Im relatively new to the forum. Im a harlem resident and knicks fan for over 20 years. However after Linsanity took his talents to houston, ive become a 2ndary fan of houston. My 2 favorite teams played so i had to head to the garden. Luckily i got 3rd row seats right behind victor cruz. Here are a couple of thoughts: - ill spare you the knicks perspective. They suck and they are tanking. What i dont understand is why people will pay good money to basically watch the summer league roster. No joke: galloway, hardaway, wear, early and alrich was once the starting lineup over the summer. That costs $20 for a double header. Knicks tickets cost $200 for the upper seats. - onto the rockets, Im a dwight fan but i can understand why he has his critics. I like to watch the pregame warmups. I saw harden working on foul shots, beverley working on defense, josh working on long 2s (smh) and dwight working on 3s, heisman poses and flirting with girls. (i have this all on video but i dont know how to post it). Hes a clown basically - im sure hes a great guy but i want my center to have a dominating attitude. - Jet Terry is old but still FAST. and of course he can shoot lights out. great form. Brewer is skinny. I mean REALLY REALLY skinny. Harden was a class act. seems like a nice guy. "You keep traveling like this like Greyhound bus!" "shave that beard you homeless bum"...harden just responded - thank you, thank you in a mild mannered voice
I was at the game as well. It is fun to watch the Rockets on road this season. At least they win more on the road. Hopefully, Knicks can stop chasing big names and develop young talents that their fans can appreciate.
Cool. I always like to hear the perspective from people at the road games. You're probably about to get bombarded with "you started a thread for this??" and "cool story bro" posts, but ignore them. I actually enjoyed your post. Interesting observation about Dwight during pregame. Doesn't surprise me (or anyone else here, most likely) but he is 29 now and pretty much what you see is what you get with him. Most of us have come to accept that. Hope you can figure out how to post that video.
Remeber young Lebron? With all the dancing, poses, and handshakes with his teammates on the side line pregame? Yeah, he grew up eventually. At some point the mental aspect of the game has to become just as important as the physical. No doubt DH puts in the work in the gym, I just get the feeling that his approach to game night is the problem. You don't have to be serious business 24/7, but that damn sophomoric grin permanently plastered on his face is starting to get annoying. I'd bet anything that if DH worked on taking his approach to game night more seriously we'd begin to see the player that we're all hoping for. It'll happen eventually, I'm just hoping that he doesn't wait until his skills regress with his age and he HAS to do it in order to compete.
Exactly what I was thinking... Actually I really don't care if Dwight practice FT. It don't think it would help at this stage. I would want to see him do some repetition on post up moves.
I literally LOLed over those too. Harden's free throw shooting rate has kept rising over the years, now sitting at .896. Dwight Howard's best free throw rating was in his rookie year. I hope Dwight does not goof around. Improve his FT rate and his post-up may worth to try. Without decent FT rate, everybody will just foul him if the opponent can't guard him in the post-up. The next 2-3 years will be his best chance for a championship. I hope DH will cherish them.
does howard know he doesn't play running back? get in the lane and dohminate! harlem world! i miss those kyle lowry raps from back in the day.
Thanks for the post OP A little concerning on the Dwight stuff, but I guess he was playing the Knicks and he obviously didn't really turn it up till the second half. Sounds like you had a good time. Did Victor Cruz leave the game early like Spike Lee? :grin:
I think I remember another user posting similar comments about Dwight. As a fan this is so disappointing. We are sooooo close to being an elite team. There is no excuse for Dwight to be wasting any time at this stage of his career. At 29 he only has so much time left to make an impact. I'm glad Harden is serious about his game. As as aside has Dwight ever participated in Team USA during the Olympics or World Championships? The experience seems to have have helped Harden/Curry/Thompson this year. It's well known Coach-K isn't one to kiss ass to any player no matter how talented. And in that environment its easier to take the criticism at face value and not personally. Obviously at his age and with his health issues Dwight isn't likely to participate in any organized summer basketball. I just wish someone, somewhere would get through to him about the mental part of the game.
Dwight got a bronze medal at the FIBA World Championships in 2006, and a gold at the 2008 Olympic Games. McHale needs to get tougher with him, and indeed anyone who isn't working hard enough, or playing the right way. We have very little margin for errors.
They won't get tough or demand anything from Howard. In fact, they are kissing his @ss more & more it seems. Evidence: 1. Make his friend a coach even if he has no coaching experience. 2. Sign his other friend to a contract & agree to start him without him knowing any of the plays or his teammates. 3. Allow him to coast through games giving little effort without anyone calling him out.
Nice post OP. What was the atmosphere like at MSG? Usually the place is full of energy and crazy fans, but it must be pretty weird when the Knicks get blown out early like last game. I remember making a thread about Dwight's joviality when he came to the Rox and how that would affect himself and the team, and was pretty much flamed for it... Sounds like it's still an issue for him. And now that he has his childhood buddy with him, it'll only get worse...
I really believe Dwight has "celebrity-ADD". The above is an example of the fact he can't stay focused when he is the center of attention. In practice, the guy is like an 80 percenter. But in games he is terrible because all eyes are on him and his first inclination is to always act stupid
Enjoyed the post and perspective. I've always wanted to watch a game in MSG but just haven't. I love to watch Harden in warm-ups make those passes to the corner 3 guy from all over the court. He is amazing. D12, on the other hand, almost never shows a game face.
Dwight goofs off too much - which is probably why his post game is not up to snuff after 11 years in the league. DD
And of note, people oft forget, the Madison Square Garden is aptly named after the President whose house was burned down. Let it burn NY. Let it burn.