[ESPN] 18 years since a player averaged 20+ppg & 14+rpg

Dream had a variety of offensive moves and couldn't be stopped. Howard just has the dunk. He gets single coverage 90% of the time. This proves he isn't a superstar yet.

 

Makes you wonder what will happen when he starts developing some interior post moves like Andrew Bynum.

 

Shaq never average 20-14
Is DH better than Shaq????

 

I don't think anyone is undervaluing Dwight Howard, especially in the media. I also think that his 14.5 rebounds per game shouldn't be used as a big part of the argument of why he is the best center in the game. While his rebounding ability is undeniable, I simply don't see how that fact alone can get so many people drooling. Keep in mind that the Magic are being outrebounded by an average of 2 rebounds per game. Of course, one can reasonably argue that his team is overall weak at rebounding, and that the team's poor rebounding capabilities should not be pinned on Dwight. However, that argument is a double-edged sword, because while better rebounding teammates would improve the team's overall rebounding capabilities, it would invariably decrease Howard's own rebounds. To me, Yao is vastly superior on the offensive end of the court, but Dwight is moderately better on defense due to his mobility. Unfortunately, while Dwight has the potential to improve his offensive game, Yao's defensive game will be forever limited by his size.

 

...IF he develops those interior post moves like Andrew Bynum.

 

How old is Howard now? 22? This would have been his senior year in college.

Give the guy a couple more years, then we can talk about how good he is.

 

Shaq averaged 29.7/13.7. What I'm wondering is are those .3 rebounds per game significant enough to warrant ESPN to come out with an article specifically for 14 rpg as opposed to 13.7 or 13.9 rpg (KG did this).

 

DH will never be like Hakeem. He is more like Moses Malone type of center.

 

True. On the other hand, there are more wear and tear in NBA than in college due to the frequency of games. Look at T-mac, he is only 29, and already passes his PHYSICAL prime. So is Kobe, though he is obviously in better shape than Tmac.

My point is DH won't play longer years just because he is young. He will have approximately the same length of years playing in NBA.

 

DH is a great player, but he couldn't hold Hakeem's jock. Hakeem had developed a much more diverse and deadly offensive game by this point in his career, was an equally good rebounder, a better shot blocker and a much better individual defender. Good for DH, but there really is no comparison and there never will be.

 

If DH couldn't do those falshy dunks ESPN wouldn't have their collective heads up his a@@

 

Not really. In this era, Hakeem would have to deal with double teaming without the ball, just like Yao does.

 

Dwight Howard is good. Hakeem was great. Don't see why everyone is putting down DH.

 

I'm not putting Howard down for the sake of putting him down. I'm putting Howard at the right spot. The media just put him too high.

 

The thread is not about how many more years Howard will have in NBA, it's about how good Howard is now, and how good he will be.

My point is that he is still in the early development stage of his career, not even a rookie if you consider his missing 4 years college. With that considered, it's only fair to compare him to someone just enter the league, not someone with 4 years college, AND 4 or 5 years NBA experience.

 

No disrespect to Yao... But if you put Hakeem on this same team... He would come very close to avg 35/18

 

By the end of Hakeem's second season in the league, he had already dominated the reigning GOAT (Kareem) enroute to the NBA Finals.

 

Comparing DH with Dream is an insult to Dream. Skill wise, DH is even not comparable to Yao, not to say Dream.

 

i really hope you are not serious. 35/18 is absurd with the current day rules

 

I hope you're not comparing four years in the NBA with four years in the NCAA. With the amount of money and time that a NBA franchise puts into a high draft pick nowadays, I would bet that most rookies learn more during one year in the league than three years in college.