How are we going to defend Dwight Howard?

[j804]

Does Oneal even make it to the second quarter?

I have a feeling this game is going to get brutal very early, I hope I'm flat out wrong though.

[vinnie]

They are not. I am looking for an Orlando laugher tonight, although I hope not.

[StartOrien]

I got a great idea, you guys:

Foul him every time he touches the ball. We'll make him shoot like 40 free throws and he'll miss a bunch. That's how we'll do it, and we'll win, for sure.

[PosImpos]

the best solution might be to sign an 8 year old on a 10-day contract and plant him in the paint.  the hope would be that we can slow down Howard by making him go out of his way to avoid injuring a little kid standing under the basket.

I got a great idea, you guys:

Foul him every time he touches the ball. We'll make him shoot like 40 free throws and he'll miss a bunch. That's how we'll do it, and we'll win, for sure.

Nice try, Mark Jackson.

[vinnie]

the best solution might be to sign an 8 year old on a 10-day contract and plant him in the paint.  the hope would be that we can slow down Howard by making him go out of his way to avoid injuring a little kid standing under the basket.

I got a great idea, you guys:

Foul him every time he touches the ball. We'll make him shoot like 40 free throws and he'll miss a bunch. That's how we'll do it, and we'll win, for sure.

Nice try, Mark Jackson.

Yep. The Warriors sent him to the line an NBA record number of times. Guess what? The Warriors lost the game.

[Q_FBE]

Call up Bernard Pollard of the Baltimore Ravens to roll on the back of the knee cap.

[jiriwelsch]

startup the STEAMER CREAMER!!

[dark_lord]

probably poorly

we can always hope for an injury

[slamtheking]

it'll either be a lot of double-teams or they may try the old MJ strategy of "let him get his but shut everyone else down".  Dwight could go for 40 but if the rest of the team only goes for 40, C's are in it.  of course I just don't see that happening

[stylo617617]

we cant .. therefore we'll lose

[Rondoesit]

it'll either be a lot of double-teams or they may try the old MJ strategy of "let him get his but shut everyone else down".  Dwight could go for 40 but if the rest of the team only goes for 40, C's are in it.  of course I just don't see that happening

Every team that seems to double-team Dwight Howard ends up being murdered by their 3-ball. They want you to double him. That's how their 1-in-4-out offense thrives. Dwight is good enough to score solid double figures even when you double him, and the result is that their shooters like Nelson, Richardson, Turkoglu, Redick, and Anderson kill you from range.

Best example of how to stop the Magic was seen in the playoffs last season v. Hawks. They played Howard straight up, and closed out on the shooters, nullifying the three-pointer. Sure, he went for some big numbers - about 45pts in game 1 from memory - but they lost that game, and the series.

[Celtics18]

Close out strong on their shooters.  Jam the point guard on the pick and roll and get back to Howard.  Don't double too much. 

Move the ball and hit open shots on the offensive end.  Get in the lane and hope to get Dwight in foul trouble.

[slamtheking]

it'll either be a lot of double-teams or they may try the old MJ strategy of "let him get his but shut everyone else down".  Dwight could go for 40 but if the rest of the team only goes for 40, C's are in it.  of course I just don't see that happening

Every team that seems to double-team Dwight Howard ends up being murdered by their 3-ball. They want you to double him. That's how their 1-in-4-out offense thrives. Dwight is good enough to score solid double figures even when you double him, and the result is that their shooters like Nelson, Richardson, Turkoglu, Redick, and Anderson kill you from range.

Best example of how to stop the Magic was seen in the playoffs last season v. Hawks. They played Howard straight up, and closed out on the shooters, nullifying the three-pointer. Sure, he went for some big numbers - about 45pts in game 1 from memory - but they lost that game, and the series.

Hence the "MJ" strategy I mentioned.

[RyNye]

Dwight Howard isn't dominant enough offensively to win most games on his own. Look at all the games that the Magic win ... sure Dwight puts up good numbers, but the games they win are the games where there perimeter shooters have a field day. Heck, there have been games where Dwight has stunk it up on both ends of the floor and the perimeter shooters won the game. The games they lose are the ones where the other team closes out on those 3 point shots (it's been that way since the Finals run). We guard the perimeter, we have a pretty good chance.

[rasta1]

If howard scores 60 and we limit the rest of the team to 25...we probably win the game

again that's assuming we can put up 86 points on the board