Denton: Magic Hope Shots to Howard's Head Will Stop
By John Denton
December 16, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – Superstar center Dwight Howard knows that the hard fouls he’s received recently will continue, but he, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy and general manager Otis Smith are hoping that the shots to the shoulders and head will cease after a favorable NBA ruling on Tuesday.
The NBA ruled that Troy Murphy’s hard foul to Howard’s neck and shoulders was indeed a flagrant foul, up from the run-of-the-mill foul that was whistled during Orlando’s defeat of Indiana on Tuesday night.
The league also rescinded the technical foul called against Howard for angrily pushing Murphy away from him following the hard foul. That moved saved Howard $1,500 and kept his technical foul total at five for the season.
The ultimate goal, however, was to get referees to whistle teams for flagrant fouls for hitting and grabbing Howard around the shoulders and neck. It is something that Van Gundy has been asking for for weeks, and on Tuesday the league at least acknowledged Howard had been fouled maliciously.
``At least, the thing that was nice was that they saw it the way that we saw it. That was a flagrant foul and you can’t be hitting people above the shoulders and Dwight handled himself well in the aftermath,’’ Van Gundy said. ``It’s clear in the rules when you are hitting people in the head and above the shoulders that it’s flagrant. It’s just a matter of enforcing what’s already there. Don’t change things just because a guy is big and strong.’’
Howard, whose Magic host the Toronto Raptors tonight, has his doubts about whether or not teams will cease whacking him around the shoulders and head while trying to prevent him from scoring around the rim. Howard has been sent to the free throw line 61 times in the past four games and his 267 free throws are the most in the league.
``It’s not going to happen. I just have to continue to play and not get frustrated with it,’’ Howard said, resigned to the fact that he’ll continue to be fouled hard. ``It’s going to happen again and they won’t go away from it.’’
One reason they won’t, of course, is because Howard is shooting a stellar 63.3 percent from the floor and has been downright unstoppable at times this season when he’s caught the ball deep around the basket. However, teams are enticed into fouling Howard because he makes just 58.4 percent of his free throws.
Phoenix sent Howard to the free throw line 19 times, while Indiana had him attempt 22 free throws. Both Los Angeles Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy and Indiana’s Jim O’Brien have admitted recently that their entire game plan for Howard was to foul or double-team him every time he touched the ball.
The Clippers game last week in Los Angeles was particularly egregious, Van Gundy said. L.A. center Chris Kaman took several shots at Howard, shots that the Magic feel should have been whistled for flagrant fouls. It’s the same tune basically every game, Howard said.
``Every game has been like that. There have been moments in every game where I’ve had to keep my head,’’ said Howard, who is averaging 18.2 points and 12.7 rebounds. ``I just understand that my teammates need me on the floor and I have to play at peace. I can’t get involved in any altercations or let people get me out of my game.’’
Howard’s patience has been tested so many time this season that he even jawed at Toronto power forward Chris Bosh, one of his closest friends in the NBA outside of Orlando, earlier this season following a hard foul.
Like Howard, Smith doubts that Tuesday’s upgrade to a flagrant foul will deter teams from handing the all-star center hard fouls. Smith just wants the officials to enforce the rules that say high fouls should be classified as flagrant.
``It’s in the rulebook, but they’ve just got to enforce it,’’ Smith said. ``I don’t think it will get any easier for him. I still think he’ll get wrapped up a lot. Because as (Indiana) coach (Jim) O’Brien said, `What else are you going to do?’’’
Van Gundy pointed out that there are plenty of rules in place to spark plays at the rim and perimeter players are not allowed to be touched on drives from the outside. He wants the same sort of treatment of Howard and not let foes take whacks at him just because he’s 6-foot-10 and a strapping 275 pounds.
``He’s not the only one, but unfortunately people look at big guys and say, `Well, they are big and strong and it’s no big deal and we’ll let the other smaller people even it up,’’’ Van Gundy said. ``But my point is that we don’t do that with the quick people. We don’t say because he’s quick you can hold him and grab him. There shouldn’t be any evening things up. Just call the rules.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonDecember 16, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – Superstar center Dwight Howard knows that the hard fouls he’s received recently will continue, but he, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy and general manager Otis Smith are hoping that the shots to the shoulders and head will cease after a favorable NBA ruling on Tuesday.
