Where did Juwan's mojo go?

Swift has actually shown maturity by not throwing down bone rattling dunks every time he gets the ball. I don't know what thephatp's point is.

 

A lot of fans feel that way for sure. But I am also in the camp that feels Howard being healthy would not have made a difference. The reason I don't think Howard absence mattered was because of the Rockets going up 2-0, winning both in Dallas without Howard. And the reason the Rockets went up 2-0 was because Avery Johnson was playing Keith Van Horn and Shawn Bradley in the rotation.

Then Game 3 came around. Van Horn injured his ankle and Bradley never got extensive minutes again in the series. The Mavs put Daniels in the rotation, which was a killer to the Rockets. The Mavs getting smaller became more a matchup problem for the Rockets. Henderson also replaced Bradley in the rotation.

The Juwan Howard from 2 years ago to now isn't a good enough player to say his absence alone would've been the difference for the Rockets. and I do agree with Zboy, Dirk would've abused him. Howard does not have the lateral movement to stay with Dirk.

 

Howard's career stats are something like 17 points, 10 rebounds.

He was on the downside of his career when we got him. Sitting out for a long period last year pushed him further down the slippery slope. He's a net negative these days......plodding offense, fair-to-poor D, lousy rebounding.

Swift's learning curve is steeper than I had envisioned and Howard is falling fast. Our success at the 4 spot will be the key to our success this year...and it's not looking too good right now. C'mon Stro!!

D R

 

You are reading too much into things. You need to calm down.

 

This is one time I definitely like being wrong! Man, maybe I should stuff like this before every game about every player! It looked lik both Swift and Howard had a good night last night against Seattle!

 

Okay, as promised let review your claims looking at Seattle: Somehow, I feel you won't respond.

I did NOT see one rebond stolen away from Howard by a guard last night. Consistent basis, you say?

Didn't need it last night. His jumper was on fire.

Again, not once did he lose a rebound to a guard. He got caught once that resulted in a jump ball against Reggie Evens. Happening once against the opposing PF? Fine.

Howard got killed on that jump ball.

Howard recognizing the press, dribling full court and pulling up for a tear drop without getting called for charging TWICE IN A ROW showed some IQ, IMO.

1st, JHow had no turnovers last night.

2nd, most "scrub" PF's would have screwed up those full court plays but JHow did it twice (proving its no fluke). It looked like "improvising" to me. I'm sure JVG didn't whiteboard that play.

JHow proves why its important for the PF to hit open J's.

...and will you at least acknowledge that for at least one game, JHow isn't "a roll of toilet paper?"

Again, I'm not a huge JHow fan. We didn't chose the dude. I wish we had a more physical and athletic guy in there. But he's what we got. IMO, he isn't embarassing when he plays like his normal self. He's respectible. That's it. He'll suffice until Swift steps it up and/or we find somebody better.

 

pwned.

 

Every dog has his day. Sometimes you find a needle in a haystack.

The bottom line is that Howard does not play this well every game. and I wish he would. Actually he played over his head a little bit. He has about 5 of these games a year.

 

Lets just say Howard did not score a single point against Seattle last night.

Z-boy's examples of how Howard is the worst player on the planet are wrong. He just has blind hatred of the man regardless of facts.

People have blind hatred of Moochie, Howard and often Wesley. I don't understand it. They obviously are working hard and that's all you can ask for. But some folks aren't satisfied unless we have a roster w/ 5 all-stars. Even then ...many still arn't happy. Yao is a beast that any team in the league would take but yet many here still complain about him.

I don't like players that don't work hard. I was never a big fan of EG because of that. Stromile is dangerously close at times and wish he'd play w/ more energy. If he did, nobody would see him cause he's so damn quick.

 

LOL, uh yeah, it'd be nice to have a role playing PF that goes 8/9 every game...(I know it says 8/10 but one was a half court heave trying to save a botched offensive set). Damn, Juwon ain't great, but seriously man, what other PF would be so much better than Juwon that we could REASONABLY get? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

Howard had one of his great games last night, but let's not forget Seattle has the worst defense in the league by a good margin.

