Orlando Season in review + playoff talk with Jennifer.

Jennifer is a Magic fan.   She told me all about her thoughts on Dwight Howard, who’s to blame in the Magic organization’s mess and her love for Chris Duhon (Just kidding)

When did you start liking Basketball?

I started liking basketball when I was in elementary school.  My little brother and I loved the Orlando Magic {Penny Hardaway! Need I say more? School girl crush.} And wait for it… The Chicago Bulls – go figure, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman – clearly too much to resist.

Are you a fan of The Magic or the NBA in general? 

I love the Magic, but I love basketball – I love the NBA.

What do you really think about Dwight Howard? I liked him before this season, i really don't like him now. He wants to be viewed as a good guy, but pushing his coach out of town and having all this drama doesn't scream good guy to me. 

I really liked Dwight before this season I’m not sure how much I like him right now.  Something I loved about him was the way he was always laughing and joking on and off the court, a light-hearted spirit. He wasn’t like DWade or Kobe with their cocky/arrogant attitude.  Dwight was a down to earth player that kids could look up to. NOW, he always looks irritated and annoyed, the “I’m too cool” attitude. I hate that. Bad-mouthing SVG, flip-flopping back and forth about leaving his TEAM and his CITY for no apparent reason {coaching? a ring?} really made me look at him in a different light.

Another thing i don't like about Howard it's that he has said multiple teams he is all about championships while insisting a lot on going to the Nets and singing with Orlando just because he was going to be sent to The Lakers. I believe he just fears to be compare as the next Shaq, don't really believe the story in which Kobe said to Dwight that he wanted him to be his Tyson Chandler. 

I think Dwight wants to be THE STAR.  He doesn’t want to be on a team where he isn’t the clear “superman”. I think it is important to Dwight {and his new ego} that he be on a team where everyone can see just how amazing he really is.

What about SVG? Everyone blamed Dwight, however, Stan was the one that said directly to the media that he knew Dwight wanted him fire. Not a good decision there by Stan. 

I don’t blame Stan here, at all, to be honest. How humiliating must it be for a coach to have one of their players, and their star player at that, saying that they “want him gone” and really, threatening to leave {possibly} because of him?  I can’t imagine how embarrassing that was for SVG and I think it’s admirable he looked into the cameras and, instead of pretending he didn’t know what was happening, admitted it. 

Have this season being one  of the most emotionally draining for Magic fans? First there was this huge signed of relief when Dwight stayed, only to see him out for the season. That's got to be tough. 

This season has definitely been emotionally draining.  Starting with the lock-out interfering with the start of the season, then drama with Dwight leaving, then staying, then leaving, then staying again only for him {and Hedo and now Jameer} to be sitting out due to injuries. How much more can we take?!

Can you explain n the logic of singing J-Rich and Glen "Big Baby" Davis to a 4 yr extension? that never made sense to me

I think it all comes down to “making Dwight happy.” Big Baby was signed to a 4-year extensions as a request from Dwight. I think J-Rich’s extension was to appease Howard’s agent {since J-Rich and Dwight have the same agent}. If J-Rich resigned the agent does well moneywise and if his agent is happy he would push Dwight to stay with the Magic…or…Otis just makes repeated bad signings (e.g. Duhon).

What's the future of this team now? Who'd you think is going to be blame for all this mess? SVG? Howard? Otis? Does all three of them have the same amount of blame? 

In honestly, I know we won’t go far in the playoffs – there are just too many chips stacked against us.  All Magic fans can hope for is this summer is a nice BREAK for everyone and they come back refreshed next season.

Normally, I would blame Otis because I’m not a huge fan of him and how he manages the team… But, in this case, I say Howard. I think he started A LOT of drama {was it for press?} and in the end decided to stay where he was.  I think he hurt the dynamic of the team for a good long while with his flip-flop attitude and I think that has a lot to say with how the Magic played this season.  

The only fault I find in SVG is his insistence on playing Duhon! I don’t understand why he continuously plays him when night after night he plays miserably!

Which was the best moment of the season?  The worse?

I felt like the best moment of the season was when the lock-out ended and the games started back up, haha.  It was pretty cool that the Magic were able to beat Philly without Dwight and without Hedo.

The worst… Well, it keeps getting worse.  Dwight wanting to leave {and flip-flopping back and forth} only to be injured and unable to play the playoffs seems to be the worst right now.

Which grade would you give Stan and his coaching staff?

I would give them a B.  I think they do the best they can with what they have… EXCEPT FOR DUHON! I don’t understand why they keep playing him! I think they need to start playing Ish  Smith more and Duhon less.

If  the Magic doesn't win the title, who do you think will win the chip?

I think, much to the Heat’s dismay, the Bulls are going to take the rings this year.

You can follow Jennifer on twitter @mommiecouture  She also has her own website.  http://www.mommiecouture.com


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