Juwan almost ended Derek Anderson's career..... actually, he was never the same after that, similarly to Rudy never being quite the same after Ariza.
All I know is that last season was much worse than this season in shocking injuries and sudden suspensions, forcing our remaining roster to play like heroes. Signed to sub at forward, one of the heroes had to start at center. Juwan Howard should have been the weak point, but he was just as competent as the other starters. When we traded for Camby, our record with Juwan starting was 32-24 (.571). Tonight 13 months later, it is 43-32 (.573). Imagine how much better it would be if Aldridge could concentrate on playing forward. Juwan Howard was the 5th pick in his draft, and the guy is CHEAP. Veteran's minimum. Even after drafting a bunch of players, we had a vacant spot in our front line (one too few up front, one too many guards) because Howard was gone, creating a roster imbalance that survives to this day and causes every loss we have. In posts, I tried to fill the opening with the best player from our Summer League team. I just couldn't understand why we got rid of him when he had successfully started for us. It wasn't because of a roster crush up front. We had too few there, even after the new guys drafted. Look at the last week. Lost to the Lakers because Camby got hurt with a minute left, lost to OKC because Aldridge sucks at center, lost to whomever because we have Wallace trying to play center...same story every loss. Juwan Howard.
1) Juwan only started 27 games. You forgot about all the games Oden started. 2) Juwan's main teammates included Bayless and Webster and they are gone 3) we had Oden, Pendy, Joel, and Aldridge this year. No need for Juwan
1) We won 14 of those 27 (.519) which shows he's a very serviceable center. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/howarju01/gamelog/2010/ 2) He had sucky teammates and they still won? That makes him look better, not worse. 3) No need for a center? You like seeing Aldridge play center 30 minutes a game and Camby 18 minutes? Unless you count Gerald Wallace as a center. You watch the games, right?
I like Juwan. I went to school with Juwan. I love how he played last year. I wish he was still here. BUT when the decision was made, we had three presumably healthy centers (Oden, Joel, Camby) and two serviceable backups for Aldridge (Cunningham & Pendergraph). That's 6 big men including Aldridge. We didn't need him. NOW, it would be nice but it's no longer an option so why bitch about it?
And yes, I watch every game. When we made the Howard decision, no one foresaw what we're dealing with now.
Frankly, I blame the officials. A whistle should have been called after the first elbow. Instead, they were letting a vet on a favored team get away with a cheap shot. Smart move by Wall for hitting him with his elbow; using your fist guarantees a suspension.
I LOVE how everybody on the floor, from both teams, immediately jumped in to either help break things up or stick up for their teammate..... EXCEPT Lebron. Lebron is such a prima donna it is disgusting.
