[ClutchFans] Houston shouldn't turn its back on Dwight Howard

If his positional defence was that great then why he didn't deter shots?
That's the advanced stat that shows positional defence for bigs, esp one who plays also C.

 

Exactly, he altered several shots by being 7 feet tall and jumping straight up.

He is not a shot blocker, nor a great rebounder, but his positional D is great, sort of like Battier but from a bigs position.

BTW - how was our rebounding last night in our easy win?

Rebounds are not as important as many make them out to be.

DD

 

DD - Let's please not compare D-Mo to Battier at any on defense. You guys are going a little crazy here about a guy who has played a half season of meaningful NBA basketball.... Although it was a really really good half season.

Also there is this narrative that he was this great rim protector last year. He was really really good at the beginning of the season coming off the bench until Dwight got injured and he was pretty much the sole center actively on the team other than Dorsey until Capela became ready.

I loved what I saw from D-Mo for that stretch last year, but let's please be honest and real here and stop with the superfan agenda's. D-Mo is still a wait and see player for this team. After missing this much basketball this year, and this Summer the reality is he might still need another Summer of work to even get back his conditioning, rhythm and skill that will surely be rusty with such a long stretch out of the game, and so little NBA experience under his belt.

Let's come back down to earth a little bit guys.

 

DMO didn't alter shots around the rim at an elite or even good level. This is a fact. There is proof. What is your proof?
Nothing. Just empty statements.
Therefore his positional defence is not as elite or great you think it is. It's mediocre.

 

About 10 games in last season he ranked in the top 10 among centers in rim protection. That's where people get that narrative that he's secretly a good rim protector.

That being said, it wasn't reported on air that he quickly slipped down understandably once Dwight went out, and he was facing starting caliber players as the sole 5.

However... I think eventually (if he gets healthy and back on track) , and I've said this for YEARS that his career trajectory is to be a 5 long term. I've said that for years and the guys out there (not you) that BELIEVE I HATE Donatas can go look it up. I think he's a 5 long term (potentially deadly offensively at the 5), but he's got to physically get to a place to handle it, and his skill level & mentality has to improve as well (like STOP trying to take charges).

I think he'll get there but banking on him being the 5 longterm next year after what has happened the past 12 months since his injury is foolish. If Dwight is to get traded or leave the Rockets though.... I don't feel horrible about a Capela/Motiejunas front line, but they would DEFINITELY need to acquire veteran big man depth behind them if they want to be a halfway decent defensive team. You'd need to go after a ZaZa Pachuilia or Chuck Hayes type for insurance and toughness.

 

Ask Dwight how bad he wants to stay here

 

Come on dobro, 4 years just 20 or 30 games of good defense by Dmo.... come on.

This is the smallest sample size so far

reminds of me Dragic when he averaged 20 and 7 assists one season and everybody calling him a star and want to have him back.....seriously?

 

All things point to Houston being destination #1 on his list, but priority #1 obviously is getting a max contract, or close to it any way he can. If Philadelphia offered him a max deal and the Rockets weren't close I think he'd go there.

 

If you read the whole post I pretty much agreed with you. The NARRATIVE comes from the fact that he statistically was great for that small sample size and it was reported at the time. However nobody reported how that stat plummeted once inserted into the starting lineup, and when Dwight went out.

Small sample size indeed, but its a positive thing to point towards his future. At least we know now that it is humanly possible for him to play good defense as a 5. Will he ever get to be that consistent for large samples.... only time (and his health) will tell.

........

Also the Rockets have to be feeling pretty damn good about not getting Dragic in the mega trade last year, and paying him a max contract. I LOVE Gogi (like he's one of my fav Rockets of all time Love) but next to Harden, he wouldn't look nearly as good as he did in Phoenix.

Paying for a max contract PG next to Harden is about as dumb of allocation of resources as you can imagine. Look at the ROI they are getting this year with Ty Lawson (who I think will be good again with another team real soon and leave us scratching our heads). At least Lawson is tradable with his short term contract. The absolute worst would have been Ricky freaking Rubio.... good God that would have been a disaster.

 

ahh I see now. Thanx for explaining how this narrative and myth was established.

Well no surprise when someone goes from playing against mainly bench to starters and going from playing next to Dwight to him being the main Center and rim protector that his defence plummets. (we see it also with Capela this year a little bit. -plus scouting ofc).

But all in all if anyone would just see his stats, it's obvious that he's nothing elite or special about a) rim protector b) positional defender that deters shots or changes them c) rebounder.

He's ok. He's not bad or anything he's about average.
If I wanted to describe DMO to someone I would NOT put elite defender next to him. I would put an average defender who is able to adequately guard both the big positions. Which is great. There aren't many players with great post game who are average defenders nowadays.

 

Dwight will help Philly stay out of the Top 5 draft pick position.

and they will probably be borderline playoff, borderline bad team.

How is that going to help 'em?

Dwight will be in purgatory for the remainder of his post prime.

I think he probably will accept near max too.... about Harden money.

15-17 million a year? plus contending

 

Look, he's not going to Philly. I was just making a point. I look at the Tyson Chandler situation this past Summer as a scenario where Dwight might get overpaid by another team. Could be close to the max, or just a large amount that the Rockets don't want to match. Teams in the recruiting process for other players can say "Look, we can get Dwight AND you if you sign" (watch out for Portland to try and form a big 3 with Damien, 2 free agents).

Hell the Rockets are kind of already doing that with the Durant presser (lol it actually was pretty much a Rockets press release to Durant). If Dwight's healthy, I think he will do very well this Summer regardless if it's here or elsewhere. Teams want to overhaul and retool overnight (ala 07 Celtics)... Dwight will be on the market to give teams that opportunity.

 

Same record with and without Dwight last year, because we had DMo.

DD

 

Well, Dwight could ve gone to the Finals with the Warriors

What could have been ..... Dwight should make his decision based on the chances to win a ship

 

With what's happening this year, no player should be untouchable. The Rockets are in a bind, though, because they have no way of knowing just what kind of offers Dwight is going to get next Summer, and you can bet that there are a lot of GMs hoping Morey will lose him for nothing, just like he did with Parsons. That has to weigh heavily on their decision to keep or trade him.

Personally, I'm not sold on Harden sticking around. His play this season is putting off some very troubling vibes. What if he forces his way off the team in two years, and the Rockets are stuck with a 32 year old Dwight who can't stay healthy?

 

Good reasoning then that perhaps another team should bear the burden of having a 32 year old Dwight who can't stay healthy?

 

Some teams are more desperate and dumb than others. See Dallas overpaying Parsons, but I'm not holding my breath that Morey gets much in return for Dwight.

 

If Howard is holding out for a max contract, then we will lose Howard for nothing given we wont pay him that. So "not much" maybe better than zilch.

 

It would be nice if Morey/Dwight had an agreement that we would trade him and he'd return for cheap.

This way, even a 25cent on the dollar trade is still worth it

 

Howard slows us down and ruins chemistry.