Will Dwight Howard ever "get it"?

[FirstTimer]

I thought Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal in last night's post game made some great points(first time Shaq ever did that I can recall). barkley basically said Howard hasn't really improved at all as a player in the last 4-5 seasons and doesn't even really understand how to post up correctly, and when he said he should work with Hakeem, Shaq jumped in and said Howard needs to work with a power bigman because that's Howard's skill set. Hakeem was great because of his footwork(which was almost that of a guards) and Howard isn't that type of player.

Is Howard basically done progressing?

Is he worth a max deal?

Will he ever pull his head out of his ass?

 

[IamMedellin]

He used to work with hakeem during the off season in orlando, and I think he used to work with Ewing in Orlando when he was an assistant

Dwights an idiot thou, his rep is that he doesn't like to work for shit n is content with getting 20 n 10 and acting like a goofball...

He couldn't even avg that this season, kobe's been calling him a bitch, and he's been pouting all season.
Thinking this is it for Howard, this is his ceiling

 

[EmpireWF]

Unless someone lights a fire under his ass, he may have topped out, yes.

 

[JimLeavy59]

Yeah lets judge a guy who is coming off a back surgery. We'll see next year but if he has reached his ceiling its one hell of a ceiling to reach he's averaged 18 and 12 for his career and is the best defensive center in the NBA. Yeah what a shitty player. And Kobe can get fucked he's been a piss poor teammate all year.

 

[ralaw]

More than likely Howard has peaked, but he is still the best center in the league and probably will be the rest of his prime years. He isn't going to become Olajuwon in the post, so people should just accept that. At his best he is going to get you 20/10 and 3 bpg and anchor your defense.....that is enough. If I were Howard I would leave the Lakers, because it just isn' a good situation for him, as he will always be under Kobe's shadow and once Kobe retires he'll be under the shadow of the lineage of all of the Lakers greats that have won championships. If I were Howard I would go to Houston and be happy.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Howard has been in this weird spot for the past what...4 seasons, where he's not happy where he's at and as a result, stagnated.

Perhaps he needs to go play for a team that makes him happy and we'll see him mature as a player and get better. Or, he'll be dumb, take the money, and continue being exactly what he is now.

 

[FedEx227]

Even if he doesn't get "IT", he's still an elite talent and the best center in the league. Teams should still totally trying to get him as a max guy. One way or another he's a great asset to have and he has quite a few years until he's completely unservicable.

I think LA was a real bad situation for him, his defense looked worse because he was being left out in the open a lot more. Lakers were a bad defensive team, real bad. Help defense was bad and it made Dwight look worse than he probably is. I'm with Ralaw, go to Dallas/Houston, somewhere where YOU'RE the guy. He's an idiot and he would rather make B-Movies than be a dominant NBA player, so he won't do that.

 

[Garrett67]

Howard is a 'stitch' off the court but he can't take that childish behavior on to the court without incident. The way he acted in yesterdays game had him reminding me of Dennis Rodman.

Mind you, I don't follow basketball and haven't watched in years. But, that is my impression from the outside.

 

[MrBill]

I love how bad Duncan was able to get in Howard's head this series. That guy needs to get some maturity as a basketball player ASAP.

 

[JimLeavy59]

Duncan was awesome to watch in this series, Dwight could learn a lot from him.

 

[dell71]

Yeah lets judge a guy who is coming off a back surgery. We'll see next year but if he has reached his ceiling its one hell of a ceiling to reach he's averaged 18 and 12 for his career and is the best defensive center in the NBA. Yeah what a shitty player. And Kobe can get fucked he's been a piss poor teammate all year.

It is 'one hell of a ceiling' and he is an excellent player. The issue I, and most people, have is that he should be even more. He's playing in an era where he's practically the only center worth a damn and yet he doesn't always impose his will on the game the way great big men are expected to.

