What's the Deal with Dwight Howard?

[GreenWithEnvy]

people also need to realize that a man of that size will probably never develop a jumpshot.

[etopn23]

Oh the Dwight threads on RealGM. Gotta love it.


What frustrates a lot of people, especially hard-core old school bball fans, is that he could become BETTER than prime Shaq if he worked extensively on his offensive game.

O Rly?

[DraftBoy10]

Oh the Dwight threads on RealGM. Gotta love it.

Lets just call a spade a spade here and look at Dwight for what he really is. He's a tremendous physical specimen who dominates the glass, is a great shotblocker, plays good help defense and adequate man defense, plays strictly in the low post and gets the majority of his points on dunks and putbacks. Thats what he is.

What frustrates a lot of people, especially hard-core old school bball fans, is that he could become BETTER than prime Shaq if he worked extensively on his offensive game. If he were to develop a decent mid-range J, improved his post footwork and increased his FT% by ~20% he'd be a top 3 player in the NBA. Even with an extremely limited offensive game he still averages over 20ppg, an astonishing 15rpg and is simply a tremendous basketball player despite his shortcomings. I think what makes Dwight such a polarizing figure in the NBA is that he is a prime example of athletic ability trumping skill and that rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

Go sit in the corner.

Howard will NEVER ever be better than a primetime Shaq.

[cwas2882]

I feel confident saying that nobody in the league right now will ever be better than a primetime Shaq

[one]

well a lot of people say that his NBA game, in terms of offensive is restricted to "dunks and put backs" (which is totally fine with me, cleaning up and high percentage goals works, they do still count in this league, and I will never judge a player based on how he gets his points because it's silly)...while being true for the most part, there is more to his offensive game, people just either don't see it (even though you will see "i have league pass and I watched this many Orlando games" and some guys who refer to the stats) or they just plain fail to recognize that over the 4 years he has developed progressively. It's whatever, I personally don't care...I'm extremely happy that he is part of my team bottom line...

IMO Howard and Tyler Hansbrough are quite similar. Both are great players at the level they play in and are the reason their teams can go far in their respective post seasons....however both teams will always run into trouble with them as leaders on the court because they can't take over a game offensively when an opponent does everything to take away their offensive game.

You see it with Hansbrough when NC goes far in the tournament and he goes up against smart big men who have a relatively comparable impact for their team. You see it with Howard when the offense isn't run through him late in games like you would see with most stars because in reality he might not be the best option.

Teams who's top players can't be depended on to carry the offensive load because they can't adapt their games won't succeed very often.

[realfung]

International games are different than NBA games styles home boy

[j-ragg]

Do people realize he's 22 years old and has improved every year since joining the league?

I wonder sometimes. People talk on here like he has hit his prime or something.

[Wasp]

Oh the Dwight threads on RealGM. Gotta love it.

Lets just call a spade a spade here and look at Dwight for what he really is. He's a tremendous physical specimen who dominates the glass, is a great shotblocker, plays good help defense and adequate man defense, plays strictly in the low post and gets the majority of his points on dunks and putbacks. Thats what he is.

What frustrates a lot of people, especially hard-core old school bball fans, is that he could become BETTER than prime Shaq if he worked extensively on his offensive game. If he were to develop a decent mid-range J, improved his post footwork and increased his FT% by ~20% he'd be a top 3 player in the NBA. Even with an extremely limited offensive game he still averages over 20ppg, an astonishing 15rpg and is simply a tremendous basketball player despite his shortcomings. I think what makes Dwight such a polarizing figure in the NBA is that he is a prime example of athletic ability trumping skill and that rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

Go sit in the corner.

Howard will NEVER ever be better than a primetime Shaq.

I never said he would be better than a primtime Shaq and he certainly will never be if he continues on his current path of development. But considering he doesn't have anywhere close to the same footwork or offensive polish as Shaq had, averaged more rebounds in his last season than Shaq ever did in his whole career and entered the league at 18 vs. Shaq's 20 is it really THAT ridiculous to assume that he has the potential to reach Shaq-like levels if he were to improve his offensive game and decision making skills?

Before telling people to go sit in the corner maybe you should read what they posted and consider hypothetical scenarios instead of jumping to an arrogant insult.

[Paladin55]

Oh the Dwight threads on RealGM. Gotta love it.

What frustrates a lot of people, especially hard-core old school bball fans, is that he could become BETTER than prime Shaq if he worked extensively on his offensive game. If he were to develop a decent mid-range J, improved his post footwork and increased his FT% by ~20% he'd be a top 3 player in the NBA. Even with an extremely limited offensive game he still averages over 20ppg, an astonishing 15rpg and is simply a tremendous basketball player despite his shortcomings. I think what makes Dwight such a polarizing figure in the NBA is that he is a prime example of athletic ability trumping skill and that rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

Won't get into the Shaq vs Howard fight, but your comment on how old school BB fans might be frustrated with a guy like Howard (And Lebron, for that matter.) is true.

However, I don't see Howard as an example of athletic ability trumping skill, but rather athletic ability neglecting to respect the the importance of developing the basketball skills that have to be learned in order for any player to reach their full potential.

My theory has always been that many athletically gifted players are without fundamental skills simply because they did not need to develop those skills at the lower levels of ball they dominated through sheer athletic talent alone. Howard is an example of this- a HS stud who did not even have to play against college level competition and develop a more sophisticated skill set. He is a warrior, no doubt about it, but he still has a lot to learn.

Howard has not been in the league for 4 years, and yet at times he still looks like a 1st year player.

So what's the deal, Dwight?

[And 1 Amare]

The thread title sounds like a build up to a joke, lol.

[lukeridenour]

his lack of technical skill.

[Harry Heinous]

I never said he would be better than a primtime Shaq and he certainly will never be if he continues on his current path of development. But considering he doesn't have anywhere close to the same footwork or offensive polish as Shaq had, averaged more rebounds in his last season than Shaq ever did in his whole career and entered the league at 18 vs. Shaq's 20 is it really THAT ridiculous to assume that he has the potential to reach Shaq-like levels if he were to improve his offensive game and decision making skills?

Before telling people to go sit in the corner maybe you should read what they posted and consider hypothetical scenarios instead of jumping to an arrogant insult.

Shaq's feet, hands, touch, coordination, mentality/swagger, etc. were all-natural and off the charts. So yes, imo it's nearly impossible for Dwight to get to close to Shaq's level in those terms judging by where Dwight is at right now and his previous seasons.

Dwight can put in the hard work and improve his skills but unlike himself overall, Dwight's offensive game does have a ceiling.*

*not true if he plays with nash, paul, lebron, kobe, wade, deron etc. where he'll get 20 on alley oops alone