Dwight Discussion: Dwightmare on Figueroa St. Part Boo

wcsoldier81 wrote:Lakers fans and patience don't fit well together in a sentence ... even if the majority of us know our Nov record isn't going to be great , that's just the way we are

wcsoldier81 wrote:Lakers fans and patience don't fit well together in a sentence ... even if the majority of us know our Nov record isn't going to be great , that's just the way we are

Dwight Howard steps up to the free-throw line. Everybody knows what's usually next.

Clang.

If there's a nit to pick in Howard's game, it's at the line. He's a career 58.8% free-throw shooter, and it's not an upward trend.

The Lakers' center was only 49.1% last season with Orlando, missing more free-throw attempts (291) than he made (281) for the first time in his eight-year career.

So the Lakers have tracked every one of his shots from the stripe since they acquired him in August, even in scrimmages and after practice when players shoot individually. Every…single…one.

"He's just a little bit above 80%," said Lakers assistant coach Chuck Person.

Eighty percent? Howard?

He made three of four free-throw attempts in the Lakers' exhibition finale Thursday against Sacramento, but only three of eight in his only other exhibition appearance.

"They were all straight," Person said. "I was actually very happy with the way he shot in terms of his preparation, his release, his follow-through."

To avoid too many coaches dispensing too much advice, Coach Mike Brown designated Person as the lone Lakers voice to help Howard solve his free-throw woes.

Person has already changed two things.

Howard used to set up at the line with the ball at his waist. Now he starts a bit below his chin. Person also worked to change Howard's unorthodox release.

"He would start low and come up and stop the ball in front of his eyes. He only had one eye on the ball so he would move his head to the left, which would make his right elbow come out," Person said. "He was basically shooting sideways. He would put his thumb on the ball so his rotation was improper every time."

Sounds like a problem.

"We lifted the ball straight up, his elbow just below his eye level, so now he clearly has both eyes on the rim," Person said. "It relaxes his upper body."

And, the Lakers hope, increases his accuracy.

Helljumper wrote:Just watched the highlights of that last pre-season game. Dwight took a jumper that was only a couple of inches inside the three point line...

Ship his [Swearing is not permitted at Clublakers. You must edit this post prior to submitting.] out!

therealdeal wrote:^ That's not holding up.

No way he comes out this season and doubles his efficiency from the line. I like the idea that they changed his mechanics, but no way he doubles his efficiency. If he even reaches 70% it'd be a miracle. A good place to hope for is probably 65%. A good place to prepare for is 50%.

Kurt Helin of NBC Sports wrote:Go ahead and rub your eyes if you want, but you read the headline correctly.

Eddy Curry, he of the checkered NBA history who was waived by the Spurs a few days back has not only been claimed by the Dallas Mavericks but also apparently he is jumping straight into the starting lineup.

Remember that next time you read a quote from Mark Cuban about how well he thinks this team is going to do.

Dallas opens the season Tuesday against the Lakers and their massive front line anchored by Dwight Howard. Dallas is without Chris Kaman who is still injured. So, Curry to the rescue? That’s the plan, if only because the Mavericks have no other options. From the Dallas Morning News.

“He’s doing OK,’’ Carlisle said. “He’s a force in the paint offensively. We’d like to get him more active defensively and rebounding a little bit more. But his attitude has been good, and he’s worked hard to get himself in pretty good shape.’’

Curry admitted the defensive end of the court will be his biggest chore.

“Every team has a different scheme,’’ he said. “And I’ve never really been considered a great defender anyway, so it’s a constant challenge for me. But it’s something I’m willing to work on. I’m still learning everybody’s name around here. I think every day it’ll get better.’’

Just as an aside, the Mavericks will also be without Dirk Nowitzki for the opener.

So to recap: no Nowitzki and no Kaman so Dallas is going with Curry against the Lakers with Howard and Pau Gasol. Make any wagers accordingly.

karacha wrote:OK, that will work too, but then Kobe will have to score more. I think Pau should have an easier time scoring on the Mavs. Or juts let Dwight score 30 if he is finally in perfect game shape. I don't see how they can stop him.

Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register wrote:Dwight Howard looks great, but doesn’t feel great yet.

“He’s not 100 percent,” Lakers coach Mike Brown said of Howard, “in terms of his play and timing and stuff.”

Howard focused more on possible “fatigue” and the muscles in his back that are still learning again how to fire properly for long periods of time.

