Dwight Howard's post game - where is it now and where will it be?

[Champzilla]

How do u get the team icon below your name ?

[Who]

Dwight does very well against LeBron. His team won 3 of their 4 meetings this season and 3 of the 4 meetings last season. Dwight is one of the few players that can hold greater individual control over the game than James in head-to-head contests. Dwight bothers him.

[cordobes]

Howard is never going to be much better than he is now. In the next 10 years, the NBA will be a single-superstar league and that superstar is LeBron James.

He's been improving his points by about 3 per year since he started and is already the top rebounder.  I think he is also going to show a new dedication to the defensive end next season.  Silly to think he can't improve any further.

You are being delusional, I'm afraid. Most big men peak in terms of points and rebounds more quickly than conventional wisdom assumes. Even Duncan and Garnett was scoring and rebounding above his career average in his 3rd year. Garnett was scoring above his career average in his 4th year. The difference between his MVP year and his 5th year was like 1.5 pts per 36minutes, 1.5 rbs per 36 minutes. Shaq, who is the best comparison to Howard, because of their playing styles, never scored again at the same rythm he did in his 3rd NBA season.

Howard's footwork and shooting mechanics are atrocious. Those kind of fundamentals are very hard to improve at his present age. Maybe he can improve from atrocious to terrible, but that's all. His catching skills are beyond redemption, that's why neither SVG or Coach K can game-plan to give him many shots. And he's lucky to be playing in a team with such great shooters, that provide him plenty of spacing to operate.

[Big Ticket]

Howard is never going to be much better than he is now. In the next 10 years, the NBA will be a single-superstar league and that superstar is LeBron James.

He's been improving his points by about 3 per year since he started and is already the top rebounder.  I think he is also going to show a new dedication to the defensive end next season.  Silly to think he can't improve any further.

You are being delusional, I'm afraid. Most big men peak in terms of points and rebounds more quickly than conventional wisdom assumes. Even Duncan and Garnett was scoring and rebounding above his career average in his 3rd year. Garnett was scoring above his career average in his 4th year. The difference between his MVP year and his 5th year was like 1.5 pts per 36minutes, 1.5 rbs per 36 minutes. Shaq, who is the best comparison to Howard, because of their playing styles, never scored again at the same rythm he did in his 3rd NBA season.

Howard's footwork and shooting mechanics are atrocious. Those kind of fundamentals are very hard to improve at his present age. Maybe he can improve from atrocious to terrible, but that's all. His catching skills are beyond redemption, that's why neither SVG or Coach K can game-plan to give him many shots. And he's lucky to be playing in a team with such great shooters, that provide him plenty of spacing to operate.

KG didn't reach his scoring plateau until year 5 and Tim Duncan was a 4 year college player.  I'm not exactly sure what your point is regarding those two.

[cordobes]

Howard is never going to be much better than he is now. In the next 10 years, the NBA will be a single-superstar league and that superstar is LeBron James.

He's been improving his points by about 3 per year since he started and is already the top rebounder.  I think he is also going to show a new dedication to the defensive end next season.  Silly to think he can't improve any further.

You are being delusional, I'm afraid. Most big men peak in terms of points and rebounds more quickly than conventional wisdom assumes. Even Duncan and Garnett was scoring and rebounding above his career average in his 3rd year. Garnett was scoring above his career average in his 4th year. The difference between his MVP year and his 5th year was like 1.5 pts per 36minutes, 1.5 rbs per 36 minutes. Shaq, who is the best comparison to Howard, because of their playing styles, never scored again at the same rythm he did in his 3rd NBA season.

Howard's footwork and shooting mechanics are atrocious. Those kind of fundamentals are very hard to improve at his present age. Maybe he can improve from atrocious to terrible, but that's all. His catching skills are beyond redemption, that's why neither SVG or Coach K can game-plan to give him many shots. And he's lucky to be playing in a team with such great shooters, that provide him plenty of spacing to operate.

KG didn't reach his scoring plateau until year 5 and Tim Duncan was a 4 year college player.  I'm not exactly sure what your point is regarding those two.

