Dwight Howard: Not So Superman
Use these muscles!After Rashard Lewis pulled down his eighth offensive board last night, which gave the Magic a total of nine on the night, Doug Collins brought up a comment that Stan Van Gundy made about Orlando’s 7-0 superhero, who really hadn’t made any impact on the game up to that point.
“As long as he gives us three to four blocks a night,” said Collins paraphrasing Van Gundy, “we’re all good.”
If you only pay attention to your fantasy box score, you probably think that Dwight Howard is one of the greatest rebounders of all time. He’s recorded eighteen 15-plus rebound games this season, five of which have touched the 20-board plateau. But if you watched Dwight closely last night when going up against a competent big body in Kendrick Perkins – who isn’t anything special – reality is surprisingly different from conventional opinion. Dwight isn’t half as good as he could be. Not to go Rick Barry cranky-pants on this, but there are some gaping holes in his game.
Let’s stay with the rebounding for a moment. Doing my best David Thorpe impression last night, I spent the entire third quarter watching Dwight and Dwight only. Every rebound he got was purely a product of his jumping ability. Oftentimes, he skied to clean the defensive glass uncontested; like most teams in the NBA, the Celtics will go for multiple possessions without anyone hitting the offensive boards at all. But every single time that Dwight didn’t have position – whether on offense or D – he came up empty-handed. There was no fight in him whatsoever.
He couldn’t win a one-on-one rebounding battle. Part of it was that he didn’t look like he really cared all that much. But at the same time, when he made some semblance of an effort to get an offensive board, he didn’t have any moves to get around KPerk. There was no swim move, no spin, no rip through, no knee-in-the-rear, no juke, nothing. Dwight put in zero work on the ground to try to get himself free to leap for a board.
As Shaq told us in the Suns locker room at the Knick game on Wednesday, “He’s a good player who can jump. But I’m not impressed.”
As much as the media loves to compare two young talented centers whose careers started in Orlando, there’s actually no comparison. During the Diesel’s rookie season, when he was 20 years old, he put up 23.4 points, 13.8 boards, and 3.5 blocks per game. That was a better season than Dwight’s had up to this point. Even his best season, the ’07-08 campaign when he posted 20.7 ppg, 14.2 rpg, and 2.1 bpg, wasn’t as dominant as Shaq’s rookie year.
Look at any truly dominant rebounder – Shaq, Ben Wallace, Dennis Rodman, Charles Barkley, Charles Oakley, Moses Malone – they always have a bulls-eye on their chest. The layperson might think that makes it especially tough to grab boards. But think about this from a boxing perspective. If your know your opponent is going to throw a punch, a good boxer should be able to sit back, wait, and make a quick, effective counter.
Dwight just doesn’t have any moves. Maybe the Magic should bring in an NFL defensive linemen’s coach to help him crash the glass because Patrick Ewing hasn’t taught him much as a rebounder or as an offensive threat.
In February 2007, we asked Dwight for his go-to move in crunch time. Unsurprisingly, he said the dunk. In two years, that hasn’t changed one bit. Well, he now has incorporated one more move. It’s a face-up, take one hard dribble to one side, and spin back the other way for an off-balance baby hook. Sure he makes that every once in a while, but that’s like running before you can walk. Perhaps I’m tainted by his last week, but Andrew Bynum‘s post-game is already far more advanced than Dwight’s.
When you turn on SportsCenter and see Dwight toss shots into the second row and hang all 270 lbs. on the rim after a big dunk, he looks like a different player than he does over the course of 48 minutes. It’s because of those two-minute clips, his freakish display during the dunk contest, and his fantastic personality that he became the all-time leading vote getter for the All-Star game with more than 3 million votes. It sure isn’t because he’s got great moves.
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January 23rd, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Big Sia says:
Pretty Harsh.
Still, with his tools, its almost impossible for him NOT to dominate in the future.
Becareful what you wish for Dime Mag
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Blue says:
Yo AK…
I totally agree! at one point in last night’s game, I even saw Big Baby giving him fits on both ends of the floor. but like they say, you can’t teach height.
and with his comparison to Bynum…that kid’s got Kareem in his corner. I’d take Kareem over Ewing any day of the week!
