Denton: Upon Further Review
By John Denton
December 15, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – After further review, the NBA’s league office agreed with Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy that the treatment of center Dwight Howard on Monday night was flagrant and excessive.
The league office reviewed the incident from Monday’s third quarter when Howard was pulled down by his shoulders and neck by Indiana power forward Troy Murphy. At the time, Howard pushed Murphy off of him following the hard foul and both players were assessed technical fouls.
On Tuesday, the league rescinded Howard’s technical foul and upgraded Murphy’s foul to a Flagrant 1 penalty. The league agreed that Howard didn’t throw a punch and was instead just shoving Murphy off of him.
Upset at how his star center had been fouled hard about the head and shoulders in recent games, Van Gundy pleaded with the league following Monday’s 106-98 victory to review the third-quarter play.
``They’re not supposed to let them be up around the neck and head, but (the media) see it and it’s pretty consistently (happening) every night,’’ Van Gundy said. ``We had a couple of them in L.A, and that one (Monday night) was brutal. I’m not even saying guys are doing it intentionally. But you don’t just, as he’s going up, get to grab him around the neck and pull him. That’s a tough thing.’’
Howard kept his cool during the incident and put together one of his most dominant games of the season. He had 21 points, 23 rebounds and four blocked shots. Nine of his rebounds came on the offensive end of the floor and he made 13 of 22 free throws.
It was Howard’s third 20-point, 20-rebound game of the season and the 26th of his six-year NBA career. Also, it was the 34th time that he’s corralled at least 20 rebounds.
Howard, the NBA’s leader in free throws attempted on the season, has been sent to the line 61 times in the past four games. To his credit, he’s kept his composure despite several hard fouls, stressing that his team needs him to stay on the floor in order to win. He’s also well aware that a big part of other team’s strategies are to try and frustrate him.
``I just have to realize what’s important and that’s my team needing me on the floor so that we can win games,’’ Howard said. ``All I can really control right now is my anger and I’m going to do everything in my power to stay calm and not get frustrated.
``I talked to some of those Indy players out there on the floor and they all said the same thing about not trying to hurt me out there on the floor,’’ Howard continued. ``They’re just trying to make sure I don’t score, but I can’t get frustrated when they do foul me. If they don’t foul me they know I’m going to finish the play. And if they do foul me, I just have to play through it.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonDecember 15, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – After further review, the NBA’s league office agreed with Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy that the treatment of center Dwight Howard on Monday night was flagrant and excessive.
The league office reviewed the incident from Monday’s third quarter when Howard was pulled down by his shoulders and neck by Indiana power forward Troy Murphy. At the time, Howard pushed Murphy off of him following the hard foul and both players were assessed technical fouls.
On Tuesday, the league rescinded Howard’s technical foul and upgraded Murphy’s foul to a Flagrant 1 penalty. The league agreed that Howard didn’t throw a punch and was instead just shoving Murphy off of him.
Upset at how his star center had been fouled hard about the head and shoulders in recent games, Van Gundy pleaded with the league following Monday’s 106-98 victory to review the third-quarter play.
``They’re not supposed to let them be up around the neck and head, but (the media) see it and it’s pretty consistently (happening) every night,’’ Van Gundy said. ``We had a couple of them in L.A, and that one (Monday night) was brutal. I’m not even saying guys are doing it intentionally. But you don’t just, as he’s going up, get to grab him around the neck and pull him. That’s a tough thing.’’
Howard kept his cool during the incident and put together one of his most dominant games of the season. He had 21 points, 23 rebounds and four blocked shots. Nine of his rebounds came on the offensive end of the floor and he made 13 of 22 free throws.
It was Howard’s third 20-point, 20-rebound game of the season and the 26th of his six-year NBA career. Also, it was the 34th time that he’s corralled at least 20 rebounds.
Howard, the NBA’s leader in free throws attempted on the season, has been sent to the line 61 times in the past four games. To his credit, he’s kept his composure despite several hard fouls, stressing that his team needs him to stay on the floor in order to win. He’s also well aware that a big part of other team’s strategies are to try and frustrate him.
``I just have to realize what’s important and that’s my team needing me on the floor so that we can win games,’’ Howard said. ``All I can really control right now is my anger and I’m going to do everything in my power to stay calm and not get frustrated.
``I talked to some of those Indy players out there on the floor and they all said the same thing about not trying to hurt me out there on the floor,’’ Howard continued. ``They’re just trying to make sure I don’t score, but I can’t get frustrated when they do foul me. If they don’t foul me they know I’m going to finish the play. And if they do foul me, I just have to play through it.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
