How should Dwight Howard be received by Houston fans in his return?

Round of applause during introduction.
Boo during gametime.
Round of applause after the game.

 

Fans don't need to be on the same page in terms of cheering...that's the beauty of it.

 

Dwight was not a simpleton but his game was simple, crash the boards, protect the rim and block shots, if you want to, one corner three and some postups

No need to get complicated with numbers here. He has done mediocrely. I would grade him A if we made the Finals or two WCF appearances.
After all he was a superstar and not the easiest to play with.

 

He didn't give up on the team while he played here. He didn't owe us anything in terms of staying, and many didn't want him to stay anyway. I don't see any reason to boo him. If anything I'm grateful that he as a marquee free agent chose us for once.

 

He is the biggest goofball out there, pull a prank on him would be spot on.

Utter silence and then gotcha.

 

This is why the other people at your job make the important decisions. Comparing David Lee and Dwight Howard is about as apt as comparing a banana to a tank.

Also, Change your username. It's embarrassing for those of us that actually have Ivy League educations.

 

I should have added "when it counted," since thinking in context (you know, what you need to do after you finish algebra 2) is at a premium around these parts.

 

Mostly agreed. I didn't know there was a video. Cheer him afterwards, then apathy.

 

He was very non-cancer the first two years. I would argue that he was way better and tried way harder than Harden in the playoffs in the first 2 seasons.

However he somehow reverted back to being a problem probably because of ego issues.

 

Is the arena ever full enough by tipoff to have any sort of meaningful noise one way or the other?

 

Cheer him before/at the beginning of the game.

Then boo him when he shoots free-throws just like any other player on another team.

 

^^ This pretty much.

But I would add that his refusing to do PnR and insisting to post up had been a problem even during his first two years. Who knows how much it affected the team in general and Harden in particular.

 

This was Harden's team before Dwight came and tried to make it his. He resisted to let Harden lead turns out We made the right decision. BOOOOO this man.

 

Really??

How do fans still refuse to accept the fact that Dwight openly admitted to quitting on the team last season?

For all of Dwight's talk about setting aside personal agendas for the betterment of the team, he was the chief culprit.

He was the guy who said he would do whatever was necessary (hustle plays like crash the boards, block shots, set screens, outlet passes, etc) to win after he came back from injury two seasons ago. It turned out to be true. James has entrenched himself as the team leader after his MVP season. Dwight didn't want to mess with the team chemistry that had developed into a 2nd seed, and he promptly played his 'role' to perfection. First, against Dallas (who can forget the 2-man rolls and lobs from JSmoove to Dwight) and then against the Clippers (where Dwight thoroughly outhustled and outplayed DeAndre Jordan).

Dwight exemplified leadership and sacrificed his (broken low post) game for the betterment of the team in order to continue WINNING. Isn't this the expectation? That a player making in excess of $22M/yr, coming back from missing a large portion of the regular season due to injury, would accept a defined, limited role in order to WIN in the postseason?

It worked beautifully.

So what happened to THIS Dwight Howard?

The Contract Year happened.

Yes, we can acknowledge the Kardashian curse, the preseason injuries to multiple key rotational players (including Harden), the godawful preseaon preparation, the quiet departures of JSmoove and Prigioni (both pivotal to our playoff success), and most puzzling of all, the acquisition and utter disaster that was Ty freakin Lawson.

The locker room became more fragmented--with the concept of team completely lost. It didn't help matters that McHale/JB were completely in over their heads. It was, by far, the strangest, most bizarre season I can ever remember in my 30+ years of Rockets fandom.

That Dwight later admitted that he become frustrated with the offense going away from him (despite leading the league in post touches), and lost interest in games, told me everything I needed to know about the guy. All of the talk about setting aside personal agendas for the betterment of the team was clichéd jock speak, empty rhetoric that applied to everyone else except him -- especially during his Contract Year.

Dwight is as selfish and ego-driven as all other prima donnas. Wanting to be liked, to the point of mentally being unable to shoot FTs in games because you care that much about what fans think if you miss??? That's a function of immaturity and an egocentric personality. I won't go so far as to say it's a disorder, but it's certainly at the root of his problems.

Charles once asked Dwight on national TV, "Why don't other players like you, Dwight?"

After last season's nightmare and past blowups in LA and Orlando, I don't have to ask myself that question anymore.

Should we boo?

Nah, silence would be much more deafening.

 

Dwight is probably among the biggest name free agent acquisitions to ever come to Houston...
He played hard until he was basically phased out on the offensive end for more Harden iso's.... and look where THAT got us last season....
but people wannna act all butthurt towards Dwight? whatever....

 

I despise anyone that quits on our city. If you aren't down with that, we probably won't get along. All he has to do is play his hardest and he has my respect. It's not asking much.

I can't believe we went from Battier/Deke/Yao/Chuck/Scola to this spineless sack of ****.

 

Without a doubt he will be boo'd, for no good reason..

 

Phased out? While leading the entire NBA in post touches?

He phased himself out and ADMITTED to it on camera.

WAKE UP!