Dwight popping off at the mouth............

[Wurider05]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2706867-dwight-howard-vents-about-benching-vs-wizards

 

Quote

Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard was not pleased with his reduced minutes at the end of the regular season and in the playoffs, according to Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

"It was very difficult," Howard said Saturday. "I want to play. I want to be out on the floor. I want to make a difference. I want to make an impact, and I can't do that on the bench."

As Schultz noted, Howard, 31, played in just 16 of 72 fourth-quarter minutes against the Washington Wizards in the first round of the playoffs and sat for the entire fourth quarter of two postseason games. He played 30 or more minutes just once in the series, averaging 26.2 minutes per game after he'd played 29.7 minutes per contest during the regular season.

He scored 8.0 points and pulled down 10.7 rebounds per game in the playoffs. But he was less than thrilled with how the series played out.

"Howard is not happy," Schultz wrote. "The day after the Hawks were drop-kicked into the offseason by Washington, he used the word 'pissed' three times to describe his feelings about the way both his and the team's season ended."

Schultz added that "[Howard] denied suggestions that matchups should have anything to do with his reduced time. He denied season-long suspicions that he struggles in the Hawks' ball-movement, pick-and-roll offense. Physically, he said he feels 'amazing.' Mentally, that's another story."

Howard may deny it, but it's pretty clear he isn't a great fit in Mike Budenholzer's system. And while he remains an excellent rebounder, he's no longer the dominant post scorer or defensive presence he was as a younger player.

The Hawks will need to make it work, however, since they owe Howard $47.3 million over the next two seasons—a contract that wouldn't be easy to trade even if Atlanta wanted to move on from the veteran center. That means the Hawks will need to tweak their system to better fit Howard's abilities, Howard will have to accept a more limited role than he's accustomed to or the two sides will be at odds come the 2017-18 season.

 

The problem I had is that dude has been in the league for over a decade and they knew his abilities.  In  my opinion he was solid for us. Maybe Bud and the coaches can work with him in the offseason. Hell he might come back with a 3 point shot. It couldn''t hurt LOL!!!

[Thomas]

Feel that Bud was specifically trying to negate Tristan and the Cavs incredible rebounding. They have been the brick wall to end our playoffs in the recent past and rebounding was such a thorn for us. Experiment worked for rebounding this season but we still can't hit threes when we absolutely have to have them whether its Tim here or Kyle here or whoever wherever.   

[Bankingitbig]

12 hours ago, Thomas said:

Feel that Bud was specifically trying to negate Tristan and the Cavs incredible rebounding. They have been the brick wall to end our playoffs in the recent past and rebounding was such a thorn for us. Experiment worked for rebounding this season but we still can't hit threes when we absolutely have to have them whether its Tim here or Kyle here or whoever wherever.   

Why not go for a guy like Biyombo then? Younger, moves his feet better, no injury issues, no locker room issues, understands his role and cheaper contract... Ownership just wanted to try and use Howard for marketing and it failed.

[hawkman]

There's no way Howard feels 'amazing' physically. The guy was so stiff he couldn't even bend at the waist. He also looked 60yrs old running up and down the court at times. True, he's a bad fit for Bud's system but he didn't look healthy at all in the Playoffs.

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, Bankingitbig said:

Why not go for a guy like Biyombo then? Younger, moves his feet better, no injury issues, no locker room issues, understands his role and cheaper contract... Ownership just wanted to try and use Howard for marketing and it failed.

Because Biyombo sucks.  He jedi mind trick'd the Magic to overpay a dleague-caliber guy based off 1 great playoff performance that was not repeated once this season.

To me, Nerlens Noel was the move if all they wanted was a 'rebound' guy.

Howard's comments show he hasn't accepted that he's a limited player at this point.  Injury has left him unable to repeat his ORL days.  He's in denial.  I agree with him in questioning his use mainly because there were times he should've gotten the ball but they either didn't feed him or were incapable of feeding him.  As a coach, he should've been able to take advantage of favorable matchups.  That is a legit gripe IMEO

[Bankingitbig]

20 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Because Biyombo sucks.  He jedi mind trick'd the Magic to overpay a dleague-caliber guy based off 1 great playoff performance that was not repeated once this season.

