Several problems with this: -Smith and Brewer were acquired after the season started, so Dwight's on court numbers aren't helped as much by them. -We also had growing pains in integrating the new guys while Dwight was still playing. Remember people saying Josh Smith was a cancer? -Harden started off the season shooting poorly and has been on a huge tear of late, probably because he can play less minutes thanks to Smith and Brewer. Plus they take the pressure off him. -DMo has improved over the course of the season. -We've gotten TJones back. -Ariza went on a horrible slump while Dwight was still there. He's been shooting better (thanks to fewer minutes and his own historical streakiness) lately. And of course: -Dwight has been playing hurt Looking at the proper context, we're a much deeper team with better chemistry now than the beginning of the season.
Dwight looks like he's about to cry every time Harden asks for a pick he almost has to yell at him to get him to do it. My biggest issue with Dwight is he came back too soon and he really affected team chemistry. It also put him at risk to be seriously re-injured. He seems to have a discipline problem.
It's gonna take some stones on McHale's part to mandate that Dwight move away from the postups and be willing to bench him if he doesn't do as told. One would hope McHale has the clout to demand a less offensive-oriented role for the guy should the rest of the team continue to thrive in his absence. Scratch that. They HAVE thrived in his absence. The Rockets are now 13-5 when Dwight doesn't play. That's no small sample either. We're talking nearly a quarter of the season and they're winning at a percentage that would net them 59 wins if you prorate that over 82 games. And remember that a lot of those wins came BEFORE the additions of Brewer and Smith and also included injuries to T-Jones, Canaan, and Papa. The Rockets are not better without Dwight(at least when he's near 100%). But they are better when he plays a certain style of ball and doesn't demand the offense run through him. The numbers back this up and he needs to accept this if he cares about winning over personal stats.
i still have a problem with us not feeding bol to big man. give it to mo. don't ignore the post just because dwight is not here.
The Rockets are going to be a tough out if Dwight can find last year's playoff form this year. Harden looks to have turned a corner. Last year, I thought he was a budding superstar much like AD. Now he looks like the game has slowed down completely for him. He is going to be so good for a long time.
The numbers are clear: the Rockets are better without Howard post-ups. Howard PnR, rebounding, and defense makes the team better; wasting possessions on clumsy post-ups do not.
Dwight needs to stop trying to play like 24 year old Dwight and start playing like 24 year old Deandre. Rebound, defend, catch and throw down lobs. Anything else to him, its almost scary to watch when he gets the ball. It seems like 9/10 if he dribbles more than once in the post, the play ends up bad.
When you pay a guy super star money... You expect a super star performance. And a guy who makes super star money expects to show he's worth that contract. Especially when Howard talks like it's 'his and Harden's' team. If a 24 year old DeAndre is your expectations than he is getting paid too damn much and is handicapping the team in the long run. Better to get rid of him and go after DeAndre if that's the case. I notice some fans believe Howard's post game in the playoffs last year will become the norm for him and maybe Howard (and the coaching staff and Morey) believe that as well.
I don't mind Dwight post ups when its in the flow of the offense. The post ups I hate are when we just dump it to Dwight and expect him to create. They end up in a TO or a really bad shot attempt.
When he returns, i think rockets should selectively post him up. He just isn't that good posting up especially with getting stripped alot of times.
Game slows down in the playoffs. When the game becomes a halfcourt game you need an anchor in the middle to erase mistakes. I dont think we win a championship without him.
Smoove and DMo play very well together, but when Dmo is sitting our defense is putrid. For all of Dwight's flaws on offense, he's still a threat in lots of other ways besides post ups which gives other teams more to game plan instead of just trying to shut down Harden. This is why I think Jones should eventually start with Dwight, and Dmo and Smith off the bench would be an excellent combination.
It's becoming more and more obvious that Dwight's role needs to be diminished whenever he comes back. Him getting injured has been a blessing for this team. I know it sounds harsh, but moving forward, the team needed to stop running the offense through him. The Rox are moving better on both sides of the ball these days. The main thing they are missing is his rim protection and rebounding so he can still be a very valuable piece to this team's contention aspirations. However, if he comes back and continues to be stubborn and demand too many touches down low and clogs up things for the team, bench his ass.
Dwight needs supreme athleticism to be dominant on offense, he is overpaid as a Ben Wallace type but I wish it was a role he would embrace. DMO and probably TJones are better on the post at thsi point. I hope he can get healthy but his role as the al0ha dog like he was in Orlando is probably over, he needs to accept his role going forward as a defender and rebounder.
I wouldnt be upset if we swapped Dwight for Deandre, salaries included. Deandre gets his points when they come to him. That's why he's averaging 5 less points than Dwight on 5 less shots per game.
