Dwight VS Perk?

[acieEarl]

Howard is more like Shaq, not as good but uses his athleticism to dominate at times. Jefferson may have the best low post moves in the game and could be the next Olajuwon if he figures out how to play defense.

Perk reminds me of Parish with his solid but limited moves down low and how they both were kinda slow to make their moves. Perk just need to work on that Rainbow jumper that Chief had.

[Snakehead]

I can't believe everyone is acting as if Howard is Shaq-like in the low post too.  Should the Magic have really been getting him the ball at the end of the game?  So he could take more terrible running hooks?  It does discredit Perk as well, who really does a great job against him.

The Behind the Box Score on Ball Don't Lie is great today for picking apart this issue.

I dont think that he was just complaining about his lack of shots. A big part of the Magic offense is the inside out game. If you pass it in to him, then it opens up the court for everyone else. Also there were a couple of pick and rolls where he wasn't that open, but he prolly could have slammed it home. Its just how their offense works, and they went away from that in the fourth quarter.

You're missing two things about the Celtic defense:

1) The Celtics don't need to double in on him like a lot of lesser defensive teams.  Perk and Big Baby can handle him 1 on 1.  The kick out game is therefore not a big factor.

2) Perkins and Davis also do a good job keeping him away from the basket by getting into his body, and therefore the alley oops are not there.


It's not as if the Magic just didn't do these things.  Perhaps they could have looked for them a bit more but the Celtics do not allow them to with their good low post D.

[Amonkey]

Another thing about Perk's defense that he wouldn't be able to do against Al Jefferson.  Because Perk is playing great one-on-one defense, the Celtics can afford not to double team Howard, preventing them to kill us with 3's.  If it was Jeff, then we'd have to double team (and even triple team) him.

[TheGreenThumb]

I think that what also separates Perkins from Howard is passing.

Perk is good at passing from the post for an assist.

Howard?  Can't remember the time when I've seen him give an assist from the post.

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

I would add to that, Howard has post moves? all i ever see is a turn and then a running hook at the rim that half the time hits the backboard and lands in BBD or Perk's hands.

I know! It brings a smile to my face every time I see him about to take that running hook. 

[Redz]

I would add to that, Howard has post moves? all i ever see is a turn and then a running hook at the rim that half the time hits the backboard and lands in BBD or Perk's hands.

I know! It brings a smile to my face every time I see him about to take that running hook. 

Howard had developed some moves this year, but Perk has almost completely negated them.

Howard's offense vs Perk has been the same old DUNK or nothin'

He pretty much travels every time he makes a move (though rarely gets called for it).

He could easilyget called for a foul on every screen he sets (he lowers his shoulder every time)

Having watched him for 5 games concentrated now, I really can't stand Howard's game.  He's still just a body.  It's amazing to me, how much he can actually still get accomplished with his limited skills.

[LB3533]

My brother was telling me, and it is pretty spot on, that historically, Dwight Howard has been pretty "human" against the C's, throughout regular season meetings etc.

Perk is really good at neutralizing what Howard wants to do or where Howard wants to go.

I don't necessarily agree that the Magic should be giving the ball to Howard down the stretch of the game for Howard to be dominant.

Should the Magic have given the ball more to Howard over the course of the game? Yes, because you want to get good shots.

But you don't force feed the post, just to force feed it. There has to be a sound strategy.

My brother also commented to me on how the Magic appear to play like a much better TEAM when Howard is on the bench (or suspended).

You can't really tell everything just by looking at the numbers/statistics, but in the Philly series, Howard was averaging 12 FGAs per game and averaged around 24-25 PPG.

In this series, Howard is averaging 11.7 FGAs per game and only scoring 16 PPG.

Now, I am well aware that FGA's doesn't equate to amount of "touches", but that has to do with the way the Celtics, namely Perk and Baby, are defending Howard.

We are doing a pretty darn good job of limiting Dwight's touches and also doing a fantastic job of not fouling Dwight and just playing him straight up.

I think there is this increasing philosophy leaning towards hacking Dwight whenever and whenever, but that is false gold, IMO. And I am glad we didn't fall trap into that. (Dwight's FTA in Philly Series = 57, against Celtics = 32)