Howard and Van Gundy in a conflict?

[Versubio]

"His focus is on the offensive end. He gets discouraged when he doesn't get the ball. We need him to focus on defense and rebounding and that's not what he wants to do. We got a little bit of a conflict."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/orl-magicspat021108,0,2435395.story

[MagicFan3]

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

I think SVG has Dwight pegged right there. He gets discouraged too easily and worries too much about scoring.

[craig01]

Well, then clear the air.

This might be a good thing.

[magicman123]

he prolly loses focus on defense because he doesnt get the ball that much after the 1st..

[TheGlyde]

Ugh... this is the one thing I did not want to see happen with Dwight... I want him to be a 20/15 guy, he wants to be yet another run of the mill 25/10 guy... and his rebounding numbers plummet...

[Hairy Midget]

I **** agree with Dwight.

He scores 10 points in the first 7 minutes and only TOUCHES the ball maybe 4 more times the rest of the game.

He was 5/6 in the first quarter and 6/11 for the game.

[MagicStarwipe]

Ugh... this is the one thing I did not want to see happen with Dwight... I want him to be a 20/15 guy, he wants to be yet another run of the mill 25/10 guy... and his rebounding numbers plummet...

I disagree. He want to be a 25/15 guy, which he was at the start of the season when we were actually finding him in the post. He is getting discouraged working his ass off for position and never recieving a pass. As a result he is slacking off a bit on the boards and as a help defender. Both Stan and Dwight are in the wrong in my opinion. Although, I side with Dwight mostly.

[penn24]

The fact of the matter is that if instead of sticking his ass up in the air about not getting touches...if he just continued to bring intensity and energy to his defense, challenging shots and cleaning the class...that would lead more easy buckets and more points in his box score stats.

[Bensational]

and so it begins......

there's a balance in this which needs to be found. Dwight can get his points, but he needs to get the rebounds and blocks first. he's obviously worried about becoming another Camby/Dalembert - just there for the boards and blocks and forgotten on offense.

SVG needs to make sure that the most efficient scorer on our team gets the ball more on offense. i'd take Dwight's 10-16 + a few TO's over Lewis' 6-16 3fgs in some games (not hating on Lewis, just making a comparison).

Dwight also needs help on defense so he isn't solely responsible for holding that part of the team together. it's no wonder he'd get discouraged.

[Happyfoosball]

Ugh... this is the one thing I did not want to see happen with Dwight... I want him to be a 20/15 guy, he wants to be yet another run of the mill 25/10 guy... and his rebounding numbers plummet...

Almost all great players get frustrated and their production and effort drops when they don't get involved in the offense.

[magicmamma]

About the time SVG sat Dwight in the 4th, it hit me that I couldn't remember seeing Dwight get a rebound. (Of course Dwight getting a rebound isn't something that draws attention.) The only other player that I couldn't remember getting a rebound was Carlos. After Dwight got back in the game, he got 3 rebounds, for a grand total of 9. Our guards together made almost twice as many.

I've been itching to see SVG sit Dwight for not playing defense. When Dwight gets lazy on defense, the rest of the team tends to follow suit.

[TooNice00]

hopefully dwight and SVG will settle it out. the offense already runs through howard indirectly and i doubt he wants the entire offense to run directly through him. i am sure he just wants a consistent 14 or so shots a game that he was getting earlier in the year. i understand howards frustration of having a first quarter where he drops 10 or 15 points and then when he takes his little break at the end of the first quarter its like things completely change and he is ignored upon his return.

[AdamTheGreek]

SVG was able to confront Shaq with his lack of effort during the Miami days and he's rightfully doing so with Dwight.
Dwight needs to start challenging shots (especially when he's no where near foul trouble).
If you're going to commit a foul, RIP A GUY'S ARM OFF, THROW HIM TO THE GROUND, MAKE HIM REGRET EVER GETTING IN THE PAINT. GOD BLESSED YOU WITH A HELL OF A BODY, KID, USE IT.

[MagicStarwipe]

As frustrating as it is to see a rebound slip away that was in Dwight's reach, or a gaurd go for an uncontested layup, it's equally frustrating to see the team go down double digits while our perimeter players throw up junk posession after posession while not even looking for Dwight. Then you can bet your ass he wont see the ball much for the rest of the game because we'll be looking to catch up with 3's.

[BoricuaBoi]

this worries me, nothing good ever comes out of these coach player rifts.

[AdamTheGreek]

SVG should stick this on Dwight's locker before Wednesday's game:
http://cdn.myxertones.com/tn/c/30524/big/

[sportsrock37]

So let me get this straight. In the 37:40 that Dwight played the Magic were +11. In the 10:20 that Dwight was sitting on the bench the Cavs outscored us by 18 pts. So exactly what did we benefit from sitting Dwight? Regardless of whether or not he's producing statistically we still play SOOOOOO much better with him on the court then with him off the court. He needs to be on the court as much as possible.

Edited.

Please do not put super-long strings of characters together. It messes up the margins. Thanks.

-Dev

[sportsrock37]

Not to mention he finished with the lowest amount of shots of all Magic starters and ZERO turnovers. That's inexcusable.

[lovehoops01]

You know, on one hand, there are games where I'd just like to grab Van Gundy by the jacket collar and ask him why he insists on taking the starters out of the game in the second half when teams come in here with big stars like Kobe and LeBron and Dirk Nowitzki and play them almost all 48 minutes.

But not tonight. To some extent, the team could have fed Dwight more early in the second half. But if you actually watched the second half, there were more opportunities there for Dwight to score off rebounds and putbacks. I know he could have scored more over Dwayne Jones. He appeared to take himself out of much of the second half while he was still on the floor. It's the first time I have seen it like that. The officiating was a little frustrating, too, but there wasn't enough fight in Orlando's game for the Magic to get many calls.

[dmac812]

this conflict really magnifies our need for another rebounding big. if we do not address this need by the trade deadline i expect the tension between dwight and svg only becoming greater.