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Dwight Howard Calls Out Stan Van Gundy

Discussion in 'NBA Dish' started by Lil Pun, May 13, 2009.

  1. Lil Pun

    Lil Pun Contributing Member

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    http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-magichoward051209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

    BOSTON – Dwight Howard(notes) waited for nearly an hour in the stunned silence of the losing locker room, thinking long and hard about the timing of calling out Stan Van Gundy’s failed policies. He has never been a young man of impulse, of speaking without the most careful of consideration. So yes, this made the measured and unemotional tone of his displeasure with Van Gundy devastating.

    The Orlando Magic collapsed in the final minutes of Game 5, and maybe cost themselves a chance to reach the Eastern Conference finals. Howard is watching the ball go everywhere but where it ought to: Into the hands of the Magic’s franchise center, its superstar.

    Enough, Howard said.

    Give me the ball.

    “You’ve got a dominant player,” Howard pleaded late Tuesday night. “Let him be dominant.”

    He’s right. He needed to say it, and he needed to say it now. What’s the use this summer? What’s the use when this series is over? The final, frantic minutes were an indictment of these Magic, a stunning spiral of lobbed air balls and sprayed turnovers that let the flatlined Boston Celtics rise out of the rubble to steal a 92-88 Game 5 victory, and 3-2 control of this Eastern Conference semifinals.

    The Magic appear fragile, scattered and unnerved. They lost on Big Baby Davis’ stunning jumper in Game 4, and blew a 14 point fourth-quarter lead in Game 5, and now the Magic stagger home for an elimination game Thursday night.

    Privately, the Celtics believe that Orlando’s vulnerability late in games comes from a singular question that they’ve been unable to answer: Who is the go-to guy? Orlando missed eight straight shots to end the game, and that’s what angers Howard the most: Why isn’t that me?

    “I have to get the ball,” Howard said. “I don’t think you are going to win a lot of games when your post player only gets 10 shots. It’s tough to get yourself going and get a lot of shots without a lot of touches. We have to get better with that.”

    What Howard was trying to say was simple: Van Gundy has to get better with that. Howard had 12 points and 17 rebounds, just 10 shots on the night. In the fourth quarter, when it all slipped away, Howard had just two shots. He made them both, but it was far too little, and that’s become far too much of a pattern here.

    The Magic led 77-63 with eight and a half minutes left and 88-75 with 5:39, and still they squandered another lead in these playoffs. They’ve made it a habit. This is a character flaw of these Magic, and that loss of composure and direction returns to the coach. Shaquille O’Neal(notes) declared Van Gundy the “Master of Panic,” for failures in past playoffs. Howard wouldn’t go that far, but he appears done biting his lip when it comes to his diminished role in the offense.

    He will go along with his coach’s desire for him to be the immovable force on defense and on the boards, but no longer does it appear Howard will accept becoming an accidental tourist along the way to one more Magic meltdown. This was a disgraceful loss for Orlando, and it will linger as an indictment of the franchise.

    Howard is so frustrated with the Magic’s reliance on 3-pointers, the indifference on getting him the ball on the block, that two league sources familiar with his thinking say that it could soon cause Howard to question his future with the franchise.

    After listening to him unload Tuesday night – his voice even, words measured – that shouldn’t be a surprise. He has always been the polite, obliging aw-shucks kid, but this colossal collapse brought out a side never seen with Howard.

    Even before he unloaded on too few plays called for him, too few touches, he delivered an unprovoked assault on Van Gundy’s decision to pull the players responsible for constructing that double-digit lead late in the game. He wanted to see his coach stay longer with the bench of Tony Battie and Mickael Pietrus.

    As Howard said, “The coaches have to recognize what’s working on the floor and stick with it,” he said. “When you’re in a situation where guys got it going, you know everybody’s moving the ball and the energy is up, you have to stick with … what works.”

    Howard even alluded to the fact that Doc Rivers turned to Stephon Marbury and Eddie House for fourth-quarter scoring that saved the Celtics in Games 2 and 5, respectively. “Their coach left the guys on the floor that got the job done. That’s what championship teams do.”

    The Celtics have a magnificent defender on Howard, Kendrick Perkins(notes), one of the best in basketball. He insisted that, “They tried to get it to him. … They tried. I think the biggest thing with Dwight is he thrives off getting dunks. When he gets dunks early, he gets going.”

    Well, Howard never did get going in Game 5, and it left him seething after this night, and maybe this series, slipped away. Now, Howard has set the stage for a showdown with his coach. This is uncharted territory for this relationship, and now, something that Howard had kept to himself tumbled into the open.

    Dwight Howard wants the ball, and he wants it with the season on the line in Game 6. He’s the biggest, most devastating low-post force in the league, and enough is enough. If the Magic are going down in this series, he sure as hell doesn’t want it going down with Rafer Alston(notes) throwing balls away, and Hedo Turkoglu(notes) and Rashard Lewis(notes) missing eight of nine 3-pointers in a Game 5.

    “I just think that I have to be more aggressive, run … demand the ball,” Howard said. And after all these lost possessions, lost trips down the floor, the biggest, baddest center in the sport finally did.

    Howard called out his coach, and called for the ball. The season is on the line, and there’s no more time to waste. Enough is enough, Howard barked. His voice never rose, but his message was unmistakable: He’s the franchise star here, and he had better start getting the respect that comes with that from these Magic.

    Dwight Howard thought long and hard and finally let the unspoken truth out of his mouth: Get me the ball, coach, and get the hell out of my way.
     
  2. DaDakota

    DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!

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    I wish Yao would do this....

