I decided I don't like Dwight Howard

[footey]

I didn't care for his hotdoggin last night. Immature, even for a guy his age. Especially for a guy with his talent level. He was quite frustrated last night. good job, Perk and BBD.

[BigAlTheFuture]

That gesture kinda ticked me off, too. I don't know why. I didn't have a problem with it when Shaq use to do it but seeing Dwight do it kinda bugs me a bit. I think Howard is biting off Shaq. The looking at his hand thing and that Superman stuff. Well, at least we gave his team a butt whooping.

[BballTim]

Dwight Howard seems like a great kid, but he just isn't a very good basketball player.  He gets by on raw athleticism.

If they had his body, I imagine that half the college players in the country would be NBA hall of famers. 

20/14/3 is a very good basketball player based on any criteria.  If those numbers are "just getting by", then I bet half the NBA would like to get by too!  The fact that he is so much more athletic than everyone in a league of athletic, tall men is astounding.

Now the scary thing is he is developing an offensive game...just imagine.

  I don't think he's shown a ton of improvement in his offensive game...

I think he has.  It may not be face ups, jump shots or McHale-esque moves, but he is getting better at using his freakish athelticism.  As a comparison, Al Jefferson, aka Mr. Low Post Offense, scores 22 pts on 19 shots, Howard scores 20 pts on 12 shots.

  First of all, look at the offensive players surrounding Al and Dwight. Put Lewis, Hedo and Nelson on the Wolves so Al isn't the main (by far) focus of the defense and Al wouldbe unstoppable. Make Howard the main focus of the defense and he'll struggle. Also notice that DH's fg% is lower than it has been the last couple of years. Or check out his shooting at 82games. He barely makes 50% of his non-dunk close shots. Al, by comparison, makes about 61%. That 50% is also a little lower than it's been in past years.

[davemonsterband]

No killer instinct, he's another pre-Duncan David Robinson, he won't amount to jack when it comes to bling.

[FLCeltsFan]

I found this article when compiling links for tomorrow and thought it fit here. 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/114530-magic-trick-boston-celtics-talk-back-to-dwight-howards-hand

[Rondo_is_better]

Wow there's a lot of Howard hate in this thread. I read one post that said he isn't really muscular-- kiiinda gotta question that-- and another that said his game was all athleticism and size-- that's true, but that doesn't make him any less of a beast. For example, Its not like shaq had or has the greatest finesse game of all time. He just sets up on the left block and rams you until he can either dunk over you, spin around you and dunk, or take a hook-like shot that goes in 20% of the time. Yet he's one of the most dominant centers of all time. I don't find the hating on Howard for being too athletic and not skilled enough to be justified-- an alley oop and a running hook both get you two points.

And for the record, I loved the Superman dunk. The contest is all about the showmanship, not the technicalities. So he didn't touch the rim. Maybe its not by all standards a dunk, but it had all the components that make a dunk exciting. It had a great leap, a fun gimmick/trick, and it was a LOUD finish.  It was a remarkable shot, too, if you think about. He gunned it through the hoop like a baseball player from above the rim. Good enough for a 10 in my book.

[ManUp]

Wow there's a lot of Howard hate in this thread. I read one post that said he isn't really muscular-- kiiinda gotta question that-- and another that said his game was all athleticism and size-- that's true, but that doesn't make him any less of a beast. For example, Its not like shaq had or has the greatest finesse game of all time. He just sets up on the left block and rams you until he can either dunk over you, spin around you and dunk, or take a hook-like shot that goes in 20% of the time. Yet he's one of the most dominant centers of all time. I don't find the hating on Howard for being too athletic and not skilled enough to be justified-- an alley oop and a running hook both get you two points.

And for the record, I loved the Superman dunk. The contest is all about the showmanship, not the technicalities. So he didn't touch the rim. Maybe its not by all standards a dunk, but it had all the components that make a dunk exciting. It had a great leap, a fun gimmick/trick, and it was a LOUD finish.  It was a remarkable shot, too, if you think about. He gunned it through the hoop like a baseball player from above the rim. Good enough for a 10 in my book.

You've got to be kidding me. Shaq's hook is just about automatic, and he has the moves to get it over you when he's not dunking. If he didn't he wouldn't be playing as affective as he is right now. Even so Shaq was/is so much bigger and stronger than Howard, where the finesse isn't really needed.

Those running hooks we saw thursday usually don't fall consistantly for Howard, and he usually doesn't take them. Howard needs to learn to use his quickness and finish using a soft touch before his offensive game is to be considered great.

I'm not the only one that thinks so.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/28760885/

[orrzor]

Yep crazy game by Durant. If I had to choose a young player to start a team around now, it would be Durant or LeBron.

[xmuscularghandix]

Yep crazy game by Durant. If I had to choose a young player to start a team around now, it would be Durant or LeBron.

Durant's size and ability to post up at the 3 is amazing, i'd love to get Durant on this team after he gets sick of losing every night.

[housecall]

Yep crazy game by Durant. If I had to choose a young player to start a team around now, it would be Durant or LeBron.

Durant's size and ability to post up at the 3 is amazing, i'd love to get Durant on this team after he gets sick of losing every night.

Yes in a few season's he will be more mature,probably ready to commit to playing D regularly as well as score a lot.I can see him becoming a Celtics in the future.tp for the vision.

[twinbree]

I don't like him either. Maybe I would if I understood how he's supposedly one of the best centers around. His athleticism and strength are the only thing making him dominate. Shot-blocking might be his only legit skill. He's a poor rebounder yeah I know he's leading the league in rebounds but if he couldn't leap up for most of those he'd probably be another Amare. If he doesn't have a dunk the offense is suspect. Nothing wrong with that but he needs to develop some moves before sweet talking his palms after every basket.

