DWIGHT HOWARD SHOWS HOW HARD IT IS TO HIT A BASEBALL

by Jack Cobra, Cobra Brigade

Kudos go out to Bugs & Cranks for finding this video of Orlando Magic superstar Dwight Howard taking some batting practice with the Philadelphia Phillies last April. I've had the pleasure of working some baseball camps for kids and one of the most rewarding aspects is watching a child go from not being able to hit, to being able to make solid contact with the ball. That being said, it looks fairly obvious that Howard is going to have a really tough time making that leap. Stick to basketball.....Throw it down, big fella!

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THE RUNDOWN: I DON'T LIKE SHAQ VERY MUCH

by Davey, Blown Coverage

The Rundown is a weekly "gambling" column based on and inspired by the time I spent working at sports books.

As I was reading Simmons' annual "NBA Trade Value" column today, two things made me pretty giddy. First, he ranked Dwight Howard no. 2 in trade value right now. In other words, as of right now, the only other guy with more trade value (considering age, ceiling, cap hit etc. etc.) would be LeBron James.

So, my Magic made a right choice by picking Howard over Emeka Okafur a few seasons ago and the leap that Howard is making right now to that elite level is pretty amazing to see. But the other thing that brought a smile to my face was the fact that the original Orlando Magic big man, Shaq, was totally left off the list.

Two seasons ago, Simmons still considered Shaq to be a top-15 guy in terms of trade value. Now, he's not even top-50. That's quite a drop if you think about it and frankly, I don't mind that at all.

If I were to make a list of players or coaches that have brought me the most pain during my years of following sports, Shaq would have that number one position locked up pretty securely. Up until a few years ago, I would have to have put Michael Jordan first, but recent events have catapulted Shaq over MJ.

And if you're wondering who would be on that list, it's pretty extensive but I'm going to just put the guys that really stick out.

- Kirby Puckett and Jack Morris (Kept the Braves from winning the World Series in '91)
- Jim Leyritz (F*ck this guy. His homerun in game 3 turned the series around and kept the Braves from repeating as champs)
- Chris Burke (Walk-off homerun in the 18th inning! eliminated Atlanta in the '05 play-offs)
- The entire Jacksonville Jaguars team from '99 (Beat Miami 62-7 in the play-offs in what would be Dan Marino's last game)
- Ricky Williams (Abandoned Miami in '04. Went from league's leading rusher to league's biggest joke. The team still hasn't recovered)
- Nick Saban (Offered Dolphin fans hope with arrival in '05. Picked Culpepper over Brees heading into the '06. Disappeared into the night afterwards and opened the floodgates for this horrible season)
- Dave Wannstedt (Ricky got the shit started, Saban completely opened the floodgates but it was Wannstedt who laid the current foundation of this team)
- KirbyFreeman/KyleWright (The two clowns attempting to play quarterback for the Miami Hurricanes the past couple of seasons. They made Brock Berlin look like Carson Palmer)
- Hakeem Olajuwon (Led Houston team that swept Orlando in the '94 season Nba Finals)
- Michael Jordan (His Bulls swept the Magic in the '95 Eastern Conference Finals and things have never been the same, but I'll have to explain a bit more)

So yes, I started following the Magic around the '93 season. By the time '94 came around, Orlando had two of the league's brightest young stars in Shaq and Penny Hardaway and combined with the likes of Dennis Scott, Nick Anderson and Horace Grant, they became one of the funnest teams to watch.

That team was "the boss" like Liston would say. That intro was the boss. The green mascot was the boss. The fact that they made it to the Finals was also very bossy.

In the Finals however they got outplayed by a much more experienced Houston Rockets team led by Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Houston swept Orlando but there was no reason to believe that this team wouldn't be back regularly in the Finals. Heck, they even beat Jordan on the way to making the Finals..

But Jordan regained his swagger the next season and the '95-'96 Bulls were playing on levels we hadn't seen before. They dominated their way to a 72-win regular season and swept Orlando in the Conference Finals and went on to beat the Supersonics for the title as Jordan got his 4th ring.

In the off-season, Shaq choose the money and bolted to L.A. I can't say that I blame him but I'd like to call this "the Curse of Shaq" because Orlando has never been the same.

Penny was left to carry the team alone but he got frustrated and asked for a trade a few seasons later. Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill were supposed to be the next big duo but it never materialized as Hill suffered season ending injury after season ending injury. McGrady got bitter and demanded a trade and the ensuing Steve Francis experiment also failed.

And even now as we have the next big star in Dwight Howard, I'm still not going to be happy until this team makes out of the first round of the play-offs.

