Why So Much Hate Against One of the Rockets' Best Playoff Performers Since 1995?

We don't hate him, we're just worried about him. We need a healthy Dwight come playoffs.

 

Excellent thread. And it's like flipping a rock quickly and watching all the creepy crawlies squirm in the sunlight.

Dwight was an absolute beast last playoffs. No way to revise that or diminish that without really looking silly.

 

If Dwight were simply trying to help his team win he'd be running a lot more pick and rolls with Harden rather than demanding post opportunities. Its proven to be much more efficient.


He turns the ball over on just under 40% of those post opportunities meaning 4 in 10 trips down the court end without a shot.
He shoots ~42% from traditional post opportunities.

When you add up those two stats he converts 2.52 out of 10 trips into buckets.

Contrast that with his 78% conversion rate on assisted buckets be that as the primary big in the pick and roll , as the third wheel in the pick and roll or otherwise assisted.

Dwight said prior to signing here in Houston that he didn't want to run a pick and roll based offense , he wanted his touches in the post. Les and McHale assured him he would get those.

The numbers clearly show one of these things is better than the other yet and as much as this team uses analytics , I have little doubt that both Dwight & McHale know this. Now tell me why they continue to take the less efficient route ?!

 

This is such a great thread! I love hearing the two sides debated so well, and so many good responses. I agree with a lot on both sides, but as I've felt from day one w/ DH12 he does not need to be the first option on offense.

Well posted. My sentiments exactly. Especially the reasoning behind why the team plays better without him on the floor. However without someone crashing the boards ala Tarick Balck, Dorsey, Omer Asik (last 2 yrs) we stink. We need that strong rebounder to start the break. This is why I believe we'd be lethal if we exclusively ran the pick and roll, and Dwight focused on his rebounding and shot blocking.

Agreed. He is not helping us win. Him trying to post up clogs the lane and keeps Harden from attacking the basket at times. Who am I to say what's best for the team, but I do agree with doing WHATEVER IT TAKES for the team to be successful.

Like my fellow 99er is saying. No one here HATES DH12. If they are then they are trolling on here and IMO are not a true Rockets fan. As fans we are here to cheer on our team/players. HATE? Never. Scottie Pippen on the other hand...

 

He's clearly mailed it in at times this season, it's been very frustrating. The effort level necessary to be a contending team is not there from him usually.

He was phenomenal in last year's playoffs but people around here don't put much weight on first round performances, especially in a losing effort, we saw that with TMac.

 

Why are you talking about last year?

 

This is one thing I cant fully blame on Mchale. Yes he is the coach and he should insist that Dwight doesn't post up but Dwight seems like the type to do what he wants to do. Somewhere in the bac of his head he tthinks he will be like Hakeem someday. But we all now he wont. Look at how Whiteside was utilized the other day that should be Dwight all day but no, he insists on posting up ruining the offensive pace and adding a few more losses to our schedule. it's not going to fly during playoffs even if he is successful at posting up HE SLOWS THE OFFENSE AND GETS NO ONE ELSE INVOLVED.

 

How is Howard going to "heal up" if he insists on playing. He waited til he hurt his ankle to rest. Had nothing to do with his knees which we all can see is still hurting him. He will be another TMAC. No one here hates Dwight that's what you cant comprehend. It's the same thing said about Mchale. You know what Mchale is funny as hell and he's a nice guy. But that don't win championships do it?

You have to be a better player than Dwight is right now, you have to give more effort than he is giving you have to play more within the system in order to be successful in the playoffs. The dude refuses to set a real pick. We don't have to trade him but if he refuses to rest and "heal up" we should. And that has nothing to do with hate.

 

That's Ok we have Dmo and with him being a great defender and a top 5 rim protector and his great offensive post ups we will be an unstoppable team come playoff time. It will afford DM the time to find someone to get rid of Howard for other needs. Or even better just think how powerful Dwight will be in the valley.

 

I love dwight, I will always have respect for him for leaving so much money on the table and coming to us unlike bosh! But Dwight's real problem is he doesn't move without the ball and that could be due to his injury obviously. But as a Big Man there's always something for you to do when you aren't posting up. And on Defense our team is affected by him being out there. It seems like our perimeter defense slacks off when he's out there.

 

DM knows this. ANy decent NBA coach knows this, and intelligent fans know this:

You can only get so far without a GOOD big man.

Dwight may not be the best, but he is damn sure better than almost every other center on every team.

Golden State is going to fizzle out come playoff time when they are overmatched by multiple bigs.

People don't respect what Dwight brings to the table, but I'm thankful that he's not going anywhere.