[Rondo_is_better]

Wow there's a lot of Howard hate in this thread. I read one post that said he isn't really muscular-- kiiinda gotta question that-- and another that said his game was all athleticism and size-- that's true, but that doesn't make him any less of a beast. For example, Its not like shaq had or has the greatest finesse game of all time. He just sets up on the left block and rams you until he can either dunk over you, spin around you and dunk, or take a hook-like shot that goes in 20% of the time. Yet he's one of the most dominant centers of all time. I don't find the hating on Howard for being too athletic and not skilled enough to be justified-- an alley oop and a running hook both get you two points.

And for the record, I loved the Superman dunk. The contest is all about the showmanship, not the technicalities. So he didn't touch the rim. Maybe its not by all standards a dunk, but it had all the components that make a dunk exciting. It had a great leap, a fun gimmick/trick, and it was a LOUD finish.  It was a remarkable shot, too, if you think about. He gunned it through the hoop like a baseball player from above the rim. Good enough for a 10 in my book.

You've got to be kidding me. Shaq's hook is just about automatic, and he has the moves to get it over you when he's not dunking. If he didn't he wouldn't be playing as affective as he is right now. Even so Shaq was/is so much bigger and stronger than Howard, where the finesse isn't really needed. Those running hooks usually don't fall consistantly for him, and he usually doesn't take them. Howard needs to learn to use his quickness and finish using a soft touch before his offensive game is to be considered great.

I'm not the only one that thinks so.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/28760885/

This part of your post kind of confuses me: You start out being really insistent that Shaq's hook shot is amazing and goes in all the time. Then you say Shaq's running hook isn't consistent?

You also say he has the moves to get it over you in the post-- yeah, over, but not in. His finesse game isn't great.

Then you say Shaq is/was so much bigger and stronger than Howard, which is true, but not to an extreme degree. Shaq is probably 1.33 times as strong as Howard, not 2 times as strong, or anything like that. Plus, there isn't really anyone else in the league who is as strong as Shaq. Howard is probably the second strongest center out there, and that means his power game is effective. It wasn't against the C's because Perk is probably the 3rd strongest center in the game.

I agree with you and the guy who wrote that article that Howard won't be great unless he develops a consistent post game. He won't be great. He'll still be one of, if not the most, dominant centers in the league for the next 12-13 years, just not one of those top 5 best centers ever if he doesn't get a post game.

[BballTim]

Wow there's a lot of Howard hate in this thread. I read one post that said he isn't really muscular-- kiiinda gotta question that-- and another that said his game was all athleticism and size-- that's true, but that doesn't make him any less of a beast. For example, Its not like shaq had or has the greatest finesse game of all time. He just sets up on the left block and rams you until he can either dunk over you, spin around you and dunk, or take a hook-like shot that goes in 20% of the time. Yet he's one of the most dominant centers of all time. I don't find the hating on Howard for being too athletic and not skilled enough to be justified-- an alley oop and a running hook both get you two points.

And for the record, I loved the Superman dunk. The contest is all about the showmanship, not the technicalities. So he didn't touch the rim. Maybe its not by all standards a dunk, but it had all the components that make a dunk exciting. It had a great leap, a fun gimmick/trick, and it was a LOUD finish.  It was a remarkable shot, too, if you think about. He gunned it through the hoop like a baseball player from above the rim. Good enough for a 10 in my book.

You've got to be kidding me. Shaq's hook is just about automatic, and he has the moves to get it over you when he's not dunking. If he didn't he wouldn't be playing as affective as he is right now. Even so Shaq was/is so much bigger and stronger than Howard, where the finesse isn't really needed. Those running hooks usually don't fall consistantly for him, and he usually doesn't take them. Howard needs to learn to use his quickness and finish using a soft touch before his offensive game is to be considered great.

I'm not the only one that thinks so.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/28760885/

This part of your post kind of confuses me: You start out being really insistent that Shaq's hook shot is amazing and goes in all the time. Then you say Shaq's running hook isn't consistent?

You also say he has the moves to get it over you in the post-- yeah, over, but not in. His finesse game isn't great.
 

  He was saying Howard's running hook isn't consistent, not Shaq's. Shaq doesn't have a ton of moves but he is effective. His inside fg% (since he turned 30) has been around 56% while DH has been around 50%. You could also notice that Shaq, when he was younger, was averaging a lot more shots and points per game than DH, because he was always his team's #1 offensive option, not the 3rd or 4th option that Howard always is.

[Bankshot]

Remember Howard's draft night?  It was Howard or Okafor.  A lot of people were surprised that Howard went #1 over Okafor.  I see why Howard went first, but it's amazing that he really hasn't improved his game a whole lot.  Okafor is a better player, but lacks the size to be dominant like Howard.  If they switched bodies, Okafor would way better than Howard and Howard would be terrible if he had Okafor's smaller body, because he gets by on mostly sheer brute.

Also, how good would Perk be if he had Howard's body?   Opposite that, if Howard had Perk's body, he'd be Ben Wallace.

[jackson_34]

No killer instinct, he's another pre-Duncan David Robinson, he won't amount to jack when it comes to bling.

I think your right about this. We'll have to wait and see how he plays in the playoffs this year, but I highly doubt he carries his team to any significant playing level.

And to be honest, I do like Howard. He seems like an all-round nice guy. The hand gesture and flex didn't really bother me at all. It was a game-of-the-year playoff atmosphere and he probably just wanted to keep his team and the crowd amped up. How was he to know he'd be held to 11 points!