[BOS/ORL] - Eastern Conference, Round 2

Who wins?

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O

Oprostaj

Bench
#63
#63
4cwebb said:
I'm just glad that my rooting interest is only in the Celtics losing. If I were actually a Magic fan, I'd have wanted to jump off a building more times than I can count the last two games.

One thing I find frustrating - when the Magic were running the pick and roll with Howard at the top of the key in the 4th quarter of game 5, not once could the person handling the ball get the ball to Howard on the roll, even if he was open at the top of the lane. I wonder if they don't trust him with the ball that far from the basket, but in any event, it gave the Celtics defense time to rotate, and the Magic ball handlers could not exploit the rotations and make a pass that lead directly to an open shot. Why keep running the same play if it's not working? Terrible coaching and execution all the way around, including the late turnover where they finally tried to get Howard the ball on the roll, but they waited until he could just dunk it if he caught it, and that was too late. If the passer looks the Ray Allen down into the lane and instead passes it to Redick, Redick has an open 18 foot jumper instead of a turnover.

And I'll add a +1 for each comment relating to Howard's lack of a post game. It's not too late for him to develop one, but if he doesn't do so soon, he's going to be the next Amare Stoudemire (on offense only) that is only one knee injury away from losing his effectiveness. Perkins and Howard are close to the same age, and Perkins has much better footwork in the post than Howard, which is a shame considering all of Howard's physical ability.
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He's nowhere near Stoudamire, which is the sad part. He does not have the offensive repetoire, just the physical tools. I do agree about the inury, and it would limit him even more. He is wiry for a center. Strong, yes, but man Perkins totally neutralizes him, which is scary. This is a leage devoid of great big men, even more so of ones that are good defensively. Throw in the fact that nobody is as athletic as him at his position (and very few overall) and he gets labeled as the great dominant center. Watching these past few games I really wonder how he put up those offensive stats during the season. Are the Cs screwing with their plan so bad that he's flummoxed, or have we just seen him tumble down a peg?

BTW, as much as I hate Hollinger, he's got a great story up on ESPN. Howard only took, on average, about 12.2 shots a game during the regular season. His griping made it sound like he only took 2 last game. He needs to shut the hell up and find other ways to be effective in that case. The coach did screw him royally by not even featuring him in the offense, but I think that Van Gundy just does not trust him. Every big play has been handled by the shooters for them in these playoffs, and I don't think that's a coincidence. Like stated before, he needs a post game, and pronto. With his form and overall game, I don't see him developing a face up game a'la Tim or Stoudamire, or McDyess. He needs to bulk up a bit, get wider and get a stronger, thicker base (think Love) and actually go through opposing Centers. Otherwise, he's a turnover waiting to happen. DPOY definitely, but at best the 3rd option on that Magic team, and that's being optimistic.
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#66
#66
How important do you think it is that SVG was essentially called out by Dwight Howard for poor decision-making down the stretch???
 
kingsnation

kingsnation

All-Star
#67
#67
Well Howard had 10 shots total in Game 5, and equaled that total in the first half alone in Game 6. Right now, it hasn't made much a difference, they are still losing. There is definitely pressure on SVG right now since D12 is the face of Orlando franchise.
 
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bigbadred00

Starter
#72
#72
Looks like Howard can rebound and make some shots. If he hit some FTs tonight he could have been really effective. Perkins is one of the few centers in the league that really bugs Howard. Him and Yao. They are both 280+. Despite Dwight's issues he still averages 20 ppg but is a monster man to man D, help D and rebounding. I think we forget he's only 23. He's been in the league for 5 seasons but is still young and still ha sbeen growing. He's gotten much better than he started out as.
 
O

Oprostaj

Bench
#73
#73
bigbadred00 said:
Looks like Howard can rebound and make some shots. If he hit some FTs tonight he could have been really effective. Perkins is one of the few centers in the league that really bugs Howard. Him and Yao. They are both 280+. Despite Dwight's issues he still averages 20 ppg but is a monster man to man D, help D and rebounding. I think we forget he's only 23. He's been in the league for 5 seasons but is still young and still ha sbeen growing. He's gotten much better than he started out as.
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He can but he's not consistent. He's been in the leauge for 5 years and has shown minimal improvement in his skillset. He has matured greatly in his physcal tools, but that was a given once his job became being the strongest and fastest while having access to the facilities and coaches available to players. If you watched the game tonight, I'm sure you asked yourself at least once, "Why doesn't he do this every night?" He can. That's his biggest drawback. For as many balls he puts into the 20th row, he misses a switch or does not pick up his guy that runs baseline. He just needs to shut the hell up, keep his head down and work his *** off. And someone needs to get him a big man coach, pronto. His footwork is that of a high schooler. He's got happy feet and has no idea what to do unless he's deep in the paint. His only "move" when he's facing the basket is a fake to the left and then he runs toward the middle to throw that baby hook or dunk it. His ceiling is still high, but I'm just afraid of how little he has improved offensively his years in the leauge.
 
B

bigbadred00

Starter
#74
#74
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/howardw01.html

Pretty sure you are just using some sort of sampling bias. He does have issues with Perkins, but he's a very good and very big defender. Obviously he has offensive issues but I'm pretty sure your making out of them being bigger than they actually are. He has 1 bad game, he is averaging 17/17 this series and 2.3 blocks per game. I don't know how much more is expected of him. Last round he averaged 24/16 but against a much easier post defender. If he plays Z in the next round or the Lakers in the Finals (highly unexpected for either) I expect him to have much less problems than he is having with Perkins. Statisically he's also the best defender in the league now. For all the errors he has, he is still the best using stats or seeing the voting this year. His footwork is definitely not impressive and his post game isn't either. But it's not like he can't work on those. It's the difference between a top 5-7 player which he is now to a top 3 if he can improve that. He's only 23 and a 2 time all-nba first teammer and the youngest DPOY ever.
 
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