Dwight Howard only shot 3-14 from the free throw line tonight...

How about 3-14 fts and Lakers lost the game because he's a liability in the 4th quarter with his poor ft shooting? 4 blocks/14reb my azz.

 

And your reasoning for this is because Asik has been a career backup until now, and Howard has single handedly taken his team to the Finals already before?

Not saying Asik couldn't be a starter on a championship team, but he's not as good as Dwight, and Dwight is more proven than him BY FAR.

To write him off like that is just kind of homer tunnel vision.

 

I hope DH stays in LA. He deserves what he is getting in LA. I would not want him in H-Town.

 

Check DH Howard's record, he is a drama king. He will destroy the chemistry on this team IF he gets a chance to sign here. It will be like Barkely coming over to the Rockets all over again.

 

Dwight took the Magic to the NBA Finals.... Courtney Lee makes a layup and it would have been a very interesting Finals as well.

 

That's really sad looking at that. It just shows a lack of effor and interest in trying to improve there. He really just doesn't care that he cant make free throws.

 

I mean....I'm not disagreeing with you there but that might be a tad bit extreme. He never wanted LA and he never wanted Kobe. That doesn't excuse what he's done, but if he gets the chance to actually sign where he wants, the diva stuff would be greatly diminished (though not fully gone), I'd imagine.

But that doesn't change the facts that the dude took a team to the Finals by himself, and if Courtney Lee makes that layup, you never know what could have happened. I'm just saying you can't write him off so easily after 1 down year.

People on this website act like he's totally worthless, which is just strange. But once again, I'm perfectly fine with Asik.

 

Terrell Brandon was a great FT shooter. It'd take that guy 7 weeks to get to the line 14 times.

Give me a player that can GET to the line and I'll find a way to use him. Simply getting there is half of the battle and a talent in itself.

 

Agree DHo is more proven-- in the past tense. Respectfully disagree going forward. I think injuries have dropped DHo's ceiling and attitude. He's not what he once was. His free throw shooting, by itself, will likely keep LA out of the playoffs.

I think we're strong enough at the 5 with Asik, Smith, Olbrecht. If we're going to try to lure a superstar with max $$$, I'd rather not blow the bank on DHo or Bynum. Or haven't we had enough run of chronically injured superstars?

 

So he has lost two games for the Lakers this season if I remember correctly....against us and last night...yet in still people want him on our team....the Lakers should have traded him to Brooklyn at the deadline for Lopez and Teletovic

 

weak mental

 

Very fair view. And once again I'm perfectly content with Asik as our starter. I think he can be good. I'm not even advocating for Dwight really.

I'm just saying people are acting like Dwight is garbage, which I just don't believe. I'll have to see more than 1 down year to declare that he's officially never getting back to where he was. He just had surgery this offseason, rushed back (his fault), while forcing himself to be traded (his fault), and then he went to a toxic situation with a coach that clearly isn't the right coach for him.

Not saying you're wrong by any means, I just want to see him in a better situation before I write him off.

 

These big guys really take a beating, put incredible stresses on their spines, hips, knees, and especially their feet. Seems like the injuries increase the likelihood of further injury(ies), too. (That's why Camby's hustle-- that old man was diving on the floor last year-- was so amazing. But I digress.) Anyway, I'm excited to watch our young bucks getting stronger and smarter. If they can stay humble (looking at you, Bev) and hungry (all you 4s), they could grow into something special right when the current NBA powers are over-the-hill.

 

Asik's $8m leaves plenty of room on a salary cap to fill out a team, and he's good enough to more than hold his own as the starting center while a franchise player at another position does the heavy lifting. With Howard taking up $20m on your salary cap, he doesn't have to be merely better than Asik, he needs to do some heavy lifting. Add on to that that he's going to pout if he's not featured in the offense and he needs to be great to justify the investment made in him. He can't live up to that. He's good, but he's no Olajuwon or Tim Duncan or even Patrick Ewing. I think it's a fair argument that Asik may get you closer to winning, even if he's not as good.

 

Free throw shooting is Dwight's kryptonite.

It's totally ridiculous for these big men making huge money not to be 70-75% from the free throw line. Totally ridiculous. Especially after spending 6-9 years in the league and more. They simply don't care to be any better. Shaq could've won several more titles and went down as the greatest ever if he could have simply shot free throws. Dwight would already have a ring if he could shoot free throws and would be headed for a second one right now.

Everybody wants to talk about how dominant Dwight is defensively. Big deal. It all gets watered down to mediocrity when you are firing up 50% from the free throw line and draining possession after possession after possession out of your team.

