Orlando’s franchise center has the talent to take over the basketball universe, but does he have the drive and the maturity to truly become great?  That is the question

SCOTT JACOBS

The man with the million dollar smile and the multi million dollar contract sat on the podium, taking questions from reporters just minutes after a discouraging game five no show, in which his team’s season was on the line (but you would have never knew it by the way he played).  You could see his frustration, but you couldn’t tell if he was crushed.

Dwight Howard may be called Superman, but for much of these NBA Finals he was anything but.  And if Superman was selfless, Dwight came across as selfish the more and more this post-season progressed.

He had his flashes of greatness, moments that left you in awe, like his dominant game four performance in overtime against the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals where he simply torched Cleveland’s bigs for 10 points in OT, refusing to let the Magic lose.  His game for the ages performance in game six of that series, 40 points and 14 rebounds, knocked the Cavs right out of the post-season and clinched a finals berth for Orlando for the first time since 1995.

But just like 1995 the Magic lost in the Finals, and I know I may not be popular for this opinion, but I put much of it on Howard.  Unlike Howard who never seems to put it on himself.

Yes, he’s only 23, and yes, he didn’t even go to college, so he’s still relatively new to this whole “handling the pressure” thing, but if I had to give Howard a grade as a team leader, it wouldn’t be all that high.  What bothered me most is it was never anything he could have done better.  It was always someone else or the team.  The great ones take it upon themselves, but you never seemed to hear from Howard during this surprising playoff run that he would, “work harder” or “play smarter” or that his foul shooting “cost the team the game.”

For a player who has so much talent, and so much potential, it was somewhat disheartening to see that Howard still has a lot of growing up to do.  Even though he didn’t pick up a technical in the Finals, Howard needs to learn to control himself better.

As for the tendency to disappear when he doesn’t get involved early?  Well, let’s just say Shaq never did that.  Howard claims that he wants the ball in his hands, but oftentimes he doesn’t seem to do everything in his power to make that happen.  I know the Magic are a jump shot happy team, but Howard can’t let that style take him out of games, especially important ones like the NBA Finals.

Just imagine the story we’d be writing today if Howard had an offensive game.  Take away his baby hook and wide open dunks and Howard has no offensive game.  His athleticism has gotten him this far, but he’s going to have to expand his offensive capabilities if he wants to become an elite player.

There were some games were you couldn’t help but buy the hype that the future of big men had arrived.  But there were other games where the big man looked lost.

That’s the problem.  For a team with no great players, and many good ones, the Magic need consistency from Howard not just defensively, but offensively to make the leap from good team to title team (and Patrick Ewing, his big man coach, is one hell of a former player to learn from).  They need Howard to run to the post, out-muscle his defender for position, take the ball up strong, and establish a presence down low.  Against guys like Anderson Varajeo, Howard looked like a stud.  But against the stronger Lakers Howard had moments in the series where he looked flat out confused.

And his foul shooting, well we won’t even go there.

What Howard needs to do this offseason is develop a much more well rounded offensive game.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, but he needs to add an 8-10 foot jump shot.  He needs to learn better how to catch the ball in traffic and go up strong.  For such an imposing dunker, didn’t it seem like there were times where Howard played really small?

Howard’s dilemna is that he doesn’t have the body frame of a Shaq to push people around, or the shooting touch that Tim Duncan came into the league with basically right out of college.  Maybe Howard would have developed a jump shot had he gone to college, maybe not.  But if he wants to make that step, that transition to greatness he needs to take the bitterness that yesterday’s loss provoked and turn it into motivation.

He needs to hit the gym, and work his tail off to improve.  Guys like Kobe and Wade have a desire and a hunger to get better, and their work ethic backs that up.  For Howard to become great he has to want it.  Right now he’s a good player with a larger than life nickname.  You would think Howard wants to be more than that.

Behind those pearly white teeth and that muscular physique is a man that needs to grow up.  He needs to become a leader, to put the pressure on himself so that he can take it off his team-mates.  Howard has the talent, no one denies that.  But does he have the drive?  Does he have the selflessness?

The sky is the limit for Dwight.  But for Superman to really start to fly he has to take that next step.

The fate of a franchise’s fortunes for the next five years and beyond are riding on it.

Photo: Getty

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