ESPN: Portland among "favorites" for Dwight Howard in Free Agency

We're going to keep hearing rumors like this until he signs with someone since we have all of this money to spend.

 

Your edit is a joke right?
There is also a Theory that if your guard gets the rebound. The transition offense is then started right away because it means you don't need an outlet pass.
How many HoF guards should I name that did this? Or how many HoF players that do this in todays NBA? An outlet pass from a big is ONE WAY to start a fastbreak, it's far from the only way.
Harden gets the rebound. Curry is left in a trail position behind Howard and it's effectively minimum 5 on 4 fastbreak. Simple basketball.

I guess you think giving up a layup is better than at the very least Harden knocking the ball out of bounds right. alright......
It's not defense... It's a rebound.
A rebound where the Rockets have two players in good position. One is getting a solid fundamental box out. The other isn't being boxed out at all.... He's watching.... He could make the same play from the stands.
There are many things I could say to address your post. I'm going to choose to ignore most of it because it offers nothing to the discussion.
I see the things Howard does. He is a baby, but this specific play is far from Howard's fault. Most of the Rockets team are babies. It starts at the top.
To claim otherwise means you're wearing blinders due to being a fan of the team. Which is fine it's your team you're allowed. I'm sorry but it just is the way it is.

 

That's one of the sillier things I've seen you post. Minimal improvement? Seriously?

 

Also, being in the league is not the same as PLAYING in the league. CJ's been in the league three years, but this is basically his first year playing in the league. I consider both Meyers and CJ to have 1.5 years of experience.

 

Ewww no thanks

 

You're right, he went from completely worthless to only somewhat worthless. He no longer has to have his butt glued to the bench. He can come into the game and play 5-10 minutes. Woohoo!

Look at what CJ has accomplished in the past three seasons. Look at what Allen Crabbe has accomplished in the past three seasons. Meyers just hasn't improved as steadily as the others.

 

Question: did you like Przybilla?
Question: how long did it take Przybilla to become a semi-decent player? (I honestly don't know.)

I think Meyers already has a bigger positive impact on the game than Joel ever did. And I liked Joel.

 

Man I don't know what else to say. Harden wasn't in good position to get that rebound. End of story. He was in position to play defense on the layup attempt, but not to get the rebound. Terry was in position to prevent Curry from getting it, in fact look at the play again and look at who Dwight blames for it, he looks immediately at Terry. I'm not sure how you think that was good position for Harden unless you think that he's allowed to crash into two players or just jump over them and meet the ball at it's height. Everyone else, JVG, Jackson, Breen all saw what pretty much everyone else saw of this play at the time. Howard got punked by a PG for a rebound. Period.

What instead happens is that Howard...1v1 against Curry...lost a rebound. Your post makes excuses for Howard losing 1v1 against Curry to instead blame Harden 100% (your words) for that rebound. You can call me bias for the Rockets and I'll call you bias against them and Harden and we can call it even. I'm going to ignore the rest of the post about the Rockets being "Babies" because it too offers nothing to the discussion except to prove that maybe you aren't as unbiased as you may think.

Also no my Edit isn't a joke. Maybe you should talk to Charles about it, maybe you know more about playing basketball than him but he made the case that a PG should not be fighting your big for a rebound. Your example is not the example here, for Harden to have got that rebound he would had to have fought Dwight for the Rebound since the Rebound was coming right his way.

 

As ridiculous as it was for Howard to get boxed out by Curry, it was about equally ridiculous that Curry was surrounded by three Rockets and he was the one to come away with the board. Acting like it was Harden's job to stand there and stare is a little silly. He wasn't leaking out to run the break off Howard's outlet--he was doing what he generally does when he doesn't have the ball in his hands: nothing.

Also, credit Barkley all you want for his 0n-court play, but he's pretty much the last guy I want advice from on basketball strategy.

 

I'm going to task both of you then with watching what guards do when a big is battling for the boards, it usually is either leaking out or standing right there where Harden is to get the ball handed off to him. Howard's job is to get rebounds, it's not their job to secure rebounds unless that is to put a body on another guard sneaking in like that to cause havoc. It is Howard's job and despite the numbers he puts up he does a poor job of controlling the boards.

We all can agree to disagree but I know all three of our commentators would have said "What is he doing down there fighting Dwight for that rebound, let him have it!" because it's what they usually say when it happens once or twice a game. In fact Clyde would often say that Hakeem would berate you if you fought him for a rebound. The reason they are standing around is because it is Dwight vs Curry for a rebound and that should have been a sure thing. The rebound with where it was at was going to one person, Dwight or Curry.

For Harden or Terry to come in would mean that they would have to meet the ball at it's height and take it from them because they are both right under the ball. Terry or Harden don't have the reach or hops to do such a thing. Why don't you also blame the Warriors? The Warriors were all getting back on defense because I bet they all thought in that moment to concede the rebound and get back on defense against a team that likes to run.

 

Rockets lack defense period...it's spreading through the team. Chemistry, coaching, something needs to change to get that franchise back on track. Harden is a rare talent that just doesn't seem to give a shit about making his team better..a paycheck allstar. When guys don't like each other, it usually ends up hurting the team.

 

Most teams concede offensive rebounds these days, to improve their transition defense. The Spurs have been a proponent of that for years. It has nothing to do with defensive rebounding.

 

It's a coaching chemistry thing definitely. As for Harden it's very hard to say that about him literally any other year. When he's around other talented players such as OKC or team USA all he did was sacrifice his role and shots. It's like everyone that says Harden isn't a winner has completely forgot about the rest of his career and are judging him on this one year.

