With Dwight's return around the corner, predict his impact.

What took Harden out of his game was himself not being able to hit the broad side of the barn for almost the entire series, he had nothing to blame but himself, Mathews got in his head, and he got into his own head because the refs didn't call the fouls he wanted

Harden gave up last year in the playoffs on both ends of the floor and led his team down, if he does that again I hope Morey trades him

 

Considering that this 8 week midseason hiatus actually helped his knees, I hope that Dwight is able to contribute at a high level down the stretch. God knows that the Rockets must alleviate some of the stress Harden had to bear the entire season...

1. Return to normalcy in the middle
Not only did we see that DMo has been slumping, but the fact is the guy has had a terrible time the past few games. I account for his decreased defensive impact as a result of having to defend NBA starting centers. It has taken a toll on his arms/legs and you can tell that in his shot. Moving DMo either back to the bench or along side Dwight as the starting 4 will tremendously help DMo break out of his slump.

2. Lineup at full strength down the stretch of the season
We have yet to see playoff like effort by the big two with adequate support from the bench this entire season. Hopefully we see this for these last few games

3. Rebounding/rim protection
Dwight is so important to the overall defensive integrity of this team. Sure it is great to have so much length on the perimeter, but Dwight presence alone will give the team a greater chance at offensive possessions and better team rebounding.

4. Need for an enforcer
People have been tee-ing off on the Rockets that have attacked the paint. Going to be nice to see that others will have to see that punishment once again.

5. Pick and Roll above the rim
God I miss those pick and roll plays...

6. Finishing strong down the stretch
The Rockets must finish strong....and cant afford much slip ups. Several key Western conference matchups on tap. We must have Dwight and James clicking before they enter the playoffs...An absolute must. Regardless of our opponent, this year the Rockets must finish strong...and try maintaining homecourt for the 1st round.

 

See sig

Please Dwight please....

 

Even this year where Dwight has been clearly hampered by injury the Rockets have been better both offensively and defensively with him on the floor.

 

I think Dwight is coming back in the next week. Talking to the media today is a big sign, plus he is wearing the black practice jerseys.

 

Let Dwight play 10-15 minutes a game for the next week and just slowly bring him back in.

 

no more high blood pressure for defensive rebounds

Dwight will clean up the glass

 

We will not really needing him to take a load offensively right away. Defensively, he will be an immense upgrade over DMO. So I see a gradually increased impact from DH to help us once he returns. It's going to be different from putting Blake back into the Clipper's lineup limited Jordan's performance.

 

I'm surprised that no one has posted this yet.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Dwight Howard told media today he's very close to returning &amp; he wont play in B2B gms. HOU has 3 sets of B2B left; 3/29-30, 4/1-2, 4/12-13.</p>&mdash; Adam Wexler (@awexler) <a href="https://twitter.com/awexler/status/578275466022268928">March 18, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

hmm interesting regarding the b2b games - I wonder if thats directive from the doctors right now to avoid any flare ups from over working it by playing both games.

Though I would never say the second game of a back to back I would sit one of the games for a b2b. I mean if the first game of a b2b was lets say the Nets and the second game was the Mavs - I would want Dwight to play against the Mavs since its a more meaningful game than the Nets game

 

Never a good sign when a foundational player who isn't even 30 yet isn't playing back to back games.

Hopefully he is full strength next season.

 

Why should that matter right now? No B2B's in the playoffs. I'm fine with him missing out on some of the B2B's. there's only one goal here and that's have healthy dwight for the playoffs.

 

Even when Dwight Howard is fully healthy his best game is pick and roll. Regardless of whether he has been injured this year are not, Dwight is not Yao Ming or Hakeem Olajuwan, offensively he needs to set pics and screens, not only will that free him up, it goes extremely well with the type of offense we want to run. Unless you are really efficient at post ups why do it so much? Dwight post ups should be limited.

 

The no B2B stuff has me worried about chemistry. Having a player who plays big minutes and touches the ball a lot in and out of the lineup doesn't work.

 

It may be better put this way: If Dwight Howard were come back tomorrow night, he will miss 3 more games by the end of the season. Not that serious I guess, he's missed a ton of games already anyway.

 

Huge lift. Our bench gets deeper as well when Howard comes back. T Jones gonna "go off" like he was doing at the beginning of the year once Howard gets back as he'll have more free space to roam.

 

Tmac 2.0

 

Dmo is slightly worn down given his playing time and what time of year it is and it being his first full playing year. But Josh Smith I expected as a long 6'9 that could play like a true back up 5 when need in today's league. I think somehow he's worn down as well. Yes Dwight's presence will help, but I'm very disappointed in the current front line's production. Trust and play Dorsey more, he's eager to gather rebounds, block some shots and defend in the paint. Also consider calling up Capella to rest Dmo and Smith for the Playoffs .....

 

Josh Smith measured 6'8.25" in shoes at the draft combine, with a shorter standing reach than Terrence Jones. He's not a center.

 

it's not like dwight's shooting form is going to be affected by his long lay off. if he is good to go, i expect him to be 18pts/12rbds howard. if that knee isn't there, then insert andre ware.."uh oh".