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Data says:
It’s the byproduct of being so physicaly dominant. He never had to develop those moves because nobody in high school could come close to guarding him. It was the same with Amare but after his surgery he came back with some moves because he couldn’t simply just dunk over people anymore. The good thing is that Dwight realizes his game has weaknesses. In that game they showed an interview and when asked what he could still imporve on he listed a number of things. So i believe that within a couple of seasons he’ll have a more complete game.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:09 pm
the_don_mega says:
like most of the freakishly athletic cats we have on the game now, Howard plainly uses his raw talent at this point. cat’s still young and has alot of time to improve on his game further… if he’s good now… imagine how good could he be with the proper fundamentals… just lok at Kobe or to some extent Lebron… both started out as just poure athletes but somehow have molded their games to a fundamentally sound level (again, Lebron to some extent only)… another example… check out the G.O.A.T. during his early days…
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Kudabeen says:
Shaq said he isn’t impressed by Dwight? And Dwight hasn’t responded? Not like he would go at shaq, but when Van Gundy put him on blast for slacking he started putting up 20/20 games and eating shots. Dwight’s effort fell off from the early part of the season.
There is times where he does go at it with other bigs, but I don’t think Dwight has that ‘DAWG’ in him…He is too Mickey Mouse at times where he need to be straight Terminator…There’s no kill switch in him right now or at least it doesn’t last long.
I never really was big on the whole Ewing is working with him thing…Ewing was good, but he wasn’t the kind of Big I would want my son to learn from solely…Dwight needs to get a mean streak on the court and understand you can put someone on their ass in the game and still watch cartoons after and have a squeaky clean image…(see Chris Paul)
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:10 pm
the_don_mega says:
like most of the freakishly athletic cats we have on the game now, Howard plainly uses his raw talent at this point. cat’s still young and has alot of time to improve on his game further… if he’s good now… imagine how good could he be with the proper fundamentals… just look at Kobe or to some extent Lebron… both started out as just pure athletes but somehow have molded their games to a fundamentally sound level (again, Lebron to some extent only)… another example… check out the G.O.A.T. during his early days…
+sorry for the typo…+
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Mark says:
lets rememeber this guys is ALL ALONE on the glass for the magic, maybe he has to conserve a certain amount of energy because he is the ONLY legit big they have! if he goes down, magic are a lottery team
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Kudabeen says:
Also from a Skills training/physiological perspective Dwight plays high. Meaning that he jumps a lot and extends his stance to the point where guys with strong lower body strength can get away with digging in his legs and frustrate him. If someone could teach hom some of those swim moves and how to put his knee or elbow in the opponent’s back to make rough on them trying to box him out he would be a lot better off. Refs don’t see that knee or elbow, because they are following the ball for the most part…
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:15 pm
LAballer says:
exactly my point..doesnt compare to shaqtus in his early years at all..people talk all this nonsense about shaq right now but you forget what kind of player he was..for a good 3-4 years..really more than that.. no one in the nba could guard him period..not even close..do you think howard will develop to a point of where we can say the same for him? i dont know right now..
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:15 pm
dmitry of jersey says:
Shaq was older when he came into the league and had college experience. dwight was a kid. he has done amazing so far so i’m not sure comparing him to shaq’s rookie year is fair.
BUT, you’re right they do need to bring someone in other than Ewing to mentor him. unless they want dwight to learn how to take last-second finger rolls in playoffs games.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:15 pm
dagwaller says:
Agreed. This is why I stuck up for Yao last year when the “best center in the game” conversations came up.
I was ready to give that crown to Dwight this year, but he hasn’t exactly TAKEN it.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:19 pm
sparkyJay23 says:
the_don_mega talks sense.
I don’t get how lebrons holes in his game dont seem to exist at dime at yet you feel free to call out the big guy?
i’ll take 20 – 14 over 13 – 8 every day
And What exactly is Shaqs go to move?
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Jah says:
Perhaps it was just an off night?
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Jah says:
Besides…you’re not going to own the Celtics (or any other top defensive team in the NBA) on the glass if you’re a one-man rebounding team! You expect him to pull down 20+ boards on the defending champs? Nah…
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Blue says:
@ sparkyJay23
shaqs go to move? really? have you seen his spin move and drop step?
back in the day he had some of the quickest feet for a big man.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Guitar Hero says:
i seriously doubt that DH will someday be as dominant as Shaq at his prime.
