Dwight Howard is the key, or don't forget about your big man

It is no secret. The Magic go as far as Dwight Howard goes. But lately, Howard has disappeared from the offense. He is not getting the same amount of shots or even the same amount of offensive attention.

True, Howard is not a fantastic free throw shooter. But it is also equally true that the Magic are not as good when they are standing around the 3-point line shooting jumpers while Howard fights inside without getting the ball.

Howard must get his shots and get his looks for Orlando to be successful (again, no secret).

But lately, Howard seems to get forgotten. And the Magic have struggled when this happens. Take the Magic's last loss in Cleveland. Howard took fewer than 10 shots and the team kept itself in the game, but could not pull it out.

Howard needs to be the center of the offense whenever he is in the game. Even if he does not take a shot, he affects the way a defense plays and gives the Magic open spaces for drives and threes.

Until Jameer Nelson returns, the Magic will not have the ability to really attack the basket and score at a consistent rate. That just is not Hedo Turkoglu or Rashard Lewis' game.

You saw it last night in New York. Howard got the ball on the block, was doubled and found Turkoglu in the corner for a big three pointer. From then it was all easy for the Magic as the defense could not decide whether to hedge on Howard or guard the shooters. With the game Howard was having, they decided to keep to Howard and allow shooters the extra space.

The opposit happend Saturday. After a great first quarter, the Knicks did a great job doubling him and forcing him to give up the ball. But then, Orlando stopped going inside to Howard completely and he became a complete non-factor. The Knicks hung around and had a real chance to win.

Howard's biggest problem is that he does lose focus defensively -- and even offensively -- when he does not get the ball. That needs to change. He needs to start demanding the ball and finding other ways to stay involved when his teammates do not get it into him.

But the team also needs to realize that they will go as far as Howard will take them. In the playoffs last year, Howard nearly defeated the Raptors by himself with all those 20-20 performances. In the conference semifinals against the Pistons, he was bumped out of his game and almost disappeared.

That cannot happen if Orlando is going to be sucessful. They cannot forget about their big man in any game no matter how much he is struggling offensively with double teams, turnovers or shots.