I think he is a better version of Mo.T. Same or better scoring ability. Better defense and rebounding. And most of all, more consistant.
Mo tay is bigger and has cooler dunks. Other than that they're the same to me. Just a side note I heard somewhere..... Juwon always has that goa tee because he has oral herpes sickkkkkkkkkk. It might just be a joke but kind of made me think cause he's always had that goa tee since his Michigan days and his whole NBA career.
This guy was the most overpaid player in NBA history. He's an average player who signed a contract that can be directly linked to the lockout. It's not his fault, but he will always be remembered that way.
I want a PF in the mold of Larry Smith/OT/Barkely "Rebounding Machine" PF to start for the Rox. What we have is too much finesse. I mean, really, it is oxymoronic to have no power in a Power Forward. The position screams for it. Just do it, call Karl to come and play for us.
Im sorry i agree with you on our need. But there is no way in hell we get Karl Malone. It will go down as one of the worst things Houston could ever do for the team and fans..... He's good but no need to bring someone like him in our team.
Yes but Malone and Barkley never got many blocks either. They antagonize on defense by tipping balls when the other player makes a move or just bodying up to them making it hard to make the move. Steals can be effective in the post as well: MoT's range through the years: .33 to .82 for a career average of .5. That along with a career average of .57 blocks. Howards range is .57 to 1.28 for a career steal average of .9 and averages .37 blocks. Cato didn't block all that many shots this year it was mainly his presence and just contesting shots that helped so much, reguardless of wether the shot is actually blocked. I know, I know, Cato is what 6'11"? and now we have a couple guys in at 6'8"? All in all I don't think we will come up nearly as short as alot of people think with how much more reliable Howard is on the other end.
This about sums it up... That's the main issue. As Raven and FadeAway_Dreams said. He was overrated because of his contract. Not because of his play. He's a very good PF. But not a type that warrants $105+ Mil. contract! So, the thorn in his side was his big contract and peoples expectations of his performance IN THAT CONTEXT. But listen. Take him out of that context (your vision of high expectations) and place him in OUR CONTEXT (our new team). Pretend that he never got that contract and many would be saying that he's underrated. pgabriel is right. He was the most overpaid player in NBA HISTORY. That's no joke! This is fresh in people minds. But let it go. We have him. We know he's not Duncan. We know that he's not Brand. He's a little better than MoT over-all. I want our PF to rebound better than MoT. So, because of that MoT can not start. That's why Cato was given the spot; rebounding and defense. So, we do get better rebounding out of Howard + the same offense that MoT provided.
The bottom line is if we didn't take Howard we wouldn't have gotten McGrady. He and his contract have already had great value IMO. But I like his game a lot better than most here. I do consider him a significant upgrade over MoT. I do see him a lot like I saw JJ last year. Howard's a smart basketball player with an all-around game. In that sense I think many here are not imagining this guy playing next to Yao. It should have made a much bigger difference for Cato and MoT. JVG's comments today I agree with re: Howard. We get the right pg and the collective basketball IQ of our starters just increased 66% a few times over. That could be worth more than you think.
Sports 610 had a comment from JVG that was along the lines of "Everyone underestimates Juwan Howard. He was just unfortunate to be on terrible a Denver team and a bad Orlando team. Juwan is going to be very hungry."
Juwan Howard signed a 7-yr $105 mil contract eight years ago, and never played up to that contract during it's duration. That's what most of the negativity towards him is all about. Not so much that he's bad, but that he was grossly overpaid during the bulk of his career. In a way, it's not dissimilar to how we feel about Francis. I'm sure everyone would've loved Francis as the Rockets PG if he was just a 3rd option behind T-Mac/Yao. But many of us are disappointed because he wasn't a superstar that we had all hoped for. I personally think Howard makes a capable PF for us. Certainly not a bad 3rd/4th option on offense. But his contract is quite a bit longer than most of us would like.
