Myth #1: Dwight Howard has been bad the past two years Substitute whatever word you want for "bad" if it makes you feel better. In his radio attack, Steve Kerr preferred the word "enigma." But let's take a closer look. In 2011-2012, Dwight was averaging 20 pts and 14 rebounds per game for the Magic and playing the most minutes of his career. His last game was a win on April 7th where he had 20 points and 24 rebounds. He had just come back from missing two games (this was his second game back) due to the back issue. The injury ultimately ended his season. On that day the Magic were at 33 & 23, a winning % of 59%. He was having a good year. in 2012-2013 with the Lakers he returned from back injury and was not 100% to start the season by the admission of everyone associated with him or the team. Still, he put up 17 and 12 and was playing much better at the end of the season. Conclusion? He was not bad last year and certainly not the year before that. Last year he was a very good player that was limited to start by injury and then further limited by the team not fitting well together with the style the coach wanted them to play. The year before with Orlando? He was an absolute superstar before injury that was leading his team of castoffs to a playoff birth and a near 60% winning clip. _______________________________________________________________ Myth #2: Dwight Howard is not a winner This is the weirdest myth that is out there to me. It's been said by NBA people and our local guy Lance Z on 790 has said it repeatedly. I just don't get where it comes from. Dwight joined the league in 2004-2005, joining the WORST team in the league in the Orlando Magic. A team that traded McGrady to us and that a year prior had a coach basically quit on the organization. (Cough, Doc Rivers, cough) It took him two years to get used to the NBA and mature, but then he rattled off a really good run of...WINNING. The team would make the playoffs the next 6 straight seasons with him on the roster (including the year he got hurt where they finished 5 and 6 after he went down). In that stretch of 6 years, they averaged 49.8 wins (including a strike shortened season) got out of the first round 3 times, went to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals 3 times, the Eastern Conference Finals twice, and the NBA finals once. All this despite NEVER having another star player on the team with him. In that 6 year stretch, the Orlando Magic had a winning % of 62.82. That is a damn good stretch of winning basketball. His one "bad year" with the Los Angeles Lakers also resulted in a winning record of 45 wins and a playoff birth. Conclusion: Dwight Howard has been a winner his entire career in the NBA, leading some pretty unimpressive teams to some pretty impressive regular season records that were followed up with playoff success. Oh, and his playoffs numbers are pretty darn good as well. Myths Busted
Sounds a bit like Moses Malone's history when he joined the Rockets and led them to the finals against the Celtics.
I'll take that the 1st year! I think that most Howard doubters have their minds made up and facts won't change them!
Myth #3 Dwight Howard is a bad offensive player Dwight Howard may not be the most polished player in the league but just because he's not skilled, doesn't mean he's a bad offensive player. Luis Scola is much more skilled than Shaq but no one in their right mind would call Scola a better offensive player than Shaq. Dwight has a career .598 TS% and has more offensive win shares than Patrick Ewing. Kevin Pelton thinks he's a better offensive player than Ewing and I don't think that's baseless. He shoots a very high percentage with his hook shots and is generally superb around the basket. Sure, he's not a Yao Ming on the blocks off of straight post-ups, but he's actually got a great touch around the basket. Conclusion: Dwight Howard is actually a very good offensive player
My guess is he goes for 21 & 13. Points will be up because: a) We will feature him in the post, with no competition from anyone else (i.e. no Pau Gasol) b) Harden and Lin will give him plenty of chance to finish on PnRs. Rebounds will be right around his career average.
Haters are gonna hate. Harden and Dwight both led teams to the NBA Finals yet the only thing people like to talk about when OKC did it was how Harden struggled in the Finals. Same thing with Dwight. People don't like to talk about how he beat LeBron in the ECF, they just want to talk about how the Magic (with an injured Jameer Nelson) basically got ran off the floor by that loaded Lakers team. ....yawn....
I really like this analogy. Malone came right out of highschool on the east coast (Virginia in this case). Malone switched teams and famously predicted "fo, fo and fo" on his way to the NBA championship. So, by analogy, we are the 76ers, and harden is our julius erving. what's not to love?
