March 9, 2005, 12:03AM Howard crucial on the boards Rockets thrive when forward crashes glass By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3075937 SEATTLE - The Rockets repeat the line with consistency Jeff Van Gundy would love. But no one says it more often than Juwan Howard. "When we rebound," Howard said, taking his turn, "We win." But the equation can go a step further. When Juwan Howard rebounds, the Rockets win. The Rockets went into Tuesday's game at the SuperSonics 26-5 when outrebounding opponents, a statistic they can cite with Van Gundy-like accuracy. When they do, they do not have anyone in particular in mind, unless it is to talk about the absence of their second-leading rebounder, Bob Sura. But the formula works more reliably for Howard. The Rockets have outrebound their opponents in 15 of 17 games in which Howard, 6-9, has grabbed eight or more rebounds. They also have won 15 of 17 games in which he has eight or more rebounds. That was never more clear than in the Rockets' eight-game winning streak when he averaged 8.5 rebounds. He averaged 5.2 when the Rockets went 1-4 after the break. When he had 10 on Sunday, the Rockets beat the Mavericks by 21. "It starts with myself and other guys in the interior," Howard said. "I don't think all the rebounding falls on my shoulder, no. We have to do it as a team. But when we were on our eight-game win streak, yes I rebounded great for this team. When we fell off and had a 1-4 start after the All-Star break, we weren't rebounding the ball well and I was very disappointed in myself. "My main focus in the Dallas game was to go out there and attack the boards." Howard and the Rockets' frontcourt began the week with a tougher test. With Reggie Evans and Danny Fortson leading them, the SuperSonics grab a greater percentage of offensive rebounds than any team. "They got the bully brothers," Van Gundy said. "People don't realize their significance. Everybody says, 'Are you surprised?' No. Rebounding is that important in the league." But it might be more important to the Rockets than anyone. And so far, no one is more crucial to the Rockets' rebounding than Howard. jonathan.feigen@chron.com
Yeah, i've been really Impressed with his Aplication on the boards. even his defense has becom a factor.
Too bad he's not very good at it. We've played 60 games, and he's had over 8 rebounds in only 17 of them? If rebounding from the 4 spot is so important, just imagine if we had a good rebounder in that spot.
Juwan only plays 26 minutes a game, Cato in slightly less minutes less year averaged 6.1 RPG and Juwan is at 5.6 rpg a difference of .5 rpg, not a huge difference. When you consider the offense that Juwan provides, I think we are stronger at the position this year than last.
hey - rebounding is nice but your 6'9" and you can't hit a 3 footer over a 5'11" point guard with no hops..
I'm not sure if I agree with that. Cato really played well and brought a lot of intangibles. When Cato got hurt last season, the Rox immediately went into a losing streak. I don't think that is the case with Howard. For him, what you see is what you get. He's playing a lot better but it sure would be nice to have a rebouding bruiser to back him up.
