Honestly, I care more about the defensive effort and turnovers more than Howard's offensive output during a game. He draws double-teams - we get open shot.. and that's usually a three. We keep people in the game with our turnovers which are all self inflicted. We gave up 22 turnovers for 35 points. Addition by subtraction.
What we have here is: Howard (in the act of shooting): And a barley shoot: This should clear up some of the questions you may have in this thread. Carry on
Wow, I just watched a replay of the game & I'll say it again… Our opponents get away with so many fouls on Dwight it would be laughable if not so deflating. If you can't grab, push or hold on the perimeter then show the same respect for the bigs under the basket. Worst lobs in the game…seriously. We're getting better, but man if I was Dwight I'd be mad as a cut snake. It can't be that hard to lob an accurate alley oop to Dwight can it? Entry passing is a joke…call Kenny Smith to show you how it's done. He made a career out of hitting open 3's from Dream's kick outs after actually being able to FEED HIM THE BALL IN THE POST!!! Dwight works his butt off getting position, sealing off his man and getting to his spot, but the guys on the perimeter stand there like stunned mullets trying to figure out how to get the ball to him…then when they finally feed him the ball on the 4th attempt, some wombat strolls into the lane getting in Dwight's way. I know it's early in the season, but I'm hoping that this gets sorted out quickly. It's one thing beating the 76ers & Celtics with sloppy post work, but when it comes to the more experienced teams it will hurt us. That being said, our defence is looking very good for long stretches…I like.
Defenses always collapse on him. They double and triple team him when he gets the ball, Deny him the ball, and keep the defense focused on him. Sometimes this team is a little selfish. I am glad i can finally say that. We were too passive in the 14th pick years. But they need to always know where to find the open man if anyone cheats. Sometimes they look to score and put the ball down when their are 2-3 open guys and it only makes it harder for them throughout the game because the defense will keep cheating.
i didnt even know we had howard barley. he must be a secret weapon for the playoffs. lights out shooter?
The Sixers made it their mission to not let Howard get the ball. That meant that other people had to step up. Ariza and Harden stepped up.
Howard needs to get more involved when he's not getting his touches in the post. Tonight he seemed childish and stubborn, did not want to help out with pick and rolls or anything. He needs to adjust and not keep screaming guys to force feed him when he's not open!!
Dwight is what is considered an older player these days. He was visibly jealous of Nerlens athletic abilities. I saw a frustrated Dwight tonight at times.
He gets touches, just gets double teamed n is forced to pass, or he gets the ball ripped. Also gets fouled on the shots n those are not counted as FGs unless its n1.
It may be that I don't have a good view of everything going on on the court simultaneously, but it seems like every time they pass it to Dwight in the post, the passer lackadaisically draws his defender to the other side of the court (often not fast enough to prevent the defender from coming back to double team Dwight). However, my main observation is that, at that point, it seems like all the other Rockets are on the other side of the court leaving Dwight basically no options except to back it in to the basket in what's going to constantly be heavy traffic from now on as they double him up and/or foul him. I don't mind if he doesn't shoot a ton, but it doesn't seem like he's given any easy assist opportunities from this arrangement either. Calvin's talked in the past about how the Rockets play best from the inside-out. I feel like every time the ball's in Dwight's hands, he ought to have options for a move to the basket, a kick-out pass to an open man behind the arc, maybe a pass to someone cutting to the basket, etc. He's basically on his own once he gets the ball, though, so there's going to be the chance he gets stripped or fouled and they take so long in getting him the ball that he has no other options but to blast right in there at that point. If you look at other teams like the Spurs or the championship Rockets teams, they don't not dawdle with moving the ball in and out and around once they cross the half-court line. I don't think the Rockets have figured out how to use him properly as a major part of their scoring arsenal, whether it be with his own baskets or through assists. I just feel like he'd be a much bigger asset offensively if the others would give him a fighting a chance. Of course, it always to end with this: he'd up his scoring immensely if he could hit his damn free throws, and I think it's no small part of why he doesn't get way more touches. Everyone knows he's going to be hacked as soon as he gets the ball, because it's by far the best strategy for any defense against him. Why the hell they haven't hired Calvin on to be Dwight's personal free-throw coach is beyond me. Put Hakeem on one side of him and Calvin on the other side of him at practice until he's developed into an 80% free-throw shooter with excellent post moves and court vision. And maybe position the other Rockets somewhere within that vision.