“My back’s strong enough, but it’s not about strength at this point,” said Howard, who had spinal surgery for a herniated disk on April 20. “It’s about endurance.”

Howard compared himself to a new house with “a foundation, walls and everything. But there’s no carpet on the floor. There’s no heating.”

Howard is expected to be given extra rest days while the team practices, as Jordan Hill was given Monday because of his herniated disk that requires management. Howard said he had no idea how many minutes he would average, though Brown said there was no limit and currently no concern about him in back-to-back sets.

“There are still days where it’s real achy,” Howard said, “and hard to move. And I just try to fight through it.”

Howard among Lakers' best?




By KEVIN DING / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER



EL SEGUNDO – The question posed to Mike Brown is to describe Dwight Howard's first weeks of practice, how the latest in the long line of great Lakers centers looks, whether the mighty expectations might actually be met.

The words come to exist like popping corn inside Brown's head, slowly but soon rapid-fire — because there are just so many descriptions the Lakers' coach feels compelled to share in his answer.





Dwight Howard is the latest Lakers' center to be in the bull's eye. He dislays all the skills, but does he measure up to other greats?

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY RICK NGOC HO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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"When you're up close and you see," Brown answers, "his power, his size, his strength, his agility, his quickness, his explosiveness, his skill set on a daily basis, it just amazes you that somebody can be that big and strong and do the things that he can do — athletically and physically."

Brown reaches for another word — "special" — to boil it all down. And that's the one to explain why the Lakers pursued Howard for more than a year in a trade from Orlando before finally landing him in August, the latest monumental change of both earth and sky in Lakerland.

Now let's put it in proper perspective ...

Howard can't touch George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

SIZING UP

Mikan and Chamberlain were individual basketball revolutions, forcing rules changes in the game by being big men with previously incomprehensible skill and coordination. Then Abdul-Jabbar went and scored more points and blocked more shots than anyone.

By comparison, Shaquille O'Neal with his one NBA MVP award and four NBA championships didn't come close — and Howard is even further away (at zero and zero).

That is how much ground remains to be covered by Howard, even if by many accounts he is the only player already on par with forwards LeBron James and Kevin Durant in terms of making an impact on the game today. Howard's size is the reason he can be in that class: As long as the average man has to look up at the hoop instead of look down, basketball will be inherently biased in favor of the big man.

It was Mikan who explained that to the world.

"George Mikan truly revolutionized the game and was the NBA's first true superstar," NBA commissioner David Stern said after Mikan's death in 2005. "He had the ability to be a fierce competitor on the court and a gentle giant off the court. We may never see one man impact the game of basketball as he did."

There was no shot clock, for example, until opponents realized their best chance to beat the odds and 6-foot-10 size of Mikan was to take an unsportsmanlike approach: Just hold the ball forever so there are fewer possessions for the guy to do his damage around both baskets.

That rule change more than half a century ago might've been the last one in favor of the big man, who has taken a beating both literally and figuratively over the years. Fans identify more with smaller players whose speed and athleticism are captivating to watch in open space. Their daring, David-like slingshot usage understandably inspires hope in the common man.

Chamberlain understood that, shrinking from references to his size in part because he knew he had speed and athleticism, too. But his height was his ultimate advantage, as Abdul-Jabbar tried to explain to Howard when they met a couple months ago.

"You just don't have his height," Abdul-Jabbar told Howard when talking about Chamberlain. "He was 7-3, 7-2. You're pushing 6-10. But all the other qualities you have: strong, athletic, run, jump. You do all that stuff."

Indeed, Howard is not a 7-footer. Stand him next to the young center the Lakers shipped out to get him, Andrew Bynum, and Howard looks like the little brother. Even power-forward teammate Pau Gasol is taller.

Abdul-Jabbar's point is that Howard at 6-10 is close enough. That's big enough. For Howard to have so many skills at the center position means he too is capable of being a revolutionary soldier in pushing the sport forward.

"I was very shocked to hear that from Kareem," Howard said. "But it felt good."

CASE STUDIES

Abdul-Jabbar used to be Bynum's personal coach several years ago, too. That was partly because Abdul-Jabbar was trying to establish his credibility in the coaching profession, but partly him trying to continue the Lakers' great legacy.

It's the same thing now with Howard, and considering how the Lakers' title hopes hinge on Howard making this team's defense great, Lakers fans should be cheering Abdul-Jabbar for more than the statue of him going up outside Staples Center this season.

"Kareem was just telling me as far as what I bring to a team, how I'm built physically, I have the same body type as Wilt," Howard said. "I can do things like Bill Russell. That's what his point was."

