I don't believe Howard is dirty; he is just competitive and well taught. I only wished Yao were this "dirty."
No, we wouldn't. Instead, we would see the players take the law into their own hands. Howard wouldn't be throwing elbows or slapping people in the face because guys like Xavier McDaniel or Charles Oakley would hurt him if he tried it. He's dirty. There's a difference between being physical or looking to dish out some punishment and being dirty.
I disagree with DHoward being a dirty player. He is constantly trying to get baited by every team he plays, especially the Celtics, into getting a technical or pushing/shoving. Seems like to me he had walked away from every single near confrontation this series.
I think Dwight has been too nice for too long. As a big man, his duty is to protect the basket. He's dishing out the fouls and intimidating the offense from driving to the rim. It's being a good solid center. On the other side, players are hacking and pulling him down to prevent him from getting an And1. Half the time, he doesn't even get the foul call. All he's doing is fighting back. He's still not on the level of Mutombo's elbows, yet everyone on this board loves him. If Dwight were a Rocket, you'd be cheering him on.
Agreed. Dwight is a lot more mature in this series in not arguing calls. He gets hacked on many plays, sucks it in and gets back on D. People are only complaining because Dwight is not a Rocket, Paula Pierce cries and writhes on the floor from being breathed on, and the Celtics old bodies aren't able to withstand the physicality.
I didn't say he wasn't smart. He knows to walk away to avoid techs and/or getting his chin checked. What bugs me is that he retaliates later on when the opposing player isn't in a position to defend himself. Like I said before, there is a difference between being physical or even dishing out punishment (like Shaq or even Mutombo) and trying to hurt people who have let their guard down. What he does is the same thing as undercutting a player who is in the air IMO. It's a non-basketball play that attempts to hurt someone (and nothing else) while they are unsuspecting and unable to defend themselves.
Please. Van Guny has said a few times that he has a problem with how often Dwight lies about being fouled. ESPN has showed replays where Dwight tries to convince the officials he was pulled down or hacked when there was absolutely no contact.
Haha, if you follow his logic, Deke is the dirtiest player of all time for knocking out his own teammates! :grin:
And you don't think there's an equal number of non-calls? Dwight got absolutely killed by Nate Robinson and I saw that in real time. Defenders are able to get away with more contact on Dwight Howard only because he's a big man and can go through it unaffected whereas the same minute contact would send Pierce to the floor and FT line.
I am confused at what you are saying he does? He holds his hands up high and turns around, not knowing who, if anyone is behind him?
Dwight = heavy and bulky. Heavy and bulky elbows = more painful than usual. More painful than usual = NBA dramatic acting. NBA dramatic acting = fans wondering if player is dirty.
This is what I was going to say. His job as a big. How many times have people said they wish Yao would get people off him? How many cheap foulds has yao gotten by having his hands in the air and given up the basket plus the foul? I cant count and its irritating. No one is suppose to be the bodyguard for the center. You should have to trade for a player to make the team togher or to get "your" back. The center or best player sets the tone for the game and thats why everyone outside houston thinks the rockets are soft. They play hard, but when your best player(yao and tracy) were soft as wet toilet paper, then the perception is your team is soft. No one ever said a shaq led team was soft or a hakeem led team as soft or a zo led team as soft.Why? Because those guys would give a hard foul vs taking the bunt end of the force. If small guys keeping looking over your shoulder like they're cheating off your paper in class, elbow one in the face and i bet it would stop. If guys are hacking or pulling on you, return it when they come down the lane and put them on their ass. Thats what the big man is suppose to do and if a guy catches a elbow, then don't go back in there again.
No, I'm saying that he knows the player is there and he knows they are not attempting to steal the ball but he raises his elbows and spins his entire torso in that direction anyway. There's absolutely no logical reason for that other than to hurt someone. The fact that he is so accurate also leads me to believe it's not an accident. You can know someone is behind and how far they are without looking right at them. I could be wrong but just watch him and maybe you will see what I'm talking about.
I don't think he is dirty. Have you seen the stuff Rasheed, Garnett, Perkins, and Davis are doing to him in the post? Rasheed slaps the crap out of him when Dwight gets the ball. I'm not surprised Dwight tried to retaliate a little.
Is this different than Kobe, Manu, Duncan, Pierce, Rasheed, LeBron, Wade, The Utah Jazz..... (list continues for about 200 more players)? That's just the (unfortunate) nature of today's game. On the other hand, the fact that you're convinced that Howard "attacks people with their guard down" is downright entertaining. The man has large, sharp elbows. When incidental contact occurs with someone that ripped, pain is going to occur.
Please. Just because you're taken with his physique doesn't mean him holding his elbows up a the level of other people's faces and then swinging them (after the play is over) isn't dirty. I'm not the one that brought up Dwight lying about contract (although I agree) Jeff Van Gundy did during the broadcast. But I guess he doesn't know anything about other players doing it the way you do.
Just a few minutes on the youtubes and I find these: A nice mix of the elbows/flagrants he has thrown in this series: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/31Nk94-3y_4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/31Nk94-3y_4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> Elbow to Dalembert's face from last year's playoffs <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UcLhQyzZnmM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UcLhQyzZnmM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object> One to Gasol's head: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/B0gVdExIZ_A&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/B0gVdExIZ_A&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> There's more and they are not hard to find. He has two flagrants (should be three but he got away with one vs. Garnett) in this series alone.
