What an idiotic post. Proof is in the history? He went to the NBA finals with Rafer Alston and Courtney Lee as his back court. He is a 3x defensive player of the year winner. This is a 'down year' for him and he is still the best center in the NBA. I strongly advise, if you haven't already, to read the Sloan paper: The Dwight effect.
the only way the rockets should even consider taking on dwight howard is if he is 100% okay with playing the exact same role that asik has on our team:defend, rebound and clean-up the offensive glass. we will not run plays for you, ever. if he is cool with that, then yes, he'll make our team better because he'd be doing everything asik does but better. if he isn't cool with that, the rockets shouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole. our team is at its best with harden and lin carving up the lane. asik is happy to get out of the way and let them go to work. will dwight be willing to do the same?
LOL at best center in the NBA. He's been exposed this year, deal with it. His rim protection this year has been laughably bad and it's one of the primary reasons for the Lakers terrible defense. Try and blame D'antoni all you want but the Knicks had a Top 5 defense last year while he was in charge. He shoots below 50% from the FT line, he gets stripped on nearly every other possession and his lack of skill/crappy post moves has been exposed now that he's lost his exceptional athleticism. He's basically a more glorified version of Tyson Chandler. I'd rather stick with Asik who still has room for development and isn't a locker room cancer. You just don't hand out a MAX contract to a 28 year old who just came off a serious back injury and his worst season to date. It's too big of a risk.
THIS! QFT!! I watched him choosing not to rotate/get posterized by almost every OKC player last night. Those who want DHo-- I won't call them silly-- are wanting something they can't have, the healthy, younger DHo. I'll gladly roll with Asik.
We would run plenty of plays for Dwight in the pick and roll. He could be truly dominant in that role IF he would accept it. I think if he had his guy at point guard, CP3 or DWill, he would accept that role. Dwight IS on an entirely different level than Asik offensively. For as bad as his FT shooting is and even knowing how inefficient he is in the post, he is on a whole different level than Asik offensively. Dwight CAN run the pick and roll. Asik simply can't run it nearly as well. Defensively, when healthy, Dwight is the best defender in the NBA outside of Lebron James and Omer Asik. (Isn't it sick that James is the best player in the NBA on both ends of the court, he's the best offensive player arguably, and the best defensive player?) Yes, some of his defensive game is reliant on his athleticism which will decrease somewhat over the years. But Dwight athletically is one of those unique players, like Olajuwon. He has the body type and the athleticism to extend his career and maintain his defensive dominance for a long, long time..because he has quickness, quick twitch reflexes. That is one factor that pushed Hakeem to delay his decline for so many years. Right now, with Dwight recovering from his back injury and with Asik playing so well defensively, the gap between the two men appears to be very small defensively and on the glass. However, you should note that even though Dwight is playing like crap and he's coming off back surgery he's still able to outrebound Asik slightly. Dwight did have back surgery very recently. Here's the two things with Dwight: 1. Will he recover fully from his back injury? Look, the doctors are gonna answer that question. Morey won't offer him a max deal unless he is fully confident about Dwight's health. 2. Will Dwight subject his game to our pick and roll style with Harden? We know he'd subject himself to CP3 and DWill. He's dreamed about playing with one of those guys for years. Harden is the same style of player. Will he subject himself to the same style with a dominant Harden? Personally, I do not want this year's whining Dwight Howard that gripes about his role and wants his "touches" in the post. But a healthy Dwight that would joyfully accept his role as the pick and roll guy would be a significant upgrade to Asik, simply because he would be so much better on the offensive end than Asik is. And that is why I am still holding the door open for Dwight. And that is why I really think Morey is going to go after both Paul and Dwight as a package to go with Harden. Paul and Harden running pick and roll ad nauseum with a healthy Dwight. That would be crazy.
just from watching Laker games, and looking at Dwights body language... he already has one foot out the door Dwight is most likely gonna leave the Lakers
This. Celtics did just fine with the 7'0" twin towers of Parish and McHale ( with his long arms), and Bird was a really big 6'9". I'm even fine with Asik taking 15 footers on offense if DH is in the lane.
This is pretty embarrassing for Houston fans. I guess in '95 you guys (if you were old enough) were saying Olajuwon's was done contending because he was having an injury year.
According to Phil Jackson, it takes a year to come back fully from a back injury. You look at a single season and ignore his entire body of work which has been extremely impressive. No, they were a top 5 defense after he 'resigned' and Mike Woodson took over.
Don't know about that. They have him. They can offer him a 5-yr deal. There's gonna be a huge power play regarding Dwight out there when the season is over. He's cozied up to Mitch. Now we find out he's communication with Phil. Don't be surprised if he goes to Jim and tells him to put Phil in as coach and gets Mitch a guarantee as GM for the next 5 years essentially pushing Jim into an ownership role only with Mitch and Phil running the show out there. The onus is most likely going to be on Jim to do the right thing. Phil Jackson has more power in his little pinkie than Jim has in his whole persona and we're most likely gonna see it this off season. If Jim does the wrong thing, which he is clearly capable of and has demonstrated multiple times that he will do, then he will stubbornly refuse to give in and THEN there is the high possibility of Dwight walking. If Jim does the right thing for the Laker organization and vacates his role running the basketball side of the organization, THEN they will have a high probability of re-signing Dwight. Don't be surprised if it comes down to this scenario with Dwight in L.A.
THIS..........Everyone can type/talk till they're blue about him he doesn't care all he cared about was being a FREE AGENT so july 1st you're gonna hear "dwight schedules trip to rockets" then bam breaking news there goes the signing we all know moreys been lusting after dwight for years now he finally has his chance to get him cha ching!
Different era and different players. McHale is one of the best post-up players of all time. His offensive skills make Dwight and Asik look like they just picked up a basketball for the first time. And Parish was a very underrated offensive player as well. Dwight and Asik together would be an utter disaster. And Bird was one of the greats of all-time able to do virtually everything offensively. That Celtics front line was the greatest front line of all time. Dwight and Asik would be a disaster together on court.
Olajuwon>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Howard And in 1995, Olajuwon set his career high for PPG, he wasn't coming off 2 serious injuries & hissy fits with 2 different franchises, but instead an MVP, DPOY, & Finals MVP. Not sure how you can compare the 2.
wow.. I am a huge Asik fan myself but all those who are dissing on DH12 and is saying Asik > Dwight should have their posting privileges revoked. Plain and simple. Dwight Howard is hurt this year, that doesn't mean you can ignore what he did just a few years back. Do you guys even follow the NBA? Dude took a really average team all the way to the NBA finals while beating a really good Celtics team on their way not to mention beat Lebron led Cavaliers. That Magic team would barely make the playoffs if you replace Dwight with Asik.
That said if I had to choose between a super PF or DH12, I would go with the PF right now because thats our bigger need. David Lee please.
