I noticed that alot of people are claiming that the magic can win a championship by using the rockets old formula of shooters and a dominant center in the middle. However there is a fatal flaw in the Magics imitation formula and that flaw is Dwight Howards lack of offensive ability where hakeem was virtually impossible to guard one on one. Dwight Howard is utterly useless if he is 5 feet away from the basket. For instance in the Charlotte series I noticed Nazr Mohammed had success against howard just by pushing him away from the basket. Doubling howard is the only way to lose to orlando. To me it seems like only a fairly simple game plan is neccesary to beat orlando. With that said Jameer Nelson is the difference maker on that team. What is your game plan to stop dwight and the magic?
In no way have I seen the Magic play enough to have an unwavering opinion on D-Howard. But the limited amount I have seen him play, I think the guy has gotten better offensively then when he first came in the league. Before it was purely dunking and absolutely nothing else. Now I think he has developed a decent post game...but its absolutely useless 5 or more feet away from the basket. For the life of me I can't figure out why anybody would ever double team him. I personally would have my team guard him one on one and absolutely zone in on the their deadly three point shooters. The Magic aren't going to win with D-Howard scoring 35 points. Mostly because I don't think he can.
good point. not every team has a guy who can keep howard more than 5 feet from the basket though. obviously the cavs got shaq just for that purpose. guard dwight one on one, then you can keep the other 4 guys on orlando's shooters. carter and nelson can still score one on one, as will dwight against shaq, but at least they won't get extra points by being left open for 3's.
You are pretty much right. Hell, Dwight averaged under 10 ppg in that series. With his physical gifts, he really needs to be working on his offensive game,
The Hawks have no plan to "beat" Dwight Howard. I imagine he will completely dominate and pummel them like he usually does if they don't double him.
im not sure what to think of the magic. the magic dont need dwight scoring 30ppg they just need his defensive presence in he pain because they have numerous offensive weapons. jameer is balling right now and they have so many guys that can exploded at any giving time the determining factor is going to be vince carter. 15 ppg on 36% shooing aint gonna get it done. if vince can step up before they meet the cavs or celtics (most likely the cavs) then that might be the x factor that could put the magic over the top.
As long as Horford can keep dwight more than 5 feet from the basket, they should not have a lot of trouble stopping him offensively.
LOL, are you serious? When has that ever happened? If Howard doesn't score much, it will be because the Hawks exert a lot of effort to stop him, which means the Magic's perimeter players will clean up. On the other end, if the Hawks don't get much inside scoring, they are toast. Their only hope is getting Howard in foul trouble to limit his minutes.
agreed, carter really needs to step up if the magic wants to compete with cavs. The only reason they did fine with carter sucking in the first round is because nelson picked up all the slack. but i really doubt jameer can keep up that kind of performance.
The league can make you the best, or make you look bad. Howard Green McGrady Ariza Westbrook --- Grant Hill David Mathews Ilgauskas Lowry This is the best possible team in the NBA when you factor in the salary cap and what they should make. I don't care who coaches this team.
Keeping Dwight Howard more than five feet from the basket is almost as hard as keeping young Shaq more than five feet from the basket. Simple in theory, nearly impossible in practice. That said, I agree that the key to beating Orlando is to stay at home on their shooters. In order to this this, however, you need several big bodies to rotate on Howard throughout the game/series. Not to mention, Superman has shown that his kryptonite is his macho attitude and his inability to adjust to the officials or even play smart when people get physical with him. He's a mental midget.
Good Point I just don't think shaq is the sollution though. He is still a great center, just don't think he can keep howard away from the hoop in a 7 game series. Big Z have no chance with howard. Also I feel that the Magics biggest weapon against cavs (cause i think thats its gonna be magic against cavs in the east) is Lewis. Yes his defence is crap, but he is the difference maker in last year's eastern finals. I still don't think the cavs have anyone on that team that could effectively guard lewis.
Ummm, check Howard's history against Atlanta. Ummm, Horford has zero chance of guarding him one-on-one. Ummm, Howard is a bit more of a challenge than Kurt Thomas and Primo Brezec. Seriously, you do know that Horford isn't exactly the best post defender around, right? I'm not saying they are good players, but one can argue that all 3 of Charlotte's centers (Ratliff, Chandler & Mohammed) are better at defending the post than Horford. Who knows? Maybe weird stuff will happen and Howard only plays 25 mins/game against the Hawks. Don't bet the farm on that one. My guess is he won't be completely owned by foul problems for two consecutive series. The Hawks better play out of their mind on the perimeter or they have no chance to win this series.
It's not THAT hard. Dwight Howard's game is alot like Shaq's game, except in his prime Shaq was taller, heavier, and much stronger than Dwight. There are multiple players in the league that can stop Howard, even without a double team.
Shaq had a legitimate jump hook rather than the running hooks that Howard takes, had great footwork and could spin and maneuver around his man even if he couldn't outquick him, and even has a short range jumper in his arsenal. Shaq's post game was much better than Howard's.
Shaq could dunk on anyone guarding him if you let him dribble the ball. The double team was the only way to stop your center from getting a facial. Howard just doesn't have that strength, he really shouldn't have taken the Superman nickname, he's more like batman.
