Guys... They need to just have Dwight shoot 3s, **** it... At least he might make more than the 29% the Rockets are shooting... Lol, 29 out of 30 teams (hey the Rockets are better than the Nets...). I really hope this law of averages comes around... if not maybe Morey can teach the team how to shoot from his excel sheet.
Like always, we never get him the ball when he has good position, but are pretty good at forcing at pass that never gets to him! There were a few times where they opted to throw it into Jones instead of Dwight. Rather have Dwight in the post than tjones
Why doesn't Howard get more shots?... Why don't the Rockets players feed Howard the ball in the post more?... Because Howard doesn't do any of these post up basics correctly: 1. fight for, claim, and hold his position 2. show his hands, and make a clear target for a passing angle and most importantly: 3. he DOESN'T DEMAND the ball (show the players he's intent on wanting it) He jostles around and starts to post up once in a while, but then he doesn't claim a position, seal his defender off, and hold that position long enough for his teammates to clearly see the opening. Instead, he settles for weak positioning, and then bails out on that spot and runs out to start setting screens... which opens up a whole different set of problems. For one, he cannot, and will not shoot the open shot... so why does he even bother setting screens and rolling to spot up positions. All that does is set him up to receive a pass, only for him to have to start looking around and wasting time trying to find someone else to pass to. All the while his defender is sitting back at least 6 feet away from him playing zone on other Rockets. And what about when he does get the ball in the post, hmm, let's see: 1. he's usually not in prime post position, so he ends up having to try to dribble and back his way closer in, which more times than not results in a turnover or an off balance, contested fling of the ball. 2. he doesn't have any shooting touch, so he can't finesse shots to the rim. He only has 2 options outside of 4ft, a left handed mini-hook, and a right handed running sweeping hook. (and the sweeping hook is totally useless) With all of that being the case, what other options are there? Howard simply does not have the requisite skills nor fundamentals to be an effective post player. Think about these things: 1. with all of the big man coaching he's received over the years, how come he does not use any of these basic fundamentals: a. a pump fake b. a drop step (every big man's basic core fundamental) c. a right handed jump hook (since he's right handed) d. basic positioning technique And I've seen him working on all of these skills in videos with Hakeem and Mchale, so it's not like he physically cannot do them. He just doesn't care to try harder to practice on them. And that says it all, he just DOESN'T CARE enough about his own basketball skills, or winning and losing. He's being paid superstar money, but in reality he's just an all-star player. And there's a big difference between those 2 things. So it's one thing to ask how come the other Rockets don't pass Howard the ball in the post, which they should be more proficient at, since they are NBA players. But the real problem is that the player in the post has to WANT THE BALL. And that means fighting for the position, making a clear target, and SHOWING his teammates that he wants it. And then actually DO SOMETHING positive with it once he receives it. Stop making half ass attempts at everything. This is all really moot anyway, because in truth, if Howard had the desire to be better... he would have worked on improving his skills 7-8 years ago. The fact that he hasn't done so by now means it's not that important to him. The only answer is to use him in the ways that best maximize the few things that he can do well, which are: 1. flashes and pick n rolls to the basket for layups and dunks 2. defensive anchor, protecting the paint 3. rebounding (offensive and defensive) And maximizing those things from him may take a new coach, someone who can light a fire in him or at least make him work harder.
Dwight can get more touches but that will lead to more turnovers and more ticky tack fouls. The refs HATE Dwight for whatever reason. I've never seen as many phantom calls called on one player
When he gets himself open, it's bad passing angles, it's also quite a bit of congestion much like when Ty drives. There has to be a strong side shooter to pass the ball to him, then on the weakside some movement on the other 3 players to where trapping/doubling would come too late. I'm also for Dwight/Ty to start the 2nd quarters together and really just play a high p&r game with Brewer in the corner, and then either Tjones or Trez setting weak side screens for Thornton. It's easy to defend when the team doesn't move, and it's just random drive & kick on ball screens. The off ball player movement needs to pick up, so the ball doesn't get so much attention. Same with the Howard-Ariza-Brewer-Harden-Lawson or Terry lineup. Keep Harden & Howard on the low blocks, Ariza glued to the corners, and constantly player movement orchestrated around Harden or Howard in the low block, it'd cause way too much confusion. We still run the risk of them leaving Brewer or Lawson open, though.
One of the biggest problems with passing the ball to Howard in the post is his putrid passing skills. Giving him the ball in the post means it's not coming back out to the perimeter. Same goes when he receives the ball in a PnR play - you never see Howard pass the ball to another player. Dwight is basically a black hole on offense and so combine that with his total lack of offensive skills and it's almost impossible to give him more shots without harming the team.
i think d12 does need more touches, maybe just a little. but that's not a big issue of this team. he's never a juggernaut on offense, and now he's over his peak. at this point, he's not much different from dj on the clips.
dwight can dunk, and thats about it on the offensive end... the only exception is when he is up against a weak center.
Why??? Trying to get him more all-oops is actually among the best adjustments they have made. Dwight has absolutely no post game. Thats gotta wait until DMO is back
I will play Howard more with Ty and the bench. That enables Ty to have a target to pass to and Dwight can contribute on offense against back-up centers. Maybe that can help the bench get going. Harden likes working with Capela and Jones more. Get them more time together. In the 4th, maybe Dwight has gotten into a rhythm and he can help on offense. Or just play the center who's playing better. We need to get out of our funk. We also need one of those speeches from Calvin or Mario.
That they go so long without getting him passes when he is in position to score is an embarassment to our franchise. They don't know how to properly use him.
People who keep saying Dwight needs more shots: a. haven't watched Dwight since he's been here b. not Rocket fans c. don't know basketball d. all of the above
Yao truly was so much better than Dwight, even back then. I miss that dude a lot. I miss a center that knows how to post up. Dwight just doesn't have the skills to be a legitimate threat in the post. It's one of the reasons why the Rockets jack up so many threes. I honestly don't know how Dwight has lasted this long in the league playing the exact same way.
because true good centers (in a conventional way) is a died down breed? now the dj's are the default, w/ many calling them "superstars". smdh.
Dwight getting plenty of shots in Orlando led a top ranked offense to a near Finals team out of the East. http://youtu.be/fGjdKQPz9uo
He got a decent amount of post ups last game he just kept passing out, which I'm okay with. The only thing Howard should try to do when posted up is exactly that, pass out. If we want Howard to get more shots, then we need more PnR, inside drop off passes and lobs. Its just really hard to do that right now this we are passing like **** and racking up a million turnovers.
Dwight doesn't need the ball more. He's terribly inefficient. He doesn't make great passes out of the post, he's not a good scorer in the post and he turns it over a bunch in the post. Dwight is playing fine as is. We need a pf that can score in the post (Dmo) and knock down shots and defend.
Those days are gone. Dwight can't even play back to backs. How the hell are we going to use him like they did in Orlando?
This. Dwight is actually playing fine as is. If he gets a matchup he can dominate, by all means go to it. But 1) he's not efficient at all as a post up player 2) how are we going to run offense through a guy that has to sit every other game? Dwight is not the same guy he used to be and even the guy he used to be wasn't a great post player.
