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>He's a turnover machine, he's got no bounce (this I'll give >him a pass due to the back but I'm not convinced it's >returning to the point that made him special ever again), he's >got zero post moves (never did really), he isn't impacting the >game defensively (again, back has something to do with that >but again it's pretty clear his biggest attribute was his >freakish athleticism that's not seemingly returning anytime >soon), his free-throws are worse than ever (that ain't the >back, that's the head) and his mental makeup/approach is >questionable at absolute best. I'll concede that.
>The only good things you can say about Dwight Howard right now >come with a caveat, like 'he's playing well for being in a new >system while still not being fully healthy' or 'he's still the >best center in the league, by default'. Well, again, being on that team, what #'s did you expect? Even at nowhere near his capability he's still putting up dominant #'s. You can't expect his #'s to be the same witnessing the system (or lack thereof) that the Lakers are running. He's got way too many people that have earned the right to take more shots than anyone in Orlando ever has. So he's not gonna get those same point totals. He still leads the league in rebounding and is top 5 in blocks, all on a broke back. That's still very good production
>But 'playing well' by any even close to relative scale, he's >really not. > >He's giving you 16 & 12 while being a locker-room issue, not >being the defensive player folks advertise & having to be >hidden late in games. He's not the only locker room issue though. As for defense, nobody was playing defense on that team, including Howard. He didn't really get to practice with the team, and now he's got a coach that doesn't give a shit about defense
>By any reasonable standard that his status has previously set, >he kinda sucks right now. That's the key though...he's not playing well by D12 standards, but he's still the best center. You can say the same thing about Deron Williams, who's putting up 18 & 8 on a winning team, and shooting as well as Russell Westbrook, but he's having a bad year...that's just by the standards HE set.
To say he "sucked" is a big stretch though. I'm not gonna say you're wrong, but I would just argue that he only sucks compared to the standard he already set. He sucks by D12 standards makes sense. But overall, I'd argue Gasol has sucked way more than Howard
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