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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Now, that’s the Magic team that we expected to look like at the start of the NBA Finals. We were patient, we were confident and we played with a swagger again. Maybe it was just being back at home or maybe it just took us a while to get used to being in The Finals, but we played like we were supposed to play.