Myth #4: Dwight Howard is immature and/or a bad personality for the team. Dwight Howard is human. He enjoys attention, and there's nothing wrong with that. There are many out there who seem to think that Dwight Howard is not mature, that he left LA because he cannot handle the spotlight or pressure. The truth is far from that. He made his free agency decision just days after meeting with multiple teams. That shows maturity and decisiveness. All of those teams threw their best pitches at him along with attractive offers, but Dwight saw through the glamour and made a decision based on where he has the best shot at succeeding. Houston is not a low pressure "little town". Yes, we love our Houston Texans, but we also have a history of great centers with our Houston Rockets. Along with that history comes high expectations and big names to live up to. That's a lot of pressure - I'd say even more pressure than staying in LA. Not only are we expecting championship contention, but we'll also compare Dwight to our great centers. Thankfully, Dwight is a friendly person. Sure, he has not handled some situations the best way possible in the past, but cut the guy a break. Houston will be the perfect place for him to change his image to a more realistic reflection of who he truly is. Conclusion: Haters gonna hate.
We all know this is a "what have you done for me lately?" league. So regardless of how many playoff berths, wins, or Finals he has appeared in he hasn't gotten very far these past couple seasons therefore he's a loser now. He's been a winner wherever he's been and will continue that here.
Both the posters who added a mythbusting ("bad offensive player" and immature) are also worthwhile. I tried to rep both but had to spread the cheddah before repping KevC. I wanted to do the "bad offensive player" myth but had to get back to work so didn't have the time to keep typing up the post and looking stuff up. None the less, it is an equally bad rumor that Dwight can't play offense. I do think he has maturity issues, but they have been overblown to an extent. As an offensive player though the guy is actually really good.
Don't forget that Howard also had a torn labrum and on a team that had two coaches by the all star break. Having said that, Howard was not making the impact defensively in LA that he did earlier in his career. Offensively he is very efficient on a relatively low number of shots. However, he is not Shaq or Olajuwon or Robinson. That is to say you are not just going to feed him the ball in the post down the stretch and expect him to carry you. Rather, he is the ultimate finisher off putbacks and the pick and roll. Nash can critcize Howard all he wants, but he executed pick and rolls extremely well in Orlando.
He's a good offensive player is just that his game looks ugly Lol and his shot looks forced so that's why most people get that misunderstanding. I for one don't care he's a force to be reckoned with
It will depend on the pace the Rockets play. If their pace is like last year, Howard could have the highest rebounding total of his career. Having said that, the Rockets spread the wealth and I find it hard to believe he will get much over 20 points a game. He is not a guy you just keep feeding in the post. I still cannot believe that D'Antoni said a straight post feed is the worst offensive play in basketball........
Posters who can't help but take shots at McGrady in completely unrelated conversations are also just butt hurt.
Remember in 2010 when Lebron went through all of the backlash for The Decision? At that time, his popularity around the league was at an all-time low, and as a result of his low popularity all of the analysts were critiquing his entire game. He wasn't clutch at the end of games. He didn't have that killer instinct to put a team away. He spent too much time joking around and not competing. He wanted to take a backseat to Wade and didn't want to be the number 1 option. Sound familiar? Dwight's popularity as a result of the last 2 years, sometimes fairly and sometimes not, is at an all time low. Whenever a player becomes unpopular, all of a sudden people start nitpicking at some things in the player's game that really shouldn't be a concern. Dwight's story is still being written, but if the Rockets compete for, or win, a championship, it will be amazing to see how all of these critiques disappear.
What sticks in my mind is Donuts doing McHale's up and under last year. It caught me off guard, but shows McHale is active in teaching post moves. I'd like to think Dwight would be able to master that.
The point about the back surgery and recovery is most relevant, imo. In March and April Dwight averaged over 37 mpg. In March, in 15 games, at 38 mpg, he averaged 18 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks, an assist and a steal per game. That's crazy good. In April, in 8 games, his rebounds went way down to a normal level of 10.5 per game, but his scoring was his best month of the year at 21 per game, which he did shooting 61% from the field. Assists were up, too. Not that he was bad to start the year... but he clearly got healthier and better as the year wore on. Of course all that noted improvement did little to help his cause considering how his run ended with the ejection. But up to that point in the playoffs, his team sucking aside, Dwight was playing great, too. 20+ points, nearly 12 boards, just under 3 blocks a game in the first 3 games against the Spurs, while shooting 60%. I will say though that there is no mythbuster for his FTs. He has to get better at it, and i dont' know if it's not possible or he just hasn't focused on it like he should. He's leaving 2 point a game on the table, which is a pretty meaningful difference. An 18 ppg vs. a 20 ppg scorer. Or 20 vs. 22, etc.
