<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">It's increasingly clear that speculation about Brian Hill's imminent demise in Orlando isn't going away, even with the Magic pretty much down to one team that can knock them out of the playoffs (Indiana) and no matter how many times Magic general manager Otis Smith insists that Hill will be back next season. Yet even if the rumblings are true about Hill's approval rating with his players sinking to 1997 levels, there are no indications that any dissatisfaction Dwight Howard has with Hill is prompting the 21-year-old future of the franchise to start plotting a Shaquille O'Neal-style departure from Central Florida. "He doesn't want to leave Orlando," one Magic insider insists. "He just wants the ball." Howard is averaging just 10.6 shots per game and has attempted 10 or more shots in just three of nine games since rumbling for 30 points and 15 rebounds in a home win over Utah on March 14. His free-throw woes and turnover problems -- Howard averages 3.9 giveaways per game, compared to 3.8 for a guy like Steve Nash who has the ball in his hands all night -- have made Hill reluctant to go to Howard in the fourth quarter. The Magic (or at least Hill) appear to be operating on the premise that making the playoffs, at any cost, is the priority over Howard developing better skills dealing with double teams and making use of his considerable physical gifts. It's still considered a lock, though, that Howard will sign a max contract extension this summer just like LeBron James did last summer in Cleveland. Perhaps he'll opt for the three-year extension introduced by James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh as opposed to the full five-year extension preferred by Carmelo Anthony, but it's difficult to imagine a scenario where Howard leaves so many millions on the table when he'd still have to play out two more seasons to get to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2009.</div> Source
I like that Dwight is demanding the ball more, but I completely disagree that giving Dwight the ball is a) less important than making the playoffs, and the ball being in Dwight hands being a liability to our chances of making the playoffs. I would love to see Dwight continue to get 12-15 shots. I understand down the stretch in the last 2-3 minutes in a 1-2 point game not giving him the ball every time(although it should still go in to him every once and awhile to free up more outside shots), but what's Hill's excuse about not giving him the ball in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd quarters? I completely understand that there are times not to give him the ball. I am just sick of seeing 5+ minute stretches where we don't look for Dwight at all on offense.
