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@  RollingWave : (09 December 2013 - 09:42 AM) Well really though Masai's award really just belongs to Dolan's idiocy
@  2016Champions : (09 December 2013 - 09:19 AM) That $15 million over 5 years contract Toronto gave Masai Ujiri was well worth it.
@  2016Champions : (09 December 2013 - 09:18 AM) Then Masai leaves Denver for Toronto and immediately ships Bargnani for Knicks 2016 1st round pick. I'm surprised he got more than a 2nd round pick let alone another potential lottery pick. What a genius! Dumping Rudy Gay's contract ($17.3 million this season, $19.5 million next season)completes the hat trick.
@  RollingWave : (09 December 2013 - 09:17 AM) on top of picks, one of which now look like a top 10 for sure in a great draft, maybe even top 5.
@  RollingWave : (09 December 2013 - 09:16 AM) Well no they couldn't have signed Melo due to cap , but really they literally gave them their entire team's asset, it's like us trading Lin / Parsons / Jones for Melo.
@  2016Champions : (09 December 2013 - 09:10 AM) I think this Masai Ujiri guy could be the first GM to win back to back Executive of the Year awards, and for two different teams. That Melo to New York trade was incredible because Melo was on his contract year, so New York could have just signed him for free in free agency. Nuggets really striked gold with that Knicks 2014 1st round pick.
@  RollingWave : (09 December 2013 - 08:47 AM) If the Knicks end up with the #1 pick (to Denver) they HAVE to stage the draft somewhere else for safety concerns right? :P
@  rocketrick : (09 December 2013 - 08:46 AM) Rudy Gay being traded to Sacramento Kings
@  2016Champions : (09 December 2013 - 04:14 AM) Lol
@  thenit : (09 December 2013 - 12:45 AM) Lol Dolan is so bad that it's plausible
@  2016Champions : (08 December 2013 - 10:11 PM) What if the Knicks are secretly tanking not realizing they don't have a 1st, that's plausible, right?
@  2016Champions : (08 December 2013 - 06:22 PM) I'm reading some hilarious tweets ridiculing the Knicks. Poor Knicks fans lol
@  Dayak : (05 December 2013 - 06:04 AM) J.R. Harden, lol.
@  HazeWinkle : (05 December 2013 - 05:09 AM) @feeling super he had only 15 pts 4-11 shooting which could be put on jh or km he had 5 to and he got blocked about 5 times by guys not known for their defense
@  thenit : (05 December 2013 - 04:35 AM) linsanity, hard yo get that label off, anyone with that king of usage rate has high turnovers including harden, Kobe etc
@  thenit : (05 December 2013 - 04:34 AM) Jeremy got that label in
@  thenit : (05 December 2013 - 04:33 AM) FSS agree to some extent but when hardens shot aren't falling, he has no Impact on the defensive floor and becomes a huge liability, doesn't happen every day when he has a goose egg
@  thenit : (05 December 2013 - 04:32 AM) Fuss
@  RollingWave : (05 December 2013 - 04:32 AM) Remember when folks said our turnover thing was all on Jeremy? yeah I don't either
@  feelingsuper... : (05 December 2013 - 04:24 AM) Dwight did not get stopped, are you joking? They should have ran through him more but hindsight is 20/20. How many more games wil Harden go 0% from three point land?

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DwightLife - Chapter 4: What Do You Want From Me?


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#1 Red94

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    Posted 17 November 2013 - 09:52 PM

    New post: DwightLife - Chapter 4: What Do You Want From Me?
    By: John Eby

    Dwight Howard’s arrival in Houston signals the arrival of one of the most dominant players in basketball, along with one of the most polarizing personalities in sports. Here at Red94, we are embracing the drama of Superman’s first season as a Rocket with a weekly column: “DwightLife.” This is the fourth installment.

    The criticism of Dwight Howard's free throw shooting--like watching the act itself--has become a bit tiresome. But this week, a broader critique of his offensive game came from TNT's resident pair of low-post legends: Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley.

    Shaq's eagerness to criticize Dwight Howard is nothing new, and the same holds true for Barkley. The pair of post-play legends took a couple minutes breaking down Howard's flaws on the block, and most of their criticism was on point. But then comes the graphic. The handy infographic that shows that in games in which they played 30 minutes or more, Shaq took less than five field goal attempts just once, Barkely just four times and Dwight Howard…30 times.

    So the topic of this week's discussion is, what do we expect from Dwight Howard?

    Shaq and Barkley's criticism of Howard's offense immediately evokes the biblical phrase, "First take the log out of your own eye." Both players were clearly superior to Dwight Howard on offense. But offense is only half the game. Despite being the most physically dominant player ever, Shaq never led the league in rebounding, never led the league in blocks, and never won Defensive Player of the Year. Howard has achieved those goals 5 times, 2 times and 3 times, respectively. Barkley might prefer that we don't talk about defense at all.

    Surely neither of them want to talk about how the rule change about illegal defense had a massive impact on post play, or about how they both experienced their greatest offensive success before these rules (which have been in effect for the entirety of Howard's career) were changed.

