Orlando Magic News & Notes: Dwight Howard Frustrated, Magic Are ‘Bologna’

Dwight Howard says that he is going through one of the toughest stretches of his career.

"Ya’ll know that that series against Charlotte drove me crazy. I mean it was almost comical at times how I was getting fouls called on me. There was nothing I could do our there and I felt like I couldn’t even move without getting that whistle blown on me.I’m not looking to say anything to get myself in trouble with the league, but I just don’t see other star players getting called for fouls the way I get them. No star player in the league is outta games the way I am. I even talked to Pat Ewing about his career and he said he never had foul trouble like what I’m going through.I gotta say this is the most frustrating stretch of my career. I’ve never been through four games in a row like that. But hey, we won the series and we’re moving on. I’m so so so hoping that things will be different next series against ATL or Milwaukee."

You can read Dwight’s blog here.

The Magic will try to stay sharp as they wait for their next opponent.

"The Magic are waiting on the winner of the Atlanta Hawks- Milwaukee Bucks matchup, which is tied at 2-2.The series can’t start until Sunday at the earliest at Amway Arena. If the Hawks and Bucks play seven games, the Magic won’t begin play until next Tuesday, meaning they could be idle for eight days, about twice as long as a normal all-star break.And that unusual down time kicks up a debate of Rest vs. Rust. Is it a blessing or a burden?"

Brian Schmitz has that story here.

John Denton takes a look back to game 4.

"Nelson destroyed Raymond Felton and D.J. Augustin for two 32-point efforts and an 18-point night in the closer. It was reminiscent of two seasons ago in the playoffs when many felt Nelson would struggle against Toronto’s Jose Calderon and T.J. Ford. But Nelson dominated that series as well.Maybe it’s time for Nelson to be included among the game’s best pure point guards. No, he’ll never win any assist titles because of his shoot-first mentality, but his ability to break down defenses off the dribble is unquestioned. In this series, he more closely resembled the All-Star from the first half of last season instead of the one who hobbled through The Finals after having shoulder surgery."

You can read his ‘Action & Reaction’ here.

Sebastian Pruiti takes a look at how Orlando used the three-pointer to put the Bobcats away.

"The Bobcats fought and clawed against the Orlando Magic the entire series, but in game 4, the Magic showed why they are the better team. The Magic pulled away from the Bobcats using the three point shot, and they got their threes in different ways, and they showed how dangerous (and how hard to defend) they can be late."

You can see his breakdown here.

ESPN analyst Skip Bayless called Orlando ‘bologna’ rather than ‘filet.’

"”I still don’t trust a team that’s built largely on Dwight Howard and Vince Carter. And I know he came on at the end of the year. I just think it’s going to be different in the next round and the next round. And I’m going to say this for the last time, I still say the Charlotte Bobcats would have been a tough matchup for LeBron James because they have four guys who are his size, 6-foot-8, long and athletic who can guard him and frustrate him which is why the Bobcats beat them the last three times.”After his criticism, Skip Bayless praised the Magic’s impressive three-point shooting and said Orlando turned in one of the most devastating three point performances he’d ever seen.“If they keep making threes like this, they’re going to win the NBA championship cause this is really hard to stop,” Skip Bayless said."

Mike Bianchi discusses this subject on his blog.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, a contributor on the Fansided Front Page and at Sir Charles In Charge. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily and you can get the HTD app here).