Shaq led his team to the Finals in only his 3rd (?) year in the League. DH isn’t that kind of a leader, he’s not a player that can carry a team on his back.
He doen’t have that kind of talent, and certainly not the “mean streak” ou will to be dominant as Shaq (or even Ewing) had. Or 1/10 of Hakkem’s talent, for that matter.
He’ll be alright, but i don’t expect him to be this generation’s dominant player. Not in a million years.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Kobeef says:
@Sparky
You need to watch Shaq when LA won its championships. He was unstoppable in the post and had a ton of moves (drops, hooks, spins).
Dwight’s go to move is his only move (Dunk) and when he faces tough competition it shows. Dwight can block and jump for rebounds but he is far from having a complete game.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:35 pm
srb says:
I guess he can only take one good rebounder at a time. Plus, Perkins will try to push anyone around – he don’t care.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Boo says:
Of course Dwight is going to be limited learning post moves under Ewing. All’s Ewing knew how to do was travel. Kareem is the master of the sky hook so he has hooked Bynum up with all the smooth moves.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:37 pm
JCARR says:
Great observation AK.
All though it could have an off night, Dwight still needs to develop more fundemnetal skills in offense. Great bigs like Timmy, KG, Dirk, Bosh… Although the only other great asset that that KG, Bosh, Dirk have is the shooting ability it still makes them more dangerous on offense. Also, Amare is much like Dwight in the sense that they both rely on dunking, but now that Amare has a jumper I would give a slight edge over Dwight (just on the offensive end, not defensive).
I definetly do agree on the Andrew Bynum comment. I guess Pat Ewing is teaching Dwight much over in Orlando or it could be that Dwight doesnt want to learn from Pat. Andrew Bynum post presence is ahead of Dwight’s. Andrew is learning from Kareem and applying his effective moves on the post. kareem was never a great leaper, but found ways to score on the post.
The defense is there for Dwight, but the all-around offensive tangibles that would make him a great player not just yet.
I dont see him as the next Wilt Chamberlain!
If he were there would be no need to argue his skills
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
TJ 2 says:
i am glad someone finally said it! i definitely like Dwight, hes a great person, very likeable, but he isnt as good as he could be, all his moves are pretty basic and havent changed all that much from when he first came into the league. he can just do those things a little better. i hope realizes hit potential one day!
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:45 pm
fiyaman says:
SHaq has no moves either.. Im not impressed with either
Shaq is a not so good player thats bigger than everyone and knows how to use his size
Howard is a good defensive player that can dunk
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:46 pm
the Heckler says:
cherry picking. and you didn’t bring up anything we didnt already know.
but shaq was such a great rebounder either. shaq has brut and force (much like howard uses athleticism) to get boards. Shaq, i believe, should have averaged way more rebounds than he did. especially in those orlando laker years.
dwight is still a capable rebounder. if you watched the 20 plus boards he put on the lakers frontline…this article might have been a bit different
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
TD says:
Anybody who says shaq has/had no go to moves, obviously is too young to remember the orlando & LA days. The man was a beast for about 10 years and no one could guard him. His footwork for a man his size was amazing. The only big I can remember with better footwork was Hakeem, and that’s why he clowned shaq in the finals.
D12 is good right now, but there’s obviously a lot he can improve on, and if he does then maybe we can start comparing him to one of the top 5 (depending on opinion) of all time.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Dime Magazine says:
Heckler,
Agreed that it could’ve been a particularly bad night. But this observation touches on something more than someone having an off night. It’s about two things: footwork and heart.
- Shaq probably had better footwork than any big man to ever play the game. Dwight’s footwork is miserable. That affects him as both a rebounder and an offensive player.
If Shaq was 23 years old in today’s NBA, he could’ve averaged closer to 20 boards per game than he did. There are so many trips down the floor when rebounds go uncontested.
- AK
January 23rd, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Desrat says:
What is Shaqs move in the post? He has a number of them, somebody call in Divac to explain…
Shaq-nasty was hands down better than Howard. Shaq was more phiscally gifted than Howard is, and he had more skills.