    The conundrum of how to evaluate Howard becomes even more interesting this year when comparing the man to his peers.

    Roy Hibbert is quickly becoming the en vogue player for hoopheads to value over Dwight Howard. The primary reason is that he has proven himself superior at Howard's greatest skill, rim protection, as evidenced by NBA.com's new player tracking data. Combine those number's with Hibbert's more aesthetically pleasing hook shot and his team's success, and Hibbert looks like the center of the future, right? Of course! Just ignore the fact that Howard is a far superior rebounder.

    (Let's pause here and talk about these new rebounding numbers for a minute.  Much has been made of valuing the Contested Rebound stat. It is a good indicator of which guys have the size and strength to pull down boards in a crowd. However, don't let that stat overshadow the fact that rebounding chances per game are created by sound positioning, anticipation and good-old-fashioned hustle. The fight for those "contested" rebounds may be preempted when the other team knows they have already lost good rebounding position).

    Giving Roy Hibbert the nod also requires ignoring offense. Howard currently edges Hibbert in True Shooting percentage (55.3 to 54.8), Assist percentage (7.7 to 7.1), and Turnover percentage (15.9 to 17.6), all while carrying a heavier offensive load (usage rate of 21.7 to 18.8) with the handicap of adjusting to a new offense and new teammates.

    The one huge edge for Hibbert is his (probably unsustainable) 4.6 blocks per game. What all of these numbers lay bare is that despite all of Howard's ballyhooed floundering in the post and at the line, he's still the most complete center in the game.

    As great an individual triumph as was Howard's defeat of the Hack-A-Dwight against Denver this week (shooting 17-24 from the line), I'll leave you with another box score line that best captures Dwight Howard's contributions. After the New York game, the sporting world guffawed as Superman was held to just 5 points and forced into 5 turnovers by Andrea Bargnani. But look down the box score and there they are: 15 rebounds, four blocks, the win.

    We've come to expect Howard to do everything, every night. We want him to be Bill Russell and Shaquille O'Neal every time the lights come on because, once in a while, he is. But most nights he's just some combination of Dennis Rodman, Dikembe Mutombo and Patrick Ewing.  Most night's he's not the greatest center of all time, just one of the greatest. Maybe we can learn to live with that.

     Follow John Eby on Twitter.


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    #2 timetodienow1234567

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    Posted 17 November 2013 - 10:09 PM

    Dwight Howard is simply not a great offensive player, only good. We overlook that as our previous center is Asik(arguably the worst offensive center in the league, if not ever). But his defense and court awareness make up for that. He is the best center in the game nowadays. There's no disputing that unless you're Skip.

     

    But I think it is completely fair for all time greats to point out that Dwight is simply not at their level offensively. 

     

    I also don't think he's one of the greatest centers of all time. It depends on where you draw the line. Is he top 3? NO, Is he top 5? NO, Is he top 10? Maybe, Is he top 20? Yes. Dwight gets a lot of hype and people automatically want to put him in as in the class of Hakeem/Kareem/Shaq/Admiral/etc.... and he obviously isn't yet.


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    Why so Serious? :D


    #3 2016Champions

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    Posted 17 November 2013 - 10:45 PM

    The way defense quickly gets under appreciated in offensively flawed centers is astonishing, even with Asik hardly anyone would consider him a top 10 center.


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    "We're not satisfied with where we're at, but we're optimistic on where things will go from here" - Daryl Morey


    #4 timetodienow1234567

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    Posted 17 November 2013 - 10:55 PM

    The way defense quickly gets under appreciated in offensively flawed centers is astonishing, even with Asik hardly anyone would consider him a top 10 center.

     

    I agree. Asik is definitely top 10. I think he's 6th after Howard/Gasol/Hibbert/Noah/Chandler/Lopez. Back when Ben Wallace played he was constantly underrated as well. 

     

    Unless you were saying that in response to my saying that Dwight is not in that top class of all time greats.


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    #5 Buckko

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      Posted 17 November 2013 - 11:51 PM

      Asik is better than chandler IMO, that's why I consider him a top 5 center.
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      #6 Alituro

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        Posted 18 November 2013 - 02:51 PM

        I think if you were to break down the top centers of all time by era you can put Dwight in the top 10 of all time seeing that he has been the most dominant center for nearly the past decade. With Shaq before him, Hakeem, Alcindor, Wilt, and on down through the eras. Granted that other GOAT center candidates played in those eras as well, I'm just saying that if you rate them by dominance at their position of their respective eras then you have to put Dwight in the top 10.


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        #7 myjohnlai

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          Posted 19 November 2013 - 12:22 AM



          Whether Dwight can fit into this team is still questionable? Harden is not making much progress this season. Who would feed Dwight the ball at the clutch? Are you sure the whole team is supportive to him as much as he was in Orlando.

          Dwight is sensitive, a very sensitive player. He is not stupid. If the Rockets don't have the chemistry of a championship team, he would exercise his option to leave early. Yes, he has the talent. All he needs, he thinks, is a good team.


