Dwight Howard Discussion: The Taiwan Terror

Not to bring up an old topic and obviously I don’t want to get political, but I couldn’t help but think of Dwight after the Aaron Rodgers story broke yesterday.

The media asked Aaron Rodgers before the season if he was vaccinated, to which he coyly responded “Yes I’ve been immunized”. Turns out he has NOT been vaccinated, and only received some other homeopathic treatment (ie, something without any scientific evidence behind it).

Reminded me of Pelinka specifically saying that by the start of the season, the team would be “considered fully vaccinated”.

And then at media day, Dwight (who had previously been vocal against vaccines) flat out refused to say anything about the vaccine. Not even a simple yes or no.

Would not be a good look if it turned out Dwight simply did something similar to Rodgers, and our FO mislead how they report his vaccination status to the NBA.

Of course this is baseless speculation on my part though.

 

isn't dwight famous for "nohomeo"?

i'll see myself out.

 

I don't know, but he is known for being very hands on with teammates.

 

Looked great as soon as he came in the game. Really disrupted OKC's offense. Guess the neck is still stiff? Only reason I can think of as to why he didn't get more burn later in the game.

 

Loved the energy and toughness Dwight brought tonight.

 

Dwight needs to start being nice to the refs or something to get his rep changed.
He's honestly been terrific as the backup C and you can see that he likely can replicate his bubble role despite being 2 years older. Even if he doesn't score he does all the little stuff you want out there: Defense both as rim protector and able to stay on smaller guys, rebounds, hustles, etc.

But if he gets getting cheap fouls, you can't use him

 

my final rant on the game: i don't like what i'm seeing or hearing from howard. he's clearly got beef with AD, imo, and that's not good. at one point, it was clear that AD wanted to talk to him about a problem on defense, and he just flat out ignored him, very purposefully. pair that with his "humility" rant (just f***ing priceless from that guy), and i'm worried about the dynamic there.

i realize this is an unpopular opinion because AD has whipping boy and howard has achieved golden boy status, but that's what i saw, and i know which horse i'd back.

hopefully, lebron or russ can step in before it festers further.

 

He certainly seems grumpier this time around and equally frustrated at teammates, refs, and opponents at all times.

I think he and AD are OK. I think the were good last time D12 was here, it's a downgrade in relationship status. They looked like they were joking around right before tip.

Keep in mind that when Rondo addressed their fight, he said they're fine but also said they're not that close. I think AD is much closer to DJ.

I know DJ is the chosen whipping boy for the season, but I don't think Dwight has been much better (averaging half of what he did last year) . Definitely not enough distance between the play of the two to warrant this thread getting ignored while DJ's will get 2 pages filled with how s***ty he was.

I think both are adequate enough to get us to the playoffs and then AD can take over from there.

 

He's not playing much, and despite what athletes say, when they are capable and don't get run, it bothers them.

Yes, he knew what he signed up for, but doesn't mean he's enjoying it now.

4.3/4.7 Points/Rebounds in 14 minutes a game. He knows he can give more. AND he's been working on his 3 ball.

 

despite appearances, he hasn't been effective enough in those 14 minutes to really justify bumping it up.

one could argue that he deserves a shot to supplant dj as the starter, but dj only plays 14 minutes, too, and he's been better in his minutes (hard to parse now whether that's because he gets more time with the starters, but we haven't been great to start halves anyway).

also, he only played 18mpg for us before, and 17 last year for philly.

 

dawite is trying to play 90's era basketball out there. You can get away with it at times during the playoffs (IE against jock itch in the WCF in the bubble) but dawite has quickly earned himself a "rep" and his constant complaining only exacerbates the problem.

In fact complaining is an issue for the whole team but dawite is one of the worst when it comes to it.

The hard play, intensity and focus on defense is sorely needed. He just needs to tone things down so he can remain on the floor.

 

love having two big dudes to block a shot, board, and just raise the general physicality for a combined 30mpg. i wish some of dwight's exuberance rubbed off on dj and some of dj's discretion rubbed off on howard. but they're vet mins.

i also wish both were marc gasol. thank you good night.

 

Dwight can still play some good Big man D which is not not important.

 

Turns out Dwight is an Island Boy. He should be permanently benched LMBO.