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Originally Posted by Rob Instigator
Last year Dwight was recovering from surgery no?
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Yes, but that wasn't the issue with pick and rolls. The reality is Dwight doesn't have enough footwork to pull them off consistently as his go-to play which is what most expect. Its not just dunks, the pick and roll requires some great in-the-post footwork and ball control, something Dwight has always been missing. Its why he never needed a great point-guard in Orlando, because he doesn't really pick and roll, its more of a catch and dunk. I am sure that Dwight will have a lot of pick and roll plays in Houston, to question is will he WANT do to that or ENJOY it because he left Lakers because he wasn't enjoying their style of play, which was actually very similar to this version of the Rockets. High paced offense, minimal effort on help defense, and pick and roll the hell out of teams. When the Lakers played their best games with Howard, it was with Howard and Pau Gasol doing what I call "double barrel pick and rolls" attacking from each side or even just barreling up the middle of the lane. THAT is exactly the kind of game that Howard DOESN'T want to play. In Orlanda what Dwight did was drives to the basket and either (a) put up a dunk because he has minimal post-up shooting similar or (b) kick it out to one of Orlando's FOUR three-point shooters. Its a strategy that Miami improvises when they surround Lebron with multiple shooters and call it "spreading the floor"
Dwight spreads the floor fantastically, but it by definition puts the ball in another players hands, something which increasingly Dwight as resented the past few years..
By the way, I am not trying to be hater in the least. Dwight played a great season in LA, we loved to have had him, he bailed out our injury decimated year by helping carry us into the play-offs (keep in mind all the hate on Kobe/Lakers and they STILL haven't missed the play-offs since 2005
). Bytor was right, Kobe has never advanced without a solid big man on the roster, but why is that surprising? VERY few teams if ANY not named the Lebron James era Miami Heat have ever taken small ball to even the Conference Finals let alone the Championship. That is just basketball 101. Its how Rockets got back-to-back Championships in the 1990s, and it is what made the Heat's recent few years so remarkable and so upsetting to the NBA. The Heat have simply revolutionized basketball in a way that will never be the same. Teams will realize with the right combination of athleticism, shooting accuracy, and BALLS you can win not just one, but multiple championships thriving on "small-ball"