Hello Celebritys

Maverick fans were angry, mad, sad, and maybe a little all of the above this past summer when Orlando matched Dallas’ offer sheet for center Marcin Gortat. Gortat was going to bring much needed athleticism to the center position for the Mavs, but it was pulled right out from under them. Now that the Mavericks have acquired Brendan Haywood, I don’t even know if I remember who Marcin Gortat is. The Magic did Dallas a great favor by matching the offer this offseason, we just didn’t realize it until now.

Obviously Gortat is stuck behind Dwight Howard in Orlando, so the numbers compared between the two aren’t going to equal out, but I would much rather have Haywood on my team at this point. Haywood has much better size as a true seven footer, plus he has more experience and in my opinion, better athleticism.

I am only bringing all this up because the Mavs take on Orlando tonight at 7:00 and it really is crazy how things in the NBA work out. What if the Mavs had signed Gortat? Would they have a better record right now? Would they still have traded for Caron Butler? Who knows!! All I know is, I am happy about how things turned out, and am looking forward to this playoff push by the Mavs.

Maverick fans were angry, mad, sad, and maybe a little all of the above this past summer when Orlando matched Dallas’ offer sheet for center Marcin Gortat. Gortat was going to bring much needed athleticism to the center position for the Mavs, but it was pulled right out from under them. Now that the Mavericks have acquired Brendan Haywood, I don’t even know if I remember who Marcin Gortat is. The Magic did Dallas a great favor by matching the offer this offseason, we just didn’t realize it until now.

Obviously Gortat is stuck behind Dwight Howard in Orlando, so the numbers compared between the two aren’t going to equal out, but I would much rather have Haywood on my team at this point. Haywood has much better size as a true seven footer, plus he has more experience and in my opinion, better athleticism.

I am only bringing all this up because the Mavs take on Orlando tonight at 7:00 and it really is crazy how things in the NBA work out. What if the Mavs had signed Gortat? Would they have a better record right now? Would they still have traded for Caron Butler? Who knows!! All I know is, I am happy about how things turned out, and am looking forward to this playoff push by the Mavs.

As part of the Orlando Magic's "Commitment to the Past," fan-favorite guard Darrell Armstrong will be honored by the organization when the Magic host Dallas on Friday, Feb. 19 at Amway Arena. Game time is 8 p.m.



Undrafted by any NBA franchise, Armstrong was originally signed as a free agent by Orlando on Apr. 8, 1995. He went on to play 502 regular season games during nine seasons with the Magic, averaging 11.7 ppg., 5.1 apg. And 1.65 stlpg.



Armstrong ranks among the franchise's all-time leaders in almost every single category, including games played (3rd, 502), points (8th, 5,898), assists (3rd, 2,555), steals (2nd, 830), three-point field goals made (3rd, 654) and three-point field goals attempted (3rd, 1,892).



From Feb. 5, 1999 to Apr. 3, 2001, Armstrong played in 206 consecutive games, at the time a franchise record (Dwight Howard later appeared in 351 straight games from Nov. 3, 2004 to Dec. 12, 2008). He still holds the team record for most consecutive free throws made without a miss with 47.



Past honorees of the Orlando Magic's "Commitment to the Past" include Nick Anderson, Matt Guokas, Dennis Scott, Scott Skiles, Jeff Turner and Pat Williams.

As part of the Orlando Magic's "Commitment to the Past," fan-favorite guard Darrell Armstrong will be honored by the organization when the Magic host Dallas on Friday, Feb. 19 at Amway Arena. Game time is 8 p.m.



Undrafted by any NBA franchise, Armstrong was originally signed as a free agent by Orlando on Apr. 8, 1995. He went on to play 502 regular season games during nine seasons with the Magic, averaging 11.7 ppg., 5.1 apg. And 1.65 stlpg.



Armstrong ranks among the franchise's all-time leaders in almost every single category, including games played (3rd, 502), points (8th, 5,898), assists (3rd, 2,555), steals (2nd, 830), three-point field goals made (3rd, 654) and three-point field goals attempted (3rd, 1,892).



From Feb. 5, 1999 to Apr. 3, 2001, Armstrong played in 206 consecutive games, at the time a franchise record (Dwight Howard later appeared in 351 straight games from Nov. 3, 2004 to Dec. 12, 2008). He still holds the team record for most consecutive free throws made without a miss with 47.



Past honorees of the Orlando Magic's "Commitment to the Past" include Nick Anderson, Matt Guokas, Dennis Scott, Scott Skiles, Jeff Turner and Pat Williams.

The Mavs dropped their first preseason game of the season last night 110-105 to the Magic at the AAC. That score shouldn’t worry anyone as the Mavs played without Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, and Tim Thomas. Here are a few quick thoughts.

- I was impressed with what I saw from Drew Gooden especially on the offensive end. He made the right decisions and made some good shots. I am anxious to see how much Gooden can contribute this season. If the Mavs get 18 and 6 from him every night, that is going to be a huge help.

- I was also impressed with Kris Humphries. He finished with 10 points and 3 rebounds and it looks as if he could be the guy to replace Brandon Bass. He looked athletic and physical and he could be a valuable addition to the bench.

- Roddy Buckets only got 9 minutes so we didn’t get to see much. Beaubois seemed a little hesitant, but it is his first NBA game so that is to be expected. The kid is super fast though and has gained a lot of hype through training camp and preseason.

- J.J. Barea looked ok. It looked to me that he was throwing up a lot of shots though. J.J. finished 5 of 13 from the field and had 17 points.

- Super disappointed that Shawn Marion didn’t play. I missed Fan Jam so I wasn’t able to see him there and he missed last night with a calf problem. The injury is nothing serious and had this been a regular season game, The Matrix would have played.

- I was in attendance for the game last night and the new HD screens at the AAC are amazing! The ones over center court are big and crystal clear. The ones on each ends of the stadium are nice also. They show game action in the center and have stats on each side.