That is just awesome. That's true basketball being discussed right there. I don't personally believe Howard can truly show us everything that a true center can show due to his relatively small stature (albeit his über athleticism overcomes a lot) and his lack of a post up game, but I can Dream. I miss the Mark Eatons, and Rick Sabonises of he world. Now, those right there were true centers. Man, I miss Hakeem's game and Yao's as well... I wonder when we'll see that again. I just don't see Dwight doing that for us, though I hope to be proven wrong.
The Spurs obliterated Dwight's pick and roll in the playoffs, btw. Got to diversify. He needs to keep working on his low post game.
The backcourt of Darius Morris and Andrew Goudelock wasn't scaring many people. I think James Harden might be a little bit better than them.
You don't remember the games, I think. Marius or Goudelock weren't PnR playmakers. Nash, Steve Blake and to some extent Pau were. They simply gave Steve Nash mid range jump shots and stopped Dwight from rolling. Statistically, a mid range shot -- even from Nash -- is a decent shot to allow, if your offense is good. If Dwight regains his explosiveness and keeps mixing it up, PnR is a powerful weapon. But I don't think people are being very wise when they are asking for a full time PnRolling from Dwight.
If Dikembe and Moses were in that photo, I would print it, frame it, hang it and bow down to its awesomeness every single day.
Yep. I guess Dikembe is a stretch. But Moses is a painful omission. I'm sure they tried to get him, it's a shame he's not there.
I miss these guys so much. I was rewatching the Portland-Houston playoffs series with Yao the other day and it all of a sudden just hit me that it's actually been quite some time since we had the luxury of an unstoppable low post guy. It felt like yesterday when I was watching Yao, and before that Hakeem. God I miss those times.
Sampson: I just wanted to play. I like that we (he and Olajuwon) could be interchangeable. We could both go in the post. We could run, jump, shoot outside, block shots. We were rare big guys that could do multiple things. I remember Hakeem getting steals, going down the court and dunking on people.
wow. why does Dwight look so short? He is the smallest out of all of them? and Yao looks 3 inches taller than Sampson and Sampson is 7"4?
btw, is Omer the best caucasian center we have ever had in our franchise??? something is wrong w my posting rights. Can someone post this as a poll? thanks. i will get you a beer at a Rockets game
Where will Howard rank in the fine Houston legacy of dominant centers? Impossible to tell. So why should Howard fit into the legacy of dominant Houston centers? To answer that question we have to look at why is a center included on Houston's legacy of great centers? I think that it comes down to the priorities of an opponent when scheming for a game against Houston. Does a team have to react to where the center is on the court for every minute of the game? Both on offense and defense? You might ask why this is important. The more players an opponent has to account for on the floor the more difficult defensive rotations become. For example on defense how do you switch a SG onto Howard when it completely opens up any remotely accurate lob pass for a dunk? So let us look at the Dreams impact on the other team. Did they absolutely have to know where he was on the court every moment when playing defense? Yes of course they did. Give him a decent entry pass and it was going to be a bucket for Houston. Give the Dream a path to the ball on a rebound and you were not going to get a rebound. Basically the opponent had to dedicate an agile quick body to the Dream at all times. And many times he required a double team. On offense the opponent had to know where the Dream was positioned for any shot within 10-15 feet of the basket. If the shot went up from anywhere Hakeem could get to, the shot many times were either altered or blocked. A powerful impact on any teams offense. I would contend that Yao had a lesser, but similar effect on opponents game plans. On both sides of the ball. Enter Sir Dwight Howard. Does he fit in the same mold as Yao and the Dream? I would say yes. On defense it is obvious. Howard has more impact on his teams defense than any other player in the last decade. With his incredible mobility and vertical leap Howard is arguable better than Yao on defense and perhaps approaches the lofty pinnacle of Hakeem. On offense Dwight poses some interesting questions. He certainly is not cut from the same cloth as Yao and the Dream, who both excelled in scoring off of the entry pass. Dwight excels in opportunity points. Lobs, small temporary passing lanes, offensive put backs. Different? Yes. Less effective? I believe no to any great degree. Maybe I am an optimist but I view next seasons Howard as a top 3 player in the NBA. I have only to look at the last 6 weeks of the previous season to gauge his progress off injury recovery. Is any player in the NBA equivalent or better on both sides of the ball. I will give you LBJ. I do not believe that there is any one else.
