~{ James Harden's Philadelphia 76ers }~

Dwight had back surgery since those Magic days and had been run out of LA by Kobe by the time he got here.

What I meant by star role players were the guys like ( Horry, Elie, Cassell , Maxwell, Jason Terry) who were not “stars” by NBA standards but routinely played big in the playoffs. Management has to be able to identify these guys.

And saying Duncan didn’t have help is just silly man. We’ll agree to disagree. And besides, Duncan is a better player than anyone we’ve had but Dream

 

Yet in his first year with us, he was an all-star and named to an all-NBA team.

Come on. Cassell was a rookie for our first title. Horry was in his 2nd year. Maxwell was a journeyman. It's impossible to identify clutch players before they're known as clutch....

Your take is silly. David Robinson was in his final year. Tony Parker was in his 2nd year. Ginobili was a rookie. Any objective person would agree that Duncan won a title surrounded by role players.

 

You make it sound like Dwight was some washed up scrub when we got him.

Since you love revisionist history so much Dwight was the biggest FA acquisition in Houston Rockets history. He’ll probably remain so for quite some time. We literally threw a parade for the guy when he came and we were celebrating like we already won the Championship as soon as the news broke out.

Also Kobe DID NOT run Dwight out of LA. That’s just flat out wrong.



Dwight leaving LA at the time was a MAJOR deal. The whole city was triggered.



Also, Dwight put up 18.3 ppg (on 59.1 percent shooting), 12.2 rebounds, 0.8 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game. In the Blazers playoff series he upped that to 26 ppg 13.7 rebounds, 2.8 blocks. Those are superstar numbers.

 

Kobe was vocal in how he felt about Dwight.
https://www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/nba/2015/2/26/8116095/kobe-bryant-dwight-howard-lakers

No doubt Dwight had good numbers in that Blazers Series but LaMarcus Adlridge was the best big in the series averaging 30 & 11 on 48% shooting. Including two blistering 40 + point games to start the series.

Dwight’s numbers would decline every year he was here and a year after he left for Atlanta. His numbers rebounded briefly in Charlotte before falling off for good. It’s not Dwight’s fault we lost the Blazers series but the Rockets weren’t good enough to win and lost to the better squad.

 

Another “hit piece”? ******* haters everywhere!

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelp...es-harden-stats-you-really-dont-want-read?amp

 

Come on. First, the Lakers wanted Dwight to re-sign with them, and Kobe was salty that he didn't. Second, Kobe never won anything without dominant big men.

It's closer than you think. Dwight averaged 26 pt/14 reb on 55% shooting that series while playing slightly fewer minutes.

You don't think that had anything to do with the Rockets reducing his offensive role in the post? He clearly became disgruntled after that.

We were favored to win. The main reason we lost was Harden's underperformance. We weren't beating anyone with Harden shooting < 40% from the field and < 30% from the 3pt line.

 

Hey I respect that. Harden is the star so he gets the blame. But here we go again we’re giving Dwight a “Yao-like” feel good pass too now? Aldridge ate the Rockets alive. Who’s that on? Let me guess, Dwight tried hard? He got along with his teammates, and he got better every year. LOL!!!!

At end of the day Harden, Dwight & The Rockets weren’t good enough to win a chip. This has been 27 years and running here in Houston. It pre dates Harden and he’s gone 2 years now. What’s done is done.As young as the Rockets are now it’ll be over 30 years and running with no rings.

 

No, Harden doesn't get the blame b/c he's the star. He gets the blame b/c he shot horribly from the field for the series.

Are you under the impression that Dwight was the one guarding Aldridge?

This is the mentality when your favored player is to blame but you don't want to acknowledge it.

If you only look forward and never backward, you'll never learn from your mistakes.

 

Actually the moment dwight started guarding aldridge, aldridge was completely useless and was like a lost child out there.

 

dwights career went downhill when he let shaq get in his ear about being a dominant back to the basket big man. Harden dont listen to those old heads, and just play his game. Thats why harden is a nba top 75 player and dwight is not. Always play to you're strengths

 

Dwight IS a top 75 player, he just wasn't voted because people are morons. I don't hold other people being morons against him. Also, his career went downhill because he injured his back and was never the same

 

Lol Dwight not being a top 75 player is actually the joke. Dwight led Hedo Turkuglu and Rashard Lewis to the Finals. He was a lot more impactul and a way better player than somebody like Westbrick.

Dwight is a perfect example how image trumps reality in the NBA.

 

That Blazers series was the best Dwight ever played here
Sucks that we had him 4 yrs in his prime, and he peaked in a first round loss of year 1

Other 3 Rockets years were disappointing, inconsistent, and always injured

I turned on him when word got out about Morey talking to Dwight about his role and how we wanted him to play like DeAndre Jordan (lobs & outbacks only)

Dwight's response was to insist on his low lock post touches, no matter how inefficient he was there


In his ascending Magic years, his timing was also very fortunate
He rapidly inherited the mantle of best C almost by default during the worst era in NBA history for dominant centers

Think about who he passed in the East for AllStar honors:
Ben Wallace
Big Zydrunas
Theo Ratliff

If Dwight had been drafted in the 80s, where does he rank in 1995 among C's..?
Dream, Admiral, Shaq, Ewing, Mourning are no-brainers ahead of him
Daugherty, Mutumbo are debatable

So ... that slots Dwight somewhere #6-8 among C's from a respectable era

 

Even the players agree with me and can see what’s going on. embiid is going through what harden went through when he was going for mvps. The darker you are the harder it’s gonna be for you to win mvp in Adam silvers nba. The players are seeing the double standards

 

!!

 

Aldridge's Game 5 stunk, but he was the best big on the floor for most of that series.
Aldridge Series numbers.

Game 1 - 46pts 18 rebs
Game 2- 43pts 8 rebs
Game 3- 23 pts 10 rebs
Game 4- 29 pts 10rebs
Game 5- 8 pts 8 rebs
Game 6- 30 pts 13 rebs

 

Why are you so fixated on Aldridge? Dwight was a beast for us that series; even if Aldridge was the best big on the floor, it wasn't by much.

Our losses were by 2 points, 7 points, 3 points, and 1 point. The games were clearly winnable. Harden just shot poorly for the series (38% from the field; 30% from the 3pt line) and was outplayed by Lillard (47% from the field; 49% from the 3pt line).

 

Thank you! For years, I couldn't figure out why this guy never won MVP. Now it all makes sense.

Spoiler

 

it's a common misconception among Harden fans that he never won the MVP, but in truth (little known fact) he won it in 2018 for his performance in the 2017-2018 NBA season.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/harden-mvp-year-stats