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[Chron] Howard all smiles while shedding reputation with Rockets

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by redhotrox, Jan 8, 2014.

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redhotrox Contributing Member

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http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/rockets/article/Howard-all-smiles-while-shedding-reputation-with-5122841.php?t=9c3362e94d66506723

The volume was turned up until the walls in the Rockets' locker room shook, music filling the halls outside. Inside, Dwight Howard put on a show.

He had taken control of the music and was dancing along, thrilled with the night's events.

He had scored two points and never left the bench in the fourth quarter. The Rockets, however, had come back to beat the Memphis Grizzlies, and no one was happier about Donatas Motiejunas' role than the star center who had been benched.

Teammates noticed. Howard had arrived in Houston with a reputation many clearly knew, mostly about being too carefree to be sufficiently driven. Yet as Howard belted out lyrics, he demonstrated in equal measures the style and substance they had seen - and how it differed from what they had heard.

Howard has desperately wanted to win, pushing himself in games and practices with far more determination than fits the reputation that preceded him to Houston. And afterward, he has been joyful in ways that never seemed to fit with the Lakers.

"I heard all that, but I always want to get to know someone," fellow first-year Rocket Omri Casspi said. "I don't listen to what other people say, but he surprised me a lot - how good a leader he is, how much he wants to win, and how competitive he is.

"He's just a happy person. I've been around good teammates and bad teammates, guys who are competitive and guys who are not. He is really competitive, but he's a happy guy. You can't get him down. I think that's one of the things that hurt him in L.A. There was a lot of negativity around him and Kobe (Bryant) not getting along. Here, he's always happy. On the court, he's competitive. When there's a water break, he's the one that's going to spill your water and play. When we get between those lines, he wants to be the best he can."

The Lakers' return to Houston on Wednesday offers a reminder of his one season in Los Angeles and a marriage that did not work. Though the Lakers desperately wanted him back and a mismatch usually is about both parties, Howard was labeled. He was widely criticized, first for his clumsy parting with the Orlando Magic, last for choosing to leave the Lakers, and in between for not being Bryant, particularly in a town that had come to revere Bryant and his style as the standard.

The anti-Kobe

Howard is still often goofy. He was not, and is not, Bryant. The Rockets, however, noticed something else. He is similarly hungry. He has sought extra work, adding morning sessions with former Rockets general manager and assistant coach Carroll Dawson. He dramatically changed his diet. He has become an increasingly vocal leader, even jumping teammates when his side was losing Monday's scrimmages, an act that - blasphemous as it would be to say in Los Angeles - would be very Kobe-like.

"It's his personality to not be uptight," said Chandler Parsons. "He looks at it as fortunate to be playing basketball. He's going to have fun doing it. That doesn't mean he's not serious. It doesn't mean he doesn't want to win. He wants to win more than anybody. It's just his personality to smile and have fun.

"As a fan, I heard stuff. Last year, as a player on an opposing team, I heard stuff. But he's been nothing but a great teammate. He's been in the NBA 10 years. He's been an All-Star, an Olympian, Defensive Player of the Year. The only thing he doesn't have is a championship. You can tell he doesn't care about his stats. He doesn't care about anything else. He just wants to win."

Student of the game

That drive led to adding the lessons with Dawson. Howard repeatedly cited the sessions for December's surge. Not wanting to push too hard during the season, Dawson has offered more of a taste of the summer program, but there have already been signs of Howard's using Dawson's lessons, particularly counter moves set up by jump hooks.

"I heard different stories about him, but he's been ideal," Dawson said, again touching on the split between reputation and reality. "He gets it.

"It's not feasible to work as hard as you can in summer, because they have to win games. But he is a good student. He listens. He looks you in eye. He tries to do everything. He is hungry for coaching. He loves (Kevin) McHale and the coaches. I think that's one of the reasons why we got him. He's been a very good student. We just have to repeat it, repeat it, repeat it. We're into counters now. It's just going to take some time."

Dawson said that so far, he has worked to get Howard to slow down once he has a defender on his heels, to read the opponents' actions to better use counter moves and to reduce the arm motion in jump hooks, especially with his left hand. (Until breaking his arm as a child, Howard was lefthanded.) But mostly, Dawson has been impressed with Howard's attitude and encouraged with what they could accomplish when all the games do not get in the way.

