I believe Howard can change

[JTB]

Perhaps I'm too optimistic for the stubborn ones on this board but I believe Dwight was only doing what was asked of him by bud and staff this season.

I do NOT believe bud and staff asked him to fully commit to screen & rolling to the basket only. I believe this season with bud having extra duties as president, Howard was probably promised a mixture of post ups & a few jump shots here and there.

however moving on I believe now that bud is a full time coach again he's going to find a way to persuade Howard to commit to full time hard picks and rolls to the basket ONLY as it's truly beneficial to the team and to Howard being relevant at all times throughout the game .

 

bud will show Howard that good screens and hard rolls to the basket will get him back to an all star status or close to it. Howard can avg 17 or 18 pts just by rolling hard off good picks he sets and he can set good picks as long as he commits. I say howard will commit to this style of play cause he will see the benefit he makes and the outcome will be much greater.

[Guest]

Change into what?

He's still a horrible passer, a turnover machine, still wants a ton of post touches, not as explosive as he once was, still has a back issue that flares up, won't set effective screens, hasn't developed his game since he entered the league and the list goes on.

I've said before when he was signed that I have never been fan, gave him a clean slate once he joined the Hawks. 1 year in, I haven't been WOWed. He's servicable and useful in some areas when he WANTS to be. 

Year 2 should be interesting (if he's here).

[Thomas]

1 hour ago, JTB said:

however moving on I believe now that bud is a full time coach again he's going to find a way to persuade Howard to commit to full time hard picks and rolls to the basket ONLY as it's truly beneficial to the team and to Howard being relevant at all times throughout the game .

Do like the optimist attitude and maybe your right. My thoughts are to have him play closer to twenty five minutes giving us some second chance shots and not allowing those kind of shots for opponents and I'm not really sure what else. Bud stated he saw improvement in his passing though I'm pretty confused by that comment. My real fear is that he is early thirties with a back that may be closer to my age in condition which is scary and limits improvement. This would be why I am thinking Bam in the draft at 19 over Patton right now and am hoping the shooter that Schlenk will no doubt go after is at 31 or whatever manuveur needed. Dwight can help but there is such an indifferent ceiling on him. Opposing lineups should be a decisive factor and not the amount of his contract or ego massaging necessary. Sounds like I'm starting to talk about Baze's contract size so I'll stop now except to say Dwight is a Hawk so I'm pulling for him to help us win period.  

[skimaskway23]

Yea I'm pretty sure bud told dwight to go half ass on the screens he set. And didn't let him show his untapped ability to guard the pick n roll. Right pal

[JTB]

32 minutes ago, skimaskway23 said:

Yea I'm pretty sure bud told dwight to go half ass on the screens he set. And didn't let him show his untapped ability to guard the pick n roll. Right pal

Of course not but I'm saying the reason he didn't do screen and rolls hard to the basket full time is because he wasn't instructed to. Bud likely promised him some post touches throughout the game to lure him here.

half assing on the screens was all Dwight never said it wasn't but that's because he's not completely committed to setting the pick due to being overly anxious to get the ball in the post...those are my assumptions anyways.

 

now the pick and roll defense is another story...most traditional centers can't guard the pick and roll today. We need a mobile Big again to defend that. That's what Horford brought.

Edited May 28, 2017 by JTB

[JTB]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Change into what?

He's still a horrible passer, a turnover machine, still wants a ton of post touches, not as explosive as he once was, still has a back issue that flares up, won't set effective screens, hasn't developed his game since he entered the league and the list goes on.

I've said before when he was signed that I have never been fan, gave him a clean slate once he joined the Hawks. 1 year in, I haven't been WOWed. He's servicable and useful in some areas when he WANTS to be. 

Year 2 should be interesting (if he's here).

