I like Dwight as a person. He gets in the community and does good things. The problem with Dwight is he really is a big kid. Yea he smiles too much and clowns around. That is not the kid part that is concerning. It is the pouting and such kid part that is concerning. Dwight has to realize that he has the touch of a 2 x 4. If it is not a dunk or a layup he is simply not good. Also with his free throw percentage he is a liability during the most crucial part of the game. I know he has been working with Hakeem, but I am not sure you can teach finesse and soft touch. If he was to mature and realize his offense should come from pick and rolls and clearning up the glass he could succeed.
The problem Howard bashers have is that you can't use his "limited offense" against him NOW, AFTER he has joined the team. Everyone on the planet knew his offensive touch wasn't the greatest BEFORE joining the Rockets. The Rockets chased him, paid him a lot of money, and (more than likely) made him promises of being one of the focal points of the offense ANYWAY. Again, most want to gloss over the fact that the organization (most likely) embellished a little on the role he would have in order to get him to sign here. I'm sure the pitch didn't go like this.... Morey: Howard: Uhhhh, no. More than likely, the Rockets' pitch went something like this.... Morey: Howard: Little did Howard know that the Rockets' real intent was to only make him Screen Setter and Chief. I agree that Howard isn't the best post player, but even so, he still expects the organization to keep whatever promises they made to him. If not, that makes the Rockets look worse, when many consider them to be a joke around the league already. He should've never been brought in if all the Rockets needed was a screen setter and wasn't inclined to build around his abilities. He fell for the hype and they put him in a no-win situation. It's like a company employing you to be one of their project leads. After getting you in, they decide they want you as a secretary instead. You say, hey, I'm a project lead not a secretary. Putting secretary on my resume from this job is a demotion and hurts my career. They say you're a distraction and label you a cancer to the company for complaining. Assuming quitting isn't an option, you lose by accepting the demotion and the damage it does to your career. Or you lose by asking for the position you were promised and being labeled a troublemaker which hurts your reputation and career. Howard is who we thought he was. I'm more disappointed that my Rockets by isolating Dwight out of the offense are making it harder for any other big time free agents to take them seriously. Promising a player star status, then demoting him to screen setter is not a good look. And that's the reputation the Rockets now have whether Dwight leaves or stays.
Lol dude, you're assuming they made him a promise, you don't know that. And even if they did, he still had most post touches than anybody so... Anyway, i still think it was the right move to sign Dwight, but i think everybody in the organization hoped to see him grow in a smart/better man/player since he was stil 27 at the time, welp...
You need to stop making excuses for a proven liar. Secondly I'm pretty sure the rockets didn't tell Dwight that he no longer had to set picks and screens either. He's been given every opportunity. They hired Hakeem to help him develop a post game for God's sake. He didn't improve, I can't see how that's the rockets fault.
They're paying him $22/mil a year. Far more than the other star player on the team. So it's a very safe assumption that he expected to do more than set screens when the games started. I don't think Howard had anything to prove to the Rockets with his game. Rather it was the other way around. Howard was last in the NBA Finals in 2009. The Rockets as an organization haven't been there since 1995. So Howard took a bigger chance on the Rockets than the Rockets took on him. I'm always gonna be Rockets fan, but the reality is he did the franchise a favor by coming here. They may have had expectations of him, but you can best believe that in coming here he had expectations as well from a franchise that hadn't made an NBA Finals in over 20 years.
Funny seeing people ignore these simple facts. Howard got his wish and he failed. And he apparently is the ego wanting the team to go down catering to his preferred style of play. Even with the limited post ups, he still had his fair share of them given the current era of the NBA. He just didn't get enough post ups to feed his ego and visions of being mini-Shaq. And he exacerbated things by refusing to do the things he is historically elite at and quitting on the court, weakening the defense and offense further. Funny thing is he could just use the PnR to catch the ball deeper in the post and then make his moves. He could use that kind of help since he never really learned how to get position anyway. I hoped Howard would not be all the things his former teams/teammates said he was when he came out of LA.
all speculation. an excellent defender/rebounder combination is enough to make you a max player these days. There is no reason to think that just because we paid Dwight that much money, we promised Dwight that he could be as much involved in offense for as long as he wants. That's just a wild assumption on your part. And don't forget the promise goes the other way around too. You think Dwight didn't ensure Morey that he could still be effective at age 30? Would Morey have signed Dwight to the max contract if he knew that Dwight would go through this much of a steep decline at the later stages of his career? I don't think so.
