RealGM

Dwight Howard isn’t trying to play like Hakeem Olajuwon.

Howard worked with Olajuwon earlier this week before taking a planned trip to Asia.

“It’s not about emulating Dream,” Howard said of the workouts, which also included Kevin McHale. “That’s the thing. We get caught up in comparing players, trying to do what this guys does just because you work with him. The thing is, when you workout with a guy like Hakeem or Kevin, you take away certain things. You don’t try to do everything they can do. I could workout with Michael Jordan, but I’m not going to be able to shoot the fadeaway like Michael Jordan.”

Howard pays close attention to Olajuwon’s footwork during drills.

“The biggest thing when we’re working out is I’m always watching his feet,” Howard said. “Today we were working on spin moves and I was doing a spin move with my left foot in the back and I saw him doing it with his right. So once I caught that, I adjusted. It’s little things like that where you see something and you put your own mix to it – that’s what makes it great.

“We’ve been working out for years and I’ve never tried to be Hakeem Olajuwon. We made jokes about the Dream shake – he’d call mine the milk shake – but I don’t want to say I’m going to be like Hakeem Olajuwon. The moves we’re doing and how we’re doing them, it’s not about doing it just like Hakeem or doing them just like McHale. It’s about understanding why and how you do certain moves.”

Via Jason Friedman/Rockets.com

He can't come close anyway. No matter how hard he tries.

First intelligent Howard quote I have heard in a while...

How is this news? Oh, and in other news, Dejuan Blair isn't trying to emulate Dirk.

With Dream and McHale teaching you, you SHOULD learn. Let's see.

so many buthurts

Hopefully this prima donna finally settles and gets his head straight. With Mchale and Olajuwon by his side, it's his loss if he still can't figure sh*t out.

NamelessHero wrote:so many buthurts

You'd feel the same if he gave no effort while playing for your team. Dude b*tched his way out of L.A... Not happy with this, not happy with that. All he had to do was play ball, no matter the situation, you gotta give it some effort.

He asked to get out of Orlando, he said he was happy to sign with the Lakers. Then he turned his back and cried all season. Dude is weak, weak minded players aren't meant to be "franchise players".

When you're learning under a Top 5 Center of all time and your Head Coach is a 3x Champ, you need to emulate your game after them no ifs ands or buts. Be a sponge, not a diva!

He should be trying to emulate Olajuwon from the free throw line.

CEOSports wrote:When you're learning under a Top 5 Center of all time and your Head Coach is a 3x Champ, you need to emulate your game after them no ifs ands or buts. Be a sponge, not a diva!

Not to mention what he learned under Ewing. (who had the hardest job, he had to teach dude basically from scratch.)

He's gonna get fouled before he gets a chance to use his new moves anyways.

Tdot24 wrote:

NamelessHero wrote:so many buthurts

You'd feel the same if he gave no effort while playing for your team. Dude b*tched his way out of L.A... Not happy with this, not happy with that. All he had to do was play ball, no matter the situation, you gotta give it some effort.

He asked to get out of Orlando, he said he was happy to sign with the Lakers. Then he turned his back and cried all season. Dude is weak, weak minded players aren't meant to be "franchise players".

Everything you wrote is an all out lie.

You don't lead the league in rebounding without giving effort. Never-mind doing so while recovering from back surgery and playing through a shoulder injury.
You accuse him of "crying" but I dare you to provide facts to back it up. And I'm not talking about some statement for media heads quoting "unnamed sources", show me something directly from Howard that was untrue.
And lastly, I find it hilarious when you keyboard warriors call professional athletes weak. Especially one with Howard's ability.

Butthurt indeed.

I agree! People forget that Dwight in Orlando had a system tailor made for him, and in Los Angeles they wanted him to integrate into a Kobe led offense instead of centering around him, the better long term player. And then they brainwashed Laker fans into thinking Dwight was this terrible person for not being subservient to Kobe!

They live by Kobe and will eventually die by Kobe

BallerTalk wrote:
Everything you wrote is an all out lie.

You don't lead the league in rebounding without giving effort. Never-mind doing so while recovering from back surgery and playing through a shoulder injury.
You accuse him of "crying" but I dare you to provide facts to back it up. And I'm not talking about some statement for media heads quoting "unnamed sources", show me something directly from Howard that was untrue.
And lastly, I find it hilarious when you keyboard warriors call professional athletes weak. Especially one with Howard's ability.

Butthurt indeed.

You sound mad. Are you mad? lol

My accusations and your claims both hold no value or an ounce of truth. They're both assumptions, unless you personally know Dwight himself. Asking to be traded from Orlando and wanting to be in a different team and ultimately voicing his displeasure with not getting enough touches. I'd say that's about as much crying as you can do in a team environment. Not being able to lead your team in the playoffs after being given the chance to do so—not a %100 effort, ESPECIALLY one with Howard's abilities. This, after he asked to be traded from Orlando, wanting to be THE GUY.

He came into the team knowing full well who their offense runs through and having seen how Kobe plays. How was he expecting to get more touches than he got in Orlando? When they did go to him, he fumbled the ball. He averaged 3 TO's in the regular season and 4 in the postseason.

Openly arguing with your PG after a misplay, that pretty much counts as crying. Especially a PG like Nash, who has not shown much frustration with his teammates. That says a lot.

You're as much a keyboard warrior as anybody here, calling people out like that. Don't be stupid, think clearly.

Tdot24 wrote:You sound mad. Are you mad? lol

My accusations and your claims both hold no value or an ounce of truth. They're both assumptions, unless you personally know Dwight himself. Asking to be traded from Orlando and wanting to be in a different team and ultimately voicing his displeasure with not getting enough touches. I'd say that's about as much crying as you can do in a team environment. Not being able to lead your team in the playoffs after being given the chance to do so—not a %100 effort, ESPECIALLY one with Howard's abilities. This, after he asked to be traded from Orlando, wanting to be THE GUY.

He came into the team knowing full well who their offense runs through and having seen how Kobe plays. How was he expecting to get more touches than he got in Orlando? When they did go to him, he fumbled the ball. He averaged 3 TO's in the regular season and 4 in the postseason.

Openly arguing with your PG after a misplay, that pretty much counts as crying. Especially a PG like Nash, who has not shown much frustration with his teammates. That says a lot.

You're as much a keyboard warrior as anybody here, calling people out like that. Don't be stupid, think clearly.

How do you confuse accuracy for anger?
Or is that your snide way of voicing your displeasure at being called on your BS?

I made no claims other than :
1) Howard lead the league in rebounding, which of course is a provable fact
and
2) You are a butthurt fan, which I maintain is fairly obvious.

By the way, phrases like "I'd say that's about as much crying as you can do..." and "...that pretty much counts as crying" make it obvious that you have nothing factual to backup your claims of Dwight crying. It's just your own biased and bitter opinion.
That, of course, was my original point. Thanks for bringing it home.

I'm no warrior, I just like pointing out BS when I see it sometimes.

Olajuwon scored, rebounded and dominated defensively. Explain to me again why he doesn't want to emulate Olajuwon? Explain to me why you'd even say something that stupendously dumb.