Smack / Jan 13, 2012 / 3:04 am

Dwight Howard Rewrites History; Kyrie Irving Wins His Duel With Steve Nash

By

Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard

Just put Dwight on the line, right? That was Mark Jackson’s strategy on Thursday against Orlando and it seemed good for a while against the career 59 percent free-throw shooter. The Magic didn’t lead through the first quarter after going wire-to-wire against Portland in its own building the night before. Well, Howard’s not exactly Mark Price from the stripe but if you send a guy there an NBA-record 39 times (he made 21), he’s going to get his, anyway, and score with a stopped clock to help a comeback, too. That’s how Orlando held off Golden State, 117-109. Ryan Anderson made big buckets late and there was even a Jason Richardson sighting and Big Baby Davis took a huge charge in the final minutes, but the Big Disgruntled turned in a monster night, with 45 points and 23 rebounds. If you’re scoring at home, it’s the first 40/20 game since Shaq went for 48 and 20 on March 21, 2003. Golden State looked like its strategy wore themselves down (they shot 36 fewer free throws than Orlando, after all) and took away the momentum they still had after beating Miami in overtime two nights before. With Dorell Wright out and Nate Robinson (14 points) not as electric, and even with Monta Ellis (30 points, 11 assists) going off, the Oracle crowd looked affected too. If you’re a basketball fan in general, you know how good that building can get. So could Hack-A-Dwight be a new trend? It might be worth it, because only Wilt Chamberlain has missed as many free throws in a game as Howard did (By the way, we feel like there needs to be a different word to describe Dwight Howard’s blocks. He doesn’t only send them back or stuff them. It’s something more.). It’s just the whole concept of Dwight Howard taking 30-plus free throws in a game just seems wrong. It’d be like quarterbacks in the NFL throwing 50 passes a game and halfway decent signal-callers throwing up stat lines like 41 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Wait, that already happened? Oh … Where did all those people go who said they wouldn’t give up Andrew Bynum anymore for Howard? When you can put up 45 and 23 and STILL leave 18 free throws on the table, Bynum ain’t touching that … Isn’t it great when things just work out? If you had asked us earlier this year when Nate Robinson was pissed off in OKC and the Thunder were trying to drop him like loose change, we would’ve said the perfect home was out in the Bay. Now he’s there balling, or at least getting PT … New York got the blues and then some in Memphis. It was like a real-life version of the video for New York, New York with Tony Allen, Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol playing the roles of Daz, Kurupt and Snoop. The Knicks put up just 38 in the first half, and then Carmelo Anthony (14 points) left in the third quarter with a sprained right ankle that knocked him out the rest of the game (After he left with an injured left wrist earlier.). You could almost see the emotion drain out of Mike D’Antoni’s face, but maybe it’s to be expected in New York’s fifth game since Jan. 6. Apparently Iman Shumpert took the bad signs of the Knicks’ first half and decided to try and fix it himself, shooting 3-of-15 in the first 24. We know D’Antoni lets his players shoot in the flow but Shumpert’s first half might have even tested his coach’s limits. Coming into the night, Brandon Knight and Kyrie Irving had taken the most attempts by a rookie at 19 (Shumpert finished 5-for-20) this year. Say what you want in this compressed season, because it comes after a four-game winning streak, but it was too hard for some Knicks observers to stomach — and then it got worse. We aren’t sure we’ve ever seen defense like we saw in the third. It was like the Grizz blindfolded the Knicks and told them they had to call out wherever they were going before they did it. Every other play was a steal, a deflection, Tony Allen backing up what we said about him by ripping somebody or Rudy Gay (26 points) catching Tyson Chandler‘s dunk. The Knicks were 5-for-19 from the floor in the third, and then during an eight-minute stretch of the fourth quarter, they went 3-of-18 … Bill Walker and O.J. Mayo combined for 32 points off the bench. If we had told you five years ago, they’d be coming off the pine in the NBA and it’d be a surprise when they put up numbers like these, you might’ve thought we were high. Even Mayo scoring 18 last night off the bench was a little eye-opening. We wonder what they were saying to each other last night: “Yo man, did you ever believe we’d one day be backing up Tony Allen and Landry Fields?” … A sign it’s been a tough season so far in Detroit: Franchise rock Tayshaun Prince air-balled an open jumper from the baseline that would have pulled the Pistons within one with 45 seconds remaining against Milwaukee. Air ball … Brandon Jennings (27 points) finally learned. After missing late shot after late shot in the last few weeks, he passed off on a shot to Stephen Jackson (25 points). Jack found Jon Leuer (15 points), who punctuated his “What’s my name?” performance with a game-deciding dunk … Does Greg Monroe have a shot at the All-Star Game? He dominated Andrew Bogut last night (32 points, 16 rebounds)… While Dwight Howard was busy setting up camp at the charity stripe, the Bucks and Pistons combined to hit all 41 of their free throws … Keep reading to hear about the battle of the point guards out West …

Pages : 1 2
Related Posts with Thumbnails

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Smack |

← Older Comments
  • beiber newz

    that clothsline looked more bad for raja than it did kobe. anyone can get clotselined, they culprit jus admits getting frustrated by a move like dat.

