http://www.complex.com/sports/2013/01/jeff-van-gundy-goes-on-an-epic-four-minute-rant-about-dwight-howards-recent-failures-video

http://card.mygamercard.net/lastgame/rjcc.png

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

.

This season and when he was traded to the Rockets proved that.

He's more of a pro than D12, Lamar Odom, etc.

At some point we will be told we're just deflecting all Laker failure blame from Kobe, though

_____________________________________________________________________________
When all else fails, say my name.

but yes, everything JVG said there was true.

____________________________________________________________________________
When all else fails, say my name.

all of the off the court stuff, I agree with what he said

(btw, I didn't click on your link, I'm guessing this was said during yesterday's telecast, which I remember most of)

I take issue with people still glossing over his back injury

and then demanding he do more on the court

I remember some stat like he had played the most games ever through the fist whatever years of his career before being injured

(might have just been for centers, but anyway)

the kid is coming off of back surgery

and leading the league in boards

something like top 5 in blocks and FG%

not sure what more you can reasonably expect from him at this point

is he a goofball

sure

everytime he's interviewed, a voice in my head says

SAY IT WIT YO CHEST DWIGHT, SAY IT WIT YO CHEST

I just can't criticize his on the court performance at this point

D12 at 75%-80% is still the best C in the league

>the kid is coming off of back surgery
>
>and leading the league in boards
>
>something like top 5 in blocks and FG%
>
>not sure what more you can reasonably expect from him at this
>point


>SAY IT WIT YO CHEST DWIGHT, SAY IT WIT YO CHEST

my issues with him are as a man, with him being a sucker, but i don't know how much they really, truly have affected his oncourt performance. his efficiency numbers are down, but they're still really good, and his back is obviously still fucked up.

I think he was on NNL

dude said, and I quote

"I had the same surgery, and I was back playing in 6 weeks"

I mean, c'mon

WTF are we talking about

that would be like Adrian Peterson saying

yeah, I had ACL surgery, and only missed 1 game, I don't know why Rondo has to miss the rest of the season

the way I remember JVG's ramble (no I'm not clicking on the link)

he made some valid points about D12's character

and contradicted some of the on court criticism by dismissing his injury

.

shouldn't be expected of D12. But he definitely slow walked his rehab. I don't think that's up for debate.

As if the management, coach and on court leadership aren't bigger issues.

people are not taking the bad back into account enough, but i don't have it in myself to defend him, because he's so unlikable.

>people are not taking the bad back into account enough, but i
>don't have it in myself to defend him, because he's so
>unlikable.

i think it has had a very negligible impact on his play.

JVG said it - he waffles.

Look, the most important issue right today is chemistry, and if the dude is going to be his Orlando self, then that's a HUGE problem. Nobody is saying "CMON WHY ISNT HE HEALTHY YET". Nobody.

He's playing REALLY well for a guy coming off back surgery.

But his attitude sucks.

>
>He's playing REALLY well for a guy coming off back surgery.
>

Come on man
Hate him or not, dude IS playing well, especially considering the back surgery, the inconsistent touches, and the genius of a coach that he has

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.

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'.

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.

By any reasonable standard that his status has previously set, he kinda sucks right now.

>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

you want to compare D12's personality with Bynum's

nobody mentions that management got the LAL the best C in the league

by replacing a guy that's still not playing

and a complete headcase off the court

what would D12 have to do off the court for this to be an L for the LAL

compared to the alternative of staying with Bynum

it would have to be on the felony level, IMO

being a goofball isn't even close

Just look at what shells said in the game thread yesterday.

there are elements right now about his attitude that I do not like. Primarily him not taking responsibilty.... I mean it wouldn't hurt him to bring up the fact that he's working himself back into condition coming off the back surgery when the issue of his "touches" comes up. He's playing with a hall of fame scorer and other great players..so yeah his touches may be down..but they are also down because of his lack of aggresiveness at times, and if that's part of him coming back from the surgery so early..he needs to say that rather than making like it's because of his teammate(s).

that and also your touches are going to be down if your teammates are wary of you missing FTs at the end of the game....again..that's something that's on him.

