<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Take a long look at Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard because he could well be one of a vanishing breed in the NBA. In an era of 7-footers shooting three-point shots, Howard, 6-11, 270, plays a big man's game. The paint is where Howard makes his home. He leads the league in rebounding (13.7 a game) and is on pace to become the youngest NBA player to finish the season atop that category; he doesn't turn 21 until Dec. 8. He is also averaging 16.7 points. Of four 20-point, 20-rebound games entering Tuesday, Howard had three. Two came in consecutive games against Memphis and Charlotte last month. "Dwight Howard is the future of post play in our world," says ESPN/ABC analyst Bill Walton, a Hall of Fame center. "For a while it was (Phoenix's) Amare Stoudemire, but he has been slowed by injury. Dwight is coming alive with better size and remarkable athleticism. ... He has a chance to become the face of a diminished breed." Howard, who has added 30 pounds of muscle since his rookie season two years ago, is a rare combination of size, power and quickness. In a preseason game against Atlanta, he leaped over the back of two teammates and dunked an offensive rebound, showing why he has been called "6-11, 270 pounds of funky stuff." "He could be one of those guys who totally changes how a team plays defense against somebody in the post because he can be such a threat in so many different ways," says Magic radio analyst Will Perdue, who won four championship rings while playing center for 13 seasons in the NBA with Chicago and San Antonio. "They're going to have to put out a defense just for him. A lot of guys when they get bigger, they lose their quickness. He's just as quick." Conventional defenses haven't done much to slow Howard this season. He had 27 points and 11 rebounds in his opening night matchup against Chicago's Ben Wallace, the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Howard hit double-figure rebounds in 12 of his 15 games, including the last six in a row, and scored in double figures in 12 games. His 21 points and 16 rebounds Monday helped the Magic to a 13-point victory against the Utah Jazz, who have the NBA's best record (12-3). "I just want to be great in all aspects of my game," says Howard, the reigning NBA Eastern Conference player of the week. "I want to turn this organization around and bring the magic back to Orlando. That's what my goal is." So far so good. The Magic, who have not had a winning season since 2002-03, have the best record in the Eastern Conference (11-4) and their best 15-game start since the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season (also 11-4).</div> Read the Rest (awesome article) My favorite quote from Dwight: "I have to be a little bit more dominant. I have to block shots, get every rebound, clog up the paint on defense. I know that having a dominant inside (game) is going to help everybody on the team."