Now, you can argue that Jordan would have kept Orlando from winning any titles in those next 3 years, it would have still been fun to watch that battle. Orlando would have been right there with Chicago along with the Pacers, Heat and Knicks. Jordan would have probably still come out on top, but we couldn't even see Orlando compete anymore after Shaq left.

Shaq went to L.A. and got a new sidekick in Kobe and in '99, they found themselves in the Western Conference Finals against the Trailblazers. The series went to game 7 and since I had a feeling that Portland would pull it out, I put a big amount of money on the Blazers to win.

Now here's where things get really painful. The Blazers put in an epic choke performance during the 4th quarter and the Lakers pulled off the biggest game 7 comeback of all-time. I lost my money, Shaq was back in the Finals and he would go on to win 3 titles in a row. You can imagine how that made me feel....

But don't worry, the big guy decided to add a bit more salt to my already gaping wound. After his relationship with Kobe soured, Shaq left L.A. and came back to Florida. But no, he wasn't returning to Orlando. Nope, he was joining the cross-town rival Heat to team with the next budding young star, Dwayne Wade.

And yes, you know how this story ends up. Shaq and Wade led the Heat to the Finals in the '05-'06 season against the Dallas Mavericks. I decided to put cash on the Mavericks to win the series because I just couldn't imagine that Shaq could possibly bring me anymore pain than he already had.

Dallas took a 2-0 series lead but Miami came back to win the next 4 and Shaq had his 4th ring. He finally won one in Florida, but not with Orlando. I mean, how brutal is that??

Imagine the joy that Bengals fans must have felt when they drafted Carson Palmer. Now imagine Carson leaving the Bengals after their play-off season to join the 49ers. He leads San Fran to a few titles while the Bengals flounder and then returns to Ohio, only not to Cincy but to Cleveland as he leads the Browns to a championship. That's basically the equivalent of what I had to deal with.

So yeah, excuse me if I'm enjoying his rapid decline just a tad too much. He hasn't given me many reasons to smile over the past 10 years or so.

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HOUSE OF MIRRORS: HOWARD VS JAMES

by Don, With Malice...

Dwight Howard is having a monster year thus far, and all pundits declare that in any talk on the MVP at the moment, he has to be included in the discussion. On top of all this, he’s just 22. However, there’s another 22 year old that is perennially (at least… over the past few years) included on any MVP discussion… LeBron James (who is just 11 months the elder). So, which is better? If you were a GM starting a new franchise, who would you prefer as your foundation? James, or Howard? I posed this very question to my Epic colleagues…

DMtShooter – Five Tool Tool
LeBron. Better injury history, more proven ability to make his teammates better, a go-to guy late, and this year, hyper-competitive. It's not close in my eyes.

Jack Cobra – Cobra Brigade
That's easy and should take about two seconds......Name the last player that was like Dwight Howard....David Robinson, maybe? Possibly Hakeem? Could have been Shawn Kemp? Ok, now name the last player that was like LeBron......exactly there haven't been any. There has never been a player like LeBron in NBA History and there may not be another like him. The taste of success and failure he had in the playoffs last season has apparently pushed him to go to another level this season. LeBron in a landslide.

Andy Kissko – Rivalfish
This isn't the most in-depth analysis of all time, but I'd pick Howard. My rationale is that even if The Bron (his name in French) gets God himself as a big man, he will still have his MJ complex and need to be the man forever. AND with big men being so rare, it's much less likely The Bron will get a good big man than it is Howard will get a great point guard. In other words, if The Bron gets a big man that's as good as Howard's guard I think the latter would be a better tandem because big men are more valuable.

Big men are like starting pitching in baseball.

Rupert - The Ghosts of Wayne Fontes
It's hard to argue with the Win/Loss column, but I would undoubtedly take LeBron. The supporting cast in Orlando is far better in my opinion to the dead weight LeBron has to drag around on a nightly basis. So, while Howard seems like the better choice as Orlando sits pretty with their totally insane 9-1 road record, 9-1 conference record, and 14-3 overall record, the gut still says LeBron.

Also, let's be honest. Anymore, we have to think about the business side of the decision as well. Would you rather build around MJ or Hakeen/Ewing? MJ, right? Thus, LeBron is the logical choice there as well.

Simon – Simon on Sports
I think any argument for Howard would be a reach.

DCScrap – Epic Carnival
Gotta go with LeBron. He is a more complete player and has shown the ability to take over a game all by himself. Howard has the potential to be dominating, but LeBron, if he really wants it, can dominate on a more regular basis because the ball is in his hands more.

Neate Sager – Out Of Left Field
The question with LeBron.... do his averages, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, whatever it is.... how does that compare to when Oscar Roberton averaged a triple-double for a whole season.... remember, there were more rebounds to be had in the big O's day since teams took more shots... I'd presume more assists were awarded too.

