Dwight Howard Not Happy With The Effort in Houston [NBA.COM]

Thank. You.

What Dwight said is 100% true. HOWEVER -- it applies to him too. He has been wildly inconsistent thus far, fighting/scrapping/hustling some nights, coasting/shrugging/sleepwalking others. Both Dwight and Harden have been guys who flip the switch when they feel like it (or maybe when they can, healthwise, who knows?) this season. If I were Harden and Dwight tried to come at me about not giving full effort/not playing the same game every night, I would tell his hypocritical ass exactly where to go.

Thing is, the guys who play hard and hustle night in and night out (Bev, Lin, Garcia, sometimes Casspi) don't have sufficient "rank" to initiate that kind of call out.

 

The problem is there is no accountability on this team. Mchale needs to bench Harden if he doesnt want to play defense. Do you think we would have this problem if we had JVG or Tom Thibodeau.

 

Here are the actual facts. The Rockets started the 4th with brooks, bev, casspi, Garcia, and tjones, and the Rockets went on an 8-0 run to make the score 73-69. Harden entered the game and the Rockets got to 75-74 before the Suns went on a 6-0 run. After that, the closes the Rockets got was 6 points.

 

This has been my point through out this whole thread and the point of my critics of Howard lately.

 

Yup. Let's keep on blaming Dwight. Because clearly it's his fault the coaching staff has no competency when it comes to to using Dwight properly. And yes, this is the same coaching staff that gave Harden a free pass the whole game.

 

Amen, exactly

 

Dwight actually played a decent game, Harden was the problem.

 

Dwight was just fine. Blame the coaches for not running plays to suit his style of play.

Dwight also probably thinks that Haren is not the star and leader that he thought he was

 

Dwight's primary comments were not about ONE game, though. Quite the opposite -- they were about not bringing consistent effort to each and every game. Harden is not the only person guilty of that.

 

Howard is not alone...

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/...trated-los-angeles-clippers-struggles-defense

 

True in the playoffs. Coaches almost always play their stars in the playoffs no matter how poorly they have been playing in the game.

But in the regular season, you do want to have a longer perspective. You give players PT for a lot of reasons other than the immediate need, reasons like health and making a point about the importance of effort.

The interesting thing is, McHale did sit Howard in the entire 4th quarter in the other game. Why didn't he do the same with Harden?

 

Earlier this season against OKC, Parker and Duncan were having a bad game, the reserves cut into the lead in the 4th, Pop brought back Parker, then Duncan, the Spurs lose. Very similar to last night.

The only difference is, it's much more excusable to lose on the road at OKC.

 

There's a lot of complaints about the utilization of Dwight by coaching staff and these are valid complaints. I think most of us feel pick and roll is best utilization of Dwight. But from observation, Dwight still appears reluctant to do pick and roll. He appears to rather plant down in the post a lot of the time and when he gets the ball down there, he doesn't give consistent results thats why I believe players are starting to become reluctant to give it to him down there. He needs to be more definitive down there. If nothing is there pass it back out for open shot because he is still for whatever reason getting double teams from most teams. Most of the time lately hes been forcing it down there and coming up empty or with TOs.

 

He had a club to hit later. Give the dude a break!

 

Exactly. He grabbed 18 boards, put in 15 points (albeit a bit inefficiently), and played great defense. Sure, his offensive game isn't as polished as it should be, but you can't liken his game last night to Harden's.

 

The guys are acting like "we are there now" following the SA win.

Mental toughness and focus are bigger concerns of mine than personnel or coaching by a long shot.

 

Dwight's only reached double figure rebounds in 2 of the last 6 games. He's gone 6 games without scoring more than 15 points.

The points is, this TEAM has a problem. Harden is only a part of it.

Oh, and Dwight hasn't blocked a shot since the Atlanta game.

 

If he's playing hurt and not playing well then he's hurting himself and our team. I would rather he miss a few weeks now and heal up 100%.

 

I applaud him for calling it like it is with no actual name calling. It voices concern without throwing people under the bus. It is showing some accountability but maintain team cohesiveness.