D12 Thread: Brushin' his shoulders off (Won't need surgery)

Vasashi17 wrote:One thing that was interesting from the NBA TV comments Shaq made, was that when prompted by Reggie if Dwight ever came to him to seek advice on how to play big and gully down low, Shaq said he would be open to teaching Dwight some of his tricks. But then again, I doubt that scenario will ever pan out and its unfortunate that ego is the sole reason behind it.

Mike Trudell ‏@LakersReporter

Though @DwightHoward continues to improve & look great at practice, he will not play on Saturday vs. Utah.

KEVIN DING ‏@KevinDing

Dwight won't play Saturday at Staples vs. Jazz. Next chances are Tuesday in Anaheim, also vs. Jazz, and next Friday in Vegas vs. Kings.

Mark Medina ‏@MarkGMedina

The 7-foot-3 Somogyi blocked one of Dwight's shots, while Howard swatted away at Sacre. Lots of physical play, trash talk and smiles

Mark Medina ‏@MarkGMedina

Dwight Howard had intense workout. Lots of running & postup-drills w/ Robert Sacre & Greg Somogyi.

Mike Trudell ‏@LakersReporter

Howard responded to getting blocked by Somogyi by dunking in his face after an up-fake the next time. Lookin' strong.

Mike Trudell ‏@LakersReporter

Good training for guys like Somogyi & Sacre to get to go 1-on-1 against the world's best low post defender. If you can score on him...

Mike Trudell ‏@LakersReporter

Howard got swatted by Greg Somogyi in a 1-on-1 post drill, & when teammates hollered about it, said, "Ayo I'm trying (stuff)!"

Janis Carr of the Orange County Register wrote:Kobe Bryant suggested this week that fun-loving Dwight Howard needs to bring out the “dog” in him night in and night out, the quality that earned him three Defensive Player of the Year awards.

“It’s there, it’s just a matter of him digging deep and pulling it out. It’s already there. .It’s just a matter of him having it become habit,” Bryant said Tuesday.

Howard said he wasn’t offended by Bryant’s statements. After the Lakers’ second exhibition loss Wednesday, the All-Star center said he understood where his new teammate was coming from.

“I heard about what he said,” Howard said. “People might take that the wrong way. He’s not saying be a jerk or an a-hole to people, he’s basically saying, ‘On the court, he loves the way I play but I can be more of one of those people.’ ”

“I think a lot of people get it confused,” Howard said of his personality. “They think I don’t take it serious because I’m smiling or things like that.

“When its time to get it done, I’ll get it done.”

Howard sat out the Lakers’ 93-75 exhibition loss to Portland despite getting cleared to participate fully in drills. He took part in pregame warm-ups, looking as explosive as he did before his back problems and subsequent surgery. He maintains, though, he is not ready to play in a game situation.

“I feel pretty good but like I keep telling you guys I want to be 110 percent, be in great shape,” Howard said. “I want to make sure my condition is where it needs to be. That’s the biggest thing.

“I don’t want to go out there and not be who I am, running the floor, playing great defense, blocking shots and being very active. When you’re fatigued, that means you can’t do all those things. So I want to make sure I can.”

Howard is not expected to play Saturday when the Lakers take on the Utah Jazz at Staples Center.

Fraud wrote:howard needs to improve a bit more on defense (not that he isnt good) He has to be really careful. Floppers could have sold that contact on the pump fake.

Although the block was beautiful, another pump fake would have gotten him. Since he's too athletic, it should be expected that whoever he's guarding would use pump fakes and step throughs. I know we are probably going to preach about his defense but we also need him to produce for us night in and night out. Im really excited about this team. Go Lakers!

Fraud wrote:howard needs to improve a bit more on defense (not that he isnt good) He has to be really careful. Floppers could have sold that contact on the pump fake.

Although the block was beautiful, another pump fake would have gotten him. Since he's too athletic, it should be expected that whoever he's guarding would use pump fakes and step throughs. I know we are probably going to preach about his defense but we also need him to produce for us night in and night out. Im really excited about this team. Go Lakers!

revgen wrote:Dwight's jump hooks are always flat. They are more jump than hook. Which works against most bigs since the league hardly employs true 7-footers anymore at the center position. It doesn't work as well against guys like Somogyi, Hibbert, Bynum etc.

revgen wrote:^The problem with Dwight physically is that he doesn't have a butt. He has the triangle body type. Big shoulders up top and small waist. He needs to look at how Kobe backs down his man. Kobe uses his shoulders to push his defender back, creating space, then he moves his feet backwards after space is created. Bynum even tried that maneuver out last season for fun and he and Kobe shared a laugh afterwards. Bynum has the big butt so he doesn't really have to utilize that maneuver, but Dwight should really try to take it and use it.

Weezy wrote:Cool video. Sacre needs to learn to pump fake once in a while, he can't always just put the hook up on the first move, going to get swatted a lot. And dang, Dwight pushed Somogyi out of the way like he wasn't there, 2 handed dunk like nothing, dude is a beast even coming off back surgery.