Who says Dream is even telling Dwight how to do crazy Dream moves like the Dream Shake anyways? Dwight has had periods of the season when "his moves" are virtually unstoppable. The drop step, and counter to his left, while rudimentary, is a virtually unstoppable shot if he can finish at the rim. Who says those aren't the moves he's working with him on right now with some simple counters? I think Dream and especially McHale are smart enough to know that Dwight is never going to be Dream in the post, but if they can help his confidence to finish around the rim better, and simplify for him the moves he already has shown he can do, than why wouldn't Rockets fans want him to continue to work on them?
does anyone remember at half time of game 1, the TNT crew were talking and shaq was showing some of dwight's first half highlights, shaq says "ok here, dwight takes robin in the post, gives him the hakeem shimmy shake and jump hook" then Kenny interjects with "Hakeem? They both black, that's about it, they got nothing in common"
What you see is what you get with DH. I don't think he has the desire to improve as a player. Why should he? As long as he's getting his points and rebounds. He doesn't have the heart to want to take over the game or put the team on his shoulders like the great ones do. He never has and never will. That's why he will be good but never great. Can you imagine him playing in the era of the great centers like Hakeem, David, Shaq, Patrick, etc.? He would be considered a 2nd tier center, maybe a few notches below Rick Smits.
Dream was a great player. But, there's no reason to think he can do any better than a trainer or coach on helping Howard improve his game. It doesn't even mean he's any good at teaching in general. I don't understand why people get so excited about the greats doing coaching. It's a different skillset.
I recall lebron worked with Hakeem one summer and he came back and showed off some impressive new moves during the season. He now has a legitimate post game.
Interesting idea. The post above talked about "touch". T Jones has it. I don't know how you measure it, but we know it when we see it. Dwight does not have it, though he can catch pretty well , unlike Asik who doesn't have "touch" or the ability to catch.
LeBron is the best basketball player on the planet and actually wants to improve his game. He actually took Hakeem's teachings to heart. Watching that video of Hakeem and Dwight made me think Dwight was just going through the motions and having some fun.
Thanks for providing this, RV6. I haven't read the whole thread, but I think your basic premise is correct. I don't think this has anything to do with athletic ability, although Dream's fluidity was arguably far superior to DH's in almost every way. This is about technique, and even without seeing the video, your pics clearly illustrate the problem. Dwight is beginning his move to the basket from the wrong position. Look at his left foot. It needs to be in position OUTSIDE of the defender's body (left foot), not inside. Howard's left foot should be between the defender's foot and the baseline at the point where he begins his move to the basket. Otherwise he is at a distinct disadvantage throughout the entire move. Think about this as you would a martial arts move, with Dwight setting up to throw the defender. The farther he moves to the defender's left, the better his leverage becomes. Look back at how Dream used to make that move. He would position his feet before picking up his dribble and make the move before the defender could reestablish position, putting the defender behind him as much as possible when he executed his spin. This is not complicated, but it's not necessarily easy. It requires enough repetition to establish muscle memory for proper footwork and timing.
Sorry but Zo had a nice offensive game and a jumper but was not the athlete Dwight is. He was not like Dwight at all.
Surprised by a few things in this thread. 1. Saying someone as young as DH can't learn anything. That's crazy. 2. Criticizing NBA players for spending (yeah, too much) on Hakeem training instead of... what... bling? another car? hookers? Great. 3. And I'm not saying Hakeem is beyond criticism, even though he's kind of a idol for me, but why criticize him for charging money to rich people for basically a basketball spa treatment? If some rich dude wanted to pay me $50,000 for one week of physics training, would I be a troll to accept it? Sign me up as a troll if I ever get that opportunity. LOL.
Come to think of it, shooting touch is very important. The only dominant low post player who does not have shooting touch is Shaq. But nobody has Shaq's physical dominance in the modern era. (Wilt was the only comparable one.) All great low post offensive players have a good midrange turn around shot. Kareem, Hakeem, Ewing, Robinson, Mourning, Duncan, Randolph, Jefferson, Aldridge... just on top of my head, they all can shoot. You need that shot to keep the defender off balance. Anyone guarding a guy like Dwight knows that he can't score outside of 3 feet of the basket. So all you need to do is push him out, stand your ground, and if he makes a move, meet him at the basket. You have no fear of him taking a long hook or a fadaway. Since Dwight is not as strong as Shaq, he can't bully his way to the basket.
Dwight is too mechanical and is an inept passer. He also has low bball iq on the offensive end. He is incapable. Best used as a trash offensive player and in pick in roll situations.
Every player in a uniform state of skills tends to remain in that state unless an external force is applied to it. Is this one of Newton's laws?
Exactly right. Even Shaq, as bad as he was, is still a better shooter than Dwight. Dwight cannot shoot. Therefore he can't be a good post player.
Dwight did have 28/15 which are really good numbers. He had a bad stretch of FT shooting in the 4th quarter and was not able to get enough defensive rebounds away from Aldridge (LMA was not his primary assignment that is the coach's issue, not his, but there were a lot of jump ball/loose ball plays that Portland seemed to come up with and one would expect Dwight Howard to win those battles). Howard probably doesn't feel like post moves are a priority to learn in today's NBA. I watched him in LA and he didn't seem to think that there was anything meaningful to learn from veterans like Kobe, Pau, Nash or his coach. Half the reason he came to Houston is he wanted to hang out with a generation that he connects better with.
