What were your thoughts on Dwight Howard prior to him coming to Houston?

Still immature person. He had a fight with Nash for not passing the ball to him whe he was close to the goal.

 

Talented likeable player on a unlikeable team (Lakers).

 

i thought if he signs ok but if he didnt i was ok with it also

 

I loved Dwight's personality. Something that was missing for the past two years. I miss LeBron's personality too. I hate all these Kobe-loving douchebags that force these athletes to get serious and never smile and never have fun.

I was a huge fan of Dwight up until a year ago when he looked like a big douche. Still like him, but he isn't the same Dwight as before.

 

A defensive stud with an under-developed offensive game.

Should be better offensively than his currently is.

Still feel that way.

 

Overrated. Didn't think he could win a championship being the best player on the court. Now that he is a Rocket however, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

But, in all seriousness, I hope he doesn't expect the Rockets to scrap their offensive strengths in favor of posting up Dwight every possession and playing a half court game. He's not good enough offensively to warrant that. This team can be so so dangerous if he sets strong picks and rolls hard to the paint. Can you imagine how many fouls he and Harden will rack on the opposing team? Harden led the league in free throw attempts last year and Dwight has consistently done that in years past. You also throw in Jeremy Lin, yes Jeremy Lin, into the mix, who had one of the best assist rates in the paint and you're getting 5 or more easy baskets every night. If they can figure out how to mesh together, this offense can be scary good.

 

I thought he was immature, probably not particularly bright, wildly irresponsible and more than a little hypocritical. Since he's entered the league he has often mentioned Jesus and God at pretty much every opportunity - meanwhile, reports have him with anywhere between 3 and 8 baby mommas. I have never liked the guy.

Still feel pretty much the same way - ONLY NOW HE IS A GOD AMONG MEN! And who am I to question a God?

 

Most talented player in the league, but immature. Could easily climb the mountain and take his team to the championship, but would need one other star to stick the flag at the top. He can't make free throws.

I honestly though, prior to last year, that the Howard Kobe Gasol Nash Artest team would be the #1 competition to Lebron in the Finals.

 

Cry baby.

 

I didn't like the way he handled the Orlando stuff, i certainly don't blame him for the Lakers rubbish though.
Supreme athlete who can be a lot better than he is.

Must also try to become at least a 60% FT shooter

 

Really liked his persona until all the "stuff" in Orlando when he came off as really immature. Great talent, most of which is still unrealized. We will see how willing he is to work and work hard. Asik could teach him a thing or two about that.

 

Immature
Offensively underdeveloped
Lacking work ethic
Elite athleticism
Great defensive instincts
Good teammate (pre-LA; on the court he was actually a really supportive and high effort kind of guy)

 

Perfect for our team. For real. That's what I thought. I thought, CP3, Tony Parker, Durant, and so on are better, but Dwight is the man this Rockets team needs.

 

I'm close to this. I never liked him before he joined us. Never liked his antics and drama. But I guess I'll have to grow to like him now.

 

Never really cared for his personality off the court, but it never got in the way of appreciating what he has done on the court. The only question mark I have with him is his supposed distaste for PnR. He's not a great post player and a terrible FT shooter. He can be brilliant in PnR. I just hope they don't completely abandon what worked last year because Dwight wants to proved Shaq wrong.

 

I went through a few stages with Howard.

1. At first, I kept comparing him to Yao and trying to find methods to claim Yao is better than him.
2. After Yao started having injuries, I basically know him as the best center in the NBA and found it amazing that he could lead the Magic to the finals.
3. With the start of Dwightmare, I kept hoping he'd come to the Rockets, all the while knowing he doesn't want to be here. So mixed emotions.
4. When he was in LA, I stopped caring... until they started sucking and he started pouting, at which time I became interested in him again, knowing we could get him in FA.

I have never soured on getting Dwight Howard. I would say a good comparison would be T-Mac before he came here. T-Mac was considered a quitter, injury issues, not a winning player, etc. etc. etc. Same with Dwight in LA. With both players, I wanted the Rockets to get them regardless. Flawed superstars are still superstars. And in the end I want my team to win, not being boy scouts while getting destroyed in the 1st round.

 

I wanted him badly. When healthy (knock on wood), he's a top 3 player in the league, arguably the 2nd best when considering impact on both ends of the court. If you can obtain a player like that by only sacrificing cap room, you go for it.

As far as the drama, you never know the whole story. The media spins things the way they want.