — Dwight.

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