By SAM
GARDNER
FOXSportsFlorida.com Magic
Writer
Dec. 30, 2010
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard has gotten whistled for technical fouls for just about everything this season.
For talking trash and for talking back. For holding onto the ball too long and for dropping the ball and walking away. From yelling about a no-call and for yelling at himself.
Heck, Howard says he's even been T'd up for asking about why he gets T'd up.
And Thursday night against the New York Knicks, Howard picked up his 12th technical foul of the season, leaving him just four shy of an automatic one-game suspension.
"I guess they say I'm the NBA's bad boy," Howard said with his trademark smile.
Howard leads the league in technical fouls -- and that's even after having two rescinded -- but Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said that it's partly because his star center has the cards stacked against him.
"They're looking for him -- every one of them," Van Gundy said of the league's referees. "They make sure (when) they make a call, they're looking right at him.
"He's not going to be treated like everybody else in the league. ... It's a different ballgame, and he's either going to make an adjustment or he's not."
Making an adjustment is easier said than done when you take the kind of abuse Howard takes in the post. Recently acquired Magic guard Gilbert Arenas likens Howard's physical play down low -- and the beating that comes with it -- to that of a former Magic center.
"He's a dominant force, just like when Shaq was younger," Arenas said. "He's so strong that the contact that's given to him, they're not going to call it as fast, but as soon as he fouls somebody, they're going to call (it). ... I've seen it when Shaq was younger, and I can see it now, (so) you can see why they get so frustrated."
Despite Howard's constantly rising frustration level, Van Gundy isn't buying the idea that he's the NBA's resident rabble-rouser.
"I've said this before and I'll stick to it, I don't think he's any harder on officials than anybody else in the league," he said. "I don't even think he's one of the hardest guys on officials, quite honestly. I could probably give you 20 guys who are harder on officials than he is."
Whatever reasons there are for Howard picking up techs, he needs to find a solution, because with a new cast of characters in the locker room and a paper-thin frontcourt backing Howard up, the Magic can't afford for him to be watching the game from the hotel room.
"When I'm out of my game and teams frustrate me, it trickles on down to everybody else on the team," Howard said. "So I've got to stay composed, as hard as it is. I've got to do it for my teammates. That's what really matters."
A Howard suspension would likely lead Van Gundy to start 6-foot-8 bruiser Brandon Bass at the center position, with Ryan Anderson or Malik Allen coming off the bench. And while a Howard suspension seems inevitable, that's not a position Orlando wants to be in, especially down the homestretch.
"We all because of the rule change, the 'respect of the game,' the emotion at times that we can show is kind of limited, and we just all have to get used to it," point guard Jameer Nelson said. "We have to be smarter, and he has to be smarter than he's been and understand that we need him. We can't afford for him to miss games, especially now."
Howard certainly has enough people in his corner trying to keep him calm, cool and collected.
"My job is to keep the guy composed and keep him under wraps," Nelson said. "It's tough, but we as players have to be on each other and just try to be smart."
Arenas has his own way of helping Howard keep from letting his temper get the best of him.
"I told him, I said ... 'Every foul that you get that I think is dumb is 200 bucks for the team,'" Arenas said. "So I think we've won 400 bucks."
If all else fails, Howard can always try a new alternative to griping about calls.
"I'm going to start learning sign language," Howard joked. "I'll just do signs to the bench (and) to the fans. Just sign language. That way (the refs) can't hear me."
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