Players that can't shoot and don't have a great motor are not those you can build around - Dwight had his shot, but he needs a "boot in the ass" coach to get him to play hard night in and night out. Otherwise he coasts....and you get a season like this. DD
Stupid analysis. The game hasnt evolved away from the big man. First and foremost, there just arent too many traditional back to basket guys anymore, but there can still be productive big guys, IE Cousins and Drummonds. Dwight has exclusively used his athleticism to dominate and unfortunately it has declined. I never was a huge Howard fan because he has always looked very robotic despite being very athletic. Dwight can still be a very productive player if he played to his strengths, but unfortunately he wants to be THE guy. He also wants to dominate with his back to the basket, which unfortunately he sucks at doing.
You would never see Dwight able to do a reverse layup like Beasley. Asik did them a couple times and so has DMo. Dwight is like a 1950s Android. Clunky and non-fluid in movement despite the athleticism. If D. Howard can't dunk it over an opponent it's over because he has no ability to adjust his layup or shot at the last moment.
Zone defense make center play more challenging for sure. We all saw what Seattle's illegal zone defense did to one of if not the greatest back-to-the-basket center (Hakeem Olajuwon). So there is truth to this. But there is also that Dwight is a terrible back-to-the-basket player since if he doesn't get to the rim he has no game. That's the real problem with Dwight, as he has aged the fact that he can't use his explosiveness anymore to get to the rim...and has no other game outside the rim game, is really his biggest problem.
The new rules designed by the NBA are anti back to the basket. It's not an opinion it's fact, the NBA is designing rules to keep people from packing the paint they want faced paced guard play to draw the fans and make the game exciting. This is why big men can't even touch anyone without getting a foul in the semi circle.
He's phased himself out. He would be a monster if he could make free throws. You could get feed him all game.
I simply dont buy it. Duncan is still pretty efficient even though he doesnt get that many minutes anymore. He was still dang good last year in the playoffs at almost 40. Yes the rules have change to make it more difficult but its not impossible and it is certainly not why Dwight is in the decline. Dwight is declining because he never had much of an offensive game in the first place. He used pure athleticism to over power and out jump his opponents. Now that his explosiveness has dwindled so has his offensive game.
Tim Duncan can shoot he doesn't have to be directly under the basket to make his turn around bank shots. Are you also aware that Duncan will be gone in a year or two and is technically a power forward anyway not really a center. He can shoot his free throws and make mid range jumpers and he's a great passer from the post Dwight can do none of these things and people are begging for him to get more touches it's just stupid. Please stop yourself from mentioning TD and Dwight Howard in the same sentence for obvious reasons.
"There is no debate that post-ups make up a shrinking portion of the scoring pie, though there is some debate about why that is. Only eight teams this season finished even 10 percent of their possessions with a post-up, per Synergy Sports. A decade ago, 22 teams hit that mark, and every team ended at least 7.5 percent of its trips with some kind of post-up. One-third of teams finished with a lower post-up share than that this season." "Five teams in 2015-16 are going to post-up sets 10 percent of the time: the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Timberwolves, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs. San Antonio is the only one of those squads to rank inside the top 15 of offensive efficiency. It's this minimization of back-to-the-basket volume that has opened the door for centerless lineups. Where trotting out two traditional bigs was once the standard, it's now the exception. The Warriors' most used fourth-quarter lineup doesn't even feature an actual center. The 6'7" Draymond Green merely serves as a makeshift 5." http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2601498-is-the-future-of-the-nbas-center-position-in-good-hands I don't follow all star much but I know a couple of years ago the NBA tried to completely get rid of the center position for all star. That should let you know how the NBA feels about centers.
The guy has a point. What also works against Dwight is he takes along time to get into his move. The game is faster with less contact. Dwight looks for contact which makes room the refs to screw him
You can still have a back-to-the-basket player, but they have to be set-up differently and they will never likely be the dominant scorer on the team (as the defense would then focus on that player). But it could be done. T-mac and Yao is a great example of that. Because of how dangerous t-mac was, and if you do have a center that can pass out of the post like Yao did with good 3pt shooters around him, you can force teams to play a center straight-up if you can exploit double teams. That is why you can't really blame the change in the game for Dwights struggles. The reason is very simple - he doesn't command double teams anymore in the post. In other words, on a post-up, Dwight is playing the same game as all the centers before him. It's not the league that's change, it's that Dwight has no post-up game.
His athleticism has drastically declined in the last four years. His skillset would still be valuable to many NBA teams, but like many others on the Rockets roster, he's checked out this season.
Dood thats the whole point of my argument... A traditional back to the basket player isnt dead or out dated. Dwight was never a back to basket player and the reason for his decline isnt directly correlated to the NBA moving away from the the traditional post player as was cited by Colin. Guys like TD, Randolph, and Marc Gasol are doing fine....... Not sure what you are trying to argue about here?
put him next to an apt PG like Chris Paul or Rajon Rondo and Dwight suddenly becomes a force again. He's gone to waste on this team with the Benny Hillesque comedy show of so called passing on this team.
He can still get up occasionally, but he has no explosiveness. He can't power up and through people, he can't jump or move quickly, and he can't jump multiple times. If he gets his steps right and no one is around I bet he could almost still do it.
