Not soft. They need maturity and better veteran help off the bench Grizzlies were always behind Spurs and sometimes the Rockets, now they have taken the throne early on Grizz took James Johnson when we did not care, Grizz then went with Prince and now Courtney Lee who was solid again tonight And they took aging Vinsanity who was solid in the playoffs last year
Yeah, if they continue to call themselves that and play like this, they should just call themselves drag champs
First of all, "soft" really isn't the correct term that should be used when describing Howard, but most people just tend to use the word soft to describe a broad spectrum of traits. I don't think one word or one term is enough to truly understand and sum up what Howard's problems are. But I will say this... Howard suffers from one major flaw that which was the same flaw that plagued T-Mac's career... caving under pressure. These two players are the poster children for "pressure phobia". As talented and gifted as they are (were in T-Mac's case), they always find ways to run away from the pressure. Look at the facts: - the only times they excel is when it's easy for them, and when they have very little to no opposition. And it's almost always during the regular season, when games don't have as much meaning and there's very little pressure. - stats can be very misleading, and most people with knowledge of the game all agree on this. Heck, Kenny Smith and company have talked about this numerous times before. ALL NBA players have talent, and almost anyone can put up good stats if they play a decent amount of minutes. Talented players can put up even better stats given that same playing time. But those stats don't tell the whole story, and they don't indicate whether the player is "clutch", or whether the player is a true "leader"or not. When the game was/is on the line... T-Mac almost always failed to live up to his potential. In fact, he almost always disappeared in the final minutes of games. He either deferred and passed the ball, settled for long, contested jumpers, turned the ball over, or stayed completely out of the play. He was a non-factor when it counted most. And Howard is very much the same when it comes to this. Except Howard is nowhere near as skilled and gifted offensively as T-Mac was. Howard only dominates when it comes easy for him. He doesn't hustle like Serge Ibaka does. He's very lackadaisical and non chalant out on the floor. It's almost as if he is that way on purpose, why?... to avoid pressure and responsibility. It's easier to live with losing and failing if he can say he wasn't playing his best, or if he wasn't directly involved in all of the critical plays, or if he wasn't 100% healthy. Bottom line... a player can put up great stats... and still have no impact on the critical moments of a game... winning time. In terms of what words are used to describe Howard, I think people use "soft" to indicate that he's mentally weak, in regards to not being able to handle and/or deal with the real pressure of winning and losing. Look, he's worked with Hakeem and McHale many times already, and he's gotten lots of advice and tips. But does he ever apply anything he's learned? - does he ever use solid pump fakes to get his defenders off balance and out of position? (heck, D-Mo faked the hell out of Ibaka the other night with a simple pump fake) Can Howard not see the benefit of this tactic? He's only done it twice, that I've seen in these two years, and it worked well both times. - does he ever take his time, and slow down, and make the fundamental move? no, he rushes, fumbles the ball, loses the ball, goes off balance, and takes bad, off balance, rushed shots. - does he ever bump, feel, and react to which way his defender is leaning? no, he bowls into people, runs into multiple defenders, travels, gets his shot blocked, and takes bad shots. - does he ever post up correctly, seal his man off, and make himself an easy target for a pass? almost never. Howard keeps making the game harder for himself, and he's not focused on applying the things he's being taught. He's satisfied with his past accomplishments and he's not hungry enough to want to dominate the game. T-Mac was the same way. Having said all of this, does that mean that I hate Howard, or that I think we can't win with him? No, I don't hate him personally. Not everyone has the drive of Jordan, Olajuwan, Bird, Magic, Kobe, etc., so I don't expect him to be those guys. But I do hold them accountable to earn the big money that they make. And that means they have to have some heart... cause that's what I think the fans pay for the most. So I'd like to see him get hungrier and try harder. I think we can win with Howard, so long as we have at least two other players playing at All-Star level, and with the right role players. In other words, Howard can be a nice piece to a winning team, but he can't be the focal point. Anyhow, I know I've said a lot, but all of these things go into why people consider Howard "soft". Peace
Because the man is supposed to be in his prime and is not playing like it. Look at Shaq's numbers at his age. Look at Hakeem's stats. Dwight is supposed to be a MVP right now. Instead he is putting up just decent numbers. Replace Dwight with a 28 year old Shaq or Dream and this team would be chewing up the entire league and spitting them out. There is no reason why he is not the most dominant Center or player in the league right now. I love Dwight but he seems to be just another good Center right now instead of showing why he is one of the greatest ever.
dwight doesnt have that sheer overpowering force of Shaq or the footwork and touch of Hakeem. We're asking him to be something he is not. He has substandard lowerbody leverage and it means he isn't able to "uproot" post defenders the way other players are. It's all up top, and when its all up top he inevitably gets called for offensive fouls in todays NBA.
