Quantcast Shaq « The Official Dwight Howard Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Shaq’

A big win against Cleveland!!!

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Heeyyyy wooorrrrrrrlddd!!! Hope everybody out there is doing good and hope ya’ll all got to see our big game against Cleveland on Sunday afternoon. We really played well from start to finish and got one of our biggest wins of the season.

I really don’t think much that happens in the regular season has a lot to do with the playoffs, but we needed to beat Cleveland because they had gotten us in the first two games. We’re trying get our flow going into the playoffs and we don’t ever want to lose a season series to any team so that made this one even bigger.

We want as good a seed as we can get for the playoffs, but we also kind of wanted to send a message that we can beat Cleveland, too. Ya’ll know we beat them in the playoffs last May, but it’s almost like everybody forgets that. I still feel like we’re the team to beat in the East and when we play our best basketball we can beat any team in the NBA.

It’s all about trying to win a championship now and I think everybody in our locker room knows it’s time to have this kind of focus and intensity every single game. There are no other agendas for any of our guys other than trying to bring that ‘ship back to O-town in June.

Ya’ll know everybody wanted to make Sunday’s game like it was just me vs. Shaq in a Superman battle, but it was the Magic against the Cavs. I’ve really tried to stay away from that mess. I know Shaq said some things, but I’m just not going to let my focus be distracted by a silly argument over a nickname.

Shaq knows I have much love for what he’s done for the game of basketball and for big men in the game. You would like to think that Shaq would want to be sort of a mentor to another young big man coming up in Orlando, but that’s fine the way things are.

I think everybody saw that I ain’t backing down. You gotta go right at Shaq and make him work and that’s what I tried to do. And I gotta tell you, it’s tough battling that big dude when he’s 300-something pounds and I’m 270 and he’s got a height advantage on me too.

But I got tons of help from ‘Meer and Vince in the fourth quarter and Rashard hit another huge corner three for us again. So I really feel like our whole team is coming together just at the right time. We have so many weapons and we just feel like if we play our game we’re gonna be there at the end.

We’ve got the day off on Monday and I’m so looking forward to spending some more time with my son. He’s been in the locker room after the past two games wearing his little Superman shirt and kicking a ball all around the place. Every time we watch basketball all he says is “Shoot, shoot, shoot.’’ Kids say the craziest things.

It’s always good to go into an off day after a big win, so trust me I’m going to enjoy this big win against Cleveland. We had to scrap and fight for it and that just makes it sweeter. So maybe the rest of the nation saw on Sunday that they better not sleep in the Magic.

Peace out, everybody!!!

—DWIGHT

Fans: Be sure to check out Dwight on Twitter, Facebook, RenRen and Superfan

  • Share/Save/Bookmark

Me vs. Shaq!!!

Friday, February 12th, 2010

Heyyyy worrrrld!!! The all-star break is finally here, so it’s time to have some fun and interact with all of the fans who voted me in and helped me get to this point. It’s a great opportunity to get out at the events and meet and greet all my lil’ homies who wear the Magic No. 12 jerseys around.

I absolutely love going to the All-Star Game and the vibe that’s there with the fans all weekend. It’s snowing in Dallas, which will make it a really tough weekend. I guess the only bad thing really is that I won’t be home for Valentine’s Day, so I’m really sad about that.

Now, let’s talk about me and Shaq ‘cause every time we face Cleveland that’s all anybody wants to ask me about. Really, it’s not about just me against Shaq. It’s the Magic versus the Cavs!!! That’s the showdown that really matters.

I really think the hype out there about me and Shaq is all just TV build up. I know he had some things to say about me and Stan Van Gundy last year, and he said some other stuff Thursday night after our game about us having to double-team him. But really, I don’t have a problem with Shaq and I don’t think he has a problem with me either.

Everybody makes it a big deal with all of the Superman thing and all of that, but I never proclaimed myself to be a super man. It’s just something that I did in the dunk contest, wearing the shirt and the cape for fun. It’s not like I tried to take Shaq’s show or anything like that.

I don’t really think it’s a rivalry between us. People just build it up to be more than it really is. I just try to do a good job for my team and he tries to do a good job for his team. At the end of my career, I want to be as good as Shaq is.

I hated that we were both in foul trouble the other night and couldn’t give the fans a show. It seemed like every time the ball went in to him or went into me, the crowd would roar. You could tell that they wanted to see the two big guys lock horns and go at it.

We get to play Cleveland again in a week at our place and we’ll take what we learned from this game and use it then. We know that us and Cleveland will be there at the end, and we’ll probably have to beat these guys again if we want to get back to the Finals.

Well, let me take one more opportunity here to thank you guys for voting for me in the all-star game. I owe so much of what I have to you guys. Thanks so much. Peace out, ya’ll.

—DWIGHT

Fans: Be sure to check out Dwight on Twitter, Facebook, RenRen and Superfan

  • Share/Save/Bookmark

Bad Behavior has blocked 1882 access attempts in the last 7 days.