By Dwight Howard Lauds Play of Orlando Magic’s Newest Additions
January 12, 2011 – 8:10 am by Eric Schmoldt
The longest winning streak in the NBA right now is nine games, and it’s not even really close. Of course, you probably already knew that seeing as it’s the Miami Heat that have won nine in a row.
But the Heat aren’t alone. They’re joined by fellow division rival Orlando in winning nine straight. Yeah, that’s right, the same Magic team that lost eight of nine games before this surge.
The Magic are back to looking like the team that can contend for the Eastern Conference crown since they made a pair of trades that shook up nearly their entire roster save for Dwight Howard. That streak includes victories over San Antonio, Boston, Dallas and New York, so don’t go sleeping on the Magic.
Dwight Howard joined The Jim Rome Show to discuss the mid-season trades and roster shakeup, why the new guys have made the team better, the stale chemistry of the old group, how these moves have affected his future in Orlando, why the Celtics are still the team to beat, how he thinks the Magic match up well with the Heat and his new-found love for Call of Duty.
How the Magic have come together since the mid-season trade and roster shakeup:
“I just think Stan [Van Gundy] has been doing an excellent job every day in practice of just trying to get the new guys to understand our defensive philosophy. I just think our chemistry with the guys who are here and the new guys, we just have good chemistry.”
On how the new guys have made this team better:
“These guys just want to win. There’s no other motives besides just winning a championship and you can just tell by the way they practice, how we talk in the locker room. The new guys have just come in and they’ve been a big part of why we’re winning games. I just really like their attitude.”
Whether there was an issue of chemistry or attitude with the team before the trade:
“I just felt like we didn’t play like we needed to play. … As a team, we felt like if we just showed up, we was gonna beat every team we played because we were talented. You can’t do that in the NBA.”
How the trade and Orlando’s personnel moves will affect his future free agency:
“I haven’t even thought about that. That’s never crossed my mind. The only thing I’m really concerned with is just making sure I lead my team night-in and night-out and just helping us get to the championship. … I haven’t looked into the future. Right now, our goal is to win the championship and we’re doing all the right things as a team and an organization.”
Which team poses the biggest challenge out of the Eastern Conference:
“Boston has always been a tough team for us. I’m going to go with Boston. They’re very tough. There’s a lot of teams in the East who are playing great, but I think Boston has to be the toughest.”
On where the Heat are in that race:
“I think we match up great. The way we beat those guys is we’ve just got to play harder than them. We have to play inside-out. If we do that, we’ll be good.”
His most recent video game of choice:
“I haven’t been playing NBA Jam for a while, I’ve been playing Call of Duty. I’ve been trying to get good at that game. It’s one of the toughest games I’ve played, especially online with people who just play all day.”
Listen to Dwight Howard on The Jim Rome Show here
Tags: Boston Celtics, Call of Duty, Dwight Howard, Miami Heat, NBA, NBA Eastern Conference, Orlando Magic, Video Games
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