I'm going to bet money it's about how DMo has passed him up as the first post option in the game plan. Morey had a tweet about the Rockets' offensive priority. He said Harden left, Harden right, Harden middle. If those aren't there, then DMo in the post is the most effective.
What I find crazy is that Howard wants to keep doing something he's not good at. I would want to dominate my opponent in any way I can and play to my strengths. I would feel like I was hurting the team if I kept losing the ball in the post.
Exactly, this is what I've been saying! Dwight's brought the team down and he needs to be benched tonight. Send a message!
Ok. As much as I thought he played well against Duncan / Spurs, I'm ready to agree with OP. Howard needs to wake up. Play hard or rest. No in between. He doesn't want the ball as much as other bigs.
He better be coasting because if this is all he has left, he is no longer an elite player which is bad news for us Rockets fans. I can live with his inconsistent offense, but even his defense looks bad right now. Josh Smith is right behind him too. They look like shells of their former selves on the defensive side of the ball and that is supposed to be where they add the most value.
i would love it if dwight was a mature warrior in the post - willing his teams to victory. just haven't seen it. it's like t-mac. we acquired dwight right at the tail end of his best basketball (hope not)
If Howard needs to rest then he needs to rest now. I wish to see Howard do more on both sides of the court. I think that he's saving it for the playoffs (if we can stay in). I seen Howard taking over in game 6 of the playoffs against Portland last year. Lillard's three was the only thing that killed us.
His rim protection has been horrid lately. Not sure if he's hurt or coasting, but it's definitely one of those.
Did anyone else see Dwight's postgame interview? here's the link: http://www.nba.com/rockets/video/2015/01/03/howard0102mov-3480813 A couple key things for me: 1) He keeps saying the team has got to stay positive and stop the negative finger pointing. That there was some "finger pointing" going on in the game last night. Given his performance of late my assumption would be some of those fingers are getting pointed at him. I wonder if anyone saw this during the game at all? Or if he's confusing accountability with negative finger pointing as well. which leads me to my second observation. 2) when asked about McHale pulling the starters after 2 minutes in the 3rd, he looked obviously displeased with that....my assumption is his displeasure is aimed at the coach, but it could be it was at himself and the starters for their lack of play. I'm pretty sure it's the former though. I don't know how to feel about this given Dwight's lack of performance/effort lately. It makes me wonder how the coach is handling accountability and how the is team holding one another accountable. If there's no clear accountability or the accountability is ineffective on certain players than I can see the chemistry degrading over time.
His defense against the Pellies was the worst I have seen him play since he joined the Rockets. I don't know if he ran once on defense. He wasn't rotating, letting players drive right by him, and of course reluctant to close on jump shooters. I hope he is coasting, because if this is what he has left in the tank, we are screwed. I'm completely fine with incompetence in the post on offense... what I can't be fine with is zero effort on defense. At least when Harden did that last year, he was murdering teams on the other side of the ball. Dwight last night was just a negative on both ends of the court. The other issue is it seems to be contagious. Ever since he moved back in the starting line up, we haven't had the same level of defensive intensity. It's been there in spurts (3rd quarter vs. Grizz), but overall our attitude has seemed sluggish and lackadaisical.
I know one thing, he isn't getting the max after next year if he continues. Maybe Cousins can continue to throw fits in Sacremento and our buddies up there decide to trade him... Dwight and a second for Cousins and a salary dump player. Lol, wishful thinking.
I was perfectly fine with leaving Howard in LA with Kobe... Y'all got who ya wanted. Too late to cry now just have to hope he gets his shyt together.
Great points. One thing I would like to add is by pulling the starters out so early, that is McHale holding the players accountable. It was a clear signal to them saying "if you aren't going to at least give an ounce of effort, your ass is going to ride the bench the rest of the night". I loved the move by McHale. Who woulda thunk "McFail" would pull such a bold move as pulling all the starters for the whole second half of a game against a division rival. I certainly didn't think he had it in him.
Dwight is not a leader and is mentally weak - he is not a guy who burns to win, he is far too sensitive.... DD