It's not really negativity. I've watch Howard his whole career. He has a good all around game, and considering his productivity, his contract is not that bad. However, we need a bruiser to team up with Yao. When Cato was out, we got in trouble. That was because we didn't have an enforcer. Every great team has one. Who's ours? I would gladly give up Howard for that enforcer. It's not a matter of talent or productivity, it's a matter of how pieces fit. Both Mo and Howard on the Rockets is like getting two of the same pieces, and neither fits. Question: Does anyone think that Howard's absence at the press conference says something about how long he'll be in Houston?
Why did they overpaid this guy in the first place, did they thought he was going to be the next Micheal Jordan? They obviously did little homework on the dude to blow off that much money.
Back before the collective bargaining agreement players were able to hold teams hostage by demanding outlandish money. If they didn't, they would bolt to another team that COULD give them the money. Today, if a player wants to leave, it's not because of money, because the controlling team can offer the most. Plus, there's a MAX-CONTRACT. This was not the case before. That's why the owners wanted the agreement. Other teams had the power because they had money;offering the biggest contracts, outbidding the controlling team. Howard was a very good prospect (22ppg/8rpg and 48%FG). In order to keep him they had to give him the money he was asking (or his agent really).
What a greedy b*stard he is then...funny, I just went onto his website and he protraits himself as very generous,giving and classy guy, like a Yao type of person and he even wrote his own bioagrahy page about his life.
noize, Truth be told, I doubt you can fault Howard for trying to get the best deal he could. We can call Shaq and KG greedy for signing their monster deals before the cap came into existance. If a team offers you the max, you take it. However, I'm with you in spirit. I hate overpaid athletes.
Could not have said it any better myself. It is not like Howard is the main player in the trade. He is just an additional part of the trade that landed us T-Mac, who is arguably the best in his position. Its not like we can get the best player available at EVERY position. I can guarantee that if we had Duncan or KG, people would be complaining at who our SF, or SG were. We have 2 star (potential superstar) players on the team, which we should complement in other ways. I would not consider Rasheed Wallace a good rebounder (in fact, iirc Francis averaged more rebounds for a period of time a couple of seasons ago) and look what he just achieved with the Pistons. The rockets, need players that can stretch the defense of opposing teams, to give Yao and T-Mac room to move. Whether Howard can do that i dont know, but i am pretty certain he is more capable at doing so than Cato. And I am pretty sure, JVG will work with his Team Defense aspect, not necessarily Man-on-man defense. Its not as if the spurs have superstar defenders in every position. Nesterovic??
It wasn't just him. It would have been every player that was allowed... All you have to do is check the contract list of players before the Collective Bargaining Agreement. He's not the only one. http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm Allen Houston, Chris Webber, Dikembe Mutombo,Alonzo Mourning, Damon Stoudamire all went ape-s*it on money. They all actually hamstrung their teams to never win a title. GMs couldn't afford the talent because single contracts were so high. Not every one was going to "payoff" like Shaq or KG. But the GMs couldn't take that chance of letting them get away. The sad part was that players wanted the title of "the man" before the results / chance of winning a title. It was crazy.
Actually i don't dislike all the overpaid athlete, I think the player who are willing to give to others coming from within themselves, not b/c they are under contract to do so...those are the players i respect the most such as Yao,the great Walter Payton,Dikembe Mutombo and Howard himself according to his fanbase website. Yea, I agree though, someone like Shaq don't deserve his fatt-ass check especially when all he does is complain.
If he's not traded, Juwan Howard is really going to surprise alot of Rox fans. He has decent fundamental's and plays within himself and doesn't force his game. But most importantly, on a team with Yao, McGrady and Jim Jackson, Juwan will be at best the #4 offensive option. He's a damned good shooter that will keep alot of PF's from doubling Yao and also from sagging into the paint to stop McGrady from driving. You just can't leave him open. Another point that ought to be made. One major difference between McGrady and Francis is that Francis needs to dribble to get a shooting rhythm while McGrady can catch a pass and immediately elevate for a shot. Something similar exists between Howard and Mo T. Mo frequently needs a lot of dribbles to get a shooting rhythm while Juwan can take one or two dribbles and pull up for a good shot. He has a much quicker release than Taylor. IMHO, I'd prefer Juwan with the ball and 5 seconds on the shot clock as opposed to Mo.
