Howard is past his prime

We don't, though. We are just chucking 3s and ignoring Howard in the half court, which is why we are losing. I can count on one hand how many times Howard got the ball in scoring position in the 2nd half last night, and that's a problem.

 

This is what I noticed so far with Dwight.

1st half he's very, I mean very active, fighting inside the paint, pushing his defender out of position to get himself into a scoring threat. He's even setting picks, hard picks, and actually even rolls to the basket!

Halftime...

2nd half, Dwight mostly just goes to the post pocket calls for the ball. When he does set a pick, it's just usually that... a pick, then he just watches to see what the ball handler does rather than actually rolling to the basket. You don't see him as active trying to get into more of a scoring threat like he did in the 1st half. Because of this, Dwight's obvious course would be to pass the ball back out to his shooters because he's not close enough to even explode to the basket. Then the 4th quarter rolls along and he when Dwight gets his touches, he just passes the ball up to avoid being fouled.

 

There were a TON of opportunities to get the ball to Dwight in the second half. We just weren't looking for him. He posted up plenty. We just chucked 3s instead. Maybe you should re-watch that 3rd/4th quarter. Dwight wasn't even in the game when they pulled ahead.

When the offense starts to go down the ****ter, chucking 3s is usually not going to work.

 

Either that or he tries to shoot the ball quickly, resulting in an ugly shot or offensive foul / turnover.

Everything he does is all mental

 

He may not be quite the athlete he used to be before the back surgery, but he's still huge and athletic. In time, I think he can develop even more post-up moves and negate any potential loss of athleticism the back surgery may have caused.

 

True Rocket fans support every player.

I'm upset about losses as the next fan. But to berate and demean individual players is crossing the line. We have to support our guys, not tear them down.

Too many members on this site create remedial threads and post which make the site look bad.

We should display a higher level of discussing/debating Rockets basketball, instead sounding like we're wearing dunce caps.

 

You should watch the 2nd half too again and see how many touches Dwight actually gets. The team does pass him the ball when he posts up, but it's Dwight who passes it back out again since he's not deep enough, or ends up turning the ball over coz he's not deep enough.

Stop counting fga and look at touches instead.

The team passes the ball to Dwight, it's up to Dwight to create a shot or pass it back out. It's the team's fault if they don't make their open shots, but Dwight shouldn't never be complacent that he doesn't get enough shots, because he does get enough touches.

 

Dwight's every bit as good.

2009 Dwight/2011 Dwight was 20/14/2 and the primary option for the Magic.

2013 Dwight is the 2nd option, in a free-flowing, 3pt heavy team. Simple math tells us unless he plays heavy minutes, or we change our offensive philosophy, he's not a 20ppg-er again.

He's still a 18-19ppg/13-14rpg/2bpg, defensive changing specimen.

He's still not 100% healthy, he's every bit as dominant as he can be though in his "Orlando" years. You guys act like he aged like a steak, the dude is still young. Still dominant, just apples to oranges. He's not #1 here, offensively.

 

Once Howard starts taking his job seriously, he will just be average. Dude should be dominating on both ends of the court.

As far as the touches, if he was dominating and had better post up moves, his teammates will trust him and get him the ball.

Plus like Kenny, Barkley and Shaq said the other night against the Lakers, he should be demanding the ball.

He also needs to get better position in the paint. Dude shouldnt have any problem sealing his man for that entry pass.

 

Re-posting is very effective to help get the big man better position. There was none of that last night. There hasn't been that all season actually.

When you have a big man and the offense is struggling, he should get the ball every possession. You can't seriously think he got the ball enough in the second half.

 

Howard is dominant. He just needs more touches in the half court offense