Dwight Gets His Patti LaBelle On

[lethalweapon3]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/13997289/joking-aside-magics-howard-returning-with-new-necessary-tude/

"Joking aside, Magic's Howard returning with new, necessary 'tude"

(Hopefully complete with the famous Patti 'do, too...)

"We heard it all summer: 'The Miami Heat are going to win. They're going to do this and do that,'" Howard said. "In our minds we're like, 'Hey, they haven't played a game yet so what makes them champions?'"

Lovin' the war of words between our Floridian foes.

But have the days of the Jolly Blue Giant come to a surly end?

What has stung Howard all summer -- from the weight room to the practice court, where he's been known to shoot 1,000 jumpers a day -- is the humiliation he experienced at the hands of the Celtics at the end of May. That, more than anything, had Howard vowing Wednesday that his days of playing Mr. Nice Guy are over.

"Losing the way we did to Boston, I think it kind of pissed me off to the point that I didn't want our team to be looked at as the team that lost to Boston the way we did," Howard said. "[it was] the way we were viewed by the media, the way I was viewed.

"I went from this nice guy to this goon or something like that. And I'm like, 'Hey, I'm playing basketball. If they're going to be physical, we're going to be physical.' People were saying our team wasn't physical and I didn't like that. I'm a physical player and I want my teammates to be the same way. If people are calling us a team that doesn't like to be physical, I don't like that."

Howard said the turning point was after Orlando fell behind 3-0 to Boston in the conference finals, having been eviscerated at every turn by the Celtics' smothering defense and the dominant play of Rajon Rondo. It took that kind of embarrassment, that kind of wakeup call for something to click.

"I wasn't about to lie down in front of my teammates," Howard said. "I just had to figure out a way to do whatever I can to try to get our team back in the series."

It was too late to come back and win the series, but Howard believes he planted the seeds for the season that is upon him now. In the consecutive games Orlando won when facing elimination, Howard was unstoppable with 53 points, 26 rebounds and nine blocks. ("I found out I had another gear in me," he said.) And that wasn't the only place where Howard changed. He changed in the locker room, too.

"I really learned how to talk to my teammates, be a better leader, be more vocal," Howard said. "But also in the locker room, show my teammates a different side of me. The side that most people always see is me smiling and having fun, which is great. But I showed my teammates that when it's time to get serious, then it's time to get serious. And I'm going to expect them to do the same."

Amazing what some leaders learn in the playoffs... Here's hoping at least one other perennial playoff contender takes note...

~lw3

Edited September 23, 2010 by lethalweapon3