Ive read the comments from analysts heard the talk show hosts and even the general league I feel wants there to be an issue on this team. Anytime we lose they point out how many pts Howard scored forgetting the crazy rebounding numbers and blocks. His offence is a work in progress, but for crying out loud he is signed for 4yrs. The media wide la bias is mindnumbingly obvious,just to prove that dantoni is not an inept coach and that Kobe isn't the big man killer he is or that nobody in their right mind leaves La for another team. Harden and Howard need time to gel and better coaching, current or otherwise. Every team that had a chance to get Howard wanted him. Ask the Lakers and their love poem, I mean billboard with the passionate plea......Stay Or the mavs mark Cuban behaving like a jilted lover cause Howard chose to be with someone else. We got him and I'm glad he is on this team.
We knew this, the whole Dwight saga irked people. If Howard didn't sign here, I too would have probably been rooting against him. The Heat faced to the same thing. Sticks and stones my friend, just gotta deal.
Media influences other media, as well. Not that many people want to be the one person that dissents. Also, it's a lot easier to point out someone's flaws than strengths. We all know what Dwight brings to the table, defensively. But his offense leaves a lot to be desired. I mean, he WAS shut down by Bargnani.
well... you can put it this way. if you were a spurs only fan, you would only wish the best for the spurs. if you were a heat only fan, you would only wish the best for the heat. you can say everyone wants us to lose, or no one freaking care about us.
I noticed that -- 'A quiet night from Dwight Howard with 7 points and 15 rebounds.' Sure, he didn't score a lot, but 15 rebounds isn't a quiet night. People think he was unhappy in LA because he didn't get to be the main guy on offense. Or, they know that wasn't the real reason he was unhappy and want to tweak his nose about it. So every game he doesn't shoot alot, they're going to say, 'oh, he's going to pout.' But, he still looks happy to me.
I get annoyed when I hear a round table discussion about Dwight trying to improve his offense, how it probably wont work, and how Dwight cant take his game to the next level. Who cares? Daryl Morey didn't sign Dwight Howard to do the Dream Shake, make 70% of his free throws or make baseline fadeaways - he signed Dwight Howard to be Dwight Howard. Anything else is icing on the cake. I wish I could slap Barkley or Shaq upside the head the next time hear them go on and on about Dwight's post moves. Bro, Sir Charles (who I love), Dwight is 15X the defender you ever were and has the same number of rings. Get over it.
There's a lot of Dwight haters (for obvious reasons) and people who went all-in on bashing Morey who ended up looking like iditots and his new-fangled ways so obvioulsy there's some backlash/schaudenfreude.
You are talking about an unselfish LBJ vs a selfish Harden. LBJ wanted a championship, and he is giving up his person stats for it. But for Harden, he only care about his own stats. Just look at the game when he is on the court and off the court. When Harden is on the court, there is no ball movement whatsoever. He ISO and hold on to the ball to damn long. He will try to score first and if he cannot then he will dish it out to one of the camper with like 3 seconds to go. If the camper scored, Harden get an "assist".
plus 4 blocks you guys noticed when Dwight fumbled a rebound or whenever he misses his FT's? I saw Harden and PBev and probably other teammates pat him like "great effort it's cool"
Well it's not really a surprise that we would have a target on our back. Remember Heat when LBJ joined? So many people predicted drama, imploding, and failed team of all sorts. Writers and media just doing their thing, to create conversation, drama and buzz. It's their job to over hype things. Give this team some time to figure out their identity. About how many games did it take to get the heat into their groove?
LBJ doesn't have to give up stats - he fills EVERY stat. guy is a beast, and a great team player. The only stat he might have to give up is maybe his scoring, but even so, LBJ scores a good amount. LBJ is comfortable in his role now, he has nothing to prove anymore, just playing his game and trying to win another.
The Media is going to scrutinize us much more - when you have Howard on the team after all the attention and expectations from L.A. it's going to put a spotlight on him for some time. It's just how it is.
I don't blame the media for bashing Howard's offense. This is his 9th season in the league so he isn't some rookie or second year player where it makes sense that his offense is in progress. Dwight Howard is considered and more importantly considers himself a great center. The heir to Yao, Shaq, and Dream. Consider where those player's offense were in their 9th year in the league, or in the case of Yao since he didn't make it to 9 seasons, where he was 5 years in the league.
