Comments on: Howard Hasn’t Measured Up to Greatness http://www.emptythebench.com/2009/06/12/howard-hasnt-measured-up-to-greatness/ The season's over. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:07:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: THEREALESTVOICE http://www.emptythebench.com/2009/06/12/howard-hasnt-measured-up-to-greatness/comment-page-1/#comment-128923 THEREALESTVOICE Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:00:55 +0000 http://www.emptythebench.com/?p=4311#comment-128923 Howard is good. No doubt about it. But his offense is minimal at best. He scored 40 on a night in the playoffs but ANY player can score 40 on a night if they get hot. Howard has no range. No jump shot. No hook. No strong low-post moves. All that gets developed in college. High School is just a shooting spree where the most athletic and biggest players make a killing. They dont have to develop all these low-post moves. They are bigger, so they dunk and score over everybody. I have never approved of taking players out of high school but it is what it is. Hakeem, Ewing, Robinson, Abdul Jabbar, they all were up there with the scoring leaders all the time. Each had their own shot and their low-post moves. Howard is a beast on the defensive end. PERIOD. Until he starts posting up and getting his own signature shot, he will only be known as a defensive player. 4 years of college could have done wonders for him. Ewing needs to step up to the plate while hes on the Magic staff and teach him some moves. Some backins, some turnarounds. Dunking can only get you so far. He has the body for it, use it. Hopefully he will learn something in the offseason. An extra 10 points above what he is doing now could have saved the finals for them and made the Finals more exciting for us. What a boring series. Better luck next year. Howard is good. No doubt about it. But his offense is minimal at best. He scored 40 on a night in the playoffs but ANY player can score 40 on a night if they get hot. Howard has no range. No jump shot. No hook. No strong low-post moves. All that gets developed in college. High School is just a shooting spree where the most athletic and biggest players make a killing. They dont have to develop all these low-post moves. They are bigger, so they dunk and score over everybody. I have never approved of taking players out of high school but it is what it is. Hakeem, Ewing, Robinson, Abdul Jabbar, they all were up there with the scoring leaders all the time. Each had their own shot and their low-post moves. Howard is a beast on the defensive end. PERIOD. Until he starts posting up and getting his own signature shot, he will only be known as a defensive player. 4 years of college could have done wonders for him. Ewing needs to step up to the plate while hes on the Magic staff and teach him some moves. Some backins, some turnarounds. Dunking can only get you so far. He has the body for it, use it. Hopefully he will learn something in the offseason. An extra 10 points above what he is doing now could have saved the finals for them and made the Finals more exciting for us. What a boring series. Better luck next year.

]]> By: Darren http://www.emptythebench.com/2009/06/12/howard-hasnt-measured-up-to-greatness/comment-page-1/#comment-128132 Darren Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:46:13 +0000 http://www.emptythebench.com/?p=4311#comment-128132 Darkdude, Nice job picking up on something I completely overlooked in regards to college experience. Howard would definitely be further along in his development if he didn't make the straight leap Darkdude,

Nice job picking up on something I completely overlooked in regards to college experience. Howard would definitely be further along in his development if he didn’t make the straight leap

]]> By: Darren http://www.emptythebench.com/2009/06/12/howard-hasnt-measured-up-to-greatness/comment-page-1/#comment-128128 Darren Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:40:29 +0000 http://www.emptythebench.com/?p=4311#comment-128128 Hi, Jonathan. Nice comparison of Howard to David Robinson. That's probably the closest for Dwight right now. I always thought of Robinson, as a good a player as he was, as a step behind Hakeem, Shaq and Duncan, and that seems to be where Howard is headed right now as well without some drastic improvements to his offensive game. Hi, Jonathan. Nice comparison of Howard to David Robinson. That’s probably the closest for Dwight right now. I always thought of Robinson, as a good a player as he was, as a step behind Hakeem, Shaq and Duncan, and that seems to be where Howard is headed right now as well without some drastic improvements to his offensive game.

