NOW REDIRECTING YOU TO

THE HOWEVA FILES!

NEW SITE! The Howeva Files!

Let the trumpets blare as there is a HUGE, magnificent announcement!

Black and Blue's Orlando Magic Blog is merging with the New Basketball Humor Site "THE HOWEVA FILES"!

AS OF TOMORROW, OCTOBER 25, IF YOU GO TO THIS SITE IT WILL REDIRECT YOU TO THE NEW ONE.

PLEASE UPDATE YOUR BOOKMARKS TO http://www.thehowevafiles.blogspot.com/

There will still be plenty, and I mean PLENTY of great Orlando Magic news and half-assed commentary, but supplementing it will be great stuff about other teams in the NBA. To top it off, the new site is going to be updated with new posts far more frequently. Huzzah!

That's about it...So check it out, and let's continue to make sweet music about Stan Van Gundy's moustache, JJ Redick's DUI, and the Mobley-Francis love trist together!

Injury Update: You Have Got To Be F***'in Kidding Me

Updating my previous post, this comes from Florida Today:

ORLANDO -- A day after the Orlando Magic finally got their full squad back on the court together the injury bug struck again on Tuesday. Rashard Lewis tried to practice Tuesday, but once again pulled up lame on his sore right ankle.
Shooting guard J.J. Redick had to sit out because of lingering pain in the right hand that he broke prior to training camp. And point guard Jameer Nelson was unable to practice because of a stomach virus.
On the positive side, Trevor Ariza and Keyon Dooling – who missed all three of the games the Magic played while in China – not only practiced Tuesday, but Van Gundy said they were two of the best players in drills. Ariza had been out with tendinitis in his foot, while Dooling had been bothered by pain in his groin and hip.

Just goes to show you can't be too quick to click your heels. Rashard, get it together. You are looking like one of the crash test dummies out there.

Injuries Sminjuries!/Redick Needs A Nap/Fox Sports Likee Magic

Magic management is saying one thing today:

"Zippity-doo-dah! Zippity-yay! My oh my what a wonderful day!"

The reason is that yesterday the injury gang of Trevor Ariza, Keyon Dooling, and high priced free agent Rashard Lewis returned to the practice floor yesterday! Stan Van Gundy said, "Rashard didn’t look real comfortable on (his sore ankle), but he got the whole practice in,’’ which is akin to "Rashard was playing like he had glass slippers on." Either way, it's spectacular news heading into the last preseason game of the regular season.

The countdown has begun for Pat Garrity to kill one of these guys to get their playing time.

Meanwhile, JJ Redick has begun playing the blame game, saying that the flight was the reason for his shooting woes overseas. While most people will say this is a load of crap, I will actually side with Redick since I have trouble sleeping in planes or buses. I only seem to be able to get a good night's sleep at yo momma's house. Ohhhhh!

To further prove that the news surrounding the Magic of late has been of the super happy variety, Fox Sports is picking the Magic to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals. The article actually says things like:

Indeed, Keith Bogans is the only starter who could conceivably be called a
stopper. He's a rough and ready performer who would be more effective on a
better-balanced squad.

-And doesn't even mention anything about Trevor Ariza. Garrity getting props and Bogans being mentioned as a key cog in the Magic attack? Look for those flying pigs any day people.

Tomorrow will come the official announcement of the NEW SITE, so you're not going to want to miss it!

I sound like a commercial...sigh, my worst fears are now realized.

Bogans The Starting SG?/Garrity Resurgance/Injuries Linger

First off: New website announcement is still a little ways off since we still need to get our ducks in a row. Should be soon though!

For now, some old news to start the week off: Bogans looks to have won the starting shooting guard spot...for now. The complete implosion by JJ Redick, offensively and defensively, on the China reshaped the starting lineup and now it is Bogans' job to lose.

Wow, for all of that "Who will start at shooting guard? Ariza or Redick?" preseason talk, Keith Bogans came out of nowhere and snatched the spot! While Redick has more potential that Bogans (will the word "potential" ever be the same after Darko?), Stan Van Gundy seems to be a fan of playing without mistakes.

-That last comment makes the next one even weirder, but Pat Garrity just might have a shot at the starting lineup. Stan has been impressed with what he has seen from Garrity, and that leaves the door open with injuries to players like Rashard Lewis, Trevor Ariza, and Keyon Dooling. Garrity does seem to have recovered his three point shot, but I'm still skeptical. The use of my short term memory is thanks for that. I give it 10 days before we learn Garrity is pumped on HGH.

These topics are nice, but what Magic fans are REALLY talking about today are the aforementioned injuries to Lewis, Ariza and Dooling. Lewis' ankle keeps swelling up, Ariza said he heard a "pop" (which in injury terms is the deathblow, although I think he was overestimating it), and Dooling's injury sounds serious although it has been vague enough to lead me to believe he is actually decapitated.

Rashard's injury could be okay if he resumes practice today, so more news on that later. For now, I have to run to see a concert for the performer Kenna. If you haven't heard of him, check out his music. He's one of the few singers I actually can stomach!

Exciting News Coming/Yahoo Predicts Magic Will Win Southeast

Sorry in advance for the short entry today, but I am extensively with some cohorts on a new website that promises to rock your socks off. More news on that later.

