SUPERMAN UP CLOSE

Basketball is widely known as “the big man’s game”. Great centers from the NBA had become household names in the last six decades. From George Mikan in the 50’s to Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain in the 60’s to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Willis Reed and Bill Walton in the 70’s to Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing in the 80’s to David Robinson, Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning in the 90’s. Except for Ewing, all these distinguished men, who made a living in the low post, are the anchors of their respective championship squads during their heydays.

During the turn of the century, the swingmen had taken over as the main architects of various championship runs such as Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat. Not to be outdone is the current NBA MVP LeBron James, who despite being title-less, had brought his Cleveland Cavaliers to the finals in 2006-07 season and the best over-all regular season record in 2008-09. But one big man stands in the horizon to continue the legacy of the great big men of the game. He is none other than Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic.

The 6-11 behemoth was picked number over-all by the Orlando Magic during the 2004 NBA draft out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy High School in Atlanta, Georgia. During the past campaign, he led the Magic to an unexpected Eastern Conference title and a bridesmaid finish in the NBA finals. The self-proclaimed “Superman” posted averages of 20.6 ppg and 13.8 rpg in 2008-09. But his finals stint also exposed flaws in his over-all game such as poor free throw shooting and inaccurate perimeter shooting. Still, the future remains bright as ever and potentials are seem limitless for the 23-year old Atlanta native.

Recently, three Hall of Famers were asked to dissect Howard’s game as a bigtime NBA center namely Jabbar, Nate Thurmond and Ewing. First the positives:

Jabbar: “Defensively, he is incredible. He rebounds, he blocks shots and he is very effective when it comes to helping his teammates. He erases a lot of mistakes the perimeter players make with his defense in the middle. He has gotten a much better feel for how to do that, and he learned quickly.”

Thurmond: “There has never been anyone stronger in the middle than Dwight Howard. He moves people out of the way just with his strength, without flinging them all over the place like Shaq would do. As great as Shaq was-and still is-he was mostly big, and he’d just bump you, bump you, bump you till you went flying. This kid Howard, he moves you because he is so much stronger.”

Ewing: “He is always wanting to learn. He is a very hard worker; I think that is the thing that stands out. He knows how good he is, but he isn’t satisfied, and if you look at how the great ones approach the game, that is how you have to do it. You have to want to get better all the time, and Dwight does. He’s a good student.”

And the negatives.

Jabbar: “He has no go-to move. He has worked a little bit on a hook shot, and I would like to see him do that more. But he needs not only that, not only one move that he can turn to, but a variety of moves. He is kind of predictable that way. It works; it is effective because he is so big. But if he really honed his offensive game, he could really be a dominant player.”

Thurmond: “If he can learn to make a 12-footer, forget it. He will be unstoppable. Now, it will take work ethic-it will take the work ethic of a Kobe, a Magic, a Larry Bird. It will take an awesome work ethic-he has to work on it extensively in the offseason. If he does, though, oh boy, look out.”

Ewing: “He has come a long way with his footwork, but he has work to do there. It’s just consistency, being able to trust it. He has some things he can do, but maybe he does not trust it enough yet to do it out on the floor.”

These observations and advises will just make Howard better and stronger as he continues his search for the elusive one that for sure will cement his legacy as the best big man of the new millenium.