    DD
     
  3. DonkeyMagic

    DonkeyMagic Contributing Member
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    I agree, you should get the ball to your big man but i also think...give him the ball, so they can foul him and he can miss his FTs?

    he needs to get better offensively before he starts demanding the ball in crunch time.

    Yao could say the same thing but he can say it until he is blue in the face...it won't matter much if he is fronted well.
     
  4. pmac

    pmac Contributing Member

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    I don't.

    Dwight went about this the wrong way. You have to demand the ball...in game. Don't go to the media. Dwight (and Yao) need to get in their teammates' faces and demand the ball...all the time.
     
  5. ivanyy2000

    ivanyy2000 Contributing Member

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    Wow, Dwight Howard is the man.

    Yao will never ever do that. Call out his coach and teammate to give him the damn ball. It is fantastic.
     
  6. juicystream

    juicystream Contributing Member

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    Turkoglu has been the man for the Magic down the stretch of games for 2 years, and only gets one shot during the last five and a half minutes. Lewis and Alston instead took the rest of the shots going 0-6 with a turnover, and the Celtics were getting offensive rebounds, and every defensive rebound. Howard had 17 rebounds, but couldn't get a single board in the final 5:25.
     
  7. ElPigto

    ElPigto Member
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    If you develop some better footwork along with more variety of post moves I'm sure it would be easier to give you the ball.

    Perkins has historically played good D on Howard yet all Howard has is his dunks and some hook shot which has improved but still needs more work. I blame Dwight for not working hard this summer on further developing his post game.
     
  8. Tuan

    Tuan Member

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    Its great that Howard did that, but his offensive game sucks. Anyone seen his jump hook? Its the ugliest thing ever and so inconsistent. Howard has to realize his offensive game is still raw. He isnt a player where you can just dump the ball in the post to.
     
  9. ElPigto

    ElPigto Member
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    Ahhh, I remember the days when Alston would take many of our final baskets. I'll give him this, he was clutch for the Rockets once in a while.
     
  10. tigermission1

    tigermission1 Contributing Member

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    The one thing I can see over time is that Stan Van Gundy is starting to develop quite a reputation around the league. Shaq was not the first, but certainly was the most vocal and uncensored in his criticism, and I can't help but think that he did unspeakable damage to the 'narrative' that is SVG's coaching abilities. Now, you have players on his own team openly questioning his decisions in the media (Howard) and throwing him under the bus in foreign-language newspapers (Gortat). Whether it is fair or not, the fact is the word "panic" has become synonymous with "Stan Van Gundy".

    I am betting SVG will be fired at the conclusion of these playoffs and he will have a tough time finding another job in the NBA that is worth a damn. I really think there has been irreversible damage done to his reputation as a coach and he will have a very tough time commanding respect of the players on any NBA team...his reputation is a difficult one to shed. I somewhat feel sorry for the man, although much of it is his own doing.
     
  11. oldgunrules

    oldgunrules Member

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    Sure his offensive skill set is not quite there yet. So I agree you probably can't count on him to do the drop steps and turn around jumpers. But, did you see how many times he sealed his defender right under the basket but they didn't pass him the ball? He's no Yao, he can actually jump and dunk over people you know.
     
  12. KellyDwyer

    KellyDwyer Contributing Member

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    Once in a while. His shooting percentage in the clutch was pretty awful, if memory serves.
     
  13. Prince

    Prince Member

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    He's dominant in rebounding only.

    I think there's nothing wrong with the system or coaching because they always do good in the first 3 quarters then they get chocked in the final minutes. That has something to do with the players. Lack of expeirence as a team. And remember they're playing against the world champ.
     
  14. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    I don't really see him calling out the coach in the quotes. Maybe contextually, he is. But, the quotes rendered in this article seem to refer to the team, not the coach. It looks to me that the writer is calling out Van Gundy, not Howard. The only time he mentions coaches is when he said some backups were pulled out too early (big deal). Can someone connect the dots for me about how his complaint about not getting the ball enough is an indictment of the coach?
     
  15. juicystream

    juicystream Contributing Member

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    Except for in the 4th quarter. ONE rebound in 12 minutes.
     
  16. baller4life315

    baller4life315 Contributing Member

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    Good post and agreed entirely. Where there's smoke there's fire. There has to be a reason people keep trying to throw this guy under the bus.
     
  17. Duncan McDonuts

    Duncan McDonuts Contributing Member

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    Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather see Dwight Howard take a chance to throw up something at the rim compared to Rafer's unconventional teardrops or Rashard Lewis chucking 3s after airballing a few.

    I don't know why Lewis kept camping outside the perimeter. He's been successful on the block and posting up. Magic need someone who can drive and force contact to get the call, though. Jameer was good at doing that. Rafer or Turkoglu, not so much. Although I did believe Turkoglu got fouled on a couple of his drives, but he's not gonna get a call.
     
  18. K mf G

    K mf G Contributing Member

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    this is something that should have been kept in house
    i agree with demand the ball during the game not during the press conference or while speaking to the media, i think it says more about what his teammates think of what his offensive liabilities are as much as it does say about the coach
     
  19. Dave_78

    Dave_78 Member

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    You have to get Howard the ball. Of course, unless you get it to him with him 6 feet of the basket it will be a missed shot or a travel but still...

    Dwight Howard, learn some post moves, start working your lower body as much as you do your upper body and then you might get the ball down low more.
     
  20. coldsweat

    coldsweat Member

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    i can see why lewis hangs around the perimeter, big baby is on him who can't keep up with him because he is slow. but instead of taking shots from the perimeter, however, he needs to take big baby off the dribble and drive it in. he could create shots for his teammates when the defense collapses.
     

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