Although offense is not this team's main concern, Dwight's ineptitude offensively is going to really start to hurt the Rox in the long run. Its almost a throw away possession when they throw it to him in the post. When teams finally realize he's not good enough down there consistently to double, the offense might start going down. His impact on the defensive end hasn't been as impressive either. Last night he flat out didn't try. Even though Tjones didn't play that well I'm thinking he could have at least gotten some of those lose ball rebounds Favors was getting out there in the 4th while out working Dwight. Overall, Dwight has been "okay", but the current Dwight is just not going to be good enough to get the job done if the Rox have championship aspirations, I'm sorry. Right now he is just a slightly better Asik with better handles. I can see why Kobe was frustrated with him. To be honest, I would think most superstars would eventually grow frustrated with current Dwight because he needs to and should do better. His goof ball antics just grow to be irritating when he's under performing.
I didn't read through the 5 pages so this has probably already been said. The real Dwight has already shown up. This is who he is. Up and down, inconsistent effort, inefficient offensively, lots o' turnovers, and then some games where he is an absolute monster. I'm not expecting much different throughout the regular season. I do expect he'll move the intensity up a notch later in the year. But he is what he is.
Another great example of expectation level. I wonder if anyone here had watched a full game with DH before he was a Rocket. Orlando, LA, whatever. He's never been a polished offensive player. Pure, raw athleticism. Bad FT shooter. Dominant shot blocker and defender and great rebounder. Pretty much what we're getting now. If he was fed more consistently in good position (see numerous above posts) he'd probably be getting 20/12/2. Yep, he's not showing up, even at 17/12/2.
Dwight is struggling, no doubt. It isn't easy for him to score. However...there are several times he gets GREAT position in transition and no one passes him the ball...there are also several times he should get the ball off a PnR and doesnt. When our team gels and gets him the ball in these positions..I would easily account for atleast 4 more baskets a game for him..that would bring to about 23-25 ppg. That would be excellent.
Yes Howard is better than Asik. However I'm still not convinced he is worth the additional 14 mil over Asik. For the supposed best center in the NBA, its sad how he isn't even half as good as Hakeem was. Man, the center position truly has deteriorated. I'd still take a healthy Yao over Dwight any day. Anyone disagree???
We lost last night because we let three perimeter players go off 70 points on 10-17 from the 3 point line. If you think this teams most glaring weakness is three point shooting from the power forward position (the only skill Love is head and shoulders above Howard) I don't know what game you were watching.
Severe inflation?! Do you watch the games? The team hardly goes to Howard, if his free throws inflate the stats (which is already insanely stupid since you'd have to say that EVERY season D12 has inflated stats because he always takes large amounts of free), then they'd go back down because they go to him a lot less than Howard is used to. Turnovers have been a cause of ridiculous referee calls that the NBA has begun which really inhibit the power post players. Offensively, even when his shots aren't falling, he requires a double team, and he's a pretty damn good passer out of the post as well. And if you'd watch the games, PnR happens consistently, but other teams defend it very well too, so you can't always go to it. This thread is a kneejerk reaction to a 15 points, 9 rebound game. Don't argue it's been for his recent play, we've been blowing out teams because of Howard's elite defense and required doubles, so he's only had to play 3 quarters as of late.
That's the problem. People that were expecting to see Yao or Hakeem level offensive talent were badly, badly mistaken. DH has never been that guy. More like a poor man's David Robinson, with much worse FT shooting.
DH does so much more than put up #'s He spreads the floor for our shooters & clogs the lane on D. Interesting that in Dallas he had 30 + Points & we lost Interesting that in Utah Harden had 30 + Point & we lost #'s aren't everything you have to play with in the game & trust your teammates.
And Howard makes Cousins look like Earl Boykins defensively. Cousin's game is much more asthetically pleasing, but it doesn't mean he's a better player in any way. I dont know why people are so fixated on this notion that Howard will one day wake up and look like Dream on the offensive end. He is who he is, but its still very affective. He's going to get missed shots, and some turnovers, but overall he does a great job of getting in position, sucking in the defense, waiting for the double team, and then breaking down the defense either by passing out for open shots, or taking it in himself on a single coverage look. If he misses it, he misses it, but those are usually point blank looks which he should be able to convert at a higher rater as the season goes on and he gets in better rhythm. He's had plenty of games this year where he has got that rhythm and touch on those shots already this year. There will be games where he doesn't hit those shots, but it doesn't change the fact that the defense sucks in and he creates good high percentage looks... Cousins DOES NOT do that in a team offense even though he is a better scorer one on one, and more aesthetically pleasing. Give me Howard all day long because of what he does in a team offense.
I've never been a fan of Dwight's post-up game--it's brutal to watch "the best center in the NBA" make a drop-step look like someone dancing "The Robot". Worse, he is no longer Orlando Magic Dwight, who could regularly bump his man off in deep position then dunk over him. That being said, he is still worth the $22M in my opinion given his MUCH superior finishing skills around the basket compared to Asik in addition to being an excellent defender and rebounder. Do you really think we'd be sitting at 13-6, and really, a few mishaps from 16-3 if we stayed the same and had Asik starting?
Harden is proven for us u can't be a rockets fan saying this dude[/QUOTE] Harden has proven to us that he can't play defense. I blame Howard's recent sub-par play due to Harden's ISO play. Basketball is a game of rhythm and if you're not getting much touches to establish your game, then how can he establish his dominance??? Why do you think Lin is coming off the bench now? Because Harden is ball dominant and Lin is more beneficial with the ball in his hand...so stop hating on Howard!
He catches the ball to far from the basket just so he can face up an try to use quickness. He needs to catch the ball on the block and take the easy jump hook like SHAQ or Duncan. Enough with these weak slow motion post move attempts. Let them stand in the circle and flop so they can get called for a foul.
Harden has proven to us that he can't play defense. I blame Howard's recent sub-par play due to Harden's ISO play. Basketball is a game of rhythm and if you're not getting much touches to establish your game, then how can he establish his dominance??? Why do you think Lin is coming off the bench now? Because Harden is ball dominant and Lin is more beneficial with the ball in his hand...so stop hating on Howard![/QUOTE] Also, not being racist, but Reddick, Blake, and Hayward are not known for being players that can create their own shot, but they burned Harden like a $2 w****
This. This isn't Orlando. We don't need Dwight to beast offensively. We don't give him the opportunities to beast offensively. He is coming into OUR system. Not a system build around him. He's not pouting about it either. We put up a stinker, as a team (without our main glue guy, wing defender, and 6th man off the bench). Clearly, Dwight is not 2010 Dwight on offense... but to be fair his mere presence on the court draws defenders away from the perimeter. Something Asik will never be able to do. This team is good and getting better. Every team looses a few games they should win over an entire NBA season. Try and hold it together...
Dwight has been in the league for 9 years, he came straight out of highschool as a big project that had virtually no offensive game besides dunks. Guess what outside of some decent hook shots, he still has no go to moves besides using his quickness to his advantage (just started this year apparently, Bill Worrel talks about the coaching staff commenting about that) he hasn't really developed anything over the past few years. If he put in time to fix his shooting motion on his free throws (and mind set when at the line) he'd be able to expand his game further. Bill also mentioned that Coach Mchale mentioned that Dwight seems to instinctively revert to his old ways/moves when he plays in games, if Dwight had started to learn from Hakeem from the beginning of his career until now maybe he would be a much better player but in Dwight's mind I'm sure he feels superior to all the bigs he plays against because he's quicker, bigger and stronger than most centers so why not just out muscle them for now?
