Juwan Howard will have the most impact of the players mentioned. He has the ability to hit the 10-18 foot jumper, something that was sorely lacking in Cato and one of our BIG weaknesses last year. He is an average rebounder and should be able to thrive defensively under JVG. He is the only one on that list that is capable of going off for 30 on any given night with the possible exception of Sura (but that is assuming Sura starts).
Also he appears to be the perfect compliment to Yao since will take some defensive pressure off of Yao due to him being able to hit the open jumper. That is something that teams did regularly with Cato. There was no danger of Cato hitting anything but an ally-oop. Cato 6.1 ppg 6.8 rpg Howard 17.0 ppg 7.0 rpg Now Howard's points may go down but we lose nothing in rebounds. I realize that we lose a little defense but Howard will make up for it by being more of a force on offense and making the other team work harder on defense.
I have to disagree about the rebounding. Cato got his 6.8 rebounds in 25 minutes, while competing with Yao for rebounds. Howard got his 7 rebounds in about 36 minutes while being pretty much the only big man in Orlando. If you adjust Howard's minutes to 25 a game, his rebounding numbers (4.9 per) look close to Taylor's.
Just wanted to post this pic again bc if I had it my way, he'd still be a Rocket. It's not every day you cut a 7 pick.
I see your point but it can be said that Yao will get alot of attention around the basket. Which could free up Howard to get a better chance at a rebound.
It's not every day a 7 pick shoots at his girlfriend, falls in love with his flat jumper, and bad mouths his former teammates on his way out.
How do you know that? Just because Cato and Harrinton aren't doing the dream shake and Yao's not elbowing people in the face, that doesn't mean they didn't learn anything. It may just be an attitude thing or just getting a better feel for the game. Howard has one of the best work ethics in the game and is a good locker room presence, and if he can rub that off the just a couple players, then thats teaching. He doesn't deserve an award for it, but it helps.