Shaq is the best comparion, Howard will never be KG or Duncan. KG entered his 5th year with plenty less minutes and games that Howard has now. Duncan was almost as good in scoring and rebounding in his 1st year as in his 7th (exactly because of the college experience). Howard only his points by about 3 per year since he started because he started as a pretty bad player. I don't agree with the implicit extrapolation, he's very near his peak if not already there.

[zerophase]

howard will be a very close shaq. not shaq in his prime, but maybe a more aging shaq.

[Shaqzilla]

I think Dwight should stick to defense, rebounding, and dunking!

[TripleOT]

Karl Malone could always shoot.  He was a bad FT shooter early in his NBA career, but fixed that problem three seasons into his career.

Dwight Howard hasn't shown any offensive skills besides dunking the ball.    His disappearing act in the playoffs against the Pistons (8 and 14 points in the final two losses) was telling for me.  If this guy doesn't develop some offense, he's never going to be a Top 3 player.     

[Who]

Dwight Howard hasn't shown any offensive skills besides dunking the ball.    His disappearing act in the playoffs against the Pistons (8 and 14 points in the final two losses) was telling for me.  If this guy doesn't develop some offense, he's never going to be a Top 3 player.     

The biggest problem for Dwight was that his teammates don't pass him the ball enough. After Game Four, where he scored 8 points, a reported asked Antonio McDyess what they did to make Dwight so ineffective .... he responded that the Pistons and himself did nothing, Orlando just stopped passing him the ball, Orlando did our job for us.

Go find the game on tape and watch it again, it's ridiculous how few touches he got when Detroit started getting back in the game. He was dominating early during the first half and then suddenly his teammates stop passing him the ball. Nobody can be effective without being passed the ball.

I think the whole story about Dwight's footwork and post moves is overworked. Is it pretty? No. Does he have great moves? No. Can he score regardless of that fact in the low post? Yes. Is he an efficient scorer out of the low post? Yes. Who cares that he doesn't have great moves, the ball goes in the hoop just the same. Give him the ball and get out of his way.

Dwight had the least shot attempts of anyone in the top 45 scorers in the league last season. This wasn't just a problem in the playoffs, SVG doesn't run enough of his offense through Dwight and it limits Orlando. It will continue to limit Orlando until Van Gundy changes his tune because their perimeter players aren't good enough to lead Orlando to a title.

[TripleOT]

Dwight Howard hasn't shown any offensive skills besides dunking the ball.    His disappearing act in the playoffs against the Pistons (8 and 14 points in the final two losses) was telling for me.  If this guy doesn't develop some offense, he's never going to be a Top 3 player.     

The biggest problem for Dwight was that his teammates don't pass him the ball enough. After Game Four, where he scored 8 points, a reported asked Antonio McDyess what they did to make Dwight so ineffective .... he responded that the Pistons and himself did nothing, Orlando just stopped passing him the ball, Orlando did our job for us.

Go find the game on tape and watch it again, it's ridiculous how few touches he got when Detroit started getting back in the game. He was dominating early during the first half and then suddenly his teammates stop passing him the ball. Nobody can be effective without being passed the ball.

I think the whole story about Dwight's footwork and post moves is overworked. Is it pretty? No. Does he have great moves? No. Can he score regardless of that fact in the low post? Yes. Is he an efficient scorer out of the low post? Yes. Who cares that he doesn't have great moves, the ball goes in the hoop just the same. Give him the ball and get out of his way.

Dwight had the least shot attempts of anyone in the top 45 scorers in the league last season. This wasn't just a problem in the playoffs, SVG doesn't run enough of his offense through Dwight and it limits Orlando. It will continue to limit Orlando until Van Gundy changes his tune because their perimeter players aren't good enough to lead Orlando to a title.

What dominant big man in NBA history has ever been denied the ball?  Maybe he wasn't getting touches due to his high turnover rate. I only have a cursory knowledge of the Magic, but every time I watch Howard, I don't see any offense besides dunks, putbacks, and layups.  He really has no offensive game besides that, and to say he does is fanboyish.