This was nice to read: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/spo...bination-for-4929329.php?t=4261d8f87666506723 [rquoter] For Howard, joining a high-scoring, playmaking guard will not only help Harden but will make things easier all over the court. Howard has averaged 18.3 points in his nine NBA seasons but described his potential influence on the Rockets, when combined with Harden, as more like Russell's through 11 championships with the Celtics or Wilt Chamberlain's with the 1972 Lakers. Big comparisons "Bill Russell realized the best thing to do was defend, rebound, get it out quick and get easy buckets," Howard said. "They were blowing teams out. Bill Russell, especially, took pride in his defense. I do the same thing. "We're both undersized to play the center position, but we were great defenders, got a lot of rebounds and blocked a lot of shots. I look at Wilt. He realized he didn't have to score 50 points a game to win. He played defense. He dominated the paint. He kicked it out and those guys hit shots. That was the best thing for his team. "With us, you have to pick your poison. We have, with me and James in the pick-and-roll, him driving down the lane, putting all kinds of pressure on the bigs to help, but also on the perimeter to step in and hit me on the roll, which will let guys like Chandler (Parsons), (Francisco) Garcia, all of these guys that can spread the floor, hit those shots."[/rquoter] It looks like Dwight is embracing a more "Bill Russell" like role for this team, with heavy dose of pick-and-roll. Its good see that he is aware of where his major strength lies. I was concerned before that there may be some tension with him demanding a ton of post touches and taking away somewhat from what was successful for us last year. But I think he really gets how he needs to play with this team.
Howard is a rebounding machine to what we have had lately which is a pretty nice asset to have and watch.
That's good to hear but it isn't like Howard has ever played with a high scoring guard play making guard before. I would've hoped at this point in his career he would've already figured out where his strength is.
I think one of the main reasons his post ups look bad is because he tries to slowly back down defenders that are significantly taller and can loom over him. When he drives they bump him as he goes goes around and keep him from building up his momentum on his way to the basket. This is the main reason McHale wants him to use his speed more. If he can drive past his defender, he can outjump any help defense at the rim.
Howard continuing to say and do all the right things. Of course, what matters is how players act when things aren't going well.
I wonder if it was really the pick and roll that Dwight didn't like, or more that he didn't want to run the pick and then go rebound Kobe's shot. The original quote from Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles: Note that it "seemed" to Nash that this was the case, it was never said the Dwight told him that.
I do not get it. Omer did this kind of things last season. We need contribution from Dwight on the offensive end.
Dwight will contribute on the offensive end. It just may not come primarily through post-ups. He's already shown he can catch passes in traffic from Harden and others way better than Omer ever could.
Well hopefully things don't have to go bad. Look at Miami last season, all smiles until playoffs...then it's beast mode, ring and then all smiles again. Our team is stacked, the city isn't too big or too backwater and we don't depend on DH to carry 100% of the load...if he can't be happy in Houston where can he be happy?
Howard will provide more of what Omer provided last season. More dunks, more rebounds, more blocked shots, more post defense, more PnR (better efficiency).
I hope we dont turn him into glorified tyson chandler he has real post skill which we should use.. late in the game we'll need to slow it down as the game does slow down. you cant just hop into a slow, low post game at the flip of a switch. it has to be incorporated into the flow of the whole game so Dwight can develop a rhythm.
Rockets were the #6 offense with no preseason together, they dont need offensive help. They need to sure up their defense at the rim, which will increase their team point differential. Dwight will help the offense by giving them a post up option and better pick and roll finisher.