For now, Yahoo is predicting the Magic will win the Southeast. That love we were looking for all these years is allllllllmost here. Now we just have to win, which shouldn't be too hard right? Right?

Good lord I hope Rashard's legs hold up.

Have a great weekend everyone and hopefully by the next entry I'll have exciting news to share.

A (Belated) Magic-Cavs Full Game Recap/Magic Beat China!

Note: This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but as you know Blogger crapped out on everyone yesterday. Here it is in belated fashion:

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Well, it's official: It's easier to watch the Magic when they play in China then when they play in Orlando.

I just got done watching the DVRed record of the Magic-Cavs game, and I saw some big pluses and minuses. While our team did great, looking like a better overall team than the Cavs, it was a shame not to see Marcin Gortat on the international stage. The only time I saw him, someone was yelling at him to move down on the bench (literally.)

Let's go through the game position by position, shall we?

-First off, at PG Jameer Nelson is a COMPLETELY different player. Sweet sassy mo-lassy. Even though the stat sheet doesn't necessarily reflect it, he was the best player on the floor by far besides Dwight. He was driving through the lane, making amazing passes, and reminding our sluggish squad to run the floor. The Cavs could only foul to contain him. Hello, contract.

On the flipside, Carlos Arroyo looked like something Ira Newble shat out (apologies to the religious online Arroyo cult). He slowed the game down, he shot low percentage shots, and just looked rather lax on offense and defense. When Arroyo left the floor, the team seemed to come alive.

-At SG, yes Redick had a bad shooting game, but he also seemed rather lost on defense too. He seemed best suited to be 'the guy who passes to Dwight', a role that many handicapped people could easily do. He wasn't good and he wasn't bad, he was just absent the whole game.

Keith Bogans also had a so-so night, but he gets an "A" for effort in my book. He was hustling for rebounds, running the floor, and seemed like a man on a mission. The only thing that really killed his stock was that he was 3-8 for three pointers (not including 2 that he missed that were just inside the line). I know, I know, that is a good percentage, but when you take into account that every single shot of his was WIDE open, you can understand how difficult it was to watch that many shots clank off of the rim. Stan's system really allows for wide open threes, a great sign.

-At SF, Turkoglu...my whipping boy...actually didn't play terrible. He made his shots and wasn't trying to force anything. What he DID play like was an 80 year old man. When he touched the ball, I had to make sure my DVR wasn't in slow-mo mode. He is only like 28, so he shouldn't be looking like that. No wonder Stan Van Gundy thought he looked sluggish in other games. I think doctors need to re-examine our boy Turk to make sure he doesn't have some advanced aging thing...seriously.

The other tall white guy to play SF was Pat Garrity. Early in the game Hubie Brown was talking about how working with Stan Van Gundy could revitalize Garrity's career. Pat took this as his cue to suck...hard. Everytime the ball touched his hands, it was up for grabs and I'm convinced that one of his relatives must work for the NBA to have his statsheet only say 1 turnover. He held onto the ball like it was a red-hot piece of lava.

-I really didn't get a chance to see poetry man Foyle or James Augustine much since they were in for so short a period (usually playing during lackluster Lebron highlights...damn you ESPN), but they seemed okay. Foyle played well all around and Augustine rebounded a good amount, despite not shooting well. Augustine will most likely make the team and contribute here and there when they are being outrebounded.

-Which leaves us with Howard. I will give Patrick Ewing a pat on the back right now because he looks like a monster out there. Last year you could say he was a big guy with a lot of potential and a limited game. Well, this game he was just unstoppable everywhere (except his lone jumpshot, which still didn't look too bad). His free throws have improved too, making the Cavs actually regret it when they fouled him as opposed to using it as strategy. I can not express how impressed I was with him this game. Mark my words, this year is going to be his coming out party and Kevin Garnett would even say "Ooo-wee!" if he saw how D12 played today.

For coaching, Stan could constantly be heard from the bench "RUN! GO!", especially whenever Arroyo was anywhere near the ball and watching it bounce like a yo-yo. His lone time that he was onscreen calling a play, he yelled, "O-C! O-C!" as loud as he could. He then proceeded to say, "UM, MY MISTAKE...I MEAN'T 3-5! THIRTY-FIVE!" I chuckled at this right up until the play unfolded into a spectacular alley-oop dunk for Dwight.

That's our Stan for you: Laugh at him one moment and then shake your head at how good a coach he is the next.

Overall, a promising game. While it is easy to say the team did well despite Lewis, Ariza, and Dooling being out, the Cavs were also without unsigned players Pavlovic and Varejao so they were a little short on talent too. I am sure Stan will have a lot to say about how slow the team looked out there, but they did just take a super long flight so it is understandable.

Time to get some Lo Mein to celebrate the win.

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Update: The Magic, after a slow start, are killing the Chinese National Team in their game today. Stan seemed to play some of the people he thought were lackluster yesterday, and there were mostly positive results: Carlos Arroyo redeemed himself after a poop game to go for 25 points and 7 assists and James Augustine (of all people) lit up for 14 points and 7 rebounds. Turkoglu had 17 points and Marcin Gortat had 8. On the flipside, JJ Redick's achilles heel remains the western hemisphere as he was 2-9, after an 0-6 start. For the boxscore, because yahoo hates Chinese people, go here:

http://www.nba.com/games/20071018/ORLCHN/boxscore.html