Okay, first of all, the Amway Center is pretty sweet. I thought I had read somewhere that the new Wolves scoreboard was the biggest/nicest one in the league, but that must have been before the new Amway Center was built. The scoreboard has like 4 different levels to it, so it's kind of like a bunch of scoreboards that can be combined into 2 or 1 at times. So they do some cool things with it. For example, a few times when they showed replays, they showed the same replay, but from multiple angles, all at the same time. That blew my sober mind.
They also have a drum line, which is cool, as they are hyper young dudes who galavant around the arena and sometimes play drums and cymbals, and when they are not doing that they are mocking fans, dancing, cheering loudly, etc. So in a way it is kind of like having 10 extra mascots with drums and cymbals.
Oh yeah, at 5:25 (we got there way early, I thought there may be traffic issues) we were doing a lap around the arena and saw Dwight Howard roll into the arena. He was drivin a pimped out black car, which really surprised me, as I always pictured him as an SUV guy. After some extensive research (because it was bugging me that I couldn't immediately identify what kind of car it was) online, he was driving an Aston Martin.
As I said we got there way early, so some of the players were shooting around when we got in like 75 minutes before gametime. The one who impressed me most was Blake Griffin. He was working on pick n roll jumpers with a coach for a good 15 minutes, followed by 10 more minutes of post moves. While everyone else on both teams that was out there (Turk, JRich, JJ, Anderson, Butler, Jordan) were shooting rather leisurely, he was going hard, and sweating through his warmups. You have to respect that work ethic.
As for the actual game, wow, Foye and Gomes were HORRIBLE. They combined to shoot 5 for 24, and Foye basically single-handindly lost the game for the Clip in the early 4th, I hate to admit it (no, I don't). But seriously, sometimes the way a 48 minute game breaks down becomes so simple. This game was a perfect example. 9:30 left in the 4th, tie game. Vinny Del Negro trots out a lineup of Foye, Bledsoe, Gomes, Diagou, & Al-Farouq to counter D12 & the boys. My dad says, "Wow. Foye & Gomes are the only "starters" out there right now. Really? Is that extra 2 minutes of rest worth it?!" I say, "There is no way this group can score on these guys." Sure enough, the Magic go on a 12-0 run in the next 2:30, and just like that the game is over.
BUT, Foye did do one really cool thing I never thought I would see him do. He crossed over JJ Red in the 1st quarter so bad that he "broke his ankles" and fell directly backward on his booty...the crowd let out a collective OOOOOHHHHHHH. Then Foye dropped the long J. It was so good that they showed the replay on the big screen, even though it was of a home team guy getting schooled. Other than that, your boy Foye was horrrrrible. The box score says it well. 35 minutes, 3-13, 1-6 from 3's, 4 turnovers, 2 assists. And a -24.
Other thoughts: The Magic did a fantastic job of containing Blake Superior. They doubled him every time he touched the ball. He really had no room to do anything...D-Howard's D did impress me I must admit...when Gordon is injured the Clipps really lack firepower...the Magic fans LOVE JJ Redick for some reason, and do NOT like Arenas....Earl Clark is very raw, but has the makings of a potential STUD....I saw more dunks during this game than I would see in about 10 Wolves games...the Amway Center literally has 10x more food options than the Target Center, it is mind-blowing...They showed Van Gundy a LOT on the bigscreen, which I obviously enjoyed thoroughly...when doing the kiss cam, they showed Chris Kaveman & Ike Diagou, and it was hilarious...I miss SILENT ABABU.
