Dwight Howard and the Magic Falter after Blazing First Half of NBA Season

Disclaimer: This site is not affiliated with, nor endorsed by Dwight Howard, nor Orlando Magic, nor the NBA
nor anyone associated with the Dwight Howard we are a fan site of Dwight Howard.

Dwight Howard Top Stories...

Dwight Howard and the Magic Falter after Blazing First Half of NBA Season

The first half of the Orlando Magic's season was itself divided roughly into halves. They had a 14-5 start in which their bench was among the best in the NBA, followed by a puzzling slump that has brought them back to mediocrity. The Magic were 22-19 at the season's midway mark, which came before Monday night's game at Cleveland. They were only 2 1/2 games from the top of the conference. But more disturbing than their record is the direction in which they have been going.

"We're going through a tough stretch," Grant Hill said after Friday night's 114-93 loss to Washington. "We've just got to get the taste of a win back again."

Saturday night's loss at New Jersey was their fifth straight, and the upcoming schedule promises no relief from the Magic's struggles.

Although Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu are not shooting as well as they did early in the season, the starting lineup has been steady. Dwight Howard has become as reliable an inside presence as there is in the Eastern Conference, and Hill may be having the best of his seven seasons in Orlando.

The big difference has been the bench, which had been the team's strength in the first 19 games. Carlos Arroyo and Keyon Dooling have been slumping, and the Magic have not won a game since Trevor Ariza strained a ligament in his right knee on Jan. 10. The rapidly improving 21-year-old forward will be out at least until the All-Star break in mid-February.

As damaging as Ariza's injury has been, it does not explain the Magic's offensive problems. Coach Brian Hill chose to emphasize defense, and the Magic are having their best defensive season in many years, mostly because of Howard, Ariza and Darko Milicic. Magic opponents shoot only 43percent, second-lowest in the league, and only three teams give up fewer points than Orlando's 92.7 per game.

The problems have come at the other end of the floor.

"I can't put one particular thing on it," Hill said. "Sometimes we slow ourselves down. We might be standing around a little bit when we get the ball into Dwight, or shooting jump shots as opposed to driving the ball at the basket."

The Magic have yet to jell offensively. They have led the NBA in turnovers all season long. Their .695 free throw percentage is second-worst in the league, and only three other teams have made fewer 3-point shots. Good defense and excellent bench contributions over- came those problems early in the season. But since Dec. 4, the Magic have gone on losing stretches of 5-of-6, four straight and five straight, finishing the first half of the season in a tailspin. They do have the good fortune of playing in a forgiving Eastern Conference, where none of their rivals did much better in the first half of the season.

"When we're winning, we try and build momentum, but when we're losing, we try not to get in a funk," Dooling said. "We try and think that every game, we're going to come out of it, and that's what we're going to do."

For More On This Story, Click Here

NBA Future:
Spencer Hawes
Spencer Hawes Led all scorers with 24 points and added 10 rebounds, leading the United States under-18 men's team to a 104-82 triumph over Argentina in the gold medal game of the 2006 FIBA Americas under-18 Championship ... Averaged 12.0 points and 7.5 rebounds during the tournament ... The U.S. team was coached by Hawes' college coach, Lorenzo Romar ... Debuted for USA Basketball in April of 2006 as a member of the 2006 USA Junior National Select Team that defeated the World Select Team 109-91 at the Nike Hoop Summit in Memphis, Tenn

NBA Future:
Thaddeus Young
Thaddeus Young Top-10 national prep senior who is the youngest of Tech's incoming freshmen and an outstanding student ... Highly-rated small forward with long arms, toughness and grit, unafraid to post up and bang inside ... Can guard on the perimeter well.

More Dwight Howard Articles

Other Super Stars Sites

Greg OdenOnline.com:
Website devoted to Greg Oden and he future accomplishments.

ReggieBushOnline.com:
A well-proportioned, super-swift tailback for the unbeaten and top-ranked Southern California Trojans,Reggie Bush runs, catches, passes and returns kicks in a relentlessly successful and versatile manner. Reggie Bush does anything and everything on the football field, and he does it better than everyone else. You can also check out Reggie Bush Stats as well.
CalvinHaynesOnline.com:
Calvin Haynes (6-foot-2/185 pounds/Reseda, Calif./Taft HS) - Averaged 22.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists as a junior, helping Taft to a 22-5 record

Even More Dwight Howard News

Syndicated content not available

©2004-2006 DwightHoward.com. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER. This site is a fan site for Dwight Howard, NBA and basketball. It is in no way associated or related with Dwight Howard, the National Basketball Association or any of its players. All pictures and videos are property of their respective owner. No copyright infringement was intended in the use of these photos. This site is meant to be a fan site of Dwight Howard only. We are in no way connected to the NBA. We do not know Dwight Howard personally, nor are we affiliated with the NBA. . We do not accept money for any advertising on this site. All sites listed on this site have helped in maintaining or updating the site in some way.