Dwight Howard has looked a bit lost of late. It was never more obvious than in last night's game against the Grizzlies, in which Josh Smith made his Rocket's debut. During the Rocket's recent very impressive run with Dwight Howard injured, Donatus Motiejunas came into his own and the Rocket's offense came alive in a way that many Rocket's fans clearly recognized as a trend that needed to continue, even after Dwight Howard returned. In last night's game especially, and also in several others, it has appeared that the offense has struggled more when Howard is in the game than when he is out of it. No doubt, Howard is an amazing player and a beast down low. But he needs to find a way to adapt his style of play to the Houston offense that McHale running, which looks fantastic when it is running right and well. During Howard's time with the Lakers, he struggled in part because Kobe Bryant was the center of the offense, somewhat like James Harden has become for the Rockets lately, especially at the end of games, and Dwight was alternatively not the center of the offense. I hope Howard does not start to get frustrated the way he did in Los Angeles, as he is not likely to be the center of the offense here again any time soon. So, what does Howard need to do to make the transition to be successful within this offense? Clearly, Josh Smith was able to largely make the transition in his first game. Dwight has been looking a bit lost out there of late. What can he do to find his proper place in this offense?
What was wrong with the Portland game? That was two games ago? You really think Howard is getting frustrated like in LA? wow.
No, I do not think he is. At least I do not see that he is. I was just expressing that I hope he will not become frustrated.
Dwight's head wasn't in the game from the beginning. The tech after the two quick fouls, he wasn't even trying to close out on Gasol's midrange shots or hustling on transition D. I don't know what's going on, but Feigen tweeted something about Josh Smith being tired from "nervous energy"; maybe Dwight was anxious for his friend?
He might get frustrated with lingering injuries, but not his teammates or role. It's hard to tell if he can string together some dominating performances, but he might not need to. He just needs to remain a threat at all times and defend.
It's not Howard's fault they ran every pick and roll with Smith. AND it's ONE game. Gasol hit everything over Howard so he got a little unlucky. The shot Gasol wasn't covered on was that 3... which was his 2nd made 3 of the year. Gasol missed open jumpers when D-Mo was on him, sometimes it's just luck.
Dwight's pick n roll leaves a lot to be desired. He picks, but doesn't roll. Just watch as he doesn't bother cutting to the basket.
It seems like he is instructed to roll "away" from the hoop, but still towards the baseline. This opens the paint for Harden because it forces a defender to commit to Dwight to prevent the ever devastating alley oop.
Refs are calling some BS ticky tack stuff on him. Hard for him to stay involved. Same crap would happen to Yao, but Dwight isnt a good foul shooter thus his numbers suffer. I still think he is disruptive on the defensive end and a great rebounder.
It wasn't just Dwight last night. Motiejunas had a bad game last night, too. But I think this had more to do with how the Grizzlies defended the post than Dwight or Donatas' demeanor on the court. First off, Gasol has the size and physicality to bother Dwight on the post, and whenever either D-Mo or Dwight had deep position, they were doubling on the dribble, which resulted in turnovers for both D-Mo and Dwight. It was good that Josh Smith made his debut last night, because he gave an extra weapon. He was more effective because the post wasn't his first option. He was getting the ball a lot in the high post and driving to the hoop, using the post-up as the 2nd option, and as for the reason he was getting the ball so much in that spot, the Grizzlies had also started doubling James Harden on the high pick and roll. That said, the Harden-Smith pick and roll was still effective, and I think that really kept us in the game last night. Memphis' defensive schemes last night were great. It really speaks to the talent this team has that we were able to pick up the win at home when they'd taken away the low post (which is how we're able to get so many open threes).
Howard just looked over matched against gasol, but gasol is probably the best center in the nba right now, and he also played one of his better games last night. The positive thing about it, is that Howard will play better, and even when he has a bad offensive game, now we have the depth to still win against the best teams. That's what is great about having 3 great players. 1 can have an off game and you still can play great as a team. Come playoffs that is going to be key in 7 game series when matchups change and teams make adjustments to stop certain players.
Well they obviously couldn't run all there normal set so it's probably attributed to them trying to acclimate Josh Smith into the Offense. Was probly just Free Ballin' it at Times..
Honestly howard looked out of the loop since the start of the game before smith came in. He just didn't have a good night but at the end of the game the smith howard combo was great and the defense was good to