To me, Nerlens Noel was the move if all they wanted was a 'rebound' guy.

Howard's comments show he hasn't accepted that he's a limited player at this point.  Injury has left him unable to repeat his ORL days.  He's in denial.  I agree with him in questioning his use mainly because there were times he should've gotten the ball but they either didn't feed him or were incapable of feeding him.  As a coach, he should've been able to take advantage of favorable matchups.  That is a legit gripe IMEO

Don't think Biyombo is an allstar obviously, but would have solved the "rebounding issue" and wouldn't have gotten punked in the PnR as bad as Howard since he can actually move his feet. Noel wasn't an option since he wasn't a free agent and would have required a first round pick which I don't think would have been smart. Plus, I think Noel would have still gotten punked by Thompson.

Edited May 1, 2017 by Bankingitbig

[Jody23]

If Dwight wants to win like he says then he should be all about what will aid winning.  Him being a focal point on offense at this stage isn't it.  Focusing on defense, rebounding, setting good screens and being active is what will help him and his team win.  He's got to realize that first though.

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Bankingitbig said:

Don't think Biyombo is an allstar obviously, but would have solved the "rebounding issue" and wouldn't have gotten punked in the PnR as bad as Howard since he can actually move his feet. Noel wasn't an option since he wasn't a free agent and would have required a first round pick which I don't think would have been smart. Plus, I think Noel would have still gotten punked by Thompson.

I don't think anything in Biyombo's career, other than that 1 playoff game, suggests he's an answer for anything or that he's some excellent PnR defender either.

Agree on Noel's price at the time.  A 1st rounder would've been a tremendous over-pay at the time, especially with his camp probably (still) thinking he'll get a 9-figure deal in free agency this summer (yikes).

[Thomas]

10 minutes ago, Jody23 said:

setting good screens and being active

Dwight had a twenty minute game in the series, the second game, and Bud did mention setting good screens as part of his rational when asked what was behind that. So some of this reality stuff is a struggle for Dwight or he has short term memory issues. Like you said if he concentrates on what he needs to do it will help tremendously, our need for his scoring big is very secondary.

[AUhawksfan]

It's always a mental game with Howard - he still has the ability to contribute without being a focal point and he needs to start focusing on that.  Early on he was good at scoring and rebounding so he didn't need to focus on the little things.  Now he needs to do that.

Hopefully Bud and the rest of his teammates can keep his mind right because we have two more years paying this guy and I at least want someone that can give us a solid 20 minutes per night, or more if necessary.

[Jody23]

And I get that it can't be easy having to accept that he can't do as much offensively as used to.  At the same time, he has to watch younger guys like Dennis, Tim and Taurean get more usage offensively.  But that's where he is at this point in his career.

[Thomas]

Guess Bud is going to have to brush up on his DIY sports psychology in the offseason, oh yeah, thats right now for us. 

[capstone21]

While watching the games this season the funny thing about Dwight was for this dominant center ... you never really knew he was on the court.  He just seemed like another player otu there.  He did a good job of rebounding but otherwise he never really stood out offensively or defensively.  

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Unfortunately . . . Dwight is RIGHT.

It's not even about Dwight being a focal point.  It's about him being able to have an impact on a game. even at the end.  When you're giving crunch time minutes to Moose and running out Bazemore at the 3 ( a position he's ALWAYS struggled in ), but Dwight is sitting on the bench, that's cause for concern.  

The fan base has questioned Bud's rotations all year.  We've questioned why the rookies, who seem like they do have some talent, weren't getting much burn.  So when Dwight ( the highest paid player on the team, I may add ), can't get run in the 4th quarter, I'd be pissed too.

Dwight was, and still is, a top 10 center in the NBA.  The fact that the Hawks couldn't find a way to have him on the floor in the 4th quarter during the playoffs, is mind boggling.

