Dwight Howard: ‘We’ve Got to Play Defense, That’s it’

The L’s most dominant defender is growing increasingly frustrated, and would like some help on that side of the ball from his teammates, namely the guys on the wing (*cough* Vince Carter *cough*). From the Orlando Sentinel: “The frustration level is rising in the Orlando Magic locker room. That includes superstar center Dwight Howard. Howard grew tired of seeing Carmelo Anthony drive to the hoop again and again with meager resistance from Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter as the Denver Nuggets beat the Orlando Magic 111-94. Anthony scored a game-high 35 points on 14-of-21 shooting.’We’ve got to play defense, that’s it,’ Howard said at his locker. ‘It’s got to be everybody. Our wings got to do a better job not allowing their man just to get to the rim every play. It puts a lot of pressure on the bigs. It’s hard for the big guys to really help like we want when a guy takes one dribble and he’s at the rim. It’s very tough. I like blocking shots, but if a guy is one dribble in and the ball’s up, and I’m over on the other side, I can’t fly over there. I don’t have a cape in real life.’ Asked if the problems on defense stem from a lack of intensity or whether guys are just a second late, Howard responded, ‘I just said you can’t be a second late when a guy’s taking one dribble and he’s at the rim. That has nothing to do with being a second late. We [the bigs] can’t help on that.'”