Jesus these guys will ignore anything if we win. Dwight has been a scarecrow at the rim scaring less confident guards, but doing little to substantiate that fear when challenged. Its actually quite obvious.
Thank you. Sheesh, some people here get way too carried away. I wasn't implying Dwight's a black-hole on defense, but he's not protecting the rim on a lot of possessions.
whats up with everyone not acknowledging dwight's played most of the season injured and acting like 16/11 averages are terrible numbers? why so much r****d?
Mostly much ado about nothing. Howard stopped up the lane many times today and made players either take tougher shots or stop earlier than they wanted on their way to the basket. He did a good job getting rebounds. Sometimes when he helps or gets outnumbered his athleticism isn't back to where it was to get back once he commits in one direction. Outside of that his defense is really good. The team's defense is definitely a step up when Howard is in the game. Any complaints about Howard's defense is pretty much just nitpicking. Yes there were a few times when it could have been better. But he's been out for a long time and just coming back. Nothing to worry about at all. And no matter what's going on with his defense, the team's defense is way better with him in the game playing exactly the way he is now.
If you noticed all year REFS would call Fouls on Dwight when he'd challenge ALL potential plays in the paint. I'd rather see Dwight play like he did today and have an impact playing smarter than he did before he re-injured himself. Just looks like he's adjusted to the refs calling stupid fouls
Seriously? I get it. Ignore it until it costs us, then say something. If the man cant block floaters at the top of the square anymore, fine. But atleast go vertical.
Agree. He is wisely contesting everything at the rim and doing a hell of a job at making folks miss. I'm fine with him not aggressively going after blocks if it keeps him out of foul trouble. In fact, I prefer it.
He got key rebounds late in the game. As long as he keeps himself healthy, I'm happy with his effort. WB's kamikaze drives are more likely to get him injured again. In that regard, Harden has been very prudent about his drives.
i noticed it too in the 2nd quarter. Waiters and Westbrook took it to the rim and i got ready to see them shamed and embarrassed, only to watch an easy layup. not complaining - neither of those guys are scrubs when it comes to finishing at the rim. i just assumed, "Oh, Dwight's not quite there yet." he had a great game - and barring some horrible event - he will only get better. If he's hitting his stride 3 weeks from now we'll be good. He missed a lot of games, which might be a blessing for us down the road.
He has lost most of his explosiveness, the days of him getting crazy blocks are probably behind us. He looked good on offense today though, and just him being big on defense will usually be good enough.
/thread right here. You're talking about a guy that is slowly building himself back into 110% basketball shape. Post-season shape. If you haven't noticed Dwight looking more spry game after game since his return...well, whatever. I'm seeing it. His first couple games back he was a full step behind on defense and fouling all over the court. Now he's playing a lil' more cautious, yeah sure, but it's keeping fouls at a minimum and once his timing returns I'm sure we'll see more challenges and blocks. Again, plz plz plz play Smith and Howard together... I'm glad it only took McHale forever and a day to put DH back in at the end of the 4th (and not forever and 2 weeks). Fully expect Howard to be playing ~30+ min. in the postseason and grabbing boards/intimidating as per usual. Perhaps not Orlando Magic Dwight, but a force nonetheless.
Winning covers a lot of stinks. Howard's soft defense were one of the stinks. In contrast TJones coming off from a collapsed lungs gave him more nastiness on the defensive side. You would think Howard was the one that suffer those injuries the way he shy away from some of those Deion Waiter layups.
T-Jones is our rim protector now.. J/k I did notice that Howard was lacking a bit on the defensive side but maybe he was just tired.
Rounding into game-shape. Lol at everyone saying his shot-blocking days are over. He dunked all over the Thunder, grabbing oops only a few other ultra- athletic centers can. As long as Dwight's healthy, he's got ALOT left in the tank.
t-jones had the highlight block but you weren't paying close attention if you thought dwight's defense was bad. sure, he's not 100%, but imo the worst part of this game was when he seemed to be gone for a huge amount of time 3rd/4th and okc let themselves back in the game. i can't sit here and reel off numbers for you, but with no ibaka, dwight harassed the heck out of okc all day long. rwb finishing at the rim means nothing, he's an elite finisher. dwight was huge huge huge this game.