 

I'm a Bud supporter, but he has to take the brunt of the blame for how this season went, and how players were used.  If your precious "system" doesn't fit the player ( or the team, for that matter ), tweak the system to get the most out of your players.  Game 4 should've been the blueprint for how this team should play.  But somehow, we weren't able to duplicate that gameplan.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Unfortunately . . . Dwight is RIGHT.

It's not even about Dwight being a focal point.  It's about him being able to have an impact on a game. even at the end.  When you're giving crunch time minutes to Moose and running out Bazemore at the 3 ( a position he's ALWAYS struggled in ), but Dwight is sitting on the bench, that's cause for concern.  

The fan base has questioned Bud's rotations all year.  We've questioned why the rookies, who seem like they do have some talent, weren't getting much burn.  So when Dwight ( the highest paid player on the team, I may add ), can't get run in the 4th quarter, I'd be pissed too.

Dwight was, and still is, a top 10 center in the NBA.  The fact that the Hawks couldn't find a way to have him on the floor in the 4th quarter during the playoffs, is mind boggling.

 

I'm a Bud supporter, but he has to take the brunt of the blame for how this season went, and how players were used.  If your precious "system" doesn't fit the player ( or the team, for that matter ), tweak the system to get the most out of your players.  Game 4 should've been the blueprint for how this team should play.  But somehow, we weren't able to duplicate that gameplan.

Agreed.  For all his limitations, there was a way to get him involved more we just chose not to.

I get it, the PnR was killing us.  But shiiiii Muscala got killed on PnR just as much!!!!  At least Howard might've fallen into an oreb or a block at some point.  Freakin' Muscala out there getting killed on the PnR then followin' that up by gettin killt by Gortat in the post then backin' that up by getting kill'd on the boards!!  How did that help us, Budz?!  And don't get me started on TradeBaze.  I get it, he looked good in game 5 but that doesn't mean we need him with the starters for extended minutes in game 6!  He excelled primarily against backups for a reason, Budz!!

Folks can blame Howard all they want but that series loss was on Budz.

Dang I thought I was over it.  Thanks for dredging up old wounds, 'Cyde.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

8 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Agreed.  For all his limitations, there was a way to get him involved more we just chose not to.

I get it, the PnR was killing us.  But shiiiii Muscala got killed on PnR just as much!!!!  At least Howard might've fallen into an oreb or a block at some point.  Freakin' Muscala out there getting killed on the PnR then followin' that up by gettin killt by Gortat in the post then backin' that up by getting kill'd on the boards!!  How did that help us, Budz?!  And don't get me started on TradeBaze.  I get it, he looked good in game 5 but that doesn't mean we need him with the starters for extended minutes in game 6!  He excelled primarily against backups for a reason, Budz!!

Folks can blame Howard all they want but that series loss was on Budz.

Dang I thought I was over it.  Thanks for dredging up old wounds, 'Cyde.

LOL.  The only reason why I'm over the series loss, was because Wall played like a superstar in Game 6.  I'm OK with a superstar effort beating us.  I wouldn't have been OK if Wall was playing like garbage, but we lost because of Bud's peculiar rotations.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

LOL.  The only reason why I'm over the series loss, was because Wall played like a superstar in Game 6.  I'm OK with a superstar effort beating us.  I wouldn't have been OK if Wall was playing like garbage, but we lost because of Bud's peculiar rotations.

Well we had a chance at the end but lost, in part, because of Bud's peculiar rotations.

[Thomas]

Plenty of blame everywhere and as an example out of the six games if we ever hit decent from three believe four games would have been ours and we would really be losing our minds against the Green right now, we actually play well against them. In our four losses we shot 26% from three, a very painful stat. 

[AHF]

33 minutes ago, Thomas said:

Plenty of blame everywhere and as an example out of the six games if we ever hit decent from three believe four games would have been ours and we would really be losing our minds against the Green right now, we actually play well against them. In our four losses we shot 26% from three, a very painful stat. 

Shooting has to be a priority this offseason.

[Guest]

If Howard wants out, would y'all send him to TOR for their C (who's name I won't venture to spell) +?