Is Dwight Howard underrated?

[iggypop123]

just like lebron he gets by with his athleticism. he isnt very good just a freak of nature.

[poop]

hes NOT a great defender.
hes NOT skilled on offense.
hes NOT a great player.

hes a great rebounder.

thats it. the rest of his game is based on pure athleticism...unless hes develops some actual skills (doubtful) he will be a non-factor the second he suffers and injury/his athleticism declines.
his 'offense' is 90% either putback dunks, or dunks off being spoonfed by a teammate. his actual basketball fundamental ability is terrible. cant shoot, sux at freethrows, no post game (incredible considering his physical gifts), no back to the basket game, low passing skills/bbiq.

but hey, like shaq, he still puts up huge numbers.
but-like shaq- its more a factor of his unique physical gifts that from being a 'great player', which technically hes far from.

[Soul]

After I read "hes not a great defender" I stopped reading. Man to man? He's decent - nothing to write articles about - but hes still very very good

[JamStone]

I don't quite understand this criticism that he's getting by only on his athleticism. A lot of NBA players rely on athleticism. Until this "career changing injury" or the actual decline in his athleticism actual happens, so what? Yes, he uses his athleticism. It's that athleticism that helps make him dominate as a rebounder and shot blocker and finisher at the rim. "Oh but wait until he's 33 and his athleticism declines." Well , seems like he has another 10 years to use that great athleticism then.

It's not like he's too old to develop and improve those skills. And, in the meantime, he's still going to pull down 15 rebounds a game and block 3 shots a game and still get anywhere between 15-25 points a game. For someone who relies mostly on his athleticism, that's pretty damn good.

[TampaDude]

I don't quite understand this criticism that he's getting by only on his athleticism. A lot of NBA players rely on athleticism. Until this "career changing injury" or the actual decline in his athleticism actual happens, so what? Yes, he uses his athleticism. It's that athleticism that helps make him dominate as a rebounder and shot blocker and finisher at the rim. "Oh but wait until he's 33 and his athleticism declines." Well , seems like he has another 10 years to use that great athleticism then.

It's not like he's too old to develop and improve those skills. And, in the meantime, he's still going to pull down 15 rebounds a game and block 3 shots a game and still get anywhere between 15-25 points a game. For someone who relies mostly on his athleticism, that's pretty damn good.

^ this

[manufan10]

I think he needs to just work and develop an inside game. He can do it, and he has time to do it. If he can develop that inside/post up game, Dwight will be even more unstoppable. I see him kind of like Tony Parker. Parker has always had the penetration skills, but teams would just move off of him and let him shoot jumpers. He wasn't very good at it, but he worked at it and now he is better. If Dwight can perfect that hook shot, and add some more post up to his game, then I see him being an even greater basketball players. I'm merely suggesting adding to his game to make him even better. As a whole, he is a good player. He can BECOME a dominant/great player by adding more to his game.

[LnGrrrR]

yep I saw him average 21, 13 and close to 3 blocks in leading the magic past Boston

next

Against Kendrick Perkins...

Shaq, Duncan and others would've averaged 25/20 against him lol.

Edit: Additionally, do you think he would've got 21/13 if KG was there? No, because he doesn't have a strong post game.

[LnGrrrR]

my mistake, got mixed up with the series with the Cavs.

Still amazing numbers really.

16 PPG is not amazing, and it's certainly not dominant, unstoppable, or any of the other adjectives you used to describe him.

[Lars]

Overated if anything.

[The_Game]

Against Kendrick Perkins...

Shaq, Duncan and others would've averaged 25/20 against him lol.

Edit: Additionally, do you think he would've got 21/13 if KG was there? No, because he doesn't have a strong post game.

yes he would as with nelson around Dwight would of had even more freedom to do what he wanted inside.

[Ghazi]

I think he's a top 5-6 player.

1. Dirk
2. Lebron
3. Kobe
4. D-Whistle
5. Dwight

[Brazil]

Against the cavs it was at the end of the third I think : DH on the bench -10 playing +18 with limited minutes ! I don't know if he is underated or overated but we can say he is a great player.

[Amaso]

I think he's a top 5-6 player.

1. Dirk
2. Lebron
3. Kobe
4. D-Whistle
5. Dwight

I mean, I know Dirk's won a ring but you can't put him before Kobe and Lebron.

[IronMexican]

He was being sarcastic, Amaso.


Top 5? dunno

1. LeBron
2. Kobe
3. Wade
4. Cp3
5. Dirk
6. Duncan
7. KG

[Soul]

^In the scheme of things he wouldn't be top 5, but he definitely was top 5 last year. Top 3 even.

[Ghazi]

CP whistle? ugh

[HeyIt'sMe]

Perkins is a very good post defender, he gave Yao problems, too. Howard is still extremely young and has plenty of time to develop. People don't remember how raw Hakeem was when he first entered the league and his first few seasons. He didn't develop his great post game until much later in his career, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that Howard develops a respectable post game later on in his career.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

16 PPG is not amazing, and it's certainly not dominant, unstoppable, or any of the other adjectives you used to describe him.

Agreed.


I'd really love to see how offensively "dominant" Howard would be if he played with a traditional power forward that doesn't draw a big body 20 ft. away from the rim and open up the paint like Lewis does. Offensively he's nothing more than a pre-microfracture Amare Stoudemire without the jumper Amare has.

[HeyIt'sMe]

If Howard's "bad" series is 16 PPG, 17 RPG, and 2.8 BPG, than he's in good shape.

[Lars]

Probably the 5th best player in the league atm behind Lebron, Wade, Kobe and Paul.

[wireonfire]

Perkins? HAHAHAHAHA

Perkins has no post skills at all. You even watch basketball?

Perkins is underrated offensively.

[poop]

Perkins is underrated!!!

dwight gets about the correct level of 'rated'

[LnGrrrR]

If Howard's "bad" series is 16 PPG, 17 RPG, and 2.8 BPG, than he's in good shape.

Yes, "good" would be correct to describe him.

Other playoff averages:

Dirk - 26.8 PPG
Pierce - 21 PPG
D. Howard - 19.9 PPG
Duncan -19.8 PPG
Rondo - 16.9 PPG
Stuckey - 15 PPG

If you're scoring around where Rondo and Stuckey are, then you're not having a great series.

Now, overall in these playoffs, he's scoring decently, to be sure. But nothing like a 'superstar'. Heck, Iguadala, Billups, and Boozer outscored him.

He IS a rebounding freak, averaging nearly two more per game than the next closest, Carlos Boozer. But most people would not call 'rebounding' part of a post game. That would speak more to athletic ability, IMHO.

Again, when he develops a GOOD post game, speak to me about being a superstar. Right now, he might break my Top Ten due to his defense, but his offense could be alot better with some moves in the paint.

[dirk4mvp]

Probably the 5th best player in the league atm behind Lebron, Wade, Kobe and Paul.

lol

[Obstructed_View]

He was very good in overtime tonight, but he's still not nearly as good as he should be. He puts up great numbers, it's true, and his team is all but in the NBA finals, but anybody that watches him can see that he has no post game, can't handle pressure defense, loses his cool, makes dumb fouls and is completely useless if he's more than 4 feet from the rim.

So I guess I don't know if he's "overrated" or "underrated", but I know damn good and well he's not nearly as good as he could be, despite his gaudy numbers. If he had half the fundamentals that Tim Duncan had by the same age I guess he'd be averaging 30 and 20.