Imagine where we were before a good big man. We haven't had one since Yao, and that was painful to watch, year after year with injuries.

Some of you still wish Sam DalemBEAR was starting.

Dwight is the new whipping boy for the fan who doesn't remember how easy baskets can change a team's season. Yes, you know, simple shots that don't require one guy to work so, so hard.

James wants Dwight back ASAP.

Be grateful for having the best defensive big, best rebounding big, and arguably most dominant big man out side of Gasol on your team.

I'm done defending a guy that doesn't really need a defense. He's not even my favorite player, but the talent is obvious. He's never going to be Hakeem, but no one else is either.

Dwight makes us BETTER. Simple as that.

LOL at some of you...go cheer on Kendrick Perkins.

 

Robin Lopez faints...

 

I thought you were better than this, just glaze over the fact that NO ONE HATES DWIGHT, lol. He played great in the playoffs last year. He ain't right now is clearly injured and insists on playing anyway. He even made a statement to the press talking about how he is saving himself for the playoffs. The playoffs aren't guaranteed in the west we are the Spurs from last year you cant be taking games off. If you are going to do that just don't play.

 

lol

I finally saw the light and jumped on the Dmo bandwagon but I am curious where Dwight said he was saving himself. I saw the satement where he said he will do his damage come playoff time but many athletes have said that and it wasn't they were saving themselves or saying they were coasting. So since you and many others keep mentioning that Howard said this I was hoping that someone as smart as you can show us where Dwight said he was saving himself or coasting until the playoffs. Thanks for any help in this as I would like to put it in my sig space to show the rest of the Howard lovers how Dwight is poison.

 

Originally Posted by cdrive View Post
Excellent thread. And it's like flipping a rock quickly and watching all the creepy crawlies squirm in the sunlight.

Dwight was an absolute beast last playoffs. No way to revise that or diminish that without really looking silly.

Should I talk about this year's playoffs? Cause you know we're not there yet, right? What we doooo have is a very recent history, as in....last....year, where Dwight had an underwhelming March and April that included sitting 11 games to get right, followed by a redonk monster play off performance. Orrrrrr we would circle around frantically like a goldfish in a little bowl.

 

If you believe that the same Dwight from the playoffs is going to show up this year good for you. Let me ask you this though, where is he now? We sure could use him.

 

lol

His stats this year is pretty close to his career avg?

 

We all realize they wont get far without a healthy and efficient Howard.

I don't believe they are built for the playoffs , they'll run up against a healthy Spurs or Memphis and get send packing.

This is where you are Dead Wrong. I do respect what Dwert brings to the team. What I don't respect is the fact that he demands the individual post touches to the detriment of the team.
Again the numbers speak for themselves. 4 in ten post ups end in a turnover. 42% shooting on post ups. 78% shooting on assisted buckets and less than 1 in ten result in a turnover.

Easy buckets - 78% shooting on assisted shots - Those are Easy Buckets. That's the next best thing to a fast break.
Traditional post ups he takes a physical beating and shoots a poor percentage , those aren't easy buckets.

Everyone knows how vital a healthy Howard is to this team , now imagine a healthy and efficient Howard .... A guy who can shoot near 80% from the floor if he played within the confines of his game.


No more questions!

 

lol

I personally would like them to practice the post play with the team and Howard now and not the playoffs. They actually do the PnR as much as before. If Howard does PnR exclusively he will be stopped come playoffs. We gave Dmo over 2 years to learn so why can't we be patient during the year with Howard?

 

I do man. I BEEELIEEEVE!

What's the one thing you didn't like about how we ended the season and went into the playoffs?

For me, it was that we let Howard and James get healed up way too close to the playoffs, and therefore we entered the playoffs discombobulated as a team while Portland was humming on all cylinders. Peaking early, peaking too late, peaking just right...that's a real thing. Pacers peaked too early last year. (yes talking last year again) Golden state is this year's Pacers.

82 games is a marathon, my man. Resting our studs in March-April hurt us. Resting Howard a few months earlier so we can congeal as a team and be healthy is the tweak by our organization I think you're witnessing now. And I applaud it. We got swept by Golden State. So what? We had their number last year, and how good did that do us? Spurs were swept by us and they made their competition looks like chumps in the finals. Leg cramping chumps. Now we are doing a little bit of Spurs-style resting in the middle of the regular season. I like it. Subsequently, many of our new pieces and blossoming pieces are finding a rhythm they wouldn't have if Dwight was prematurely using up his beast meter. Say it with me: It's going to be okay.