I'm kind of with Hewbie on this one. The "admission" of quitting on the team was in the pink suit interview with Chuck and Kenny. And honestly after watching ALL the games last season, I think the most charitable thing one could say is that the entire team quit on itself, and every player quit on each other. Dwight was hardly alone in the "giving up act" late in games. Now, with that said, I've slowly come around to the realization that Dwight's presence really was a problem last year, and obviously this year's team is playing way better now that he's gone. But I've really had a hard time agreeing with the widespread narrative that "Dwight quit on the team" and "Dwight was the cancer." There is an element of truth to each statement, but I think the reality of last year's team is far more complicated than that. Nobody from last year's squad is beyond reproach. Nobody.
It wasn't the TNT interview that he admitted to it. It was a BSPN interview. Sure he used the term "disinterested." To me that means I didn't play as hard as I could have. Last season wasn't all on him but I will say the majority of it was. Rest of interview here. He acted unprofessionally after fitting himself into the offensive scheme successfully the post season before. I'd say he has yet to really learn how to be truly effective to win big. That's not saying he doesn't effect the game positively at times.
Mm, yeah I can agree with that, which I take to mean is different than merely "quitting on the team" as others in this thread have said. I think it's safe to say that there are things in life that we are "disinterested" in but go along with anyway, even though we learn in retrospect that we could have done them better if we got over all our reasons to be disinterested/disengaged in the first place. I think that's really what happened with Dwight. It's not so much that he tanked and just gave up, it's that he felt he could do more, and he had to fight with that tension the whole last season the most. Whether or not we know how much he really could have given us is another thread discussion (I tend to believe that he probably had trouble coming to grips with the fact that his post game just wasnt the same as it was in Orlando or even the first year we got him), but that he probably could have given us more from that department regardless if he got just a few more touches in that area at times ... at the very least when he sealed his guy and our guards would hesitate to throw it to him). All in all, I can agree he's at fault for his own play and how that affected others negatively, but there were a billion reasons that last year sucked so bad. I don't know that he was THE source of it all as the narrative wants to project. The whole team couldn't come together ... I don't know how many times I saw Harden and Ariza yelling at each other for Harden's terrible defense, even beverly' struggles, etc. Dwight's departure helped in that it came with a new coach and system, and two GREAT pickups in Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon, people I wish we could have somehow gotten with Dwight here (we always did need that floor spacer from the four to play with Dwight, and a second playmakers/scorer).
These types of threads were annoying when he was on the Rockets - now that he's on another team.... c'mon man.
Another win without the big clown tonight Kobe, Steve Nash, JJ Reddick, Stan Van Gundy, Jeff Van Gundy, Jameer Nelson and a host of other ex teammates and coaches. Hell even Kevin McFail roasted him. .
LOL, you sound like exactly a LOF, whose can't accept the facts of your idol being criticized for the weakness or poor performance from time to time, and instead you are just trying to find comfort by attacking the one whom you believe that should be blamed. So, are you a 5th grader whose eagerly looking for more likes on your facebook?
Just so glad this guy is not on our team anymore with all his drama.The more time passes it is becoming clear as daylight that he was the root of our problems.
No doubt last year was a team effort. But if I could add Dwight to the current Rockets roster for absolutely free, I wouldn't do it. Dwight has been a locker room problem everwhere he's played. Last year was no exception.
If he was not at 100% at fault one can say he was at atleast 70% fault.History is allways the best indicator of the future and this guy has a long history of ripping up teams.
We would've been deadly if we were able to add ryno or ego. Pick and roll harden/Howard with one of the old pelicans waiting for the kick out three... Dayummm. But then again Dwight wouldn't have taken a pay cut so..
You obviously are projecting dude. Just because you are a LOF and have that mentality not everyone is the same. You have to much issues. Get help ASAP.
"...I can't even watch the Finals, because when I see someone else playing, it makes me cry. I want to be in that moment.'' Dwight
He said it was hard to get motivated because the Rockets promised hi, he would be the centerpiece of the offense but then they were treating him like De Andre Jordan. Then he went to complain to Morey and Morey told him he won't get any shots. Dwight's situation is vastly different from Pippen in that he ,Ade his demands very clear when he signed with the Rox and the team agreed, but last year they shat on that agreement. Its natural Dwight would lose motivation and feel betrayed in that situation to blame it all on him and paint him as a bad guy is just ridiculous. Check out Dwight's stats every year and in the playoffs...if he was a quitter with that stat line I wish every player exact Harden quits on the Rox, we'll win every game
That's not a fair comparison. Neither DeAndre or Capela in any points of their career were any kind of offensive threat nor the team will run any plays for them at all. On the other hand, people are easily forgetting that Dwight was averaging 20 pts / about 13.5 rb per game in his last 5 years in the Magics and was the most dominate center in the league. Of course he is clearly over the hill now, but putting him in the same category of 2 guys with zero offensive skills is just not right.
