I think you are underestimating the effect eliminating the Illegal Defense rules have on allowing vastly more creative team defense. Surely, you cannot deny Hakeem had a lot of problems with Seattle, and that was because they were breaking the Illegal Defense rules. In today's game, the Seattle defense on Hakeem is completely legal. I never said Barkley couldn't beat a zone or Seattle-style defenses doubling without the ball in man-on-man; I said it is a lot harder to get an entry pass at the box like he was explaining last night. Point is: Hakeem had trouble getting the ball vs Seattle's Illegal Defense (that is legal now) I don't recall Yao getting entry passes closer to the box than Dwight. I don't see Duncan getting them much either like Shaq and Barkley. Sometimes HOFers are in denial that times have changed. But I agree overall. Dwight doesn't seem to try for that positioning like Yao did. Doubling him without the ball can stop him. That is legal now. It wasn't when he was winning his chips. Low and behold, Illegal Defense was irradicated in 2001-02. Took a year for teams to adjust and get players to take full advantage of the new defense rules (or, should I say, lack of rules), and Shaq was stopped. Duncan and Detroit started winning. Both those defenses started to aggressively double Shaq without the ball (and other bigs). The floodgates to using the Seattle Illegal Defense of the early '90s was wide open in the NBA. Bigs had to move away from the box more than ever before.
Yep, we have this Dwight...but we are pretending (or he is himself) that he's this back to the basket finesse guy. Barkley was talking about a counter move...when do you see that in that video? He's just going attack the rim, he needs to keep it simple. We keep seeing him try these spins and quick moves and then he just loses the ball. I said it earlier in the year they just need to keep it Simple. Shaq kept it simple, he certainly didn't have this vast array of post moves.
start simple.. then when they overplay the runner into the lane.. pump fake up and under. still simple its just the next natural move off of something hes already good at. a 10 ft bank shot would be great too if he has it.. those 3 moves and variations are good enough.
also, if the double team comes from the middle he needs to attack it quickly and try to split it sometimes.
Couple things I noticed from the video.. His teammates are doing a much better job of getting him the ball on the move, and when he's open underneath the basket. He's also making quicker post moves and not thinking too much like he is now. Physically, he's there. He just needs to get in a rhythm offensively. He's thinking too much out there.
Dwight just cant overpower people down low. Like literally down low, in his hips/legs. He's getting frustrated and trying to bully his way there with his strength up top and he just keeps getting called for it.
I remember when Parsons was dribbling on the perimeter and Dwight was on the side just watching him. Parsons had to yell at Dwight to post up so he could pass to him and Dwight obliged.
Barkley and Shaq are correct, Dwight needs to use his lower body to win position. right now he is just using his upper body and wrestling with guys for position. He needs to win position by getting a lower and wider base. Once he wins position he can seal the guy behind him. Once he gets the ball, he makes his move in that same lowered position. Drop step left or right into a jump hook or a fake. So many moves and counter moves can be made from this positon. Take short quick steps to move and short quick dribbles if need be. Dream is waaaaaaaaay more advanced than Dwight will ever be. Dream has natural balance and quick feet. He can't teach Dwight his moves. That will never work. I just hope somebody will show Howard some basic post up techniques, cause he surely needs them.
Chuck and Shaq are 100% right. It has nothing to do with Dwight not being allowed to be strong or anything like that. It is all mental. You have to run to the right spots and set up and ask for the ball while sealing. You have to read your defender to know if you are doing your move, your countrmove, or your counter counter move. Dwight posts up too far out and has only one or two moves so far. He COULD run his ass down right under the basket and seal. That is still legal in today's NBA and has nothing to do with reffing.
I'm telling you guys this is a major part of it: A big problem I see is him not being able to get the ball where and when he wants it once he sustains his positioning. I remember we had the same problem with Yao at times. For him it would be a little easier than with Dwight as he had a lot more touch and power from his lower body. We can't lob it to him off the PnR we can't pass it to him on the block efficiently so how the hell is he supposed to get the ball at a position to score besides garbage dunks or offensive put backs. This will for sure be a work in progress but I definitely do not put it all on Dwight.
dwight's got a terrible post game. sorry i just don't think he has it in him. he's basically a taller and more athletic version of ben wallace with a couple robotic post moves.
Wow, makes so much sense! Free lesson from two of the BEST post players ever. That said, both Barkley and Shaq were power players. They were both also athletic (well, that's the baseline, haha), but their main strengths were power. Hakeem, on the other hand, was more finesse and skill player. At this point of Howard's career, not sure where he would be more suited. He seems somewhat in limbo now. He is super agile for his size, and definitely has strong upper body, but he doesn't seem to hold his position well, and often get pushed around. I am guessing it is still better for Howard to learn from Hakeem than Barkley and Shaq, as it is (probably) easier for him to learn to move around the basket with great footwork ala Hakeem than to learn how win a wrestling match, again because Howard is more of an agile big man than a power big man (from the standpoint of being immovably powerful).
A lot of good comments in this thread, a lot of poor comments as well in my opinion. I'd trust a couple HOFs over some of the excuses I'm seeing. These guys know basketball and have played at levels 1% of the population can even imagine doing, yet some of you guys are trying to make Dwight's ineffectiveness more complicated than it actually is with the analytic and anecdotal mumbo jumbo. Occam's razor, it's simpler than what some of you make it out to be. At the end of the day, Dwight doesn't know how to post up, simple as that.
As much as I love the signing, the mentality and weakmindedness of Dwight will always hold him back. Pair that with laziness - he's not the hardest worker, far from it - complacence and aging, I don't think we'll ever see a dominant Howard. I really wonder how it was possible he dominated in Orlando when he can't even post up.
Yup. I SMH every time i read people's comments of how strong he is or that he's a beast. He's not. He's like a taller Ray Allen with bigger shoulders. He's always getting bumped off the block or his move. It's ridiculous really. I'd love to see what his workouts consist of. My guess is, he's such a big name that no one is really willing to pressure lower body weight training on him because they fear he'll become disgruntled. Also, i think someone like Dream probably tells him he doesn't need it because Dream never needed a large(r) lower body to work in the post. What Dream doesn't realize is, he had great mechanics and Dwight does not. That alone would account for a difference in strength and stability between the two. He doesn't do it because he physically can't. It's like telling someone to squat properly and they keep leaning forward too much. Something is wrong with their movement pattern that's physically keeping them from doing it properly. You can tell them a million times, and they may even know exactly what a proper squat should look like, but their body still won't be able to do it. Stability. He doesn't have stability. Dream never got bumped off his moves so much, so although you may need more mass to back defenders down, it shouldn't keep a post player from getting up hook shoots/runners. Dwight gets bumped off by defenders who are simply holding their position. They're not even trying much to bump him or lean into him and Dwight's just flailing all over the place. All his troubles in the post relate back to that. He can't establish deeper position because he can't keep it. They move him off. He can't get the ball where he wants it because he cant keep his position long enough to give the passer a target. It's very difficult, as an entry passer, to hit a moving target in the post like that. You miss him and it's a turnover nearly every time because a defender is right behind him. Some people say he just doesnt know how to post up. He's played ball this long, at this level, with different coaches and has been tutored by some of the best and he doesnt know yet? That's BS. And Dwight isn't a stupid person that just can't grasp instructions and remember movement sequences. He also isn't some stubborn idiot who just refuses to learn and improve his game. you don't win DPOTY a few times by being that guy. He just can't do it physically.
