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Dwight Howard: Rule Number One: No Dunks
(Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
As visible as Howard’s improvements under his own basket are, the development of his offensive arsenal is moving just as slow. Despite being the best athlete in the league, Howard still really only dominates opponents with his leaping ability and strength. But the desire to evolve is there. He may lead the league this season in dunks, but his work with assistant Patrick Ewing seems to be slowly paying off. The former Knicks center works exclusively with the Magic big men and D-12 is the beneficiary of 17 years of NBA experience. Ewing was one of the best shooting centers in league history with his unstoppable – if not ugly – baseline jumper, which left plenty an opponent disheartened. Howard will likely never acquire that kind of feel for the ball. But he has already benefited from Ewing’s knowledge of the basics such as leg work, timing and shot selection.
The first signs of Patrick Ewing’s work with Howard cannot be overlooked. Even though he still leads the league, Howard’s average of dunks per game has dropped drastically from 3.28 last season to 2.57 slams this campaign (as of February 2009). “When I arrived in Orlando, he wanted to dunk every ball,” recalled teammate Rashard Lewis, who is now in his second season with the Magic. “Now, he’s really trying to score points in other ways. You can see in practice that he’s purposely holding back with his slams.” Howard is using the extra sessions with Ewing to refine extra dimensions in his offensive game. The main focus is Howard’s shot technique and his short-range turnaround jumper. “He already has real good leg work,” praised Van Gundy. “But against the good centers in the league, you need reliable shot fakes and more weapons than just leaping ability.”
Looking in detail at the top showdown against the Cleveland Cavaliers in late January, Howard had 22 points on four free throws, two layups, five dunk and two hook shots. Too much athleticism and not enough finesse? Well, two of his dunks were put-backs. Howard also missed six shots which were either layups or hook shots. All told, Howard had 13 instances were he chose between dunk or not. And 10 times he decided for the shot. And to make those shots more reliable, Howard has left plenty of sweat on the floors of the RDV Sportsplex.
Of course, Howard occasionally relapses back to his trusted offensive arsenal. Magic fans have seen a few games this season were he relies solely on his athletic abilities. And which active basketball player can really blame him? His repertoire near the basket is growing – and with it so are his self-confidence and unpredictability.
The key to the Magic’s success
For the Orlando Magic an even more dominant Dwight Howard with more offensive weapons means the foundation of the team’s very successful 2008-09 season. “If you guard him with two players, a shooter somewhere will be open. After all, we have four three-pointer specialists playing with him. That’s how the team was built,” described Van Gundy. Playmaker Jameer Nelson made 45.3 percent of his three before going down with a shoulder injury while Rashard Lewis hit 41.7 percent, Courtney Lee 43.8 percent and J.J. Redick 41.5 percent. Altogether, the Orlando Magic hit 40.2 percent of their three-pointers – the best percentage in the league. And no player has taken and hit more three-pointers than Lewis.
The Magic put on a real long-distance show in January as they set an NBA record by knocking down 23 three-pointers (62.2 precent) against Sacramento, shooting the lowly Kings out of their own gym 139-109. After the game, Jameer Nelson knew exactly who played the most decisive role in the game – even though that player did not take a single three-pointer. “Dwight is so tough to block in the middle. That makes it tough for any opponent to stop the three-ball.”
One look at the Magic’s consistent in-and-out system is enough to see why Ewing has ordered overtime for Howard at the free throw line. Just like last season, Howard has attempted the most free throws in the NBA. In 2007-08, the Magic star attempted 897 foul shots – making just 529 of them. And he is well on his way to topping that mark this season. No one expects Howard to become a deadly free throw shooter. But a percentage similar to that from his rookie season would go a long way to causing defenses even more problems. Five years ago, he hit 67.1 percent of his foul shots, which if he repeated this year would add 1.5 more points per game to his total. And the Magic really need him to improve on his current mark of 56.6 percent from the charity stripe to make him a true go-to guy late in games.
Still, while the Magic look to polish Howard’s close-range arsenal and his passing out of the double team, the team’s mid-term goals are much loftier. They would like to extend his jump-shot range to outside the zone in the near future – something which would strike true fear in the hearts of Orlando’s opponents. “As soon as he can hit the five- to eight-foot jumper, it’s all over,” said Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. “Seriously. Then we can forget it. And it will happen because he is a hard worker. My son worked out with him this summer, and that’s all I hear all summer.” Stan Van Gundy came to a similar conclusion – albeit with slightly more optimistic undertones: “When you think that he still has 12, 13, 14 years ahead of him – it’s unbelievable.”