I was watching His/Hers this day and Micheal Smith made the best point about this whole thing, it was a throw away joke but boy was it true. "He said that him and Harden would be Kobe and Shaq...whose the Shaq?" Because it certainly isn't Dwight Howard. If Dwight was a monster down low then sure, we'd all be up in arms about why he doesn't get touches...instead what you see is people wanting to stay away from that. This isn't hindsight, pull up any gamethread and see people simultaneously whine about Dwight getting touches. Everybody knows it but him. He's worked with Kareem, Hakeem, and McHale the 3 best low post players to ever play the friggin game and his low post game is average on a good day and he want's an offense to revolve around him?
Absolutely they expected more, and who's to blame for this if not him? And he absolutely had something to prove since his two Dwightmares were both born cause he didn't play like he should have. And you know, at the time everybody was high on him to Houston cause on paper he and Harden were supposed to be great playing a deadly pick & roll. So again, he's the one who failed -> again. That said you're trying to twist the argument into "who had a better pedigree between Dwight and the Rockets", not sure why since doesn't make sense, if that's your way to see things he should've stay to the Lakers and learn something from Kobe since he was in more finals than him And i'm not even sure he did a favor to us since signing him costed us one year of a cheap Parsons (so laso a very good tradable asset), blocked 22 milions of cap space and also lost a real shot with at least Aldridge...but that's not a way i like to think. Personally i'm still sure it was the right move, he was 27, you hope that he can still grow into a better player/man, especially surrounded by McHale, Hakeem and a city which gives him a lot of love and respect...he picked us cause he was the first with the idea that this was a good place for him, so yeah, what is your point exactly? That at the end of the road, when he failed to develop into a better/smarter player we should've trade Harden and fire coaches/gms like the Magic and Lakers did just to try to make him happy cause he chosed us?
Wow...if Morey really responded to Dwight like that...then what a turd! His silence in the matter isn't helping. Morey basically gave up on Dwight this season...if this is true. Morey owes us an explanation...whether to refute Dwight's comments as false or to stand up for what he told Dwight. He needs to be accountable. Hey, Dwight, the Rockets don't want you. If the Rockets don't want you, then that's not a good sign. Good luck explaining that to your next employer. Nobody wants you because you fail to deliver in the low post. And, you have a GM telling you as much. A GM who has never played the game and has no business telling a player such a thing as "we're not going to involve you more".
You're right. Great points. And I remember Olajuwon being disappointed in Howard regressing during Howard's first season as a Rocket. Howard had his chance to be Shaq and Howard just failed and isn't owning it.
That's funny, but some would argue that Harden is no Kobe either. Whether you like Howard's game or not he has verifiable proof on his resume that he can take a team to the promise land without the best post moves. So yes, he thinks an offense should be built around him because history has shown that it can work. Harden, on the other hand, has all the offense in the world and hasn't proven anything. And yet everyone thinks the proven commodity should take a back seat to an unproven commodity. And somehow everyone thinks Howard is the one in denial of what works? :roll eyes: The Rockets right now don't have a clue. Up is down and down is up.
You know Howard isn't being truthful. His track record says so. No need for Morey to step in the muck. The most Morey would say to Howard is "We are limiting your postups. Please play PnR, the very thing all analytics say you are one of the best at executing the NBA has ever seen."
This. I don't have a problem with Mauri refusing Dwight post ups or catering to his demands of more touches etc. However, as the GM, he needs to respond in a more civil and practical manner testament of a leader. He can't just completely tune off Dwight without a reasonable response (if what Dwight said is true) What kind of precedent does this set to other free agents when you treat your biggest FA acquisition like this?
There is no winner here, the reputation of both Howard & the Rockets organization took a hit, from bad to worse. Players will think twice before they decide to come to Houston, teams will do the same thing before commit a long tern contract to Howard. Think this season is bad for the Rockets, wait until next one.
No one since Dwight is a proven (at this point) liar and crybaby. He's not liked and trusted around the league for a reason.
I've said this before Dwight compares himself to people who have strengths that he doesn't have. During the Barkley interview he compared himself to Kanter. He said he sees Kanter getting the ball in the post why can't he. First im not sure if Kanter gets the ball more than Dwight but Kanter can make his shots. Kanter can hit his free throws. Dwight has to be right in front of the basket in order to make a shot. That's a place where any touch is a foul and he will likely be sent to the line, he cant make free throws. People say why can't they pass the ball like they did to Hakeem? They do, we didn't have the best passers. Go back and watch the tape Hakeem was great. Hakeem didn't rely on the perfect pass he had the ability to get the ball no matter how you passed it and he could make it from anywhere he got it or put himself in a situation where he could score. Dwight is no Hakeem he's no Shaq and the sad thing is he's not even a Dmo or Kanter. That's why he doesn't get the ball there's no conspiracy, he needed to just shut up and play.