Ah, Big Bill ... the ultimate Lakers nemesis who carried the Boston Celtics throughout the 1950s and '60s with an incomparable defensive tenacity and assertiveness at the center position.

San Antonio's David Robinson was very good; Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon had some brilliant moves, too. Yet Russell was the greatest center the Lakers never got.

"Bill was the guy who really studied guys on defense," Howard said. "He could score, but he really didn't have to score. He just really had to lead the team. He did an excellent job of motivating guys, getting guys to play as hard as they could. I feel like I'm that same type of person."

Some days, you are, Kobe Bryant would say.

Bryant has been quick to draw that very Russell comparison from what Howard has already done defensively in Lakers practices — specifically after one play when Howard roared back up the lane from being driven out of bounds just in time to stuff a soaring Chris Douglas-Roberts' dunk shy of the rim.

It's not a matter of whether Howard spends too much time trying to be funny or smiles too often on the court. To Bryant, already a legend in his own right, it's a matter of making fear-inducing, team-building, winning plays on a consistent basis — not just some days.

"Dwight, for him to be a three-time defensive player of the year, you've got to have a little of that dog in you," Bryant said. "It's just a matter of him digging deep and just pulling it out. It's there, and it's just a matter of him digging deep and pulling it out."

BIG STEPS FORWARD

There is a general understanding that as he sought to leave Orlando, Howard didn't really want to follow in the footsteps of all the past Lakers centers. Most of that is tied to his issues with O'Neal, who left Orlando in 1996 and became a winner in Los Angeles with Bryant.

Where Howard has expected support in his career, O'Neal has delivered sneers. And the Dwight-Shaq discord arose again recently when O'Neal, now an analyst for NBA on TNT, said he preferred Bynum and Brooklyn's Brook Lopez among current centers.

"Dwight is going to be one of the greatest centers of all time," Bryant countered. "To not say anything but that is laughable."

There will certainly be no torch passing when O'Neal has his Lakers jersey retired and placed on the Staples Center wall this April. After that latest dig at him from O'Neal, Howard bristled and said to him through reporters: "You did your thing. Your time is up."

Asked specifically in a quiet preseason moment about not wanting to walk O'Neal's path from the Magic to the Lakers, Howard suggested he listened too closely to too-shallow advice.

"I got caught up into what people were saying," he said. "And so what? All these great players have come through here. They're not trying to follow somebody else. This is where their destiny landed them: in L.A. This is where my destiny landed me."

Howard is unabashed in declaring how he feels now: "I'm so thankful and so happy. And now I get an opportunity to do something great."

Howard's understanding of the hierarchy was heightened when longtime Lakers coach and consultant Bill Bertka, 85, presented him with a video of Wilt-Kareem-Shaq Lakers highlights to study. Howard was so fired up that the stayed up 'til 3 a.m. hunting down more Chamberlain footage on YouTube.

Howard has assumed the front corner space in the Lakers' locker room at Staples, the one that housed O'Neal when the Lakers moved into the arena in 1999. Howard changed the profile photos for his Twitter and Facebook to an image of him in a Lakers uniform – with Mikan's No. 99, Chamberlain's No. 13, Abdul-Jabbar's No. 33 and O'Neal's No. 34 draped behind him.

The Lakers' plan that Howard, 26, will re-sign at season's end and anchor the franchise in the future is looking good. Just how good the trade and the future look will be up to No. 12 in purple and gold – and how great a Lakers center he turns out to be.

"There's a lot to be said for Dwight and where he's at so early in his career," Bryant said. "He has got a lot of room to grow. His number is going to be up there one day, for sure."



Contact the writer: kding@ocregister.com

Asked specifically in a quiet preseason moment about not wanting to walk O'Neal's path from the Magic to the Lakers, Howard suggested he listened too closely to too-shallow advice.

"I got caught up into what people were saying," he said. "And so what? All these great players have come through here. They're not trying to follow somebody else. This is where their destiny landed them: in L.A. This is where my destiny landed me."

therealdeal wrote:

Asked specifically in a quiet preseason moment about not wanting to walk O'Neal's path from the Magic to the Lakers, Howard suggested he listened too closely to too-shallow advice.

"I got caught up into what people were saying," he said. "And so what? All these great players have come through here. They're not trying to follow somebody else. This is where their destiny landed them: in L.A. This is where my destiny landed me."

What a great quote. I'm so glad he saw the light of LA.