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

A happy Howard makes me happy.

 

To those that says its okay for him to develop throughout the season. But how much really can he really improve? i believe this is his 10th season in the league i think he's pretty much already what he is.

 

I think the post-up situation may be similar to his FT situation. Which is that he tenses up in games and don't perform as well. And the fact that he's sucking in the post and turning the ball over only worsens the situation.

Theoretically speaking, the answer should be to go to him in the post under ideal circumstances. Where he'd have more success, more confidence, etc. But practically speaking, it's hard. I've watched enough of Yao to know just how hard it is to work a post-game into an offense consistently.

 

I don't care if he misses the shot. It's the sloppy ball handling that frustrates me.

 

his initial postups are a bit too far from the basket i think...he needs to establish himself a bit closer and early!

 

What you see with Dwight at this point is mainly what you get. He hasn't developed that many low post skills up to this point and I believe he became a prisoner to his freakish athleticism early on in his career. Because of his freakish athleticism, he probably never felt compelled to work more on skill which may lead to his game not aging well. A lot of the time he tries to do too much when he gets the ball in the post as if he's trying to show everyone he has a post game. I also agree teammates should start giving him the ball in spots where he can be more successful and get the ball to him quickly, mainly when he is right at the basket in good position. At this point, Dwight just needs to stick to his strengths and do those strengths well. If he does that, he is still a major asset to the team and can still be a force. I'm glad the coaching staff is starting to verbalize and stress with team to stop forcing the post ups to Dwight so much.

 

I would love to see the old jerry sloan set. Put howard on weak blk,jones at ft line,hardwn on strong side wing ,parsons weakside wing,beverely at point. Bev passes to harden and rubs off jones. If its open he gets a layup,but if not,he sets a cross screen and howard flashes in front of the rim. Even if howard doesn't get the easy layup, he can get the ball close enough that its 1 turn jump hook or its a pnr with jones and harden.

 

I'm happy with Dwight's last two games, although they were not against elite defenses.

I think the team used the first 20 games to test different strategies. Going forward, they are committed to what works.

I liked particularly how Harden was running the PnR with both Howard and TJones. And how our high PnR includes one where Howard rolls to the rim on Harden's 3pt shot and cleans up the boards when he misses.

When opponents stymie the PnR, then we will need that post-up or the lob pass or the offensive rebounds that lead to putbacks. They all want to win.

 

You know it.

 

I know what's keeping Howard from being the next great Rockets big man.
























A full season.

 

1. Not being able to get good position in the post. e.g. not sealing off his man, too far from the basket.
2. Lack of footwork and variety of post moves. (He still dribbles to his left shoulder most of the time.)
3. Bad court awareness in the post. Doesn't see the double team coming, doesn't know how to react to a double team or who is open for a kickout pass.

That's a lot of things to fix. It might take Hakeem another 2 offseasons to fix in his practice clinics.

 

Ric Bucher is now writing for bleacherreport? Damn he's fallen since being with ESPN.

 

1. Rule changes
2. Lack of offensive skill

 

Howard said the moves Olajuwon made back then he couldn't make today because of the rule changes. WTF...!!!! Dream would post up 20 feet away from the basket if he had to. He wasn't limited to having to be right up under the basket to be effective. Howard is committing blasphemy to make excuses for his lack of post game...

 

This ▲▲▲

This was a big reason I didn't want the Rockets to go after Howard. Teams aren't going to let someone embarrass them and pick & roll to the basket and dunk on them the entire game especially in the playoffs. The Clippers did it all last year during the regular season but come playoffs _ Memphis shut all of that down.

I believe what Howard said was right _ but I don't believe he has the offensive skill set to have the offense run through him... And that's pretty much what I think he's saying is that the offense needs to be run through him like in Orlando (or he wants to be more involved in the offense).

 

Dwight is or was as good as he is going to get, he is not a dominant big that can demand the ball and take over a game - he is an elite defender and rebounder.

He is the best in the league now, but is not as good as some of the Rox bigs in the past, even the recent past with Yao.

Dwight is a good player, but does not have the willpower or drive to be an all time player, he settles for his natural talent and doesn't strive to improve.

Doesn't mean he is bad, just means he could have been so much better.

DD

 

Im happy to see the Dream tell him to run the floor and just jump hook em to death...now its Dwights turn to listen...lol

 

Y'all are trying to get him to do dreamshakes, I just close my eyes and pray anytime he touches the ball and assumes scoring position - I pray it's not a turnover.

I don't need this guy to score 25. I need him to be Dwight Howard.