I think Phil meant Pau fits D'Antoni's style of offense as a center. Possibly also meant to dig at D'Antoni being an offense-only coach.
That'll give me Dwightmares if McHale gets Howard to do his up and under move like Asik was doing at the beginning of last season. Everyone at my house joined The glide in screaming at Asik (through the tv), "Just dunk it! You're a 7 footer for f**** sake!" Nope, I don't want to see no Dreamshake or Up and Unders from Dwight. I think he's a 6'11" power player that should make strong moves.
Since the games will be some of the slowest in the league, the Rockets should probably drop their ticket prices. Seems reasonable.
Steve Kerr: “He’s an All-Star, a great player, but I don’t think he’s a superstar at this stage of his career,” Kerr said. “Even though it feels like Houston hit a home run and the Lakers struck out, I wouldn’t count on it. Dwight’s a physical specimen and an incredible presence defensively, but it’s tough to run your offense through him. He’s not a good passer, and you can’t rely on him to get baskets down the stretch against a really good defense.”
after seeing what Steve Kerr did as a GM in phoenix - I wouldn't put too much stock in his talent evaluations.
Good grief! What total crap. Dwight's 27, and idiot Kerr talks like he's 35. What a chump. When Dwight wins a championship here, this will make it that much sweeter
One of the best offensive teams in the NBA replaced their starting center with a superior offensive center - that's pretty much that. We don't need to run the offense through him, we don't need him to become a great passer, he isn't option A for down the stretch scoring. Analysts aren't looking at this in the right light at all. We just need Dwight Howard to be Dwight Howard to contend, anything else is icing on the cake.
I don't understand people who look at it as a negative. Houston's weaknesses have been addressed. Harden and Dwight compliment each other. Harden is an offensive machine and needs a player like Dwight in order to penetrate like he would like. Harden gets his game off by having the defense guessing. Everyone knows he will go in to draw the foul. When it was clear that Asik was unable to finish passes from up top, it would seem as though Harden was driving in 3 vs 1. Now, they have to respect Howard's at-the-rim presence offensively. Say what you want about Howard's limited offensive game as well. The fact is, when he gets the ball, he STILL gets double teamed! It's CRAZY. I watch it every time. So, whether he has a lot of moves or not, he still commands a lot of attention. Now we have HArden to command a lot of attention up top, Howard to command a lot of attention down low and frankly, a lot of the holes are already filled with championship-level role players like Parsons, Garcia (hard to find a more perfect fit for our team as constructed), Beverley.
Sorry, not that they look at it as a negative, but as if it will only improve our team at a marginal rate.
He is not a LOF, he is a LOH. In this own way, he trashed all Rox players but Lin, hoping more people dislike LOF and in turn, dislike Lin. Don't fall for it.
Just wanted to say..with Howard now choosing Rockets, I'm sure Morey called Kupchak about a sign/trade deal. Not because the Rockets need it to sign Howard, but because they want to see if Lakers want Lin and/or Asik. I doubt anything will happen though, Lakers trying to save cap room for 2014.
Woj: Biggest reason (Dwight) chose Houston? I think the biggest reason right now is, I think he feels he has to win immediately and his reputation, name, and career depends on it. He saw the Rockets as the place he could win right away. I don't think you can fault that but the LA market, the scrutiny day in, day out, that played a significant part in it. What worked against the Lakers? Aging roster, Kobe, D'Antoni? Those were all factors. I really think, he didn't like playing for D'Antoni. He didn't like playing for Kobe. Those are scapegoats. I think that for him, he had it great in Orlando. He thought he wanted the big market and then realized...(maybe not so much). Next step for Houston? Omer Asik will be an interesting situation. He didn't sign up to be a backup. He's not going to be. You cant play those two together. At some point, the Rockets will move him. If they can get Ryan Anderson, they'll do it in a heartbeat. If they can get a stretch four, they need shooters there. A chance Delfino could return. They brought back Garcia. I think Asik and Lin are two players who will be very available between now and the start of the season or maybe they start the season there and at the trade deadline are moved. Lakers stand pat? They're looking for shooters. They need a center. Kaman is a possibility. They'll try to bring guys in on one year deals and regroup in 2014. No question they're at a crossroads. They don't have assets going forward do they? No. Kupchak was apprehensive giving up two first rounders for Nash. They made themselves a win now team and they are no longer that with Dwight gone. They can't win now and don't have flexibility going forward. (Stuck in the middle).
People that say Dwight is a marginal upgrade need to pass what they are smoking... Howard after the all-star break went back to him being the best big in the league. If he stayed with the Lakers people would be saying hes the best big man since Shaq, but since hes with the Rockets the guy is obviously on the decline lmao. Smdh
Stan Van Gundy: Dwight a good fit with Houston? I think so. I don't think it was a system fit/problem in LA. I thought it was a personnel problem in LA. No shooting and a ton of injuries. In Houston, he has a good lineup around him that compliments him. They really got the people around him that will allow him to thrive and help the team. I think it's an excellent fit, probably the best fit for him in terms of personnel. What ways was it similar(your system and D'Antoni's)? We started with PnR and get Dwight the ball in the paint off PnR. They didn't have time to develop. You can use PnR to get post touches. He didn't get as many in LA as he did with us because of Kobe and Pau. That will be natural. I didn't think the system was the issue. ... In Houston, it's a good personnel fit. Reading Dwight's comments, he has respect for McHale. I think that was attractive to him and is a good fit all the way around and I think they can contend. How did he handle this decision? I don't think he could have handled this any better. 1) He got it over quickly. The whole process was over in 4-5 days. Everything he said was respectful. He didn't make a big spectacle of it. No huge press conference. He announced it on twitter. I don't know if he could have handled it better than he did. First time in awhile he/we won't be talking about his future. It'll help him greatly. Everyone does better without distractions. He can focus on playing basketball. Rockets team, how good are they? I put them in the top four. I really like what the Clippers have done. No marquee signings but to re-sign Barnes was big. To get Dudley and Redick, two great shooters but smart, tough minded guys that will compliment Paul and Griffin was tremendous. If I had to vote right now, I would make them my pick in the west. San Antonio, people will continue to write them off and be wrong again. No reason to think they'll take a step back. You have to put OKC in the top four although they have taken a step back in my mind. They lost Martin. That bench is thin. Obviously there is time to make changes but if they can't add someone of his caliber, they take a step back. Does Howard welcome a closer like Harden? Dwight wants to be the closer and go to guy. We had discussions about that on a consistent basis in Orlando. There would be something missing from him if he didn't want that. FT shooting makes it difficult. Its tough to go to you down the stretch, people will tie you up and make you go to the line. This is perfect for Dwight but I do think it will be tough for him, if the Rockets do as I expect, and go to Harden down the stretch. I think that will be a tough pill to swallow but he'll get over it.
