Dwight Howard Q&A: Carter a Good Fit for Team’s Open Style of Play

**duncan228** · 11-11-2009

Dwight Howard Q&A: Carter a Good Fit for Team’s Open Style of Play
SportingNews

Even though the Magic reached the NBA Finals last season, the team didn’t stand still in the offseason. Orlando’s biggest splash was adding Vince Carter, but it also added Vince Carter, Ryan Anderson, Brandon Bass and Matt Barnes. Plus, it has a healthy Jameer Nelson, who missed the end of last season with a shoulder injury. While in Charlotte on Tuesday to play the Bobcats, Orlando center Dwight Howard spoke with Sporting News’ Benson Taylor and other reporters about some of the differences between this year’s team and last year’s, locker room leadership, and improving his free throw shooting.

Sporting News: What does it mean to have Jameer back?

Dwight Howard: We’re just happy he’s healthy and he’s able to play. We missed him a lot last season, and just to have him back feels good.

SN: One of the biggest things the team did in the offseason was to bring in Vince Carter. What’s the dynamic like with you guys?

DH: It’s been fun. … He’s a great person to play with, and I’m happy he’s on our team.

SN: How does having Carter on the team open things up for you?

DH: With him on the floor, it just spreads the floor for 3s. If they double team (me), I can pass it out and get easy shots for my teammates. Then I get a chance to go one-on-one. So it works out well.

SN: Has the offense changed at all without Hedo Turkoglu?

DH: It hasn’t. We still run the same plays. I don’t think we’re ever going to change our offense. It’s four out (on the perimeter) and one in. That’s the way we play ball, and we play it well that way.

SN: : After a game like the loss against Oklahoma City (a 28-point loss on Sunday), where’s the leadership? Who speaks up first in the locker room?

DH: It’s not about who speaks up first. … We don’t have to come into the locker room and give a rah-rah speech. Everybody knows what we have to do to be a better team, which is defense. When we got in the locker room, it wasn’t like we started yelling at each other. We don’t need that. We just have to get better. We understand that. We played a terrible game, and I don’t think it’ll happen again.

SN: You’re tired of getting free throw tips, but your percentage is higher this season. So is all that work paying off?

DH: Yeah, it’s been paying off. The thing is, growing up, I was never a bad free throw shooter. I got here and just starting thinking so much about making it—"I’ve got to make my free throws"—that I started putting too much pressure on myself instead of just shooting it. The thing I told my teammates and the coaching staff is, "Hey, just let me shoot." You know, I’m going to make some, I’m going to miss some. It’s a part of basketball—we don’t make all of our shots. Nobody goes 100 percent for the season. So just let me shoot. And they have. And those games where I’m free in my mind, I can just go out there and shoot, and I make them.