The game and the game strategy has evolved. You simply cannot get by anymore and expect to win championships when you are a big man on a max contract and you're playing major minutes and you can't knock down the freebies. It's simply too easy to defensively funnel the ball right to those bigs and hack them. Until and IF they pass a rule on hacking (don't know how you would do it besides going back to the old 3 to make 2) then guys like Dwight and Shaq are simply not enough of a difference maker to be worth more than about half their contracts. You saw it with Shaq. The minute his athleticism started to fade, it was over. Too easy to defend. Don't let him make his move and power up on you. Just lock him up and put him on the FT line. Get 3-4 bigs out there, that combined make about 1/5 of what Shaq and Dwight make and send them to the line over and over. Those guys deserve to be hacked if they can't fire up any better than 50%.

One of the first things you have to consider when you are thinking about drafting, trading for, or signing a big that you expect to be an offensive cog is can they shoot their freebies? Because if you expect them to be a major part of your team on the offensive end, it simply won't work if they can't and they aren't willing to be just a finisher and garbage man around the bucket. You simply cannot win an NBA championship these days by posting up a big man who can't shoot freebies.

And that's the primary reason guys like D'Antoni don't like post up bigs and they say the post up is the least efficient play in basketball. It's not when it's run by skilled players. Pau Gasol posting up on the low block is one of the most efficient offensive plays in basketball. Dwight Howard posting up on the low block is one of the least efficient plays in basketball. The difference is free throw shooting and the court vision and skill to find the open man on the double.

You know what the difference is between Asik and Dwight basketball wise is right now? Dwight is a better shotblocker because of his athleticism and Dwight has better mits to hold onto the ball and not get stripped as much as Asik. Dwight is much less turnover prone. That's it. That's the only things that separate Asik from Dwight. Except for Dwight makes over two times as much as Dwight.

Asik is actually better in every other area of the game. Rebounding? Look at the cold hard numbers. Asik is the better rebounder this year at least. Asik is a better free throw shooter (although he still sucks and the combination of his free throw shooting and turnovers makes him water in the gas tank of our high-octane offense). Asik is just as good a defender (I could make an argument that Asik is a better defender this year) except for shot blocking. And the thing is we aren't paying Asik $20 million and expecting him to be option 1A or 1B on offense.


The only reason I want Dwight is because Dwight is attractant for other superstars and stars. That's the only reason. Harden and Dwight. Everybody would want to play with them. Asik doesn't have that draw. If you are Paul or a top-notch PG, would you want to run PnR with Asik? Naw man. Dwight is attractant for other superstar and star players because he is perceived as the best center in the NBA and he wants to joke around all the time and have fun.

But when it comes time to win a game, win a playoff series, win a championship....gimme me Timmy Duncan all day long. Duncan...another mammoth human being, who didn't make excuses, didn't talk about how big his hands were and can't grip the ball properly, didn't offer up lame crap about his wrists not having the ability to flick, didn't give a bunch of lip about being the most dominant and free throws not mattering. He just went out and worked on his free throws and turned himself into a good free throw shooter. Timmy Duncan is still the best center in the NBA and has been for a long time.

 

It's an interesting debate and one that deserves a more advanced statistical look.

Intuitively, though, I'd argue that getting to the line to shoot 3-14 is a pretty big net negative. Yes, it's great to have someone get to the line.. but if they're going to shoot under 50%. On a personal basis, Dwight's stats indicate how it is at best a net neutral to him. He's a 58% field goal shooter but only a 57% true shooting %. I wonder how many players in the league can say their TS% is less than their FG%?

But beyond the individual level, it impacts the team in other ways. Morale, stopping game flow, allowing the other team to be strategic about playing the hack-a game, etc.

Dwight needs to shoot 70% FT... frankly I'd say it should be one of his top priorities at this point. He's leaving 2 to 3 points a game out there. The Lakers are just +0.9 points a game for the season. I'd say Dwight could work on other moves some more, but he's done that, and isn't hugely better in that regards.... partly because his defender is "free" to foul him when Dwight does throw down an great post move.

Also given Dwight's own personality, which seems to be easily frustrated, I think improving his FT% to 70% could have big impact on him mentally as well. The confidence to make moves and not be thinking in the back of your mind that I need to make this bucket and avoid getting fouled is big. You can see it when Omer gets fouled when he knows he should have made an easy layup. He always has that "oh ****, I just gave up a point" look on his face.

 

Well the refs did EVERY THING in their power to give it to them. Some of the most unprofessional and ****ed up calls I've ever seen in a game. So many no calls and ghost calls, all against the Nuggets. It was embarrassing to watch them scramble. If Denver doesn't sent that tape to the league they're morans.

 

Teams will always consider fouling Dwight away from the ball intentionally in big games.

They would be stupid not to.

 

I thought he wanted to get traded to the Lakers?

 

Howard shot 59% from the line before the last two years. That's not great, but with everything else he brings, it would be good enough. It's possible when he's healthy, he'll get back to that.

There's risk with Howard, but there is also reward. That is not true of almost all players. Take Asik, for example. He's a solid player, but if you want to win a championship, you need at least 3 guys better than him.