Chris Richardson – Intentional Foul
I'm old school when it comes to basketball, so i'd chose dwight. a team with an unstoppable force in the post, coupled with good guards, is almost unbeatable. see San Antonio/Cleveland. there are a number of swing players out there, none quite like Lebron admittedly, but if you get one that's good, like a Tayshaun or somebody in that style to pair with Howard - plus a forward that can rebound - DH will be a force of nature. Guards are a dime a dozen. Big men are not.

D-Howard for me please.

The Prophet – ProphetFighting
I love Lebron but Howard is starting to remind me of a pretty fair power foward I used to watch growing up in Utah named Karl Malone. Howard is a nastier defender tho.Ultimately, this would be a no-lose proposition. Still, since the question was who *I'd* build a team around-and with all due respect to Lebron-I'd take Howard, find him a good playmaking point guard to reprise the John Stockton role and "pick and roll" everyone to death for the next decade. :-)

Again, this is a "no lose" proposition-sort of like deciding between MJ and Hakeem coming out of college (we won't mention Portland's "Sam Bowie" selection).Like the man said, though, you can't teach dominance in the low post. No disrespect to Lebron who's displayed nothing but class, maturity and game since coming to The Association but if I can pencil a guy in for 25 points and 12 boards a game for the next decade I'm good....Howard's got the added component of being a monster on the defensive end. Ultimately, it comes down to how you want to build a team. Lebron is a pretty good "consolation prize" but if I've got the choice I'll build around Howard and make the rest of the league afraid to drive the lane...

Noce – Chicago Bull
The obvious choice would be to build around LeBron because of his amazing talent, marketability and character.

He is obviously a special player because of his ability to takeover a game and basically dominate a game with little to no supporting talent. James has amazing court vision and a knack for finding the open shooter, but a lot of that is because he is often double and triple teamed. He is a streaky shooter, with a field goal pct. at .48 so far this year.

Similar to Howard, James is a notoriously low pct. free throw shooter, but one would think James would be able to make free throws if he can make 3s. Howard has a field goal pct. of .62 this season and has shown a huge improvement from last season.

James is making $13 million at the age of 22 compared to Howard's $6 million. Dwight, a younger and just as marketable player has flawless character and would actually be more important to a new franchise because of the way he takes away the middle on both ends. He is a great shot blocker and one-on-one defender. On the offensive side, his low post skills are improving and he has shown great scoring efforts this season, including a career high 39 points with 16 rebounds and 5 blocked shots on Wednesday.

I would argue that a new franchise would have a better chance at winning earlier and being successful with Howard rather than James. If you're starting a new franchise you're not guaranteed to get a lot of supporting talent so essentially it would be the same situation that the Cavaliers are in right now with LeBron and nobody else to help him. A new franchise would probably have less talent than James has now so Howard and his inside game would be beneficial because of the simplicity that would arise in the offensive system with Howard. Having a low post game with a consistent scorer like Howard would take a lot of pressure off and offense. Dwight also makes a better defensive presence than LeBron because of his ability to shut down the middle.

Howard, with a few decent outside shooters and a capable point guard would produce a better team than James and an average supporting cast.

WCT – The Ship of Fools
I think that if you are choosing one player to "start a team" with, you should always choose a guy that handles the ball and plays multiple positions. In the NBA you have seen teams win with a smaller guy with no dominant big man, but never a big guy with no dominant ball handler.

I'm biased, but I'm taking LeBron.

Jordi Scrubbings – The Serious Tip
I disagree. Call me biased because I live in Florida, but I would take Howard. Excluding the Jordan era, big guys win. Duncan, Robinson, Hakeem, Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, etc, etc. Not saying they don't need help, but the help is interchangable if you have a monster in the middle.

There is a pipeline of scoring guards and forwards in HS, College, and the pros, but you can't teach dominance in low post. Just ask Kobe about Andrew Bynum.

WCK – 100% Injury Rate
The answer is LeBron. Period.

Don - With Malice...
For me, the key phrase is 'build your franchise around'. Currently, other than the two in question, there are very few players who you could build a franchise around and expect immediate success, other than Kobe Bryant, and maybe - maybe - Wade. So... even just comparing these two to Kobe is heady stuff indeed. For most pundits declare Bryant the most talented player in the game at the moment... and that's in spite of his obvious issues off the court.

And to me, that's the key.

Centers rarely play at a high level with great longevity. Shaq - whilst playing well at the moment - is in a lot of ways a millstone around Miami's neck.

I agree that it's really a 'no-lose' situation, but it all comes down to the fact that whilst Howard will be one of the better centers of his generation, James will be one of the best players of all time.

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