As happened last night, when the Magic go through DH too much, their offense stagnates because nobody else on the team gets in rhythm. Just like a script from a Rockets game 2-3 years ago, the C gets nearly all the touches in the 1st half and scores a bunch of points while everyone watches. But in the 2nd half, the defense adjusts and the C can't score at will anymore. Instead, he misses a lot of shots until they finally stop feeding him. But by that time, it's too late for the others to get warmed up. Orlando didn't make a run until there was 1:30 left in the game and they were too far down. If their push had happened earlier, the Blazers would have probably given up the game. I'll say this though, Andre Miller was playing with a serious attitude and may have carried them. Wesley Matthews also brought his "A" game. But it's been very hard for Portland to close out games with Roy not being himself.
Yes! Do you think its just the way the league is now? Is it possible to build a really good, fluid offense around a low-post center? The Rockets did it with Hakeem, but he was a far more versatile offensive player than Dwight Howard (or Yao). Lakers did it with Shaq, but he was at another level physically than any one else maybe in league history.
I think it's much easier to do it with the likes of Howard than say, Yao. What guys like Howard have is mobility, a lot of mobility. When you have mobility, your offence is more flexible, and you don't need to design an offensive scheme based around the center. Yao on the other hand is not mobile, and he will clog up the lane. He does not have Howard's speed to move up and down the court and out of the player's way. RA has to design offensive scheme based around Yao, and a different up tempo scheme without Yao. Shaq too was very mobile in his early days, despite his size.
This is the list: 1. Dwight Howard 2. Pau Gasol Everyone else does not matter. Even if Yao came back, his position won't be #1 anymore.
That's a weak argument. Yao is far more offensively potent than Dwight Howard, and Dwight is a huge shotblocker and intimidating force on defense. I'd give Dwight the slight nod, because of his insane rebounding and raw athleticism... But I wouldn't give him the nod based on whether he got a first-team selection...
Truth hurt? Yao is nothing now. In his prime he was good and the best C in the league but now he's just a walking band-aid. Look, I love me some Yao but he's done.
I have never been hugely impressed by Howard but he is the best center right now by default - no one else is really close. If you want to call Pau Gasol a center, then HE is the best center in the league, but I think Pau is really a 4 who masquerades at the 5 while they wait for Bynum to return. Howard's athleticism allows him to make a lot of plays, but I don't think he has good focus on the court and his game lacks any refinement. At this stage in his career, even Shaq added a nice baby hook with both hands to his raw gorilla dunk inside game. I just feel like Howard isn't going to age well as he moves into his late 20s when players start to lose some of their explosiveness. If Oden or Bynum(who is another one I'm dissapointed with given his size/skill set) or Yao could stay on the floor consistently, I would say any of those guys could make a decent argument as to why they are better than Howard but the fact is the good 7fters can't seem to stay healthy.