He also had a great game against Dallas last year, also known for less than stellar defense.

 

Bingo!


It still doesnt change the fact that J HO is slow footed, a weak to mediocre defender, NON existant in the Shot blocking, weak side help, and a weak rebounder.


If you like though we can summarize all his games this year and compare them to his one *ahem* gem of a game last night. Whats the more accurate measure of J Ho? The whole year so far, or one game?

 

This is what I don't understand.

Just because a player works hard, doesn't mean he is good, doesn't mean he is a difference maker. If I played for the Rockets, I'd work hard too, but I'd still be more of a negative than a positive because of my skills.

People say he is a decent player. No he's not. Here are some decent players....Nazi Muhammed, Troy Murphy, PJ Brown, the Collins boys, Antonio Davis, Zaza Pachulia, Aaron Williams, Kurt Thomas...these guys are more consistent. Juwan used to be decent, but not at this stage of his career.

I'd like to see Baxter get a shot to prove himself.

 

I never said he was good and I certainly never said he was a difference maker. I said he isn't as bad as everybody likes to make it appear. Howard is as decent and consistent as any of those other players you listed albeit different streghts.

Right now, Stro and Howard post about equal stats. Yet everybody cries for more PT for Stro and less for Howard. Why? Because Stro dunks. That's about it.

Howard isn't fancy but he'll suffice until we can get something better.

 

Ok I just got back. Owned my @ss. You are going to to look at Mr. Juwon's stats against a pathetic Seattle frontline to justify is worth?! Ha! Every b*tch has a lucky day. Even if we were to play Seattle and its scrub frontcourt next game, you wouldnt know which Juwon you would get. But if I were to bet I would bet on the sucky games he has 9 out of 10 times. I will let Juwons play in next couple of games and his career speak for himself.

And I will always say this....as long as Juwon Howard is on the team AND getting major minutes, it means we have serious holes on our team and we have to live with him since we dont have better options. As long as this happens, we are not winning anything big in playoffs. He is too much of a liability.

 

I'm NOT looking at his stats. I'm looking at YOUR stats.

Here are YOUR stats that you say define his "softness":

1. Poor rebounder - Guards consistently steal rebounds from him
2. Zero post moves
3. gets outmuscled by guards for the rebounds and loose balls
(not sure the difference between #1 and #3 but that is what YOU said so I'm going w/ it.)
4. Low BB IQ and he makes boneheaded passes

The only real stat I referenced was his turnovers to address point #4. Other than that, I'm simply using YOUR criteria to point out that Juwan isn't NEARLY as bad as you say.

Juwan is a 17/7 career guy. Yes, that DOES speak for itself.

Great teams are 99% of the time defined by the BEST player on the team. ie...Hakeem, Bird, Magic, Shaq, Jordan, etc etc. Rarely teams are defined by their role players. Thats because the best player on the court is what seperates the team ...not the role players.

If Houston doesn't win a championship while Juwan is here, it'll have NOTHING to do w/ Juwan. It'll have EVERYTHING to do w/ how TMac and Yao are playing. Our team will go as far as TMac and Yao carry us. PERIOD.

 

I agree with you krosfyah. But role players help determine a dynasty because they can ease the burden of the superstars and help them from having to play at top level for 82 games plus the playoffs. Think about Worthy, Coop, Kupchap, Rambis, McAdoo, Green, Scott, etc. Magic and Kareem were great and may have won a championship. But their role players helped them become a dynasty and win 5. DJ, Ainge, Cornbread, even Robey helped Bird, McHale, and Parish. Rodman, Mahorn, Salley, Microwave, Laimbeer all made significant contributions to Isiah and Dumars. Every dynasty has great role players that by themselves could start and star for a lot of other teams.

 

Ummm....no.

 

Yall are a bunch of sissies. Yesterday some of you said Juwan sucks and today you are singing his praises

Make up your mind. He's a Rocket