The notion that the player the Magic built an entire offense around, who led the entire NBA in post scoring while carrying his team to the finals - has an 'average' post game, is ridiculous.
It is indeed. He had a 'running hook' and that was 98% of his game. You should watch TNT Shaq, Ernie, Kenny and Barkley analyzing his game. He solely relied on one or two moves. I watched a lot of Dwight games as well and all he does is jumping for rebounds. He had more hops than today in his heydays.
I think he had alot of dunks and rebounds that people actually forget that he was not very skilled in the post. I think he actually got better as he trained with Hakeem... but at best his game is a tad above average.... still average compared to the finesse of the Gasol bros, other skilled players.
He can gas-propel the ball out of his ass for all I care, as long as it goes in the basket, why should it matter how he does it and how many moves he has? And least of all do I need Shaq/Ernie/Kenny/Barkley's expert analysis to tell me that.
That might be a good thing. That Dwight used brute force to get buckets and it took its toll on his body. Hakeem has the right idea. He wants Dwight to use his brain and his quickness to get to the rim. Dwight is an athletic mismatch for any Center in the league. He's quicker, faster and more athletic. A lot like Hakeem when he became dominant.
He was a dominant dunker and occasional jump hook shooter and averaged 22 at best. He would have scored near 28-30 with more moves. Don't tell me he is close to Shaq as an offensive player.... He wasn't He was that athletic and fast.
people define 'post scoring' differently. when you put him next to 'post scorers' his game is definitely different. I think of the work post scoring as more back to the basket guys where yes some of howards points will come from back to basket but really less than 30% should. Howard has a unique game and while any points near basket are considered 'post scoring' most of his points will come from rolling to baskets, put backs, alley oops, and inside passes where he has the inside spot and powers up. If we 'post' him up all game al la hakeem we are going to be in a world of trouble. Based on what I have seen mchale knows this and will be posting howard some, but will more so look at trying to get howard the ball inside when he has gained position. getting him the ball in motion.
You have moved the goal post from - he is average - to - he only has one move - to - he is older and less athletic. Well, an older and less athletic Dwight is still the most dominant offensive force in the low post today. Doesn't matter if he has 1 move or 1,000 moves, if you cannot stop him, then that is the definition of dominance. ie. not 'average'
We are realistic, I think howard is what he is and folks expecting him to be great inside is a little far fetched. He's somewhat limited in areas of offense. But he has a chance to get some great looks in this offense. Our offense was fine before he got here. When he was with Orlando he was relied on more then I feel he will be here. In that sense he can flourish. Focus on D and getting ball inside in motion in our already good offense. He wanted to come to a good team and we provided that to him. He seems to want to buy in to getting the ball in motion and playing within the offense to get his touches. So far thats what I have seen and I like what mchale is trying to do with howard. Also remembering we are only 3 games in. perspective. That said I think we are light years ahead of schedule, dwight is helping our offense even more vs. stagnating, our offense looks good! I am very happy with first unit. Once we get omer back we are going to be really stacked. You sound pretty negative daywalker.
I used to love the way TMac would drive and dish to Yao for an easy dunk or soft lay-in next to the basket - it was a thing of beauty and something that Harden and Howard should work on a lot in practice. You got to respect Harden when he's driving to the basket thus leaving Dwight open for easy lobs or dishes down low which will usually result in easy 2s. James just needs to get used to the idea that when defenses collapse on him, that he has a high-caliber player like Dwight to dump it off to.
Dwight is not Yao. Yao was basically unstoppable once he got the ball inside of 10 feet. He had a jump shot, left hook, right hook, fadeaway, and a bevvy of other moves. All in all he just had a nice shooting touch. Also he was 7'6"! THAT you want to take advantage of; Dwight (at 6'9") not so much.
yeah and to counter that dwight is more agile than yao and can get to the open spot and create that space better than yao could. If anything dwight will be a better roll to basket player than yao. Yao was not athletic and had really good traditional post moves. Yao was back to basket dwight is back to basket 30% 70% is roll to basket get inside layups from position. Yao got position different than dwight. Same idea though of getting position but yao ultimately was 70% back to basket.
Dwight's never going to have fans of his post game. I liken his post game to Yao's defense. You don't see anything that would suggest it's good, yet for some reason the team is just successful.
Good analogy. Although, its really as simply as connecting some dots. If Yao's defense wasn't good, then why are opposing players scared to come into the paint? (I call it the 'Yao effect" before Dwight made it popular) If Dwight's post game isn't good, then why the heck do teams double/triple him? (I call it 'common sense' unless people think NBA coaches are just that dumb to triple team an 'average' post player)
This is a strawman argument as the question has never been whether Howard possesses a post game at all. Instead, the convo has been about whether Howard's post game is good enough that it warrants devoting a sizable part of the offense to it at the expense of the PNR which has the potential of being elite with an athelic big man that can catch paired with two excellent PNR ballhandlers.
The Rockets ran the pick and roll 25% of their possessions last year. A team need to give defenses multiple looks or it's too easy to shut the offense down. No team except the Stockton/Malone Jazz could cram P&R down your throat for an entire game and win.
Nothing to worry about. Dwight is a good post player and passing out of the post is getting better, showed that in his first 2 preseason games. Dwight is in the West now, there are a lot of BIGGERS guys than Dwight. He can't always use his power and strength. I did see a lot of quick moves and quick decisions in these preseason games. Very good sign. Dwight's post D and help D has been excellent.
I agree. Pick and roll is just more dynamic anyway. Dwight post ups involve Dwight (one of our teams best players), pick and rolls involve Dwight AND Harden/Lin/Bev (two of our teams best players). They scramble the opposing defense more, give them less opportunity to double team or rotate or do anything. Unless you have Dream out there, you shouldn't be running iso post ups this day and age.