Old Howard <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/u0nXF9ZTEr4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Looks very similar to current Howard, same post moves. The one difference is that he is a tad less explosive now. For example at 0:55 in the video, if he would have gotten that rebound today, he'd try to lay it in instead of jam it home. Oh and man I wish we had someone who could throw lobs like Hedo and Nelson.
Soft mentally most def! All that smiling after every miss ft and FCK up is him trying to sort out his emotions. He has to know if he shot FTS at an 80% clip he would be legit running for MVP of this league, we would have gone to the second round in the playoffs, he wouldn't get beatup on all the time, and points would come easier! All this bull**** "I shot 8 out of 10 in practice" no fool you need to shoot 10 set 10 of 10 and start over each set you miss 1 shot before and after every practice every damn day!
I think the Lakers started looking at Dwight as soft when Kobe called himout in public to play through pain. Kobe refuses to accept that Dwight was still recovering from back injury. Kobe Bryant urges Dwight Howard (ESPN LA: February 13 2013)
Payton basically backed up what I've been saying in this thread earlier today. He said players dislike Howard because he likes to talk a lot and won't really do anything. So he's getting on their nerves. He said Howard wouldn't walk through the places he has. So, Howard is actually seen a lot like Kobe. Both want to talk like they're from the hood, but they're not. Both just like to talk and then walk away, they won't seriously confront anyone. However, Kobe does go at guys while the clock is running, so he's gained a lot of respect for his play and dedication to the game. Dwight, not so much.
Damn - Dwight smiling because he enjoys playing the game. How dare he! I like it. He's living every kid who loves basketballs dream and is happy doing so. I'd rather that than the miserable face Kobe carries around always appearing to be miserable! I just hope Dwight steps up and takes Houston to the promised land and wins a ring. Then he can stick it to all the haters.
I think it's been trendy to bash on Dwight since his Orl/FA spectacle. He started getting criticized but then went to the Lakers. Deciding to leave the Lakers for Hou embarrassed LA, so they've been leading the criticism ever since. I doubt most people even know how he's been playing the past 1.5 seasons. I think he's been great.
I guess you didn't really read through my entire post. "- the only times they excel is when it's easy for them, and when they have very little to no opposition. And it's almost always during the regular season, when games don't have as much meaning and there's very little pressure." I watched that game live, and was it a nice performance and a thrilling way to make a comeback... sure. But let's not make it out to be something more than it was. The Rox where down big, it was down to the last minute of play, the Spurs thought they had the game in the wraps, and T-Mac capitalized on a series of circumstances and mishaps by the Spurs, and he hit a bunch of long 3-pointers. Case and point, that game is the highlight of T-Mac's career. Even he himself refers to it as the highlight of his career. And what was it?... it was a regular season game. It ultimately meant nothing in terms of playoffs or championship, so there was NO serious pressure. If that is the highlight of T-Mac's career... a non playoff game, with nothing on the line... then what does that basically say about his entire career? I'm not trying to bash T-Mac and Howard just for the sake of it, but this is what the topic of this thread is about, and I'm just showing the comparison between them as a way to help understand their biggest flaws. I'm just keeping it real and being honest about them.
Yes. Kobe called Dwight soft......after he was pushed to the complete opposite side of the court and the teammates from both sides were separating the two.
Didn't read the responses, so might be repeating. Dwight is soft because 1) Acts too silly- It makes you look weak.. doesn't mean you are, it just looks bad. Women don't like it, and guys don't respect it. It wouldn't matter if Dwight had rings, but he doesn't. Look at Shaq... he was known for being goofy and joking around plenty, but he dominated and won. Dwight has done neither. 2) Weak post game- considering his physique, his post game should be 10x better. It's weak. He already can't shoot, but he can't even rely on a consistent back to the basket game at all. 3) Free throws- how many players shoot 90% in practice, then 50 during a game? Mental midget-esk. Weak 4) Comments- when he talked about championships don't define him, he's already successful. Those weak comments are crap you save for after you retire and never winning, not when you're still in your prime with zero championships.
Also saw a few travels which weren't called, but he gets whistled on those now. Orlando's spacing is just much better too, there's not a magic player in sight which is leaving Dwight free to abuse his man in the post. He's a great one v one player in the post, it's once the help comes that he fumbles and trips. Also, he's catching the ball high up and in great position. Some nifty Orlando passing there. He's bringing the ball up from too low lately, creating chances for the defense to strip the ball.
