What is D12 doing to improve his game this summer?

So we go from this:

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=266595

To this. Still cannot appreciate the man. This thread is ridiculous. 1 star.

There is the one game in the Blazers playoff series where the hack-a Dwight was a problem. But you know what was a worse problem that game? Harden's performance on both sides of the court. Also, Dwight's ft % was nice that series.

The huge affect on the game that would happen if Howard increased his ft % is a MYTH.

 

Only posting again, b/c you ordered me not to (tough guy).

You seem to be a big athlete groupie. They have to practice a lot and train a lot. Big deal. That is their job. Others of us have to work in an office 10 hours a day (sometimes more) and then go work out to avoid looking like Morey.

And I still maintain my comment about big men and how they probably don't have to work as hard for their jobs. It just makes sense. I don't know if I ever remember seeing a guy taller than 6'10 who wasn't on a basketball court. So how many people at this height even exist in the world at a given time? Given the fact that it is difficult to be lucky enough to have the balance, mobility, etc. at that height to play basketball, that makes the pool of giants even smaller. Then, to be that tall & an athletic freak like Dwight??? Honestly, how many of those could there be in the free world???

Further evidence that big men probably don't have to work as hard: as you pointed out, big men all suck at free throws. They aren't expected to make their free throws, so they probably don't work at it as hard. All the guards make their free throws, except that weirdo Rondo.

Further evidence that Dwight probably doesn't work that hard on his game (or has a bad learning disability): 10 years in the league or whatever, and his game is still totally based on athleticism. He can't shoot from anywhere (even though he wastes his entire pre-game warm-up shooting threes for some unknown reason). His post game still looks so remedial. He's not a rookie. He's been around plenty long.

For those groupies that say I should be more grateful for all that he does. We pay him $20+M. I ain't thanking him for sh#t.

 

Playing with his snakes.

 

I have nothing of value to add besides this, improve*

lulz

 

You just stated above "I agree that if he really wanted it he could do it".

End of freakin discussion!!!!

 

Meh, typical DD, ignore the points in the argument... focus on the poster instead.

Dwight is what he is, what most people thought he would be before we signed him.

 

Rocketeer - I was joking because we are not going to agree - I think he can work to get better you don't agree.

I am ok with whom he is, I think I have a great understanding of what kind of player Dwight is and will be - and I am ok with that.

I would love it if he suddenly became all about Basketball and winning championships, but that is unrealistic on my part, so I accept who he is, and will cheer for him when the op to do so happens.

DD

 

Dwight is who he is - a top 3 center in the NBA and obviously a key part to this team.

Honestly I hope he is taking it easy this summer. He has glass knees and I don't want him to put stress on them. His health is a concern and once knee issues hit it's usually a steep decline from there.

Another issue is his free throw shooting, it's gotten worse his 2nd year here. He should hire a free throw coach.

BUT, all that being said, if he can just do what he did in the last two playoffs we will be FINE... we can absolutely win a championship with the team around him even if he isn't as explosive and quick as he used to be.

 

That's actually a really good point. I was very surprised he was as good as he was in the playoffs, considering his health issues. I think many of us have been taking for granted that he'll stay that good for his contract, which is probably unlikely. Still, no one has ever gotten injured practicing free throws. He won't improve though.

 

McHale said in a radio interview on 790, that Howard actually makes all or most of his free throws in practice when asked if Howard needs to work on it.

He went as far as to say he kind of wished he'd miss them in practice so that way he wouldn't get so mad to see him miss in the game.

So it is in fact all mental. With that being said, I really am curious what you would suggest he do to improve that hasn't been suggested by all of his coaches already?

 

Well, my immediate thought would be to get him some therapy to work on accepting his emotions as they come on the court and then letting them pass as the next thing comes along. Or I have some books I'd gladly send him on subject. He's got a tough job out there on the court, getting constantly brutalized by the players and the refs, but he just needs to let it pass and get into his practice frame of mind when he goes to the line.

It's got to be fixed, regardless of the cause. If he shoots 75% or more in practice, transferring that to the game would completely change how teams play us.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">For those questioning the need for traditional post-up big men in today’s 3pt-centric NBA: <a href="http://t.co/qSCDekLJZq">pic.twitter.com/qSCDekLJZq</a></p>&mdash; Max Rappaport (@MaxRappaport) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaxRappaport/status/623867969316220928">July 22, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A few people asked me to add Jordan and Howard. Here’s what that would look like: <a href="http://t.co/bBT2kdtQHA">pic.twitter.com/bBT2kdtQHA</a></p>&mdash; Max Rappaport (@MaxRappaport) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaxRappaport/status/623882644124758016">July 22, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Howard? PFFT, he can't post up to save his life, add in DMo - that is a much more accurate traditional post man reference.

DD

 

Very interesting. Not being terribly familiar with Cousins' and Horford's style of play, but I'll assume they're traditional post players, since Rappaport is basing his assertion off that fact. Definitely, it does seem to back Calvin's consistent explanation that playing inside-out benefits the whole offense, not just those close to the rim.

The second graphic actually seems to further strengthen the argument. Jordan is not a post player at all and his team's three-point distribution is virtually unchanged with him on or off the court. Dwight isn't much of a post player, so when he's not on the court the Rockets basically are just shifting the deck chairs with their threes. I have two observations about this.

1) The Rockets, in contrast to all the other teams, appear to shoot MORE threes when Dwight is out. Having actually watched the Rockets in action over an extended period of time, I suspect this is due to a lesser extent to not having a big guy who can score close to the rim to feed some of those threes to instead. To a much greater extent, though, I think it's because the Rockets tend to have a harder time scoring without someone near the basket who can consistently put it down, and they retreat and start chucking up threes even more when they can't penetrate to the paint.

2) The Rockets shoot a completely average percentage behind the arc in any situation, yet we know the Rockets shoot more threes than anybody. Once again, if you're just average at a skill, it seems to me that just trying to brute force your way to success with it is never going to yield a championship. Maybe if you're consistently average you might pull that off, but we also know that the Rockets severely lack consistency, so once again, it continues to feel dicey to me.

 

Dwight is old man, at this stage of his career he is who he is. Rather than undergoing bball activity IMHO it is better for him to rest his knees for the wear and tear of the season, having workout to polish his post game wont do squat when he blows out his knee due to wear and tear.

 

Spoiler

 

Well let dwight rest up. We all know we came off a LONG season. And dwight was out extended time twice bc of his knee i would rather have dwight take time off now and be healthy all season than outwork himself and be injured again next season. So let Dwight rest up for the season

 

Dwight Howard is working on his bball game while he's in Dubai, confirmed.

 

I think Dwight needs to work on the speed of his post game. The moves are fine, but he needs to make the move that split second that he gets the ball.