]]> By: darkdude http://www.emptythebench.com/2009/06/12/howard-hasnt-measured-up-to-greatness/comment-page-1/#comment-126767 darkdude Sat, 13 Jun 2009 05:24:20 +0000 http://www.emptythebench.com/?p=4311#comment-126767 Why exactly can't Howard be as physically dominant as Shaq was? Sure, Shaq is slightly bigger and stronger, but Shaq had a few guys including David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, all of whom will probably be Hall of Fame Centers. Who exactly is Howard going up against? An aging Shaq? Always injured Yao? Those two are often considered the other two best centers (Dunca=PF) in the league right now, and both were in the All Star Game. By my calculations, Howard, with his combination of speed, strenght, athleticism, and age, he should be destroying these centers. Personally, I contribute it to his lack of a refined post game, which I attribute to the fact he didnt go to college. All those players you talked about, Hakeem, Shaq, even David Robinson, all went to college, and all had a few years to refine their post games, and learn the game from some of the best minds. If Howard had gone to a good college, one that tailors to creating big men that can dominate (Georgetown?) he might have come into the league a few years later, but he would have had a much better overall game, and we might have been talking about him in the conversation for MVP, like a young Duncan, Robinson, Hakeem, or Shaq, instead of talking about him as the underperforming center from Orlando. Why exactly can’t Howard be as physically dominant as Shaq was? Sure, Shaq is slightly bigger and stronger, but Shaq had a few guys including David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, all of whom will probably be Hall of Fame Centers. Who exactly is Howard going up against? An aging Shaq? Always injured Yao? Those two are often considered the other two best centers (Dunca=PF) in the league right now, and both were in the All Star Game. By my calculations, Howard, with his combination of speed, strenght, athleticism, and age, he should be destroying these centers.

Personally, I contribute it to his lack of a refined post game, which I attribute to the fact he didnt go to college. All those players you talked about, Hakeem, Shaq, even David Robinson, all went to college, and all had a few years to refine their post games, and learn the game from some of the best minds. If Howard had gone to a good college, one that tailors to creating big men that can dominate (Georgetown?) he might have come into the league a few years later, but he would have had a much better overall game, and we might have been talking about him in the conversation for MVP, like a young Duncan, Robinson, Hakeem, or Shaq, instead of talking about him as the underperforming center from Orlando.

]]> By: Johnathan http://www.emptythebench.com/2009/06/12/howard-hasnt-measured-up-to-greatness/comment-page-1/#comment-126416 Johnathan Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:06:09 +0000 http://www.emptythebench.com/?p=4311#comment-126416 I always thought Dwight Howard was more in the mold of David Robinson than any of those other centers you compared him to. They are both freakishly athletic, and they get rebounds and block shots like crazy. But they are both more or less terrible on offense. Neither can shoot like Olajuwon (or Yao) or be as physically dominating as Shaq was. And Robinson needed Duncan to finally win a championship. When will Howard gets his Duncan? I don't know (Rashard Lewis is probably as close as he'll get, IF THEY LET HIM SHOOT THE BALL). Good article! I always thought Dwight Howard was more in the mold of David Robinson than any of those other centers you compared him to. They are both freakishly athletic, and they get rebounds and block shots like crazy. But they are both more or less terrible on offense. Neither can shoot like Olajuwon (or Yao) or be as physically dominating as Shaq was. And Robinson needed Duncan to finally win a championship.

When will Howard gets his Duncan? I don’t know (Rashard Lewis is probably as close as he’ll get, IF THEY LET HIM SHOOT THE BALL).

Good article!

]]> By: Coltajerone http://www.emptythebench.com/2009/06/12/howard-hasnt-measured-up-to-greatness/comment-page-1/#comment-126319 Coltajerone Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:50:56 +0000 http://www.emptythebench.com/?p=4311#comment-126319 I don't understand why it's so hard to hit a damn free throw. I don’t understand why it’s so hard to hit a damn free throw.

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