I don't like the lack of responsibility with Dwight...


I'm glad we made the move ....Kupchek and the Lakers have always made moves to improve the team when they had the opportunity...and that's all you can ask of a team.

But I don't like the fit right now and would be inclinded to move on from Dwight ......like now.

If Brooklyn would go for a Lopez and Wallace deal for D12 and Run-Run...I'd do it.

>If Brooklyn would go for a Lopez and Wallace deal for D12 and
>Run-Run...I'd do it.

Dwight flaws and all is still the best center in the NBA by a fairly wide margin, no way the Lakers let him go

happened BEFORE he was on the Lakers....

the best center in the nba title comes from things that happened prior to him coming to LA..

the only thing about Dwight that's relevent is what he's doing now...and what he's projected to do moving forward...

he's not playing that well....I'll give him somewhat of a pass for coming back early from back surgery...but there's that..and there's the fact I'm not convinced he wants to be here.

either way..if trading him now will help us as opposed to hoping that if he does leave he'll sign and trade....either way... I could take or leave Dwight right now.

defensive end, and we definitely don't want any part of Wallace's contract

he's in his second system this season with a bad back and a haphazard offense and no perimeter or help defense to speak of. I think he's ahead of the curve, performance-wise.

He just need to go apeshit on people more often off the court.

Kobe has passed the ball & played the role of facilitator 2 str8 games & the Lakers have won both of those game fairly easily relative to the level of competition. Now, will this automatically fix D12s touches? No. He didn't get the ball as much as he probably would have liked vs the Thunder but he can't bitch about if Kobe & everyone else is making the best basketball play (plus he needs to make *some* FTs). If they continue down this path, it will be an equal opportunity offense with the open player getting the shot. D12 still might not get enough touches but the Lakers could be playing a lot better ball & winning more games. If that happens, he has NO right to bitch at that point. Do you job.


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<---- 5....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlgiritpmfo

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Occupy Big Government..

Fannie, Freddie dole out big bonuses
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/67292.html

And for what it's worth, Dwight was also moving the ball well yesterday.

He has a right to complain about touches, especially considering there are 4 quarters in a game.

Jumping (pass) Bean should shoulder the blame for this seasons failure. I watched that dude make jump pass after jump pass in an effort to spread the ball. In each scenario, he still held the ball to create a shot opportunity in the low post or off the dribble only to pass it with 6 or less on the clock.


If he made this much of an effort with the Princeton and didn't act like a baby or actually looked to be the facilitator on offense, then they would have had more success.



All this Dwight bashing is fine for now, but when he doesn't resign and starts next season at 100% with a team looking to get him 10+ touches before the first half is over, then all of the Dwight hate posts will be upped.



Lol at a players character having anything to do with on the court play. Especially from a team with a sociopathic rapist and Pau Gasol's sensitive hurt feelings.

>
>If he made this much of an effort with the Princeton and
>didn't act like a baby or actually looked to be the
>facilitator on offense, then they would have had more
>success.

Was the Princeton offense Kobe's idea, or Mike Brown's? You can't have it both ways...

Nash, Kobe, etc. had to learn it and transition to adapting to what defenses gave LA.

You weren't going to learn an ENTIRE new offense in 6 games, which is why Brown only incorporated elements of it and even then Kobe didn't buy into it...


plain and simple


The offense was designed to get EVERYONE scoring chances and considering you would have Dwight -who can pass- Gasol -who can pass- Nash -who can pass- Artest -who can pass- Jamison -who knows the offense- and Kobe -who is reluctant to pass-

The offense is only good as the weakest link.


You have a guy injured in Nash, a guy playing 75-80% in Dwight, and Kobe anchoring the scoring in your O and Kobe wanted to be Kobe...



All this blaming Dwight and shit is Jeff V sticking up for his brother....


