What has Dwight done to be this hated by everybody?

Total BS. Question his lack of post moves all you want, question his mental defensive lapses, and definitely question his goofball behavior off the court. But with the Rockets, Dwight has never been a stat-chaser.

Someone in the Kornheiser/Wilbon/Kimmel interview last night said Dwight is a cancer because he leaves every team worse when he leaves. Well no **** -- that's what happens when you lose an impact player. If Dwight had stayed with the Lakers, they'd still be a playoff team (though not a particularly good one, mind you). Nobody whines about how LeBron left two teams in the lurch.

I'm not a huge Howard fan, but his treatment in the media is absurd.

 

What moves? He is a 12 year vet and has ZERO discernible post moves

 

I still think Dwight is a top 5 center. Guys like Cousins, Gasol, Drummond are head and shoulders better than him but he is right there in that second tier. The problem, at this point, is that center is not an important position in the NBA anymore.

I'm baffled not just by the hate he gets, I'm baffled by the way post ups in general are officiated. Being a big strong guy in the NBA is just not an advantage anymore. You're no allowed to use your strength to overpower the smaller player. I don't think it's a question of effort or will with Dwight, he is simply a relic of a different era.

In all of this, the reality is McHale and Dwight were/are not the problem. If we're considering unloading Dwight what we're really talking about is blowing up the team and going back the lottery. I'm not concerned with the perception of Dwight around the league, he's a grown man and he's being paid millions of dollars to endure the criticism. What concerns me is the product on the floor, and right now we couldn't stop a varsity high school team from dropping 120 on us. That is not going to improve without Dwight, if fact, I imagine it will get considerably worse.

 

The argument that bothers me (what I saw on Mike and Mike ) was "If Dwight applied himself and worked harder, he could've been an all-time great"

Yeah because to be an all-time great, all you have to do is train with one? This is such a ridiculous argument. Why don't we analyze every great but not legendary career and make the same argument??

Also Dwight relies on his athleticism (duh) and he hurt his back years back and he's never been the same. That's obvious. Dwight is Dwight and yeah he probably could've implemented some new posts moves, but I doubt they would've been effective.. because his natural abilities won't allow it. He's not a finesse guy.

 

Come on DD....

I agree that he does not show up...

But I can't agree with the stats comment...

You're confusing Howard with Harden....

T_Man

 

Those are mostly power moves, not finesse moves, and he definitely is not the Orlando Dwight anymore as evidenced by the video. His footwork has never been that great, and I don't think with his style of play that it will ever be.

 

You're right. After watching that video, I have to say it's more accurate to say he has post moves that don't very well anymore because his athleticism isn't what it used to be. Too bad he didn't develop any new moves over the last few years to counter that. If he had, he'd still be a top-3 center.

 

who cares if they aren't finesse moves. Are you more focused on what looks great over actual execution. Those are post buckets nobody in the league at the 5 is capable of on a regular basis night in and nigh out.

 

I don't hate him but I do think it's ridiculous not to be able to make a free throw half the time. I will never consider a player who can't even make a free throw great! I made them as a child, without even playing on a team.

 

His dumb fouls and techs annoy me

Other than that, nothing

 

Problem is the video has condensed a lot of his plays down to only the great post moves, but in reality, now (this season especially), he's slower, easier to defend and doesn't have the hops he used to have.

And I do care if he had better footwork and finesse because his game would age gracefully with him and he wouldn't have to rely so much on power moves.

The dude is good at what he does when he's trying but he's still one-dimensional and it's not as easy for him anymore.

 

I hate how we don't use him. Is Morey really a moron for letting this happen? I would go into JB s office and chunk that playbook out the window. Trading Dwight is not going solve our offensive problems.

 

...I think Dwight threw a few journalists under the bus during the Dwightmare - gave quotes that they reported which he later denied. I think the media backlash started there. The sports writers are a bit of a brotherhood and what Dwight did is something they don't take kindly to - and for good reason; their reputations and thus job opportunities are at stake.

He didn't have a graceful exit in Orlando so there was plenty of fodder to criticize him with. Eventually, his camp's poor PR handling of the situation combined with a contingent of journalist who felt like he was a backstabbing SOB turned the public opinion of him. He's much better than what people give him credit for and I think generally is a good guy - he has just never really matured past being a big kid though and I think that rubs people the wrong way - especially in a macho sports culture.

So there is your answer. Close the thread now please.

 

The 2 answers that explain it all. The media will NEVER forgive him for these 2 things.

 

Dwight is a great team-mate, wonderful in the community, and he doesn't quit. The only gripe I have is with his FT shooting & silly TO's. He is still able to score at a very efficient clip as evidenced by his 61% FG and is still an elite rebounder. I agree we shouldn't necessarily run our offense through him but he definitely needs more touches, more than half of he scrubs we have on the team that only know how to jack up inefficient bad shots.

His defense has fallen off a bit this season but I think that has more to do with our entire team just completely sucking ass as a unit with our bad switches on P&R's and unnecessary half court traps that leave Dwight on the perimeter and gives an open lane to a cutting man on the other team.

I respect Dwight the most out of our entire team, and will be sad if/when they do trade him or let him walk.

 

Looking @ Dwight, it's a great family trait he possesses. Something instilled in him that let his family survive for generations in Georgia.

 

He used to be loved in Orlando, while Lebron got all the hate. His departure from Orlando was handled very poorly and it went downhill from there. Only Lakers fans were happy with how it happened. Then they turned on him because they're loyal to Kobe, who was honestly playing harder in that nightmare season anyway. When Dwight left them in free agency, they detested him too. Who's left to love him? He seems to have worn out his welcome here as well.

Most superstars are criticized a lot, Dwight is even easier to criticize than most. I like him, but he doesn't have skills to match his salary or status. If playoff Dwight was the norm instead of a special treat, everyone would shut up.