January 23rd, 2009 at 1:23 pm
LAballer says:
another point id like to make for the shaq doubters who im sure at about 15 years old and dont really know their shit..
who is dwight howard playing against right now? think about this..NO ONE..he is THE center of the league right now..yao is decent but too slow and soft, AB is still a year or so away from being truly dominant but is coming along nicely, amare isnt a center, duncan isnt a center, big Z is too old, ben wallace isnt even alive anymore, dalembert could be good..but i dont know what is up with him, sheed isnt a true center, bogut hasnt shown enough, horford is too young and not big enough, chandler needs to kick it with the lion from the wizard of oz and find his heart, oden is a 47 year old rookie and needs a few years, okur is an outside type center..i mean i know im missing centers but i just named some of the main ones..no one compares to what dwight howard can and should do but he isnt dominating like he should..
look who shaq played against..he played amazing HOF centers and tore them up..thats the only point im trying to make..howard needs to show me something more than his hilarious personality which is the only thing he has comparable to shaq…
January 23rd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Drink the Haterade (KB24 Chip 09) says:
Maybe Dwight should have gone to John Wooden Big Man Camp back in the day or maybe the Magic should hire Zo to teach how to play big.
January 23rd, 2009 at 1:38 pm
GEE...I thought I was dreaming. You almost drowned me,.. says:
AK your article is solid pimpin. Really made me take a second look at Dwight. I will have to watch him closer on these things you mention.
I would say Dream, Duncan and Robinson all had better footwork than Shaq.
That is just GEE though.
Still if Dwight ever develops an arsenal of moves he can run without much thought, he will be monster.
I always thought of Shaq more Juggernaut than Superman.
Your 5′s should have names of bigger superheros.
Colossus
Hulk
Juggernaut
The indian dude on the justice leauge who could grow to like a skyscraper.
January 23rd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
ianodelaleza says:
god help dwight if his knees go thats all ill say
IDL
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:24 pm
mules says:
I was only half-watching the game but didn’t Dwight pick up his fifth foul pretty early in the 3rd quarter? That could’ve had something to do with his aggressivness on the boards.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Big Aaron says:
Agreed, Dwight does need someone to instill that mean streak or fire in him. I think the complacency has started to set in a little with him. He’s not been as dominant as he was earlier in the season.
He does get beaten up a lot down low, with no help from refs. Yet he runs down the other end and these little ticky-tack fouls get called on him, so he gets frustrated and loses focus. I think he needs someone to publicly criticise him again, maybe Stan. But who says he won’t answer Shaq’s blatant disrespect? He may not have answered right away but when you have a solid big like Perkins and then KG beating on you for 48, you’ll not get far. I just feel sorry for Miami’s frontline on saturday!
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:40 pm
the_don_mega says:
@GEE… i think you were thinkin’ of the APACHE CHIEF from the SUPERFRIENDS
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:48 pm
UncheckedAggression says:
Man, I can’t believe what some idiots are saying about Shaq! No moves? That guy could score ANY way he wanted to within 10 feet of the basket. And he knew how to get in there too–nobody could keep him out. Dwight couldn’t even figure that out in the playoffs last year. I like Howard a lot, but he has a long way to go.
January 23rd, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Ed The Sports Fan says:
This is totally on point, i think that he got another 2-3 years before it ‘clicks’ for D-Ho. Hope he figures it out because he’s a great guy.
-Ed.
http://www.edthesportsfan.com
January 23rd, 2009 at 3:57 pm
GEE..."Wit that big ol wolf P!!!" says:
the_don_mega you got it pimpin.
Preshate it!
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:11 pm
LakeShow84 says:
2 Superstars who days would be over if their knees ever blow out ALA Chris Webber;
Dwight Howard
Lebron James
Sorry! that would be a wrap..
February 25th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
flavur says:
Well we gotta remember dwight came out of high school which I don’t think that it makes much of a difference in skill but when it comes to attitude if he had gone to college he probably would have developed a kill switch. Like shaq for example he has the same fun loving attitude but when he goes on the court he turns from micky mouse into the hulk a straight up monster now dwight needs to learn that when the lights turn on and that ball is tipped micky mouse needs to go back in the playpen and that rabid dog needs to be released from its cage.