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Magic's Howard Has Room To Grow

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By MICK ELLIOTT, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 30, 2007

Updated: 10/30/2007 12:13 am

ORLANDO - There is no way to accelerate the process, no known shortcut for gleaning the kind of wisdom that comes only through experience. Not even for Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, whose physical tools - according to coaches, opponents, teammates and pretty much anyone with an opinion worth weighing - qualify him as a certified 'freak of nature.'

That's a reality the Magic must continually remind themselves of as they open the NBA regular season Wednesday night at home against Milwaukee. It matters only sparingly that Howard is a chiseled 6 feet 11, 265 pounds with bubbled biceps, a 39-inch vertical leap, a 7-foot, 8-inch wingspan and with three full seasons under his belt. More important is that Howard is all those things and still 21 years old.

Nevertheless, as the Magic take the court under new coach Stan Van Gundy, it needs to be the man-child who leads them.

The Magic's 2003 No. 1 draft pick straight out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy stepped up last season to average a team-high 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds. There is much more to do, however, before Howard makes the anticipated leap to NBA superstar and follows Shaquille O'Neal as the game's premier really-big man.

Seeing Howard's size, strength and quickness on the court, it seems illogical that 18 points and a dozen rebounds per game do not pile up by accident.

'He can get around anybody in this league with quickness,' said teammate Adonal Foyle, who came to Orlando this year from Golden State and knows first-hand the task of defending Howard. 'He's a special player. There's no denying that.'

Yet, not all those tools regularly have made it to the work table. Too often Howard's primary offensive contributions have been dunks - albeit, rim-rattlers - or offensive stick-backs. After a red-hot start last year, his production declined as the season progressed. When the Magic opened the playoffs against Detroit, the Pistons swept the series in great part by double- and triple-teaming Howard inside and taking him out of the game.

'Dwight has all the skills to be great,' Magic general manager Otis Smith said. 'I think he will continue to improve. You have to be patient. We have this conversation all the time: When we say he will get it, it's just a matter when and how much time do you have to wait on him.

'When I say get it, he is a freakish athlete who does some things on the floor that are phenomenal. He can rebound the ball. He's very quick around the basket. He just has to add to his game, which he has been working on, to alleviate the pressures he's feeling.'

Until now, any pressure seems to be self-imposed. Teammates have been awed by the raw physical prowess, meaning patience is easy to retain when looking at the future payoff.

'That's all part of the learning curve,' Magic guard Keyon Dooling said. 'We got to realize Dwight did not go to college. So he didn't have the opportunity to go through the practices and work on his individual game a lot. He was kind of thrown into the fire and had to learn on the fly. I think he's starting to embrace the idea that, 'Hey, I can't just be the athletic guy and out-athlete everybody. I got to start working on some other things.''

What the Magic desire from Howard as the season begins is an improving jump shot, better accuracy at the free throw line and a comfortable fit in an up-tempo offense Van Gundy's wants to feature.

'I was shooting a lot this summer,' Howard said. 'The Magic and me, we hired a shooting coach. Coach Stan has emphasized me shooting the ball when I'm open instead of always trying to muscle somebody.'

And as for the up-tempo attack?

'It's cool with me. I'm 21 years old. I can run,' he said.

The result might be a new NBA era for the center position.

The grinding, bumping, muscling days of the old NBA center have all but gone the way of peach baskets. With big men like Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, many teams have moved more toward two power forwards rather than one prototypical pivot player.

Howard, however, seems to embrace the in-the-paint old-style game while bringing his futuristic physical ability to the mix.

'The traditional big men, they used their body more to create things,' Foyle said. 'They didn't really turn and face the basket and go. He can do that. He's kind of a slasher in a big-man's body.'

Howard also is a straight-arrow in a league that is not always represented well by its biggest stars.

Howard says alcohol has never touched his lips. 'Darn' or 'dang' is as strong as his language gets. The son of a Georgia state trooper and a school teacher, he is a devout Christian who carries a Bible on the road. He totes video games onto the team plane to watch Disney animated films like 'Finding Nemo.' When home with time to kill, Howard says a big night out would be joining buddies for a game of paintball.

'There are two types of stars in this league,' Van Gundy said. 'One is a guy who thinks stardom entitles him to special privileges. Another type understands their stardom demands greater responsibility. I think one of those stars other players will follow.'

Take a guess which one the Magic believes they have.

They are ready to be led - ideally, somewhere beyond the first round of postseason play for the first time in 13 years.

'Where Dwight has to go next in his career is to start making the move from being a great talent to being a great player,' Van Gundy said. 'And there is a difference. It's the nuances of the game, the attention to details that he has to give focus. We want him to improve his game and also take more of a leadership and the responsibility that the best players in the league have.'

Reporter Mick Elliott can be reached at (813) 281-2534 or melliott@tampatrib.com.

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