Is Deandre Jordan Really Better than Current Dwight Howard??

I think Jordan's defensive impact has been overstated. Yes, he's been good, certainly at frustrating Dwight, but the Clipper defense has looked good at times because the Rockets are bricking threes. Now that might be perimeter defense, but it's not about DeAndre. When the Rockets brick a bunch of threes it turns in to easy buckets, big deficits, helter skelter motion on offense, etc.

 

That's why he is so overrated in terms of defensive ability and rim protection. He too often goes after those highlight reel worthy blocks instead of just staying with your man and play solid defense like Duncan, for instance. Our percentage of points in the paint in this series actually went up, not down, compared with season average. Let that fact sink in.

 

from what i can see, DJ is definitely better athletically and defensively than DH, every time Howard plays DJ one on one, it's a block or a turnover for us, that says a lot about DJ, Howard is definitely more polished on the offensive ends than DJ, but DJ's defense has almost neutralized that, overall, i would still take howard over DJ, but only if they are paid similarly

 

if dwight wasn't called for bs offensive fouls on a regular basis, he would destroy deandre under the basket every time downcourt. if dwight was allowed to play like shaq, bulling his way into dunks, no chance..

 

anyone who thinks DJ is the better overall player over DH has no idea what they're talking about.

 

Stopping Howard's offensive game is not really a crowning achievement given Howard basically has no post up moves. Compare that with Dwight successfully slowing down Blake whenever he is assigned to guard him. Now, that's impressive.

I love how people quickly forget that Deandre couldn't even stop and got embarrassed by a freakin' 39 year old Tim Duncan in the first round. Deandre is an overrated one-on-one defender and is just dead average when it comes to team defense. His rim protection numbers are underwhelming at best and he makes a lot of mistakes in rotation.

http://www.espn.co.uk/basketball/pl...deandre-jordan-deserve-dpoy-nba-insider-daily

 

Dwight is miles ahead of Deandre on offense. When have you ever seen the Clippers give Deandre the ball other than a lob pass? As inefficient as Howard's post game, he is still a major threat the defense has to account for.

On defense and rebounding, they are about equal. I think Jordan is a little better in rebounding now that Howard is a bit less athletic than his peak years. Jordan is longer and more mobile in the paint. Howard is stronger. Both do boneheaded things sometimes.

 

The post commentary from Jalen Rose made me smile. He made it known that Dwight outplayed Jordan big time last night. Saying Dwight doubled the stats of Jordan. Id take Dwight over Jordan any day.

Dwight has shown up and helped our team tremendously this year and last. I used to be a Dwight hater but can you imagine where we would be without him.

 

DJ is great at traditional center stuff -- rebounding and walling off the paint. But he's not nearly as mobile or versatile as DH. DH was even able to switch onto CP a few times and do a pretty credible job of defense.

 

As much as people hate on D12 for being soft, they would LOVE to have him on their team...

 

People are talking like DJ is getting dominated, but the Clippers are +72 when Jordan is in the game. That's more than CP and Blake combined. The Rockets are -33 with Howard on the court.

Jordan and Howard are fairly even on defense and rebounding. Howard is a fair amount better as an offensive player.

 

This is fair when you consider the actual on court productions by both players. But, Howard has not played to his full potential while DJ has been doing pretty much the best he can do. The biggest problem for Howard is he loses his cool too easily. If he can play smart, avoid silly fouls, tech's, he can be much more dominate.

 

This isn't a game of one on one. Howard is clearly the superior player in this series.

One advantage I will give DJ is that he is smart enough (or listens to coach) to not try to play one-on-one offensively against Howard. He accepts that he has no skills.

 

I don't know about that, he is the real reason Harden has had trouble at times, not JJ Redick. He has been able to neutralize the finish at the basket for Harden, Jordan is one of the few guys that can do that and its part of the reason the Rockets have problems with the Clippers. Bogut is also gifted at this too and hence the issues with Golden State on offense. That's why the alley oop to Howard is a great counter measure. Capela for the few minutes he has played has done a great job supplying this and McHale, well kudos thus far for recognizing mismatches and opportunities.

 

DeAndre shoots better FT than Dwight when hacked.

 

Dwight's defensive positioning is so much better than DeAndre. He's also a smarter player who understands offensive spacing better IMO. He's better at cutting at the right moments to the basket.

 

I Asked Dwight: YO! Dwight can you take Blake???????

His Response was: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KlWlhyX6rb0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Rocket River

 

I think we've got a few things going on here.

DeAndre Jordan is a heck of a player.

Early in the season, before his injury, Dwight looked a little slow.

But since he's come back... Dj isn't even close to the complete player Dwight is. A poor man's substitute, maybe. But not on Dwight's overall level.

 

I think DeAndre has played incredibly well this series and is a big reason why they're tied. When Dwight has big game this team tends to win and Dwight has put up the better stats by far though.

I don't think DeAndre is a better defender but he does have the more defensive impact in this series. The Rockets don't take midrange shots and the Clippers (especially Paul) do. This allows DeAndre to literally camp the area under the basket until there is a player that blows by their man. Its simple and effective. There are times when the fast breaks and switches get DeAndre to guard closer to the perimeter. The difference is that almost all of our guys minus Harden are natively neutralized when they drive if Jordan is set up.

Howard is a relied on for total defensive purposes. He's mobile enough to close out on perimeter shooters and so when ball movement up roots Howard as that anchor it typically leads to an easy pass to a cutter or another player slashing to the basket. Also, Griffin and Paul are hardly being neutralized by Howard who is constant either holding DeAndre or switching breifly for other defensive assignments.


Deandre is not necessarily better but he's being asked to do less and so he's become specialized in those areas whereas Howard is doing more than just a rim protector and a receiver of lobs. Howard has more of a total impact it's just not as much impact in the places that DeAndre lives in.

 

I think it's a good metric to use, but you failed to mention that the Clippers are also better on points-in-the-paint than they were in the regular season. By a lot. 41.6% compared to 35.1%.