As far as him coming off surgery, I agree he'll be healthier and better next year. However, even if he were 100% healthy this year I don't know that it would've made much difference. Too many things conspired against him - D'Antoni's system vs Kobe dominating the ball, horrible defense in front of him, injuries to Nash plus his own fragile ego. It just feels like a bad fit. No, Kobe hasn't been the greatest teammate but DH appears to have absolutely no thickness to his skin. He's been crying since the very first time Kobe said 'boo' to him. That's going to continue to be an issue as long as the two are on the same team. Kobe is getting more & more ornery with age and already subscribes wholeheartedly to the 'Full Metal Jacket' school of leadership where you just belittle someone until they either get better or wash out while Howard is obviously of the 'no bullying' generation.

He should go somewhere else but I wouldn't be surprised if he came back either to try & prove something to all of us (Kobe, fans, media, etc) or just to make sure he's still in the LA spotlight.

 

[jeffx]

Dwight needs to get out of LA and away from Pringles' system, which is not big-man friendly. I'm with ralaw, Houston would be a better fit.

 

[ryne candy]

I'm sure but it might be too late.

 

[DJ Rhude]

I love how bad Duncan was able to get in Howard's head this series. That guy needs to get some maturity as a basketball player ASAP.

lmao, good shit

 

[MrBill]

Here's another version of that gif. :rofl:

 

[JimLeavy59]

It is 'one hell of a ceiling' and he is an excellent player. The issue I, and most people, have is that he should be even more. He's playing in an era where he's practically the only center worth a damn and yet he doesn't always impose his will on the game the way great big men are expected to.

As far as him coming off surgery, I agree he'll be healthier and better next year. However, even if he were 100% healthy this year I don't know that it would've made much difference. Too many things conspired against him - D'Antoni's system vs Kobe dominating the ball, horrible defense in front of him, injuries to Nash plus his own fragile ego. It just feels like a bad fit. No, Kobe hasn't been the greatest teammate but DH appears to have absolutely no thickness to his skin. He's been crying since the very first time Kobe said 'boo' to him. That's going to continue to be an issue as long as the two are on the same team. Kobe is getting more & more ornery with age and already subscribes wholeheartedly to the 'Full Metal Jacket' school of leadership where you just belittle someone until they either get better or wash out while Howard is obviously of the 'no bullying' generation.

He should go somewhere else but I wouldn't be surprised if he came back either to try & prove something to all of us (Kobe, fans, media, etc) or just to make sure he's still in the LA spotlight.

Really? Brook Lopez, Marc Gasol, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Greg Monroe, DeMarcus Cousins, Andrew Bynum when he's healthy.

 

[ralaw]

Really? Brook Lopez, Marc Gasol, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Greg Monroe, DeMarcus Cousins, Andrew Bynum when he's healthy.

During the late 80's to the late 90s NBA fans were spoiled. People remember Olajuwon, Ewing, Robinson, Morning, Shaq, etc and laugh when you mention guys like Brook Lopez, Marc Gasol, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Greg Monroe, DeMarcus Cousins and Andrew Bynum. I am not even sure any of those guys are better than Dikembe Mutombo or to a lesser extent Rony Seikaly.

 

[IamMedellin]

Damn throwing rony seikly in there....ice cold..

But hey he's no Arvydis Sabonis :knubb:

 

[jeffx]

During the late 80's to the late 90s NBA fans were spoiled. People remember Olajuwon, Ewing, Robinson, Morning, Shaq, etc and laugh when you mention guys like Brook Lopez, Marc Gasol, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Greg Monroe, DeMarcus Cousins and Andrew Bynum. I am not even sure any of those guys are better than Dikembe Mutombo or to a lesser extent Rony Seikaly.

Don't forget the 60s & 70s. That's the NBA I grew up on. Back then it was all about the big men.

 

[FedEx227]

You can thank the influence of Europeans for that. Once the Kukoc/Nowitzki's of the world came over, near 7 footers like Durant and LeBron skewed towards the perimeter versus being recognized as tall guys and stuck in the paint.