Change into being full time screen and hard roller. If he does that he s not redirect his career on a good path any where not just the Hawks....that's a fact but he has to commit and I think bud being a full time coach again will get him to realize this.

to me Howard is wanting to score PERIOD...I don't think he necessarily cares how he scores he just want to see on the stat sheet at the end of the day he put up some points....therefore I believe bud will get him to realize that setting good screens and rolling hard to the basket on every possession will get him back to being a relevant player in the league full time! Even if his minutes are cut down doesn't matter! HOWARD PUTS PRESSURE ON THE RIM when he rolls hard...you can't deny that whether you like Howard or not.

[JTB]

51 minutes ago, Thomas said:

Do like the optimist attitude and maybe your right. My thoughts are to have him play closer to twenty five minutes giving us some second chance shots and not allowing those kind of shots for opponents and I'm not really sure what else. Bud stated he saw improvement in his passing though I'm pretty confused by that comment. My real fear is that he is early thirties with a back that may be closer to my age in condition which is scary and limits improvement. This would be why I am thinking Bam in the draft at 19 over Patton right now and am hoping the shooter that Schlenk will no doubt go after is at 31 or whatever manuveur needed. Dwight can help but there is such an indifferent ceiling on him. Opposing lineups should be a decisive factor and not the amount of his contract or ego massaging necessary. Sounds like I'm starting to talk about Baze's contract size so I'll stop now except to say Dwight is a Hawk so I'm pulling for him to help us win period.  

All he has to do is commit to clean screens and hard rolls and he's relevant again in my opinion whether that's 25 minutes or 30, he basically has to play the warriors bogut role.

On his Passing:

i saw some good pass outs from Howard towards the end to Baze . He could have done better of course throughout the year but it's not something I don't think he can't  improve on.

On Defense:

theres nothing he can do about the pick and roll defense other than close out harder and just not worry about the rebound...which may be better but being that we are a poor rebounding team when he sits I bet we'd just allow offensive boards if Howard did close out harder on shooters. ...that pick and roll defense was a pick your poison...either Howard commits fully to challenging the shot or he partially committs while also trying to box out his man for the board.

[JTB]

10 minutes ago, JTB said:

Change into being full time screen and hard roller. If he does that he s not redirect his career on a good path any where not just the Hawks....that's a fact but he has to commit and I think bud being a full time coach again will get him to realize this.

to me Howard is wanting to score PERIOD...I don't think he necessarily cares how he scores he just want to see on the stat sheet at the end of the day he put up some points....therefore I believe bud will get him to realize that setting good screens and rolling hard to the basket on every possession will get him back to being a relevant player in the league full time! Even if his minutes are cut down doesn't matter! HOWARD PUTS PRESSURE ON THE RIM when he rolls hard...you can't deny that whether you like Howard or not.

*he CAN redirect his career on a good path.

[Peoriabird]

Howard issues are probably less related to his back and more related to the fact that he is out of shape.   As far as defending the pick and roll is concerned, Muscala is far worse at it than Howard.  At least Howard prevents the layups unlike Muscala

[Lurker]

3 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

Howard issues are probably less related to his back and more related to the fact that he is out of shape.   As far as defending the pick and roll is concerned, Muscala is far worse at it than Howard.  At least Howard prevents the layups unlike Muscala

The stats prove this to be wrong: Howard+any guard in PNR was absolute trash vs Washington. Muscala+any guard outside Dennis was really good on PNR on defense.

[Peoriabird]

2 minutes ago, Lurker said:

The stats prove this to be wrong: Howard+any guard in PNR was absolute trash vs Washington. Muscala+any guard outside Dennis was really good on PNR on defense.

Gortat had a field day against Muscala

[Lurker]

Howard/any guard in PNR is layup after layup after layup after layup for the offensive team. He is that freaking bad.

Just now, Peoriabird said:

Gortat had a field day against Muscala

Not digging it up, but the stats with Howard in PNR are jaw droppingly bad. I mean it's 2 points per possession bad.

