Howard here for NBA Madness

Deeply-religious and soft-spoken Orlando Magic power forward Dwight Howard said yesterday without God, he wouldn’t be the National Basketball Association (NBA) player he is and he wouldn’t have been able to realize his dream of flying overseas.

Howard, 19, was the NBA’s 2004 first overall draft pick and averaged a rare double-double, 12 points and 10 rebounds, as a rookie this past season. From high school, he signed a three-year $11.3 Million contract to play for the Magic.

Howard, the second of three children, arrived here late Thursday evening with his parents Dwight Sr. and Sheryl. It is the first-ever overseas trip for the family.

The 6-11, 240-pound star endured a long journey from Atlanta to Manila and said he’s just excited to go abroad, venture outside the US and visit the Philippines. The Howards leave Manila for Taiwan on Monday.

Howard said religion plays a big part in his life and has kept him out of harm’s way. He listens to Gospel music and attends Church service every Sunday and Friday. Howard often participates in peer preaching programs where he quotes from the Bible, talks about overcoming temptations and counsels the youth.

On his rookie season, Howard said it was "fun (and) a roller-coaster ride" and he sometimes felt he was on top of the world playing with teammates Grant Hill and Steve Francis. "I learned a lot and it was a great experience," he added.

The highlights of his baptism of fire were matching up against Kevin Garnett, facing Shaquille O’Neal and playing in a game where Allen Iverson torched Orlando for 60 points.

"I didn’t get to dunk on Shaq," chuckled Howard. "But I tried, only I got put on the ground."

Singling out some of the NBA’s toughest frontcourt players, Howard said he learned from Tim Duncan about playing with composure, from O’Neal about playing with power and Rasheed Wallace about playing inside and outside.

Howard said he’s more comfortable playing power forward than center. In high school, he played mostly center because of his height. Howard was a 6-2 guard in eighth grade then shot up to 6-7 as a freshman in high school, sprouted to 6-7 as a sophomore and eventually grew to 6-11.

As for Orlando, Howard said when coach Johnny Davis was fired last March, the Magic just couldn’t regroup with interim coach Chris Jent and lost its focus as a team. Orlando dropped eight of its last nine regular season games, finished at 36-46 and missed the playoffs.

New coach Brian Hill was recently rehired to call the shots for the Magic next season.

"I’ve never met coach Hill," said Howard. "All I know is he led the Magic to the Finals in 1995 when I was just nine years old. I’m hoping things work out. It’s all about us guys playing together as a team. Our focus should be on defense not all the guys trying to score."

Howard said playing with Grant Hill and Francis is a treat. "I love playing with Grant," he added. "I had one run-in with him. I got in his way during a game. I learned my lesson. Off the court, I learned how he handles himself in front of media and how he handles his life. Steve is a wild man. Without him, we wouldn’t have been able to win a lot of games. He encourages me a lot. He told me one day, the Magic will be my team. I can’t wait for that to happen."

Howard said this summer, he’ll be working on his game, specifically post moves, shooting, staying power, defense, rebounding and conditioning.

Although he was the NBA’s top draft choice last year, Howard said there was no pressure to perform. "I just went out to do my job–rebound, run the floor, play defense and contribute," he said.

Howard, Los Angeles Lakers forward Luke Walton and six bombshells from the Houston Rockets Power Dancers are the special guests at the fifth and biggest NBA Madness, an interactive theme park extravaganza set up on over 30,000 square feet of space outside the Araneta Coliseum until tomorrow.