Hubie Brown predicted that Dwight Howard was going to destroy the Cavs in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals: "He is quicker than Ilgauskas and he's bigger than Varejao"

Hubie Brown predicted that Dwight Howard was going to destroy the Cavs in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals: “He is quicker than Ilgauskas and he’s bigger than Varejao” originally appeared on Basketball Network.

While most were focused on LeBron James in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals, Hubie Brown saw Dwight Howard as the real problem. The Hall of Fame coach believed the Cleveland Cavaliers had no clear answer for him and that gave the Orlando Magic the upper hand.

“It’s not that simple,” Brown told journalist David Friedman after the latter asked if the Cavs would be better off doubling or going single coverage against Howard. “Mainly because if you just play him head up, he is quicker than Ilgauskas and he’s bigger than Varejao, so consequently, at some time during the game, you are going to have to double-team him.”

Brown drew the teams’ season series as a reference, where the Magic won two games to the Cavs’ one. Orlando averaged 10 3-point makes (which was relatively high during that era), hitting at a 43 percent clip.

However, as Brown pointed out, many of those perimeter looks didn’t come by accident. They were a byproduct of Howard’s impact. He demanded attention in the paint, not just for his scoring, but because of how relentlessly he crashed the glass.

Against the Boston Celtics in the second round, Howard pulled down 120 rebounds, including 29 on the offensive end. Those extra possessions often forced defenses to collapse, opening up clean looks from deep after quick kickouts to the perimeter.

Orlando had the tougher road to the ECF

The Cavaliers entered the 2009 Eastern Conference finals with the league’s best record at 66-16 and had breezed through the playoffs, sweeping both the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks.

But in Brown’s eyes, that dominance didn’t tell the whole story. While Cleveland coasted, Orlando went through a grueling seven-game series against the defending champion Boston and came out sharper. The Magic also held the upper hand in recent matchups, winning the season series and taking eight of the last 11 games against the Cavs dating back two seasons ago.

“Look, throw out the 8-0 (Cleveland playoff record),” Brown said, “because Detroit was horrible and then Atlanta had three starters out. So this is their first legitimate competition. Now, you say, how did this team (Orlando) beat them two out of three and eight of the last 11? This team must do something right (versus Cleveland) from a defensive standpoint that nobody else is doing in the Eastern Conference; they play them better than anybody: they change up and they do a lot of things.”

Needless to say, that was five decades of coaching experience talking. As the series unfolded, Brown proved to be spot on in everything.

Dwight ruined a potential LeBron-Kobe finals

The NBA’s dream of a LeBron-Kobe NBA finals was officially derailed in Game 6, and Howard made sure of it. With the Magic holding a 3-2 series lead, Howard turned in a dominant performance on his home floor: 40 points, 14 rebounds and relentless pressure on both ends. He went 14-for-21 from the field and 12-for-16 from the line, punishing the Cavs for every late rotation and failed boxout.

As Brown predicted, Cleveland had no answers for Dwight. Ilgauskas couldn’t keep up with Howard’s speed and Varejao couldn’t match his strength. Every time the Cavaliers tried to send help, they got burned by a pass to an open shooter or a quick move to the rim. Howard controlled the game from the inside out, setting the tone for a 103-90 win that sealed the series.

Again, Brown called the series before anyone else did. Impressively, he didn’t need analytics to spot the gap; he perceived it with a coach’s eye and decades of playoff scars.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 20, 2025, where it first appeared.

Hubie Brown predicted that Dwight Howard was going to destroy the Cavs in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals: “He is quicker than Ilgauskas and he’s bigger than Varejao”

Tags: