Am I the only one who noticed how much Dwight Struggled?

What's the alternative? A fadeaway pull-up J a la Dirk? I think post = contact, you're physically imposing your will on your defender. No?

The problem with this game is not just Hibbert anyways; the Pacers were collapsing on him every time the ball is in the post. There are almost always two or three bodies on him when he goes in for the score.

Unless Dwight is trying to see if he can score in the post against 2-3 man defending (he can't), it's time to pass out of those situations.

 

i think dwight problem is he really trying to emulate hakeem vs pacers.he's just testing hakeem teachings to him!.. but im afraid he cant

 

Dwight is trying to use what Hakeem taught him, which is why it looked like he forced the issue. When he doesn't people say "all that training hakeem did went to waist, why no post up moves!!". I don't think this happens in the regular season. Once he is doubled and has no where to go, he dishes it outside and let's Harden, Lin, Parsons make them pay for the double team. Once one of those guys goes off, defense focuses on them leaving dwight free to dominate the inside again. And yes, going against Hibbert has a little something to do with why he struggled too. Not worried at all.

 

This is OT-ish, figured this was the best place to ask this.

So I do some lurking over at Lakersground cuz I enjoy reading the butthurt. As you can imagine they are all kinds of nasty about Dwight; his post game sucks, he has no moves, they're glad he's gone etc

But they also keep spewing that we won't get any PnRs with him here since he refused to run them with Nash.

1. Is that even true?
2. If it is, what was the real reason for them not running it? cuz I know Mike D. is all about PnRs

 

With our scorers, we don't need Dwight to go out and score a lot. It's more important that he makes a big impact of defense. That is where we need him the most. We were what, 2nd in the league in scoring last year? We will be fine if Dwight has trouble averaging 20 on the offensive end.

 

this, i think he was simply trying to force it a little too much. not making the right decision whether to pass it out or not. that should come with more familiarity with the team

 

Even Hitler was upset when DH left LA for Houston. Check it out:

http://captiongenerator.com/7177/Hitler-reacts-to-Dwight-Howard-leaving-LA

 

Unfortunately it's sorta true. Dwight wanted to post up in the Lakers offense, except he had the best PnR PG in the league feeding him. He scored over 65% from a PnR set, but he refused to run them. Even in preseason, the Rockets give him a lot of postups rather than Dwight setting a pick for Harden.

However, given that Houston has a more dynamic and motion offense than the Lakers after Nash went down, maybe Dwight would be more receptive to a PnR offense. One thing Dwight does well is pass out of the double team in the post, so at least the ball is not stagnant when he catches it.

 

How has he fared with his jumper?

 

Dwight has tried to bank his shot multiple times and hit one i think. He's working on it i guess.

 

Howard 4 reb. 17mins 2/6fg
Harden 5 reb. 17mins

I'm happy he is here but to continue giving excuses for a 22mill player and over looking that he is out rebounded by harden is something I won't do. I would like to see some improvement

 

calm down, its called PRE SEASON!

 

It's a preseason and he gets lots of attention. Even when he was unhealthy last year he lead the league in rebounding. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Balls weren't bouncing his way. Watch the game.

 

Orlando shot many many 3's which lead to long rebounds which a center is not going to get.

 

I like to be an optimist but I still havent see the explosiveness he used to have

 

Seriously?

 

Come on dude. Did you even watch the game? Why in the world do you think the Rockets got so many open 3's in the first place? You think they were just forgetting about those guys, or maybe.... just MAYBE they were double and sometimes bringing three guys over to defend Howard in the post. I dont think we EVER saw Harden this wide open during even one game last year except for maybe his first two in a Rockets uniform.

Howard affects this team in an extremely positive fashion just by being on the court and drawing so much attention on defense. I could care less if he gets out-rebounded by freaking Isiah Canaan as long as his play or his presence allows this team to win games.

 

Dwight is getting the ball way too far out from the basket, and the entry passes have not been good.

This team needs lessons from Shane Battier, his entry passes to Yao were terrific.

 

Dwight has such a reputation that even if he scores below 10 ppg and gets less than 10 reb/game for the next 20 games in a row...it's good, it's still good. Vucevij is a big body, guys, too much for Dwight to handle in the post, it's that simple. Howard also didn't have any assists tonight vs. the Magic.