by Bob Bagley, NBA betting analyst - February 17, 2009
The All-Star break is behind them. The mid-season interruption followed the Magic's Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, and Hedo Turkoglu combining for a mere 39 points in a losing home-court effort to the Denver Nuggets just before the break. In all, the Magic have lost 3 of 5 and are searching for some of the offensive power that led them to a comfortable 7 1/2 game lead in the division. They shot only 30% in that Denver game and committed 24 turnovers. Both stats were season-worst figures. Orlando returns to play February 17th against the Charlotte Bobcats. They are seeking a return to the overpowering play of earlier in the season.
Head Coach Stan Van Gundy is counting on All-Star center Howard to lead the team by setting an example for the other players. "Dwight has it in him. It starts with effort and energy. He has got to dominate every night defensively and on the boards," Van Gundy said. "There's nothing any team can do to keep him from dominating."
It's a safe basketball bet that Howard will return to his dominating ways. The 23-year-old just returned from playing in his third All-Star game in a five-year career. Dwight currently is the league-leader in both blocked shots and in rebounding. He ruled over the Bobcats last season, averaging better than 26 points, 19 rebounds and 3 blocked shots per game. That wasn't true this year in an earlier meeting with Charlotte, when he scored only four points and fouled out.
Van Gundy has made it abundantly clear that he wants Dwight Howard to be the dominating player the Magic can count on every game. "Because Dwight's got that ability, the bar is very, very high and it's very hard for him to have a performance at both ends that really pleases me," he said recently. "I don't mean to say that in a bad way, but he's just so talented." It sounds like the coach expects Howard to step it up a notch or two – and keep it there.
