Dwight: Working With Hakeem Fits My Game

[RealGM Wiretap]

Dwight Howard believes working with Hakeem Olajuwon on his game is a better fit than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

"People talked about Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] and working with him," Howard said. "But I'm not a 7-footer. I felt like working with Kareem, I'd have to change my game. Working with Hakeem – who did it with quickness, speed, explosiveness – that's more to my game; that's more where I want to be.

"My best year was in 2010, after working out with Dream for a summer. He's in my backyard now, always talking to me, always pushing me to get better.

"That's no knock on Kareem, but I felt like Hakeem will be better for me."

Via Adrian Wojnarowski/Yahoo! Sports

[BlackFalconGSW]

Hakeem > Kareem, anybody knows that.

[chesterisme]

Maybe on the defense end but Dwight Howard plays nothing like Hakeem on the offensive end. And never will.

[inquisitive]

howard will be a beast this season!

[Rashidi]

Yet another critic of Kareem, who doesn't seem to be much of a development coach.

Players certainly aren't lining up to be tutored by him like they do Hakeem.

[Leto]

Yikes. So, Dream Shake fade aways all day from DH!! LOL

[DontHateMiami]

STFU Dwight, nothing fits your game except losing.

[EArl]

Dwight is hilarious. I kind of feel sorry for the bloke.

[John Long]

I think its too much for Dwight to let his game speak for itself he always has something stupid to say, at least Shaq was entertaining.

[DEEP3CL]

Yeah but Hakeem made his free throws....ain't nothing gonna help Howard with that weakness.

[Slava]

I think working with Tyson Chandler would help Dwight a lot more in a sense

[GlennQuagmire]

Hakeem > Kareem, anybody knows that.

Except that Kareem scored more points, grabbed more rebounds, won waaaay more titles in college and in the NBA, played more years , and achieved pretty much ten times more than Hakeem did in everything in life.

Hakeem entered the league when Kareem was leaving it. People who don't follow basketball so close knows who Kareem is. Can't say the same for the Hakeem.

[Ginobili]

Bla bla bla.

Trying to make excuses.

It wasnt Kareem`s fault you acted like a despicable diva in LA. Just shut your mouth and speak on the court, already.

[PDX_DL0]

Dwight needs a big man to punk him. I never thought I'd say this but... c'mon Demarcus Cousins! I need you to get better to get in Dwight's head. Hopefully Shaq can tame him

[captlopez0012]

at this point, its fairly obvious to everybody but dwight that he has no offensive game whatsoever. no amount of training w/ hakeem or kareem will change that.

[BallerTalk]

at this point, its fairly obvious to everybody but dwight that he has no offensive game whatsoever. no amount of training w/ hakeem or kareem will change that.

Career averages of 18.3 pts and 12.9 rebs...with four seasons prior to last year of over 20 points per game.
Not bad for someone with "no offensive game".

I know it's easy to follow the crowd and fun to pile on, but very few of the criticisms I see here are based on fact.

[captlopez0012]

at this point, its fairly obvious to everybody but dwight that he has no offensive game whatsoever. no amount of training w/ hakeem or kareem will change that.

Career averages of 18.3 pts and 12.9 rebs...with four seasons prior to last year of over 20 points per game.
Not bad for someone with "no offensive game".

I know it's easy to follow the crowd and fun to pile on, but very few of the criticisms I see here are based on fact.

first of all, rebs are not offense so throw that stat out the window. now i must ask, have you NEVER watched d12 play? all his points are put backs and dunks. he is no way considered by anybody as an offensive center. he has no offensive moves. hes a terrible passer and you cant go to him for a bucket if you need one. not to mention, he is a liability on the floor in the 4th quarter b/c he cant make free throws. those are facts. i advise you to go back and watch some dwight howard tape if you disagree.

[BallerTalk]

first of all, rebs are not offense so throw that stat out the window. now i must ask, have you NEVER watched d12 play? all his points are put backs and dunks. he is no way considered by anybody as an offensive center. he has no offensive moves. hes a terrible passer and you cant go to him for a bucket if you need one. not to mention, he is a liability on the floor in the 4th quarter b/c he cant make free throws. those are facts. i advise you to go back and watch some dwight howard tape if you disagree.

I present you with facts and again you counter with ill-informed opinion.
Firstly, yes rebounds are offense (offensive rebounds) and it's ironic that you missed that point when you contend that most of his points come from "put backs" which, of course, are OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS.

To that point, the notion that Howard scores exclusively off of dunks and follow ups is foolish on it's face. Though limited it may be, the guy does have a post game. The fact that you deny it convinces me you are the one who hasn't actually watched the guy play.

Lastly you claim that you can't "go to him for a bucket" and that he's a "liability on the floor in the 4th quarter" yet most of his recent teams have managed to be pretty successful with him leading the way. Are you aware that his Orlando teams had 4 straight 50+ win seasons before the lockout shortened year of 2012 (his last in Orlando)?
Surely you don't deny that he was the focal point of those teams?

You are entitled to you opinion, just know that the facts paint a different picture.

[Frank Mulely]

Hakeem > Kareem, anybody knows that.

[captlopez0012]

first of all, rebs are not offense so throw that stat out the window. now i must ask, have you NEVER watched d12 play? all his points are put backs and dunks. he is no way considered by anybody as an offensive center. he has no offensive moves. hes a terrible passer and you cant go to him for a bucket if you need one. not to mention, he is a liability on the floor in the 4th quarter b/c he cant make free throws. those are facts. i advise you to go back and watch some dwight howard tape if you disagree.

I present you with facts and again you counter with ill-informed opinion.
Firstly, yes rebounds are offense (offensive rebounds) and it's ironic that you missed that point when you contend that most of his points come from "put backs" which, of course, are OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS.

To that point, the notion that Howard scores exclusively off of dunks and follow ups is foolish on it's face. Though limited it may be, the guy does have a post game. The fact that you deny it convinces me you are the one who hasn't actually watched the guy play.

Lastly you claim that you can't "go to him for a bucket" and that he's a "liability on the floor in the 4th quarter" yet most of his recent teams have managed to be pretty successful with him leading the way. Are you aware that his Orlando teams had 4 straight 50+ win seasons before the lockout shortened year of 2012 (his last in Orlando)?
Surely you don't deny that he was the focal point of those teams?

You are entitled to you opinion, just know that the facts paint a different picture.

haha you are very misinformed. must be a rocket fan.