Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 9:45 am  |  34 responses

Dwight Howard to Teammates: Ball, Please

D12, who is averaging a staggeringly low 9 shot attempts per game, wants less threes hoisted by the Magic, and more touches inside: “Magic center Dwight Howard had danced delicately around the topic all season, but his patience has worn thin — too many losses can do that — and he has grown tired of watching too many ill-advised 3-pointers. He wants the ball more. And finally — midway into the season — he demanded it behind closed doors. ‘I have reminded them (his teammates),’ Howard said with his usual politically-correct response Wednesday after practice. ‘We have to make better decisions with the ball, where we pass it, and where we take it.”’

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  • jumpman3224

    The Magic should def. take more advantage of Howard and play more inside-out. If that happens and IF Howard can become a better passer there will likely still be 3′s to go around. Early prediction – If East win ASG, Howard will be your MVP (I’m calling Amare if the West win)

  • Saami

    The Vince Carter experiment has been the demise of the Magic this season; Hedo was fantastic last year in the role of ‘clutch go to player’ whilst also providing Howard with alot of his looks last season. His numbers in Toronto suggest its been a failed endevour all round…

  • Nigel

    Make your free throws, and get some post moves, then we’d be happy to get you the ball.

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  • Trout

    Wouldn’t be a kick if they swapped Hedo for Carter that would be tooooo funny … for us not for Vince.

  • james

    maybe dwight should get some post moves so he has something to do with all of these touches hes going to get

  • Joe_Sixpack

    When Vince plays like Vince the magics are unstoppable, however when play like wince they lose

  • http://www.slamonline.com Wayno

    Vince Carter’s “I’m gonna jack up contested, fade-a-way 3′s all game” attitude is what’s killing Orlando…

  • D. Cole

    If you look at Dwight’s ft% lately Hes improved. He’s also shooting the little jumpers which I think is boosting his confidence at the line. They definitely need to feed him more

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ Double R

    The statistic of field goal attempts can be misleading. Nine attempts doesn’t mean he only got the ball nine times. Teams may double him on the entry pass forcing him to kick it out to his teammates who need to hit shots. Being a better post player could help too.

  • 4three

    I actually think that Vince is not the center of the problem. Jameer Nelson has not been explosive this season at all (the injury has limited him) and I am unsure of the rotation they employ. Pietrus has been ineffective and Matt Barnes is hit or miss. Funny is that Pietrus is having the same season he had last year but it seems like his stats and effort are empty or not coming in situations when the magic need it. Rashard’s everything has been down this year as well so maybe the problem stems from Rashard’s lack of offensive mobility (he never gets fouled he and jj reddick attempt the same amount of ft a game).

  • Sizzle

    I think Howard is more of a problem (although it is not his fault) He has gotten by thus far in the L mostly off of his natural athletic ability. I have been watching him play for years and haven’t really seen any new post moves. I almost had to feel bad for him when they were analyzing him on some show and said it “may be too late to teach dwight some post moves.” While I don’t believe that, he does need to work on his game more. He has so much unrealized potential that it would be sad to see it go to waste. Even though the Magic shoot alot of triples, it actually could help Dwight if he made his game more well rounded. He could dominate more down low and kick to the open shooters. My guess is though he will just keep trying to dunk everytime and whine when he gets called for a foul. Dwight, also please spend some time on your free throw shooting.

  • JoeMaMa

    Sizzle, you’re way off. Howard used to rely on his natural physical ability, but he’s grown up some. You don’t win Defensive player of the year on athleticism. You don’t grab double digit boards and a couple of blocks every night on it. He’s just jumphooks and spin moves to either side, but just doesn’t need to use that arsenal all the time, because he’s unstoppable down low.
    I see the problem here: the M.O. of the Magic should’ve been from day one: get the ball inside, then outside after. Shaq would’ve been screaming bloody murder had this happened to him in his prime. Dwight should just speak up when he doesn’t get at least 15 shots a game and remind everyone that he’s a dominator. The guy’s truly a beast and SVG should be pushing touches for him every minute of the day.