"He's very much into this," Dawson said of the coaching sessions. "He wants to be corrected. A lot of pros are not that way. He really has a thirst to be great. He has a chance."

Dawson emphasized as key that the things he has taught big men for decades match well with McHale's lessons, so much so that McHale and Dawson describe Howard's inside play almost exactly the same way, with McHale adding a team strategy.

"We've got to get him the ball more," McHale said. "When he's in a good rhythm, he's into his moves, he's setting things up, he gets going. When he's rushing, he gets a little bit ahead of himself. When he's slow and deliberate and taking the shots he wants to take, he's unguardable down there."

National critics aplenty

That might not fit the national narrative, especially on Thursday nights when TNT's Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley offer helpful hints. Howard said again that he does not concern himself with outside opinions and rarely knows what is said anyway. But with Howard to meet the Lakers again Wednesday, when teammates and coaches describe Howard, they often begin with what they heard before moving on to what they've experienced, as if they wanted to see for themselves, too.

"I don't know where all that came from," McHale said. "He's what I thought he'd be. He's a guy that plays hard. He works. He's been a good teammate. He's been a good guy to coach. But that's what I thought coming in. I talked to him in the summer, and he seemed like a really good guy that was ready to come to a team and be part of a team. He does care. A lot. And he cares about his teammates. All that other stuff, I don't know about."
Click to expand...

#1 redhotrox, Jan 8, 2014

3 people like this.

Carl Herrera Contributing Member

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CD says Dwight loves McHale. As long as Dwight love McHale, Morey will love McHale, too.

#2 Carl Herrera, Jan 8, 2014
larsv8 Contributing Member

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He has exceeded all expectations (except free throws)

#3 larsv8, Jan 8, 2014

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RedRedemption Contributing Member

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larsv8 said: ↑

He has exceeded all expectations (except free throws)
Click to expand...

And even in that category I think he's improved from last year.

#4 RedRedemption, Jan 8, 2014
daywalker02 Member

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Anti-Kobe be fair Mamba has been riding his unhappy ride to 5 championships

I doubt that happy Howard can touch that. He will be thrilled to even get a chance at one or two ships.

#5 daywalker02, Jan 8, 2014
seclusion rip chadwick

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daywalker02 said: ↑

Anti-Kobe be fair Mamba has been riding his unhappy ride to 5 championships

I doubt that happy Howard can touch that. He will be thrilled to even get a chance at one or two ships.
Click to expand...

I do believe in winning at all costs, but if you can win a couple and be a nice guy -- why not? I've lost all respect for Jordan as a person due to the sheer amount of stories I've heard about him. Great basketball player, huge *******. Hakeem was a great basketball player and I hear nothing but good about him. Just throwing that out there.

#6 seclusion, Jan 8, 2014

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shastarocket Contributing Member

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Good read, Feigen and Creech are doing a fantastic job. I shudder to think of the days we'd get hot garbage from Jerome Solomon

#7 shastarocket, Jan 8, 2014

ThatBoyNick Member

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Carl Herrera said: ↑

CD says Dwight loves McHale. As long as Dwight love McHale, Morey will love McHale, too.
Click to expand...

This scares me, McHale isn't a terrible coach but i don't think he's good enough with all he talent we have.

#8 ThatBoyNick, Jan 8, 2014
KlutchQT Contributing Member

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I sure hope McHale means it re: going to Dwight more often. Let him dominate tomorrow.

#9 KlutchQT, Jan 8, 2014
daywalker02 Member

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seclusion said: ↑

I do believe in winning at all costs, but if you can win a couple and be a nice guy -- why not? I've lost all respect for Jordan as a person due to the sheer amount of stories I've heard about him. Great basketball player, huge *******. Hakeem was a great basketball player and I hear nothing but good about him. Just throwing that out there.
Click to expand...

I am just saying Howard should win with happiness but the talent and killer instinct of Jordan and Kobe are above those of Howard.

Howard can be as happy as one gets he probably won't get close to 5 championships.
Just a fact. Not with Lebron, Durant on other teams.

