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Posts Tagged ‘Shaquille O’neal’

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

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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

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Don’t worry, we’ll bounce back!!!

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Heyyyyy world!!!! Well, it’s a new day and the sun did come up today. Yes, we lost a tough one last night to Cleveland, but when you are in my position you just have to realize that sometimes you are going to have bad nights and bad games.

I’ve got to give Cleveland credit – they were hungry and they really had a good game plan against me. They wanted to make sure I didn’t get a chance to score with the double teams. On the catch, sometimes they were there before I even got there. They made it clear that they wanted to get the ball out of my hands. I had to trust my teammates and find the open spots. It’s tough because I wanted to go at a guy like Shaq, but I understand that it’s not all about individual stats. I have to keep my teammates involved.

I have a lot of faith in my teammates and we’re going to bounce back from this. It’s a long season and we’re going to get better. We’re not at our best right now, but we’ll continue to get better. We all have something that we’re striving for. We’ll continue to fight, but there are just going to be nights like Wednesday against Cleveland. It’s how we come back, that’s the test of a good team. And I really think we are a good team!!!

We won’t let this spiral. We’re a team that loves winning and we understand that sometimes we’re going to lose games. We don’t let the losing affect our chemistry as a team. One thing that we have to do is stay together. There’s no need to point fingers and blame things on this part of the game or this person or whatever.

We’re a good group of guys and we’re going to get better as time goes on. There are just a lot of things now with the new guys where they have to learn where to be and when to rotate. We have to continue to talk to those guys and help them out. We have a lot of new guys, and sometimes they don’t know. As leaders, we have to keep talking to them and helping them out. But we’re going to be OK.

So, we’ll be aiiight, ya’ll. The sun will come up again, and tomorrow is a new day. We’re just nine games into this season, we have a long, long, long way to go and I’m not about to get down. So we need our fans support now more than ever.

I’m outta here, bout to go to the facility and get some treatment. Ya’ll holla back at me and let me know what you think. Take care.

—DWIGHT

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WE’RE IN TEAM’S HEADS NOW

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Yo, what’s up, ya’ll. Been away for awhile working on some off-season projects, but hope all of you Magic fans are having a good summer. I’ve been bouncing around some and was actually on The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon last night in NYC. We attached a video clip here if you missed it.

Now that we’ve had some time after the season ended I’m beginning to see what a really good year it was for us. We did a lot of things the y’ve never done around here before. And to make it even better, we did them when few gave us a chance.

I mean, come on, who really thought we’d win in Boston in that Game 7? Who thought we’d beat Cleveland the way we did in the East Finals? Who at the beginning of the year thought we’d get to The Finals?

Losing to the Lakers still really bothers me when I think about it because that series was much closer than some people realize. We lost two games in OT that were right there for the taking for us. We win those two games and it’s on with the Lakers. We know it, they know it and everybody knows that series could have gone a lot differently if we would have found a way to win Games 2 and 4.

But we’ll learn from those memories and we’ll be better when we’re back in the Finals next year. Losing to the Lakers will make us work even harder and be even hungrier next season.

Looks like Cleveland just traded for big Shaq in order to try and stop me next season. It’s good to see that the Magic are on the minds of some other teams now instead of it being the other way around. Maybe now after getting to the Finals the little ol’ Magic won’t be overlooked as much anymore.

Those kinds of trades like the one Cleveland made just lets us know that we have to be better next season. Those teams are gunning for us and trying to get better, so we’ve got to do the same thing.

Trust me, it’s on now. I’m already getting fired up for next season. I’m ready to get back to work.

Ya’ll take care and I’ll drop you a line later on. Holla back.

– DWIGHT

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