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          #8 rockets best fan

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            glad you're on board, but I been on this boat since it left

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          Posted 19 November 2013 - 12:29 AM

          Asik is better than chandler IMO, that's why I consider him a top 5 center.

          I agree. that's why I don't understand those who try to discount Asik. we are basically trying to trade Chandler on a better contract


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          you can only warn a man that the bridge is out.....if he keeps driving he's on his own B)


          #9 2016Champions

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          Posted 19 November 2013 - 04:26 AM

          Random wisdom: Who was the better defender between Dwight and David Robinson?


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          "We're not satisfied with where we're at, but we're optimistic on where things will go from here" - Daryl Morey


          #10 timetodienow1234567

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          Posted 19 November 2013 - 04:30 AM

          Robinson was the better overall player.
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          #11 timetodienow1234567

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          Posted 19 November 2013 - 04:30 AM

          I think Dwight is the better defender though
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          #12 2016Champions

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          Posted 19 November 2013 - 04:43 AM

          Random wisdom: Who was the better defender between Dwight and David Robinson?

          Oops I meant to say random question. Anyway I would say it's Dwight. It's not just the defense but the rebounds too. Dwight is a more suitable center to pay small ball with, and that's a very nice luxury especially in today's game. Obviously Robinson was the better overall center for his time though.


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          "We're not satisfied with where we're at, but we're optimistic on where things will go from here" - Daryl Morey


          #13 feelingsupersonic

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          Posted 19 November 2013 - 06:45 AM

          Dwight's story isn't written yet so it's kind of hard to make an honest comparison to The Admiral.


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          #14 rockets best fan

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          Posted 19 November 2013 - 09:08 AM

          Dwight's story isn't written yet so it's kind of hard to make an honest comparison to The Admiral.

          good point


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          you can only warn a man that the bridge is out.....if he keeps driving he's on his own B)


          #15 timetodienow1234567

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          Posted 19 November 2013 - 01:34 PM

          Better defensive player?

          Dwight
          Wallace
          Dikembe
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          Why so Serious? :D


          #16 thejohnnygold

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          Posted 19 November 2013 - 07:46 PM

          Are we talking at their peak or over the entirety of their career?  This makes a difference to me...

           

          Mutombo was a game changer for a very long time--winning followed him everywhere he went...the Nuggets, the Hawks, the Sixers, etc.  He could man the paint by himself and that is a rare thing.  Mutombo also played the majority of his career without a high-caliber PF alongside him (Ratliff/Geiger?  Abdur-Rahim?)  He played from 1991-2009.  He was effective defensively that entire time.

           

          Wallace's window was smaller and really was only relevant for 7 years or so.  Now, during that time he had 2-3 years of game-changing, championship-caliber defense that helped alter the landscape of how GM's viewed the center position (enter Joey Dorsey).  It also helped that Wallace had excellent front court pairings in Rasheed Wallace, Mehmet Okur, Antonio McDyess, and even Cliff Robinson.  All of these players were above average offensively and helped balance out his deficiencies.

           

          I agree that Dwight's story is unfinished....as of now, his career (defensively) is looking similar to Wallace's (although offensively he has eclipsed him).  Player's who rely on elite athleticism come crashing back to Earth once that gift is taken away...this season will probably tell us which side of the proverbial hill Dwight is on.

           

          I realize I haven't proclaimed a victor here.  If longevity is the key factor then it's Mutombo....Championship caliber defense over a short period?  Wallace.  Flat out domination over the course of a single season?  Dwight probably garners this one, but it's really close.

           

          One key stat I always look at when grading a player's defense is # of fouls per game.  (I know that this can mean they were just getting out of the way, but I think we can all agree that is not the case here.)  Dikembe and Ben (especially Ben!) were very good at this with low foul/game #'s.  Dwight, on the other hand has been considerably higher.  Also, so far this season he is at 4.1 fouls/game (I know that rule changes can affect this and most certainly have) which is a mark that neither Wallace or Mutombo ever exceeded.  Wallace's highest was 2.5 and Mutombo's started off rough with a 3.8 his first season and 3.5 3 out of the next 4...after that it was 3.1 or less...usually less.

           

          I can say this--all things held equal--if I could pick one to be the backbone of my team I'd pick Mutombo.


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          #17 2016Champions

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          Posted 20 November 2013 - 02:26 AM

          Better defensive player?

          Dwight
          Wallace
          Dikembe

          Wallace, Dwight, Dikembe


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          "We're not satisfied with where we're at, but we're optimistic on where things will go from here" - Daryl Morey


          #18 DrewinAbilene

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          Posted 20 November 2013 - 03:35 AM

          I thought about weighing in on the Dwight vs. Robinson for defense debate, but I couldn't contribute objectively, due to rewatching this clip of the Dream eviscerating the Admiral. I have no other memories of David playing for the Spurs, other than the look on his face as Hakeem drops shot after shot into the bucket. It's probably my favorite basketball video of all time.


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          #19 timetodienow1234567

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          Posted 20 November 2013 - 03:48 AM

          4.49bpg one year. Dude was legit, but had some bad games against Hakeem.
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          Why so Serious? :D





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