#10 daywalker02, Jan 8, 2014
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in regard to kobe:
it easy to get 5 champ when u have Phill Jackson as coach Shaq as main player for the first 3 , the best front court in the 2nd 2 and Horry + Fisher as your clutch players that bail your hero ball selfish ass !!!

back to thread
yup Howard sure was a pleasant surprise and i fully admit i had low opinion o him before this year.
he showing actual maturity this year and it nice to see that

#11 galpeleg, Jan 8, 2014
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I think he has drive and passion. He's the top Center in the league. Drive and passion got him there. He has energy and motivation. There's no dogging it. He may be limited in his ability to score with a plethra of moves, as most big me are, to be a top 10 player in history, but he has his own move or two. It won't matter. I'm not worried about drive with Howard. I think even Harden has the will to win from an offensive perspective. The team is more or less built. This Championship will all come down to ball movement and trust. Both are achievable with this team. They've shown it at times. They just haven't figured out that at the end of games the ball has to keep moving. The offense has to run that last 8 minutes. Howard has the drive to win championships in my own mind. You don't have to have the ball to do that. And like Magic Johnson, he's happy doing it. This is more or less about the team coming together at the end of games at this point in my opinion.

#12 PhiSlammaJamma, Jan 8, 2014

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Good for him. Good for us.

The world needs more happy people.

#13 RocketRaccoon, Jan 8, 2014

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Howard for all of his flaws on the court has done a great job for us and been a polar opposite of his media rep even though he has shown flashes of his old self.

#14 HardenWay, Jan 8, 2014
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daywalker02 said: ↑

I am just saying Howard should win with happiness but the talent and killer instinct of Jordan and Kobe are above those of Howard.

Howard can be as happy as one gets he probably won't get close to 5 championships.
Just a fact. Not with Lebron, Durant on other teams.
Click to expand...

"killer instincts" are overrated as hell. Kobe's so called drive got him nowhere without Pau, Bynum and Shaq. There's plenty of players that has been previously labeled chokers, no motivation, no drive like Dirk, and Lebron who has won championships.

And then you have guys like Duncan, Hakeem, Magic Johnson who has also won their share of championships without being total assholes.

Chips are won with talent, coaching and chemistry, killer instincts are trivial in comparison

#15 apollo33, Jan 8, 2014

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galpeleg said: ↑

in regard to kobe:
it easy to get 5 champ when u have Phill Jackson as coach Shaq as main player for the first 3 , the best front court in the 2nd 2 and Horry + Fisher as your clutch players that bail your hero ball selfish ass !!!
Click to expand...

LBJ won two championships with 2 other superstars and the best supporting cast in the NBA. Magic won with the greatest center of alltime and James Worthy. Bird had Mchale.

For some reason, Kobe haters only apply this imaginary championship asterisk to Kobe Nobody else lol. The hatred alwayz shows it's ugly face

#16 GoRox2013, Jan 8, 2014
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daywalker02 said: ↑

I am just saying Howard should win with happiness but the talent and killer instinct of Jordan and Kobe are above those of Howard.

Howard can be as happy as one gets he probably won't get close to 5 championships.
Just a fact. Not with Lebron, Durant on other teams.
Click to expand...

Killer instinct ? This is sports not the hunger games. Don't let the media lead you astray

#17 chandlerbang21, Jan 8, 2014
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Carl Herrera said: ↑

CD says Dwight loves McHale. As long as Dwight love McHale, Morey will love McHale, too.
Click to expand...

Not if we lose.

#18 SF3isBack!!, Jan 8, 2014

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"Until breaking his arm as a child, Howard was lefthanded."

Had no idea. Would it be reasonable to infer anything about his free throw shooting woes from this?

#19 Canadiandude, Jan 8, 2014
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shastarocket said: ↑

Good read, Feigen and Creech are doing a fantastic job. I shudder to think of the days we'd get hot garbage from Jerome Solomon
Click to expand...

You mean, Jerome "Mr. Negative Therefore I Belong in a Bigger Media Market Because I'm not Interested in Writing What You Want to Read" Solomon? Him?

#20 ROXTXIA, Jan 8, 2014

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