Rockets are 22-10 with him and 11-4 without him, though this does not take the quality of opponent into consideration.
Not at all we need a healthy D12 come playoff time. I will say a guy like Dmo who needs the paint is more effective on offense without Dwight though. It would be great if we could find a way to make their games mesh
Pretty sure we struggled, even last night. It may look better at times because Dwight doesn't have pretty moves, but there is too huge of a talent drop from DH to Dorsey for us to be better without him. The problem is, that when we did have him we wasted time and didn't use him well. We're going to start seeing James getting trapped a ton more and that's going to cause major problems, if we're not hitting shots. They weren't doing this as much the last time we were without Dwight, although they should have.
When Dwight came back from his injury earlier this year, the offense AND defense suffered and people started complaining about his coasting bringing the team down, which it was. Right now, Rox are better off without him. He has not really been a difference maker a lot of the season and has held the team back at times.
Dwight Howard's offensive game no longer matters in today's NBA which emphasizes on read and react, cuts to the basketball and shooters. As his athleticism wanes (and it is waning), he has become expendable on offense other than the occasional allyoop or dunk. What Dwight needs to do is transform his game to fit better with the Houston offense. Be a Tyson Chandler or Ben Wallace type of guy. The shot blocker, the rebounder..... Offense SHOULD NOT be running through Dwight unless there is a significant disadvantage in the opposing team down low that we can exploit.
Did you watch any of the game last night? The sorry assed Celtics turned our defense into one long lay-up-and-one drill. Once again, it was the sorry assed Celtics And talk about offense looking dumbfounded. Was Howard playing when we scored 9 points IN ONE QUARTER???? Cmon man.
Also with Dwight not being available, the Rox don't feel obligated to force feed him in the post for the likely brick or turnover. Dwight is not used properly but I don't think he wants to be used properly as a PnR player. With him not out there, these is no longer an issues. I'm hoping with this time off, the Rox can do well and he can come back humbled enough to change his role on this team (PnR player, rim protector, etc.) and stop trying to be the second coming of Dream.
Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Yes, because Dwight's offensive abilities are misused, and the team plays a more balanced and scrappy offensive game when he's not there. Honestly, if they'd just make him do pick and rolls, other dunking plays, and play defense while letting D-Mo and the others do the creative scoring, we'd be fine. A healthy Dwight, properly used, is great for us. A healthy Dwight misused is a crap shoot, and an unhealthy Dwight misused is a definite negative. The reason DeAndre Jordan always comes up in these conversations is that he's a great example of playing someone to their strengths. He doesn't shoot well and he has a worse free throw percentage than Dwight. What he does well is dunk the ball definitively every time he gets it. He's grown into a great asset for the Clippers, even if he may not be the most sophisticated center in the league. We don't have the second coming of Hakeem in Dwight, so let's instead play him as the first coming of Dwight.
Offensively sometimes, defensively on the high pick and roll definitely(dwight never steps out), overall ehhhh nah. I'm still on record saying that this team can't win a ring w/ dwight as our 2nd best player. Dwight is basically A SLIGHTLY better offensive/defensive version of Tyson Chandler right now
