Dwight Howard News...
At 20, Dwight Howard Can Become Youngest Leading NBA Rebounder
By Dick Scanlon | The Ledger
Sunday's loss to the Houston Rockets served as a sober reminder of how far Dwight Howard has to go and, by extension, how far the Magic have to go. The trades of the last two weeks have changed the Magic from a bad old team to a bad young team, which is much more interesting. But if they are ever going to get away from being a bad team, Dwight Howard will have to lead them. The 20-year-old Dwight Howard is the hope.
The Rockets recognized that and took the 6-foot-11 Dwight Howard out of the Magic offense. His only field goal came on a layup that slipped out of his hands. He went up for dunks early in the game and the Rockets simply hacked him.
"I got a little frustrated," Dwight Howard said. "I couldn't make a free throw and my shots weren't going in. It was another learning experience for me."
Grant Hill, whose locker is next to Dwight Howard's, made sure that point got across.
"I told him after the game: `You've got to learn from this. When things are hard and not necessarily going right for you, that's when you have to try to figure out -- how can I still get it done? Can I get to the free-throw line?' " Hill said. "The sooner you're in it, the quicker you learn how to deal with situations."
Dwight Howard's offensive game has improved over his rookie season, with the notable exception of free-throwing shooting, which is down from .671 to .608. His scoring is up from 12.0 to 15.6, and there have been a few occasions when Dwight Howard has been an inside scoring force.
As a rebounder, he has already arrived. In fact, Dwight Howard's 12.5 rebound average leads the NBA. He can become the youngest NBA rebounding champion ever.
"Every night I go out there and try to put on a rebounding exhibition," he said. "I would love to win it. But at the same time, I have to put that in the back of my mind and worry about what my team needs me to do, which is rebound, and not try to focus on my individual goal, the rebound title. I know the majority of games that we win are because we outrebound the other team."
Detroit 's Ben Wallace and Minnesota 's Kevin Garnett have won the last four rebounding championships. Along with Shawn Marion of Phoenix , they are the only other NBA players averaging 12 rebounds a game.
Even if Dwight Howard does not win the rebounding title this season, he has established himself as the league's most consistent rebounder.
"(I try to) just stay consistent," he said. "Some nights you can't control how many points you have and stuff like that, but one thing I think I can control is how many rebounds I get."
Only twice in the last 23 games has Dwight Howard failed to grab at least nine rebounds.
"I'm trying to make it cool again. Rebounding is fun for me," he said. "I remember back in high school, everybody used to love how I rebounded in the ninth and 10th grade, and they called me `The Windex Man' because I was cleaning the glass.
"To me it's fun jumping in the air, snatching the ball away from people."
According to Dwight Howard, rebounding is "95 percent heart and five percent technique," not that far from Thomas Edison's definition of a genius -- one percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration.
"There's a lot of little tricks to learn," Dwight Howard said, "but more than anything, it's about heart and desire."
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