The NBA ruled that Troy Murphy’s hard foul to Howard’s neck and shoulders was indeed a flagrant foul, up from the run-of-the-mill foul that was whistled during Orlando’s defeat of Indiana on Tuesday night.
The league also rescinded the technical foul called against Howard for angrily pushing Murphy away from him following the hard foul. That moved saved Howard $1,500 and kept his technical foul total at five for the season.
The ultimate goal, however, was to get referees to whistle teams for flagrant fouls for hitting and grabbing Howard around the shoulders and neck. It is something that Van Gundy has been asking for for weeks, and on Tuesday the league at least acknowledged Howard had been fouled maliciously.
``At least, the thing that was nice was that they saw it the way that we saw it. That was a flagrant foul and you can’t be hitting people above the shoulders and Dwight handled himself well in the aftermath,’’ Van Gundy said. ``It’s clear in the rules when you are hitting people in the head and above the shoulders that it’s flagrant. It’s just a matter of enforcing what’s already there. Don’t change things just because a guy is big and strong.’’
Howard, whose Magic host the Toronto Raptors tonight, has his doubts about whether or not teams will cease whacking him around the shoulders and head while trying to prevent him from scoring around the rim. Howard has been sent to the free throw line 61 times in the past four games and his 267 free throws are the most in the league.
``It’s not going to happen. I just have to continue to play and not get frustrated with it,’’ Howard said, resigned to the fact that he’ll continue to be fouled hard. ``It’s going to happen again and they won’t go away from it.’’
One reason they won’t, of course, is because Howard is shooting a stellar 63.3 percent from the floor and has been downright unstoppable at times this season when he’s caught the ball deep around the basket. However, teams are enticed into fouling Howard because he makes just 58.4 percent of his free throws.
Phoenix sent Howard to the free throw line 19 times, while Indiana had him attempt 22 free throws. Both Los Angeles Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy and Indiana’s Jim O’Brien have admitted recently that their entire game plan for Howard was to foul or double-team him every time he touched the ball.
The Clippers game last week in Los Angeles was particularly egregious, Van Gundy said. L.A. center Chris Kaman took several shots at Howard, shots that the Magic feel should have been whistled for flagrant fouls. It’s the same tune basically every game, Howard said.
``Every game has been like that. There have been moments in every game where I’ve had to keep my head,’’ said Howard, who is averaging 18.2 points and 12.7 rebounds. ``I just understand that my teammates need me on the floor and I have to play at peace. I can’t get involved in any altercations or let people get me out of my game.’’
Howard’s patience has been tested so many time this season that he even jawed at Toronto power forward Chris Bosh, one of his closest friends in the NBA outside of Orlando, earlier this season following a hard foul.
Like Howard, Smith doubts that Tuesday’s upgrade to a flagrant foul will deter teams from handing the all-star center hard fouls. Smith just wants the officials to enforce the rules that say high fouls should be classified as flagrant.
``It’s in the rulebook, but they’ve just got to enforce it,’’ Smith said. ``I don’t think it will get any easier for him. I still think he’ll get wrapped up a lot. Because as (Indiana) coach (Jim) O’Brien said, `What else are you going to do?’’’
Van Gundy pointed out that there are plenty of rules in place to spark plays at the rim and perimeter players are not allowed to be touched on drives from the outside. He wants the same sort of treatment of Howard and not let foes take whacks at him just because he’s 6-foot-10 and a strapping 275 pounds.
``He’s not the only one, but unfortunately people look at big guys and say, `Well, they are big and strong and it’s no big deal and we’ll let the other smaller people even it up,’’’ Van Gundy said. ``But my point is that we don’t do that with the quick people. We don’t say because he’s quick you can hold him and grab him. There shouldn’t be any evening things up. Just call the rules.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