  • beiber newz

    mike brown coached lbj….he says kobe bryant is more serious minded than lebron…while that’s good to have for bball knowledge…tell us something we don’t know. lol

  • http://Dimemag.com Panchitoooo

    I wont be suprised if Bynum has a HUGE game tonight against the Cavs. If you ever sat and watched your rival go nuts in a game before yours it does something to your confidence and eagerness to get out there and get it done. Almost like a anything you can do i can do better kinda thing. Im not saying a 40&20 game, unless Bynum shoots 38 free throws but he should go off and kobe will be the guy that feeds our 7 foot monster.

  • Big Island

    Every player not named Dirk or Joe (I think Joe Johnson played with Nash, but I am too lazy to look) who has played with Nash and left has fallen off. Nash makes his guys better, like someone said up above. Phoenix replaced All-Star guys with good guys, and then good guys with back-ups on any other team. But Nash is still there. They CLEARLY aren’t trying to be a title contender, or even a playoff team. They are a team. Nash gave you his best years, he’s on the downside of his career, at least hook him up and trade him somewhere that he can contend. I know that Phoenix doesn’t owe him anything at all outside of paying him his contract, but from a PR standpoint it could do wonders.

    Something like “Nash has busted his ass for a long time for us. We are rebuilding our team to be a contender in 3-5 years, setting up for when the new CBA numbers really start to hit. Unfortunately, Steve Nash doesn’t have that much time left. We can’t thank him enough for what he’s done, and even though he has never asked for a trade we are sending him to MIami or NY so he can show everyone at DIME named Austin Burton who doubts him for whatever reason when every other person who even remotely knows basketball can tell you Steve Nash made his team better, made crappy players halfway decent and made everyone play above their pay grade. Anyone with one good eye and can tell a basketball from a grape knows Steve Nash makes his team better.”

  • http://Dimemag.com Panchitoooo

    Hey does anyone else remember Dwight sitting on the Magic bench while the Lakers celebrated beating them in the Finals? I guess it was some sort of motivational move to push him to improve but since then he really hasnt done much to step his game up. Those memories must haunt him especially since Stern cut the deal to LA

  • That’s What’s Up

    Big Island – I’m still laughing at the “Bowl of Dick” comment. hey….look at Melo….(chomp chomp)….. He likes it!!

    Chicagorilla – thanks. 2/26, now I know why they’re not shopping Dwight. I mean how bad of a look would it be to have him go to the game wearing another teams jersey.

    Spurs/Portland at 7:30 CST tonight. Should be a good game. No more free league pass but luckily I’ll have the regional coverage.

    Peace y’all, even Beebzy – have a great weekend and celebrate MLK in your own way

  • http://www.dimemag.com Austin Burton

    @Big Island — Told ya, I’m not hating on Nash. He does make his teammates better by maximizing their opportunities to score in their comfort zones, just like any great point guard should. That is not in doubt.

    What I’m railing against is this idea that Nash “made” certain people; that Nash could take ANYBODY and turn them into an All-Star; that guys like Matrix and Amar’e, who were good before Nash played with them, NEEDED Nash in order to become All-Star caliber players.

    As we have clearly seen in New York, Amar’e doesn’t NEED Nash in order to be a superstar. Is he BETTER with Nash? Sure. Is he all of a sudden just an average guy without Nash? Hell naw. And that’s what was happening; remember, when Amar’e first signed with NYK, a lot of people were doubting whether he’d be anywhere close to the same player because he was finally playing without Nash. What did Amar’e do? Played better than almost anybody in the NBA for 2/3 of the season until Carmelo came around.

    My issue is after years of hearing about Nash, as you said, making certain players play above their pay grade, now it’s turned into, “He needs help.” Nash ALWAYS needed help; just like Isiah, just like Stockton, just like Magic. People didn’t give Nash’s teammates enough credit before, and now that his teammates aren’t as talented, people are (hopefully) realizing that Nash wasn’t solely responsible for Phoenix’s success.

  • control

    AB

    How I would describe what Steve Nash does, is sort of like if it were 2K, and every time you had Nash on the floor, everyone on there with him has their player rating go up 10-15 points. Everyone else gets a little bit better, the game gets a little bit easier and it’s all good. Guys then go out and get paid based on that extra 10-15 points, then when Nash is gone and they lose that point bonus, they look like scrubs compared to their old selves. Nash ain’t the only player in the league who is like this, but he probably has the biggest impact. There are some guys in the league who have the opposite effect, like Kobe, he probably takes away 5-10 points from his teammates, haha.