  • tavoris

    been sayin this all along. The “outside-in” philosophy is NOT working. Never has, never will.

  • lucas

    This is aimed at you, Mr. Carter.

  • Jdubbs

    Shaq was so underrated, he had a variety of post moves and dominated the paint. Howard has the natural gifts but not the moves, and it sadly looks like he’ll never develop anything other than a dunk. He should easily be averaging 25 pts a game.

  • Klemperer

    Trade Vince for Hedo and poor on the boo’s.

  • rob

    If the rest of the Magic players don’t give Dwight the ball, they won’t play the conference finals, much less the NBA finals. If VC keeps trying to be the team’s scoring leader, Dwight should punch his big nose.

  • Kas

    I’m not sure that’s a good idea. He has no touch, no moves, and can’t pass to save his life.

  • LA Huey

    Even with the lack of post moves, he commands double-teams which translates into open shots on the perimeter. If a team chooses not to double, they have to foul. Even with Dwight missing freebies, he still gets them into the penalty and that loosens up the perimeter D. Yeah, there are some teams that have players that can guard him straight up (Shaq, Perk) but that’s no excuse for them losing to what should be regular season fodder.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    He’s only getting 9 FGA but he’s averaging just over 10 free throw attempts per game. Still, he needs the ball more because the Magic aren’t doing great just jacking up 3′s.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    Co-sign LA Huey. It always kind of bothers me when a team has a good center and doesn’t play around him. Even IF Dwight doesn’t shoot, he still creates for his teammates just by getting the ball in the post.
    It was like last year, watching Houston. When they played around Yao, ball movement was automatically better.

  • Ramon

    How will dwight improve his post moves if he is not getting the ball in the post :/

  • tavoris

    @Teddy-how long have I been saying this???

  • http://www.yahoo.com Logues

    bottom line is howard has to become more dominant down low, i mean when i watch them he gets plenty of touches, he just doesnt have the ability to be dominant. all the other team has to do is double team him, and he’s almost completely out of the game besides offensive boards. if he had a good 10-15 ft j he could beat double teams better.. also he takes way too long to do anything when he gets the ball in the post, he just holds the ball for awhile then tries to back his man down every time. but i agree the magic do shoot too many threes

  • http://www.realultimatepower.net doyouwantmore

    How can D12 “get more post moves” and learn to make free throws when he’s got a bunch of chuckers throwing up bricks all game? If Dwight had been drafted by a team with a different philosophy he would have developed those things long ago. He’s a bright, talented, athletically gifted dude and he deserves way more credit. His team went to the finals, remember?

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    A long @ss time, tavoris. A loooooong @ss time. Haha.

  • Shem

    Dwight’s game is put backs, alley oops, scoring off offensive boards and the occasional hook shot and spin off dunk. It always has been and will be. There aren’t enough balls to go around on that team… yes i did just say that

  • dankNuggs

    Dwight Howard has zero post presence, he gets the ball to much already.

  • http://www.addictedtobeauty.ca/ Kevin

    Dwight’s the most physically-dominant specimen the NBA’s seen since a young Shaq.. but with a high school sophomore’s understanding of post footwork. he needs to really learn how to establish deep position + finish consistently before he’ll be as dominant as he should be.

  • http://www.buttonmasher.co.nz TimProvise

    Deja Vue

    this happens all the time! give him the damn ball to shut him up and it will happen in about 4 more months,
    Seems like dwight has become abit of a cry baby when the attention isnt on him

  • tavoris

    @Kevin-he needs to learn how to finish consistently? Of all his offensive shortcomings, finishing is one thing that’s NEVER been a problem.

  • tavoris

    even if his offense is limited, the Magic need to be pounding the ball down there every damn trip, as he’s still the BEST option the team has to score. Period.

  • http://myspace.com/weezyleezy337 GametimeWeezy

    If Dwight was on my team i swear i’d average 15 assists a game. What is Jameer DOING?? Yea plus having Carter and Lewis jackin up treys is no good.

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