....Dwight was the MAN in Orlando...

...but he didn't command NOR get the most touches until his last season there, though he led the team in scoring and was efficient as shit.


Jeff Van Gundy is a bitch for that rant.


Dwight has put up NUMBERS this season and has had the least amount of touches since his rookie season.

Dwight's career FT% is 58
Shaq's career is 52%

so fuck all that freethrow and not being the go-to guy bullshit.

The Lakers aren't using Dwight correctly and Kobe doesn't want to defer and it's that simple

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--kobe-bryant-goes-back-to-school--lakers-switching-to-princeton-offense.html

...so if Kobe is the one who brought up the Princeton O, then why isn't Eddie Jordan head coaching LA?

Why did it fail, if it was only part implemented from the same offense they ran the previous season...you know the season they lost to OKC in the playoffs?


I thought the problem with LA was defense?

what does any of that have to do with Dwight or touches?


Kobe decided he wants to switch the offense during the off-season and talked Brown into it during an offseason where they trade away Bynum, who is their post scorer, and add Nash and a Center off surgery, and YET Kobe still has a problem with HIS new offense 5 games in when sans Nash, he finds it hard to adjust????

Am I right so far?

So Dwight shouldn't get touches considering he is the best C in the league, because he wasn't the focus of the Princeton nor D'Antonis O and cause he has FT issues.

Gotcha


Meanwhile he lead ORL to the finals with his non FT shooting ass...

You're arguing a bunch of shit that I'm not. So, with that said, bye.

Who is nowhere at fault for the perils of this season.

You get a non FT shooting C at 80% who puts up top numbers while getting the least touches of his career and somehow he doesn't have a right to complain about wanting to actually be involved MORE than he has done, and he is looked down upon from wanting to win?


You don't deserve dude.

the only person in NBA history who could do that...well there are 2....Shaq and Wilt could complain about touches even though they were terrible FT shooters because they had unstoppable offensive games....so it didn't matter much..

dwight is lumbering..his impact is reduced because he's still recovering...but he's also been terrible from the line..

so no..he shouldnt complain about touches.

All the best centers in their Era

All sucked from the line

All 60+% from the field




Yet somehow a team getting in foul trouble trying to stop these guys on the inside somehow hurts your team how?


The only way to stop Dwight is to foul him.


What other team in the league would be dumb enough to no go inside first with Dwight.

>The only way to stop Dwight is to foul him.
>
>

no, just let him do some doofy move and throw up a brick. or let a guard strip him.

you talking like he's some low post virtuoso.

and not a post virtuoso

Jameer and Rafer and nem knew how to get him the ball

Tukeyglue and Rashard too more shots but they still managed to get Dwight the ball and he dominated at center...


...but all of a sudden now he is the problem and now his free throws are the problem.


Nope


Some people complain to complain, hell you can argue Bron not playing to his full potential, but that don't make him no less than the best player in the league.

one of those things is not like the other, fam.

When he said that Gasol can't complain about coming off the bench if Mnu ain't complaining.
The difference is the Spurs were wining. If Gasol was coming off the bench and the Lakers were winning, then he has to shit the fuck up.

But the Lakers were out there getting sonned and he thought he could help. I have no problem with him speaking up in that spot.

He can anchor that 2nd unit nicely.

And he has been. Since he's come off the bench, he's been more cohesive with the 2nd unit and playing in crunch time too.

He's a van gundy. There will be some slander involved. The views expressed by this guy are his and his alone.


----------------------------
Same as it ever was!

Dude needs a talented, veteran team with a system and chemistry in place. All he would have to do is exert his will defensively, and get schooled up by Pop and Timmy on the offensive side.

Dwight doesn't need completely free range because he doesn't know what to do with it. He's not mature enough as a player to lead a team night in and night out (which is a shame cause he's a vet player now). He can't be a go to guy because although is strengths are great, his weaknesses as a player are just as obvious.

If the Fakers build around him, they're gonna need to keep some serious talent on roster.