Stop Giving Dwight The Ball In The Post During Crunch Time

You can thank coach for that.

 

That last turnover was honestly just a lack of communication

 

Last turnover wasn't really his fault. Just a good call by the Sixers coach. He also hit a running hook the time before that. Can't pin this one on Dwight at all.

 

Fitting username for a knee jerk hate thread

 

Fire Mchale!

 

I am convinced that McHale is a bottom five coach in this league. Zero Lin/Howard pick n rolls to close out the game and instead he continually fed Howard in the post with repeated failure after failure. The Rockets lost an unbalanced amount of close games last year and the streak is continuing this year. McHale can't cut it when it's time to go to the clipboard.

 

You can pin it on McHale for continually feeding Howard in the post. We all knew what was coming including the 6ers coach. That hook shot doesn't make up for the way they struggled down the stretch feeding Howard which is what caused the overtime in the first place.

 

He actually impressed me in the post tonight. Outside of the turnover he got near the end. He played a good game. You can't knock a guy who's trying to become a better post player. Things like this will happen in the process. He'll learn from it and become more comfortable during moments like this.

 

yea, i yelled double from my chair... can't believe the rockets just sat around the 3pt line and said nothing.

 

Dude, I understand that...but it's his 10th year in the league.

 

errr.. i think 6 4th quarter TO's (3 - Lin) and parsons missing FT's caused OT.

 

It'd be a knee-jerk reaction if it was just the TO against the 76ers. But look at the stats on Synergy Sports. He's shooting 31.7% out of 71 post ups so far, with a 22.5% turnover rate. It's just not a good play for us. It's just not a good play for us. This isn't a knock on Howard, it's extremely difficult to be an efficient post player. There's a reason there's so few post players in the league.

 

The last play wasn't even his fault

no one called the double team for some reason

 

Dwight is kinda clumsy or robotic looking sometimes, but I don't have a problem going to the post in the crunch. I think most of the time when the double team comes, Howard will make the pass, team will execute. But I do think Dwight isn't a guy you want shooting in the clutch.

One thing I think a lot of people forget or overlook, is that Hedo Turkoglu was the guy, an abundance of the time, in Orlando down the stretch for that team.

 

The Rockets often have heavy turnover quarters but that rarely leads to them only scoring 16 points in a quarter. The offensive strategy was ineffective and we stuck with it. Why not run a few Lin/Harden pick n rolls since both players thrive in it.

 

I agree. He has a decent post game now. But down the stretch it is simply too risky. It's not refined enough to be dependable down the line. A much better option would be high p&r with either Lin or Harden.

 

He made some clutch plays down the stretch. We need him to draw in the defense to open up the shooters or we would left with the perimeter guys going iso.

 

Steve Nash outright said that Dwight doesn't want to run a pick and roll offense. Everyone knew that when we signed him so it's up to the coaching staff to find the correct way to use Dwight in the post. There will be growing pains sure, but in the end it will be best for everyone

 

Dwight is a good player but for 22 million per year, he needs to take pride and have a better go to game down low and not be so turnover prone. I usually hate to hear Shaq talk down about Dwight but now I'm leaning toward Shaq's criticism of Dwight. Shaq and Dwight have similar styles and there's really no reason why Dwight couldn't have been more dedicated to take his game to a different level to resemble more of a consistent scoring threat like Shaq. He is a better rebounder and defender than Shaq but his offensive game is no where near Shaq's, which is disappointing. I'm still glad to have Dwight but he is not good enough, especially in the West, to put a team on his back offensively.