Dwight Howard has been getting advice from everyone, but has turned to a movie, Peaceful Warrior for answers.
"“Everybody’s telling me ‘Do this, do that.’ And when I’m playing on the court, all I hear is, ‘You’ve got to do this. You’ve got to do that.’ I have to get to a point where I can block all that out and just do what comes from within. I was it was good for me to see that.”Howard said the movie reminded him about checking his ego at the door.“[The gymnast] went through a phase where he had to be humble,” he said. “He broke his leg and he couldn’t walk for a while. During that phase, he had to get rid of his ego and become a better, stronger man. And by doing that, he had to clear his mind and do a lot of different techniques that the dude in the movie had forced him to do. By clearing his mind and getting rid of his ego, he became a better person and a better gymnast.”"
You can find that story here.
Howard is just excited to get back to work.
"I’m moving on from everything that happened in the Charlotte series and looking forward to the next round. I can’t allow the fouls or anything to make me be less aggressive. I’m determined to learn how to work around it. I had a long chat with Otis Smith on Thursday and it was good to talk through some things with him. He pretty much told me to let go of my frustrations and go play like I know how.I’ve been getting advice from a lot of people. I heard what Charles Barkley said on TNT and he had a point, a great point. Charles and I are good friends and I understand exactly what he was saying.Everything that happened in that first series happened for a reason. We have faith that no matter what is thrown at us, our team will overcome it. I know I too will overcome any and all situations. I’m not worried at all."
You can read his blog here.
Mike Bianchi has some advice for Dwight Howard.
"At the risk of sounding like an old fuddy-duddy, I have some advice for Dwight Howard and all the other NBA players who scowl, whine, complain, protest and act is the refs have accused them of child molestation every time they are called for a foul: How about going old school and simply raising your hand and graciously accepting the consequences whenever an official whistles you for a foul?Seriously, is there anything that drives you crazier during an NBA game than when one player extracts his elbow from another player’s mouth, is whistled for an obvious foul and then – even though he has broken teeth and pieces of bloody gum stuck to his elbow – acts as if he has been dealt the biggest sports injustice since the $8 cup of beer?Dwight’s strategy obviously isn’t working so why not try mine? Are you listening, Dwight? Whenever an official calls a foul against you, you should raise your hand to acknowledge that, yes, it was indeed you who committed the infraction and then walk up to the official and say encouragingly, “Good call. I’ll try to do a better job of defending my man next time. Thanks, Mr. Ref, for trying to make me a better player.”"
You can read Bianchi’s “Running off at the typewriter” here.
Marcin Gortat is very happy to be part of a championship contender.
"Though he’s struggled at times with his limited role behind Howard, Gortat kept himself ready to go. For now, the chance at a championship puts to ease his desires for a greater role.“The championship is why I stayed here and why I sacrificed a lot of things,’’ Gortat said. “I know that I could maybe be a starter somewhere else, but I stayed her to try and win that championship. And now this counts and it doesn’t matter whether I play two minutes, 10 minutes or 30 minutes, I want to do what I can to help our team. Whatever Coach (Stan) Van Gundy tells me to do, I’ll do it.’’"
John Denton has that story here.
Tania Ganguli has more on Gortat.
"It hasn’t escaped Marcin Gortat’s notice that had he gone to the Mavericks, his season could be over right now.“Nobody wants to end the season now,” Gortat said. “I’m glad I’m here in Orlando… as long as I’m playing, doesn’t matter if it’s 5, 10 minutes sometimes it’s 25 or 30, they all count. So being right now with this team is a great feeling. We’re playing all the way to the end. Having a championship ring everything will change.”"
You can read Ganguli’s Magic update here.
Should the Hawks win the series against the Bucks, Ryan Anderson could be in for a big series against the Hawks.
"Against all other teams, he’s slightly below positional average in terms of scoring efficiency, with a True Shooting percentage of 53.5% compared to the average forward’s 55.0% mark. But against Atlanta? 81.9% True Shooting, boosted by a scorching 65.2% mark from beyond the arc. For the uninitiated, True Shooting is equal to one-half points produced per shooting possessions used; think of it as a much more accurate way of saying “points per shot,” because it accounts for free throws. For comparison’s sake, Denver Nuggets center Nenê led the league this year with a 63.0% True Shooting figure. Anderson bests that by a wide margin."
Ben Q. Rock has that story here.
Brian Schmitz had a one-on-one interview with Mickael Pietrus. Pietrus sounds very confident.
"Q: You seem to be in good spirits all the time. Why is that?A: I don’t have two or three faces. I only got one. That’s me. Planet Pietrus. Life’s good.Q: You’ve been growing your hair since training camp. Will you ever cut it?A: After the parade and Magic win the championship, it’s gone. Yes. It’s cut. You know what?"
You can read the full interview here.
(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).