Wittman After Practice

Wolves Head Coach Randy Wittman

Q: On the health of Theo Ratliff and if there are any other injuries:

A: He doesn't sound good so we sent him home. I hope (he will be able to play tomorrow), but if it's the flu you don't know. We'll just have to see. Gerald (Green) has got an infected toe; he didn't practice today.

Q: On defending Dwight Howard:

A: He's a handful. Actually it's probably a good test coming off last night with (Zach) Randolph and (Eddy) Curry, who we had to really focus on inside. The thing that's a little different with him this year is having Rashard Lewis over there. He's playing the four position and spreading the floor a little bit more with Dwight in the post. So it's a little different when you face them this year.

Q: On the versatility of the Magic:

A: There's no question in scoring points and they can do it in many ways. (Hedo) Turkoglu has led them in scoring. I don't even know if Howard has been their leading scorer yet in their first three games. Lewis on opening night had a great night. They're capable of scoring from a lot of different positions.

Q: On similarities between Howard and Al Jefferson:

A: They're a little bit the same. Dwight is going through all the same things that this young kid is. Dwight has had a better chance and more opportunity his first couple years than Al did, facing all the things, handling double teams and being a focal point in the post and stuff. When I was there we were still trying to figure out if he was a go-to guy at the end of games, which I'm sure they're still trying to develop in him.

Q: On how they're different:

A: Dwight never lifts a weight and he's as big as an ox. I think Al, from a physique standpoint, is a different body build. Dwight is more of a high-flyer and Al is more of a bang it, brut type of a guy.

Q: On Jefferson handling double-teams:

A: For the most part I thought he did a pretty decent job last night. Getting the ball out, getting it swung around when they did come double. It's just a process that Al going to have to do. Everyday we're going to have to work with him on that. The better he gets at that, the harder he is going to be to guard.

Q: On other bigs needing to step up to guard Howard in case Ratliff cannot go:

A: Yeah, that's the task at hand. He does it at both ends. He's a really good offensive rebounder too. With him and his ability to run the floor like he can, it's going to be important for our bigs, no matter who it is, to run with him because that's where he gets a lot of his garbage costly offensive boards, in transition.

Q: On his feelings after two games:

A: We've got heart right now. We've done some good things and we just haven't been able to win. We've got to do a better job in terms of stupid fouls, putting teams in the bonus and giving them easy free-throw opportunities. Right now it's hard to win games when we're out-shot at the free-throw line like we are. To have a chance to win both of those games and be out shot by 30 free-throws in each game almost, is a credit to these guys that we're in the game and that we've done something up to that point. From the standpoint of earning respect and putting your head down and forcing the official to make a call, we can't get frustrated with the non-calls that aren't going our way.