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Dwight Howard Growing Into Starring Role  By VINCE THOMAS
TAMPA - Check him out. Dwight Howard has shoulders the size of the basketball he just thundered through the hoop. Dwight Howard's chest is broadening, too. It's hard to tell if his arms grew since last season, but they seem long enough for him to stand at midcourt and high-five a fan cheering in the 300 level.
Dwight Howard's not 20 yet.
Dwight Howard has gained 16 pounds of what seems like muscle since he was the No. 1 selection in the 2004 draft, and Dwight Howard's game is growing with his physique. He's not on some secret regimen, though.
Lifting weights, eating, that's the simple answer for how this man-child got the ball on the left block and, in two dribbles, bullied 36-year-old P.J. Brown into the paint for a feathery bank shot.
"Yeah, I guess I can bang a little more now," Dwight Howard said. The NBA instituted an age minimum to halt the youth movement that Kevin Garnett championed in 1995. For these two teams - the Orlando Magic and the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets - their youths make them tantalizing teams.
The Magic beat the Hornets 101-83 in a preseason game Saturday night in front of about 15,300 at the St. Pete Times Forum. The kids were the show even, through they weren't showing off.
Dwight Howard definitely did. Dwight Howard finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in 24 minutes. He was the best player on the court.
His playmate, 24-year-old DeShawn Stevenson, another high school-to-pro, isn't exactly a toddler anymore, but he's no sage. He scored 10 in a little less than 20 minutes while he and Dwight Howard flashed some chemistry that might make the Magic dangerous for a while.
Dwight Howard hit Stevenson on two give-and-goes in the first quarter. A pick-and-roll didn't happen only after Dwight Howard fumbled the ball as he was going to drop it in. All three plays happened in the span of about four minutes.
"I came back to Orlando early with Dwight Howard and we worked out together," Stevenson said. "So it's just natural. He looks for me, I look for him."
The Hornets were cellar-dwellers last season and they probably won't be heading upstairs this season. Backcourt-buddies Chris Paul and J.R. Smith give the squad hope, though. Neither was exceptional Saturday. Together they shot just 4-for-14 from the field for a combined 13 points.
The new season is less than a month away. For the Magic and the Hornets, success will come as soon as their youngsters help take them there.
HILL SITS: "We want Hill! We want Hill!" Late in the fourth quarter the Forum crowd made it clear: They wanted Hill and they weren't talking about Magic coach Brian Hill, crouching on the sideline in his slacks, suit jacket and wingtip dress shoes. They were chanting for Grant Hill, of course. The forward knew it. He sat in his warmups and smiled for a while. Then he conspired with his teammates. Next he hopped off his seat and gestured as if he were about to check in, only to sit back down after his teammates shifted one seat down. The crowd groaned and the Magic bench erupted in good-natured laughter. Hill didn't play. The oft-injured vet is nursing a bruised right knee.
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.
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