[Lurker]

2 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

Gortat had a field day against Muscala

He may have had a field day vs him while ***posting***, but he had an even BIGGER field day against Howard in the PNR on defense.

[Peoriabird]

1 minute ago, Lurker said:

Howard/any guard in PNR is layup after layup after layup after layup for the offensive team. He is that freaking bad.

Not digging it up, but the stats with Howard in PNR are jaw droppingly bad. I mean it's 2 points per possession bad.

Just recently rewatched the 1st 4 games and most of the 5th.  Muscala was getting killed on defense.

[Lurker]

Just now, Peoriabird said:

Just recently rewatched the 1st 4 games and most of the 5th.  Muscala was getting killed on defense.

Here's your article to chew on:

http://www.peachtreehoops.com/2017/4/17/15321794/dennis-Schröder-dwight-howard-pick-and-roll-defense-hawks-vs-wizards

Dwight Howard in the PNR on defense: 25 points on 21 possessions for an offensive rating of 119.
Dwight Howard and Dennis Schröder in the PNR on defense together: 13 points on 10 possessions, offensive rating of 130.
Mike Muscala on the PNR on defense without Dennis Schröder: 2 points on 7 possessions.
Kent Bazemore/anyone other than Howard: 7 points on 10 possessions.

 

Things that make you go HMMMMMMMMMMMM? #Agendas.

Dwight Howard's defense was unplayable on the PNR and it was MUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH worse than Mike Muscala's. He is trash and he needs to be shot into the sun.

[Lurker]

Keep spinning spinning spinning, but it continues to spin back to Dwight Howard is thorough and total trash and he needs to be sent out of the NBA, pronto. He's unreachable unless you send him to LeBron James or put him on Golden State. Unless he can post up a lot he is going to cry and pout and nothing will change that.

He is the number one need. Need to send him packing.

[Peoriabird]

3 minutes ago, Lurker said:

Here's your article to chew on:

http://www.peachtreehoops.com/2017/4/17/15321794/dennis-Schröder-dwight-howard-pick-and-roll-defense-hawks-vs-wizards

Dwight Howard in the PNR on defense: 25 points on 21 possessions for an offensive rating of 119.
Dwight Howard and Dennis Schröder in the PNR on defense together: 13 points on 10 possessions, offensive rating of 130.
Mike Muscala on the PNR on defense without Dennis Schröder: 2 points on 7 possessions.
Kent Bazemore/anyone other than Howard: 7 points on 10 possessions.

 

Things that make you go HMMMMMMMMMMMM? #Agendas.

Dwight Howard's defense was unplayable on the PNR and it was MUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH worse than Mike Muscala's. He is trash and he needs to be shot into the sun.

O.k. how about Muscala was a worse defender period regardless of the offense run by Washington

[Lurker]

Just now, Peoriabird said:

O.k. how about Muscala was a worse defender period regardless of the offense run by Washington

They still lose the series even if Dwight Howard plays every wakin' moment of the 4th in every game. He is that freaking stinky.

[Lurker]

They changed their plays to ISO and just straight up aggressively attacking Mike Muscala when Dwight Howard was out. But when Dwight Howard was in, compared to the Boston series, John Wall was shooting in an empty gym off of PNR. There was no good solution, because John Wall was being blatantly given 3 point jumpers with no one within 10 feet of him and no one was even making him THINK coming off of the PNR. Sorry, but there is a DIFFERENCE between giving up the jumper, and John Wall basically being in an empty gym. Making players THINK can make a difference, Boston made him THINK, and as a result while his passing was still outstanding, he was bricking his jumpers. They let him have them, of course, but instead of just laying back, someone was always there to make him hesitate. And that's the difference between a series win and series loss...

[Lurker]

With how the Hawks guard PNR with Howard, you pretty much have to just be merely a good guard to drop 20+ every night, even if its not on 50% shooting+ efficiency. They would need Avery f***ing Bradley to do better.