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I do not know why there have been grumblings by the players and media about D'Antoni's system not working and Dwight Howard not being a fit in it.

The Lakers had one of the best running teams in the '80s (understatement) under Paul Westhead and Pat Riley and Kareem Abdul - Jabbar was relatively effective (understatement). There's no reason Howard cannot dominate in D'Antoni's system with just some simple tweaking by the coaches and players.

Salma Hayek.....the actress......SO HOTTTTTTT! I swear she never ages.

The reason is simple. Howard is more on defense.

He is weak on pick and roll. Most 'pick and roll' he makes is just a fake one as every time he make a quick on-ball screen and then left everything behind and run into the paint and wish to get the pass to have a dunk or inside hook.

But we all know dunk and inside hook are not easy every time after the pick and roll. And his FT is terrible which gives chances for hack howard.

Howard does not have jumper and mid-range shooting so he presents less threats inside 3-pt line. If it were Amare Stoudemire, things could be different.

Let me break this down.

1. Dwight Howard is a defensive player. Can he play offense? Sure. Is he good at it? Nope. Hes a defensive player therefore he needs to be in the post, in the paint and in the rim. Things that Howard brings that make him a mega-superstar is his ability to shotblock, rebounds, defend the rim and get two people on him and draw fouls. Dwights abilities to hit free throws is a problem, but thats a whole different story

2. Mike D'Antoni is an amazing head coach and for those of you who think he doesn't belong or believe he shouldn't be a head coach have no idea what your talking about (Stephen A. Smith, 2013). I mean for those of you who saw what he did win the Suns back when they meant something know what I am talking about. He helped Nash get a 2x MVP. The question is, Is he the right coach for this Lakers roster? The answer is no. Lakers are an aging team. So running up and down the court in a fast tempo isn't good for there players. The average age of the starting players is 30+ (excluding howard).

So with that being said, I believe that the coach needs to be changed. Why have the Lakers not changed the coach? Well I believe it's because they fired Mike Brown (so abruptly, turned down Phil Jackson) and they don't want to bring in another coach (+ the 10mill they own Brown and they signed D'Antoni for 3 years + an option for a 4th).

I hope they changed the coach as soon as possible (even though we are this late in the season), because I believe even a coach such as Stan Van Gundy could better shape this roster for a play offs run. Oh wait he won't work out cause of the entire Orlando/Dwightmare. Maybe pay Phil more? But Phil has said he doesn't want to be a coach anymore, he wants a GM position (Similar to Pat Riley). There are coaches out there, but it's a matter of finding one.

I hope my post helps.

Dwight Howard would fit perfectly in an uptempo offense with a guy like Magic getting him the ball. Magic's height and skill would allow for perfect entry passes in spots where Dwight would be most effective with the ball. He wouldn't have to rely on trying to come up with the bounce passes between defenders that he's seeing from Nash.

Magic was simply the greatest passer of all time. Anyway back to Dwight. He would definitely flourish in an uptempo offense if he had a pg capable of getting him the ball where he needs it. Having a healthy back wouldn't hurt either.

Imagine even a Kyrie Irving weaving and dribbling around defenders finding Dwight as he cuts to the basket. It would be so deadly.

AcecardZ wrote:Dwight Howard would fit perfectly in an uptempo offense with a guy like Magic getting him the ball. Magic's height and skill would allow for perfect entry passes in spots where Dwight would be most effective with the ball. He wouldn't have to rely on trying to come up with the bounce passes between defenders that he's seeing from Nash.

Magic was simply the greatest passer of all time. Anyway back to Dwight. He would definitely flourish in an uptempo offense if he had a pg capable of getting him the ball where he needs it. Having a healthy back wouldn't hurt either.

Imagine even a Kyrie Irving weaving and dribbling around defenders finding Dwight as he cuts to the basket. It would be so deadly.

If only there was a player in the league with height and passing skill....

Patman wrote:

AcecardZ wrote:Dwight Howard would fit perfectly in an uptempo offense with a guy like Magic getting him the ball. Magic's height and skill would allow for perfect entry passes in spots where Dwight would be most effective with the ball. He wouldn't have to rely on trying to come up with the bounce passes between defenders that he's seeing from Nash.

Magic was simply the greatest passer of all time. Anyway back to Dwight. He would definitely flourish in an uptempo offense if he had a pg capable of getting him the ball where he needs it. Having a healthy back wouldn't hurt either.

Imagine even a Kyrie Irving weaving and dribbling around defenders finding Dwight as he cuts to the basket. It would be so deadly.

If only there was a player in the league with height and passing skill....

LeBron James

we can get him in 2014.

Mirjalovic wrote:

Patman wrote:

AcecardZ wrote:Dwight Howard would fit perfectly in an uptempo offense with a guy like Magic getting him the ball. Magic's height and skill would allow for perfect entry passes in spots where Dwight would be most effective with the ball. He wouldn't have to rely on trying to come up with the bounce passes between defenders that he's seeing from Nash.

Magic was simply the greatest passer of all time. Anyway back to Dwight. He would definitely flourish in an uptempo offense if he had a pg capable of getting him the ball where he needs it. Having a healthy back wouldn't hurt either.

Imagine even a Kyrie Irving weaving and dribbling around defenders finding Dwight as he cuts to the basket. It would be so deadly.

If only there was a player in the league with height and passing skill....

LeBron James

we can get him in 2014.

I think he meant Kobe....who has been facilitating a lot but is still having difficulty getting consistent looks for Howard.

The real problem is Howard is not a good offensive player. Ok post moves, bad touch, no jump shot, bad hands, brings the ball down to get stripped, etc. However, he is an excellent athlete that is current more limited in that regard because of his injuries. But for a guy like him its all about his energy. If he sets good picks, rolls hard, gets his hands ready for passes, goes after offensive rebounds,etc...then he can be very effective. And when he posts up he needs to work for good post position without getting an offensive foul (which he does about 1/2 the time).

salmahayek wrote:I do not know why there have been grumblings by the players and media about D'Antoni's system not working and Dwight Howard not being a fit in it.

The Lakers had one of the best running teams in the '80s (understatement) under Paul Westhead and Pat Riley and Kareem Abdul - Jabbar was relatively effective (understatement). There's no reason Howard cannot dominate in D'Antoni's system with just some simple tweaking by the coaches and players.

Riley's system is nothing like D'Antoni's...
Nash and Kobe together are no where near as good as Magic was...
Dwight couldn't carry Kareem's Goggles...

Dwight want's to be Shaq, but he's not as good or as physically gifted as Shaq... Nor is he as mentally focused/tough...
Dwight has the physical gifts and natural ability to be Bill Russell, but he doesn't have the Toughness/Tenacity/Drive or whatever you want to call it... Heart?

Dwight's a tweener who's afraid to accept and embrace his natural identity on the court... He's not going to be a scorer like Hakeem or even Shaq. He needs to accept that, and shoot for an even bigger, if less flashy, target in Bill Russell.

Like KG did when he went to Boston... I mean, how scary would Dwight be if he became the next KG from Boston?

Kilroy wrote:Like KG did when he went to Boston... I mean, how scary would Dwight be if he became the next KG from Boston?

As good is KG is, I feel as if he should have won more rings in his long career in the NBA.

Since they are not running the D'Antoni SSOL system, this is moot. It's already a modified version to try and fit the personnel.