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Van Gundy Wants Howard to Work Harder
Topic Started: Mar 25 2008, 03:26 PM (240 Views)
MAGICMANEVAN
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http://floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/sect...c3-fd66a82c6e98
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ORLANDO – Magic franchise center Dwight Howard got just five shots in Saturday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks, the third fewest of any Orlando player to get into the game.

But not all the blame for that goes to Howard’s teammates, who repeatedly missed the star center on several flashes across the lane. Plenty of it, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said, belongs to Howard himself for allowing his energy level to dip. He wants the all-star center to understand that he’s the focus of defenses every night and he must work harder to get position inside.

``It goes three ways, one I could have done a better job making sure he got the ball better with play calls and we had some plays to him that we just didn’t make,’’ Van Gundy said Tuesday following the Magic’s shootaround practice. ``And I don’t think he played with very good energy in terms of working to get the ball.

``We’ve talked with him about how it will never be easy again to get him the ball in good spots,’’ Van Gundy continued. ``It’s going to be hard to get him good shots because he’s the focal point of everybody’s game plan. Not only does our team have to execute better, but he’s got to work harder. He’ll have to make three or four efforts on one possession to get the ball, and he still may not get it. A lot of times it will take him eight or nine efforts of really working to seal to get the ball in a position he can score. All of the great big guys have gotten to a point where they’ve had to realize that. That’s the kind of effort and energy he’s going to have to put forth to get the shots that we need from him.’’

Howard has gone away from the face-up jumper that he worked on last summer with local shooting coach Charles Richardson. Magic assistant coach Patrick Ewing, Howard’s mentor all season, has been in the center’s ear, telling he needs to gain confidence in his mid-range jump shot because teams are going to continue to push him away from the basket. Also, opposing centers, such as Washington’s Brendan Haywood, are going to lay back and wait on the drive and ultimately draw cheap charging fouls on Howard.

``Coming into the playoffs that shot is one of the things that I have to work on because teams are going to take away a lot of my shots,’’ Howard said. ``Early in the season I was getting a lot of easy dunks and shots around the basket and now teams are forcing me out. Patrick wants me working on that shot. It’s just a confidence thing for me, but I hate missing shots. Patrick and (general manager) Otis (Smith) have talked to me about how sometimes you have to miss shots if you want to set up the defense for something else.’’

So is Howard confident enough to rise up tonight against San Antonio’s Tim Duncan and stroke a 12-foot shot off the glass?

``I just hate missing them, but I feel comfortable taking it,’’ he said. ``I shot it at the beginning of the season and if I missed it I kept shooting it. I’ve got to get back to that.’’
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TheFalcon
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Air Gortat
I can't say I disagree with Van Gundy. He's got to work hard, and shooting 2-3 jumpers a game certainly wouldn't be a bad idea.
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adamosthegreek
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Kings of Europe
Stan's waking D12 up for a big game.
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Ben Q Rock
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3QC
The thread at Denton's board is a pretty good read. One guy there called Stan a "troll" and basically thinks Doc Rivers would be a better coach for this team. :|
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iceveins333
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Rocks blocking shots on guys with dreadlocks
lol at the "casual magic fan" hes probably one of those idiots i heard around town a few years ago who were like "thats why the magic are a horrible run franchise, u trade away your best player steve francis for no reason" good job there casual fans with your astute observations after watching a whopping 10 games a season you know everything about this team

i mean SVG is really out of line calling out a team that has some motivation issues and for calling out dwight when he hangs his head and doesnt play hard i mean i really want to have brian hill back so after every loss where the team didnt play hard we can hear "i dont know whats wrong (shakes head)"

i personally think some of dwight's issues w/ not playing hard when things arent coming easy stem back to brian hill not getting on his case the two years he was here when dwight would hang his head, there is a reason clifford ray came out last year and said "the problem down in orlando is everyone is kissing dwights butt instead of being tough on him to make him better"

i still remember dwights rookie year w/ clifford ray we would be getting our asses kicked and everyone on the team would hang their heads but dwight was still out there busting his butt to get rebounds and play defense
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