  • http://Dimemag.com Panchitoooo

    Kobe did caron like that

  • http://www.dimemag.com Austin Burton

    @control — That’s what I’m saying, though: 10-15 points is too high. Maybe you weren’t taking the numbers that seriously, but that range you chose does reflect how a lot of people see Nash. Making a 15-point jump from 75 to 90 is like saying Nash could turn Francisco Garcia into Carmelo Anthony.

    Now if we’re talking a 5-point increase, cool. I could see Nash (or any great PG) turning somebody as good as Nick Young into somebody as good as Kevin Martin. But this average-to-All-Star leap is too much.

  • control

    AB

    I wouldn’t say he would turn Garcia into Melo, short of putting horse blinders on Garcia and telling him to never pass to teammates, haha. Nash has a heavy impact on his teammate’s scoring, and not their defense, etc…so choosing a broad number like 10-15 might be a little much, maybe you could use 10-15% better, so a 50 guy becomes a 55 guy, etc. Obviously the person getting better has to take full advantage of that, but this is the nba, there are few guys that can’t take advantage of that, 95% of these guys, even the lowest of the low, would tear up 95% of the courts in the world…

    Given what Nash can do now, which is basically just play making and shooting, I want to see him get on a team of solid players, and see what he can do. Right now, if it weren’t for Nash, the Suns would easily be a bottom 3 team in the league. Other than Gortat, I can’t really think of any guys who are starters on any other team. Frye on some teams, maybe.

    I see what you are saying. The guys Nash has made better and gotten paid, were in the nba for a reason, they were decent players. Nash just bumped them up to the next tier, he got them a small % more because he made their game come to them easier. It’s hard to deny that he made people around him better(as you admitted), so why deny that he might (not in all cases, but most) have had a part in them getting more money than they should have?

  • Big Island

    AB – I know you aren’t hating on Nash. But Marion and Amare were made by Steve Nash. Both guys are really good players. But Amare isn’t nearly as scary without Nash, and Marion wasn’t nearly as good without Nash. Some of it is they types of players Amare and Marion are. Neither one is particularly good at creating their own shots, both guys can finish if you get them the ball in a certain spot. Nash does that as well as anyone has. Both of those guys were/are good, but Nash made them both All-NBA material. Amare especially, needs a PG who gets him the ball. Beib’s MVP ain’t helping him out at all.

  • beiber newz

    some1 the otha day said hawes was the missing link or something like that…hawes is a good player…throw his name in the most improved player race.

  • EN FUEGO

    You still here, Psycho?
    Just fuck up and die already.
    You’re not wanted here anymore.

    HAHAHAHAHAHA

  • http://www.dimemag.com Austin Burton

    @Big Island — I can’t agree with that.

    Marion was an All-Star before he ever played with Nash, putting up 19-9-2-2 (blocks and steals) when the Suns still had Marbury at PG. He was a rebounding and defensive beast in his prime, which started before Nash came to Phoenix, and again, how does Nash impact Marion’s rebounding and defense? Marion’s decline began first when he started feeling like Nash and Amar’e got too much attention and it got into his head, and then when he left the Suns SYSTEM that fit him so perfectly. Also, remember that D’Antoni ran Marion into the ground by playing him heavy minutes at a fast pace against guys who were bigger than him (he was playing out of position at PF). And there’s a reason why D’Antoni played Marion so much, even more so than Nash (though I may be wrong; check the stats): The Suns NEEDED Matrix, almost just as much as they needed Nash.

    As for Amar’e, you’re saying he WASN’T scary when he was Rookie of the Year? He WASN’T scary last year in New York? Matter of fact, in one of the best games I’ve ever seen Amar’e play, he put up 49 points against Indiana in a game where Nash only had like 6 assists. Amar’e has been nasty before, during and after his time with Nash.

    Every big man needs a PG to get him the ball to be his MOST effective, so it’s not saying anything new that Amar’e benefitted from Nash. That’s not the argument. But to say Nash “made” Amar’e is just … off.

  • JBaller

    Glad to see most of the discussion os about basketball today. Looking forward to that picnic.

    It’s great to see Bynum playing well, and when he’s healthy he is the second best center in the nba. He can put up huge numbers. That said, Dwight is a monster and consistently puts up huge numbers. They’re down a bit this year but he is the man, no doubt about it. The only thing I don’t like is that he shares the sense of entitlement that Lebron has, like because of his physical gifts he deserves something.

    I know I sound like a broken record but NY is terrible despite their big 2 1/2. No backcourt, no defense, no heart and no gameplan. Nash made Dantoni look better than all those other guys. I haven’t seen them run any sets that look good yet.

  • beiber newz

    FREE DARIUS MORRIS !

  • beiber newz

    kobe is on another level….and for kobe that’s something insane to even say.

  • beiber newz

    so can wade eat a bowl of dick too for leaving after the same injury that took anthony out the memphis game? or are we going to be picky?

  • 4m

    Long story short, Nash made those guys reach their full potential. And that full potential carried over for a season or two. After that, steep drop-off.

    And I don’t care how many points this season Kobe ends up having cause half of them will still belong to Vanessa.

← Older Comments
-->