[Bucher] What's keeping Howard from being the next great Rockets big man?

so we finally get to see the P & R and POST UP stats

 

This is all well and good to keep Howard happy, but the post ups need to stop in the playoffs.

 

Honestly I'm not sure we'll see Dwight the dominating post up presence any time soon.

He's currently not a finesse player ala Dream, and the current rules don't allow him to physically bang the way they did during the 80's/90's. Just looking at how many times he eats an offensive foul for just turning into his defender gives us a good indication of how the reffing has changed.

Really good observation by Bucher on the impact of the reinstatement of Zone defense and changes to illegal defense rules.

Tough road to hoe for Dwight. And if he ever develops a graceful side to his post up game, it's most likely going to take a significant amount of time.

Personally, I'd like to see more PnR plays from him. Give him some post ups so he can keep working on it, but would rather see it against weaker teams or during blow outs than at critical junctures of the game.

Tough situation for McHale balancing development of Dwight and winning.

 

so... his teammates know that PnR is the best offensive option for HIM and the team and is most successful. Hence Harden's quote last week about running more PnR.

But, Howard insists on playing a low post game, while being pretty bad at it (low percentage, high turnover), so his teammates don't really trust him with the ball down low.

question is - what do the coaches want? and are they able to get howard or the team to buy in to what they want them to do?

btw, this sounds eerily familiar to what the lakers were complaining about last year regarding dwight.

 

shooting 38% for posting up......... missing 39% and giving the ball to the enemies 23% of the times.

That's a disgrace to big man play.

 

Dwight Howard already looks like the next great Rockets big man to me.

 

I don't see the Pick and Roll being that successful in terms of either the ball handler or the screener (Howard) scoring? The opposing teams usually have worked out long in advance to stop teh pick and roll penetration and send another guy to help over when Dwight rolls. It helps when we have a ton of shooters on the outside.

 

Thought we were force feeding Dwight a little too much, now were going to be more selective - Sampson interview today rockets.com

 

If they can improve his post ups even slightly I think it just adds to the playbook that can keep teams guessing rather than just going P&R 99% of the time.

Most of Dwights shots off of post up opportunities are missed due to him not having the touch around the rim some games. His footwork is methodical but solid. As long as they are still winning games, i am totally fine with them getting him more and more comfortable facilitating or scoring off of post ups to try and add some variety to the offensive sets.

Also, Dwight is still commanding double teams, or a help defender on his post ups, and he's shown a very good ability to pass well out of the post. Not everything has been doom and gloom with Dwight in the post.

 

Dwight's post ups need to stop now. His posting up is not an efficient play and teams will soon stop doubling him. Pick and rolls, put backs, occasional jump hook, etc. is his game. He's not a good post up player and probably never will be. Its just not his strength.

 

1.267 PPP is very efficient offense. That's basically the equivalent of 63.35% TS%.

We would win a TON of games if every play was 1.267 PPP.

The Miami Heat only averages 1.192 PPP as the most efficient offense in the NBA. The Rockets average 1.144 PPP.

http://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/true-shooting-percentage

If we could get 1.267 PPP out of every PnR with Howard, that would be nothing to sneeze at...

 

If the Heat come out of the East, we'll need his post game if we want a championship.

Hibbert jumped his ppg from like 13 to being a leading scorer for his team at 22 ppg against the Heat and the Pacers almost won. Their weakness can be abused.

 

Dwight should use his own time to practice his post game. In the meantime, embrace the PnR and win us as many games as possible. Pretty sure the Rockets pay him to win games.

 

Ric Bucher and Bleacher Report, amazing combo.

 

his postup moves wont get the job done with top teams or against top centers, just dont have enough arsenals.

Gotta find offense from other folks.

 

They were made for each other.

Rockets fan?

 

I think you're foolishly being over critical. Yes Dwight looks sloppy at times in the post. HOWEVER, it's still early in the season and I can see him still adjusting to this fast paced style of play. What you're not understanding is we will need him to become an above average post scorer. Why? Because the better teams will slow the game down and force us to play half court. If Dwight continues to get better and continues hitting his free throws, we will the best balanced team in the league by far.


We need to get him the ball MORE not less

 

Reliable post up play.