My point is many players concede rebounds any ways. Whether it is the team objective to get out and run or get back, If the ball bounces away from you and there are players in your way it's not for the player to jump through guys to get the rebound.

Again, if you want to blame Harden for not defending the layup then yes. But the rebound?

 

While I LOVED Przybilla's attitude, he is somewhat overrated in the forum.

 

He was fan favorite and probably gets a bit of a homer view but that dude brought it every night when we sucked and when we were good. His defense was upper echelon in the league at the time.

 

Jeff Van Gundy... Mark Jackson... Chuck.... LOL you're trying to use these guys? LOL I don't even know what to say.
I find that pretty comical.
Believe what you want, defend your team it's your right. You don't even have to make valid points because it's your team.
If I'm biased against Harden according to you, but the majority of people are saying the same thing about Harden... But you disagree with the majority, because the Rockets are your team... Who is wearing blinders? The haters, or the fans.

Howard could have worked harder, he could have knocked Curry on his ass, he could have done this or that. I don't care at least he's got his arms up trying to get a rebound while being boxed out. It's pretty annoying to jump while being boxed out just an fyi. Maybe you should try it.
Athleticism doesn't come into play because Curry catches the ball at net level...(so like 8 feet?)
Harden just stood there and watched...
How you think Terry(who isn't in the lane and is 2-3ft behind Howard) is in better rebounding position than someone with two feet in the lane & one in the restricted is just... I can't even think of a word for it.. I guess I have to go with wrong.
It doesn't matter how much basketball knowledge someone has. At the very least contest the rebound instead of letting Curry(who again catches the ball under the rim) get a wide open layup when you have perfect position to at least knock the ball out of bounds... resetting your defense.
Quick basketball question. Fresh 24 for the offense is better than giving up 2 points because you're lazy right?
It can't be described anyother way it's lazy...
Okay so there are people on the forums who criticize everything Lillard does right, or wrong. It's always his fault.
Yet when CJ makes the same mistake or a worse mistake they ignored it completely. They even ignore it when others ask them about it.
This is what it sounds like for you... When you talk about Harden/Howard. Harden can't do anything wrong even when he is making mistakes. Howard is always wrong regardless if he made mistakes or not.
It's your right. It's your team. You don't have to give equal criticism.

Harden is wrong in this play, theres no other way around it.
Even casual fans who don't care are looking at the beard before howard.

 

Seriously? You are laughing at the opinion of Jeff Van Gundy? A NBA coach that has an extensive coaching tree and has coached his team to the finals? Jeff Van Gundy has forgotten more about basketball than both of us combined.

Majority of what people? Fans?
I'll believe what people around the game say about Harden. The players voted him the MVP and coaches continue to honor him with Team USA selections and all-star selections seems to think they think the world of Harden and him as player. Fans thought Kobe was a selfish prick me ball player too that would quit on his team every now and then and it really doesn't make them right. Dirk was a softie choker. I really find the narratives fans hold onto sometimes to be waaay off.

So the Haters are wearing blinders here. Harden has accomplished a ton in his career outside of MVP and a Championship. He's accomplished more than Tmac or Yao ever accomplished and just gets crapped on for basically having one bad season.

Athleticism comes into play for Curry and Dwight because they are directly under the ball. You keep ignoring this fact. The ball isn't going to bounce Harden's way and there is no need for him to go crashing into Dwight and Curry for a rebound that is not near him...and Terry was even further away and further out of position. If Terry had any inclinations to get that rebound then he would have stopped Curry. How do I know this? Because the Rockets were dumb enough to think that Terry could guard Curry and that was Terry's man. 100% fact on that.

You are more worried about if I have a bias then addressing the issue here. One, that ball was for Curry/Dwight. Everyone else on the court reacts this way and everyone that seen this play talks about it in this way. Two, some bigs do not like fighting their guards for rebounds. I can tell you certainly I've seen every Rocket game there is. Dwight will fight his guards and even visibly get upset when they come in crashing in and steal his rebounds. That's Dwight as I said Hakeem was the same way, it's not exactly a bad trait(unless you get schooled by a PG on how to box out), it is what it is. Except that Hakeem wasn't passive aggressive and he had complete control of the paint and no one on either team doubted this. There is no contesting that rebound, it wasn't in his vicinity and the ball was always dropping between Curry or Dwight.

I never said Harden was perfect (I said he should have defended the layup...) and could do no wrong but going by some fans opinion on him he's a bum, lazy loser who is completely incapable of playing on a team is quite frankly silly. If that's your opinion of him then you are going to have to explain his success as a player, why he's named captain of the FIBA USA team, why he's selected for said team, why he stuck on the bench at OKC despite being asked to start, why his team went to the WCF last year, why the players voted him as MVP....if after all this you think Harden is a lazy player that is incapable of playing team ball then perhaps you are the biased one who won't allow your opinion on a player to change.

 

I loved Przybilla. Leonard is not Przybilla. They're not even remotely the same type of player. And we didn't draft Joel. We signed him.

Meyers is Channing Frye.

 

Not remotely interested in Howard. I say we shoot for Whiteside and LeBron

 

Exactly my point. Meyers is a completely different player than Joel, and because it's largely seen as offense vs defense at C everyone loves Joel and hates Meyers.. But Meyers provides a bigger impact on the game. Joel is Ed Davis - at their best they affect the defensive end and that's the extent of their impact. And even on defense they often have little impact. Meyers doesn't always, but CAN affect the game on both ends of the court. But because of a few surface flaws everyone hates him.
Joel was so overrated, and Meyers is equally underrated.