Greek strategy: An alpha male must emerge in Orlando -- right?

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Kobe Bryant called it the alpha male dynamic during last year's Finals. The titles he won with Shaquille O'Neal were so unique because the Lakers were able to win and co-exist with two such creatures. Typically, there's only room enough on the court for one.

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard certainly looks the part. There is no denying his physical prowess or the athleticism that goes with it. But the one criticism that has been fair to level against him has been his lack of alpha maleness.

Howard showed flashes of it during the playoffs last season, when his criticism of Stan Van Gundy and his teammates for not getting him the ball enough seemed so un-Dwight-like. The happy-go-lucky kid in a man's body had never before spoken so boldly out of turn. The fact that it seemed out of character spoke volumes.

Which brings us to the pairing of Howard with Vince Carter and why it will be so fascinating to watch.

In Carter, Howard receives a fellow superstar who has been equally shy about fully embracing the role of franchise player. Carter likes to run his mouth on the court, he was saying Wednesday after practice, but that is the extent of his alpha male instincts. He is a brilliant talent who makes the Magic better on paper, but that's part of the problem. Carter has always been sort of an on-paper kind of player. The numbers are right there, but where's the rest?

What happens when you pair two franchise cornerstones who are reluctant to lead and ask them to split the job? That is why Orlando will be one of the most interesting teams to watch this season -- even more so than teams like the Celtics, Cavaliers and Lakers, who have cornered the market on dominant personalities.

"My job is simple: to dominate both ends of the floor," Howard said. "Vince will do what he does, and I'm gonna do what I do, and it's gonna work. The main thing is, he's gonna take some of the load off so that I can concentrate on other things."

But will Howard's perception that he needs to do less (not more) be good for a player who clearly needs to exert his influence more (not less)?

"I don't have to put up 25 [points] to win," Howard said. "It shouldn't be just putting up big numbers on the offensive end to win. Rebounding and blocking shots is my biggest thing. We've got a lot of scorers on our team, so that's not my main focus. And he's gonna take the load off with the scoring. If he scores, that's good. I don't care if I score five points. My job is to go out there and do everything I can to help my team win."

If you agree with my theory that the Magic would be better if Howard fully embraced the role of franchise player, then you'll agree that the only thing that will save him this season is Carter's reluctance to do the same.

I asked Carter after practice Wednesday how it struck him that he doesn't need to be the offensive focal point in Orlando, and his answer was exactly what I expected: That's not what he wants, anyway. In fact, one of the things that most enthused him about coming to Orlando, according to a source, was the assurance he received from the basketball staff that he wouldn't be the center of attention.

"We're both expected to put the ball in the basket," Carter said, rejecting the notion that his presence takes pressure off Howard. "We're not taking away his ability to score." But when it comes to the spotlight, Carter politely deferred.

"I don't mind," he said. "Hey, whatever. As long as the top's down and we're going down the street with a nice breeze, I'm happy."

That breeze took a different form Wednesday, when Van Gundy lit into Carter for letting J.J. Redick beat him with a backdoor move in the first scrimmage of camp. "Oh, no, I wasn't surprised," said Carter, of whom little defense was demanded in New Jersey. "That's what it's all about."

The partnership between Dwight Howard and Vince Carter will be worth watching. (AP)

What it's really about for the Magic is filling the void left by Hedo Turkoglu, a rare 6-10 wing player who can handle the ball, run the pick-and-roll and create nightmarish mismatches for the opposition. For that reason, replacing him with Carter alone wasn't going to keep the Magic on top in the East.

GM Otis Smith's careful strategizing on free agents Marcin Gortat (re-signed) and Brandon Bass (swiped from Dallas) completed the puzzle, along with underrated swingman Matt Barnes. This Orlando team has more weapons and more ways to beat you than the team that lost to the Lakers in the Finals.

Despite the fact that Carter is a more prolific a scorer than Turkoglu, Van Gundy scoffed at the idea that the dynamics of the offense would change dramatically. And since Van Gundy's track record speaks for itself, I looked up the numbers and found they support his point.

According to Synergy Sports Technology, Carter and Turkoglu played similar roles in their teams' offensive sets last season. Each had his highest percentage of plays as the ball handler in pick-and-roll situations -- 43 percent for Turkoglu and 31 percent for Carter. Their field-goal percentages for those plays were almost identical: Turkoglu shot .425 and Carter .428.

Carter had more than twice as many field-goal attempts on post-ups, three times as many off screens and 40 percent more in isolation -- with a higher shooting percentage. So whatever production Orlando loses from Turkoglu's pick-and-roll action, Carter will more than make up for with post-ups and isolation, which both were Achilles' heels for the Magic last season. With Carter roaming the perimeter and scoring in multiple ways, Orlando no longer has to live and die with 3-point shooting on nights when Howard isn't dominant offensively.

"It helps to have someone who can score the ball," Smith said. "We're fortunate here to have a few guys who are capable of scoring 20 points a night. That's a blessing. Once you have a Vince or somebody who's capable of scoring in different ways -- driving to the basket, from long range, making the pass that leads to the score -- he's capable of doing multiple things for our team. You like those kind of guys."

So what's the problem? In the regular season, nothing at all. Once the Magic adapt to how they need to space the floor and make room for Carter to operate, they'll be on their way to as good a regular season as they've had since Howard has been here.

In the playoffs? That's a different story. Basketball can be broken down with statistical DNA and data dives, and that's all fascinating stuff. But it remains a human game, and a superstar's game. And in the playoffs, your franchise player can't hide from that role. He has to embrace it.

As talented as he is, Carter isn't going to be that guy; he already said that he doesn't want or need to be. So when it comes time to stare down Shaq or Kevin Garnett in the Eastern Conference finals, or deal with Kobe and Ron Artest in the Finals, Howard is going to need to clearly identify himself as the man.

"He wants to accept his responsibility as a leader, as a captain, and I'm doing all I can to really help him grow in that aspect as well," Carter said. "I told him I'm here to help this team win, but also to help him become an even better player if I can possibly do so."

As far as being the alpha male, the player you go to in crunch time, the one whose shoulders have to carry as much as Howard's appear capable of, that's a job that Carter doesn't want or envy.

"It's a tough job, it really is," he said. "It's one thing being a dominant presence around the league, but you have to set the example each and every day. But he's fortunate to have other guys like myself; I've been there. And we have a lot of great players and he has other captains on the team. So we can all help in that aspect to make it easier for him."

At some point, though, Superman will have to fly solo.