Is Dwight Howard a skillful player?

[JamStone]

If Ben Wallace could hold onto the ball, he could have scored 13 points a night with the Pistons without much of a problem.

But you're right; 13 isn't 21. Although I wouldn't oversell the "many other athletic players" argument; there are a lot of Stromile Swifts and Amir Johnsons with his agility, and a lot of Rasho Nesterovics and Kendrick Perkinses with his bulk, but few who have both.

It's hard to be a bad basketball player with those kinds of gifts. It's to Howard's credit that he's become more than not-bad, but he's not yet great.

"Not a bad basketball player" or just a "good basketball player" is one thing when a player possesses those gifts. Dwight Howard is not just "not a bad basketball player." He's dominant. Stromile Swift is a great example and I almost used him. He obviously doesn't have the bulk and strength, but his athleticism is very comparable. And, look at Emeka Okafor. He's able to dominate defensively with his size and strength and above average athleticism (not elite, but above average), but he is closer to Ben Wallace than D12 on offense. DeSagana Diop, size, strength, and athleticism are all elite. Where is that kid Mohamed Saer Sene who had an unbelievable size, strength, athleticism combination a few drafts ago? Look at Ronny Turiaf who has above average athleticism and strength and he's a role player. I grant you that Dwight Howard has world class elite level athleticism and strength, so it's hard to find a spot on comparison. But, even with that, to be able to put up 20+ points takes more than just those things. Cuz, , if it's just about size and strength and athleticism, some NBA teams needed to sign the Undertaker from the WWE years ago.

[MI21]

Howard has some skills alright. In the obvious skills such as shooting, dribbling, passing and so on he needs work, but he has some of the small, yet very important parts of the game down.

He has incredible timing on blocked shots, which is a great skill for a bigman to have. He gets his blocks without sacrificing rebounding position because if he goes for it, he usually gets it. He has fantastic hands on both ends. Another underated part of any bigmans game. He can use his left hand around the hoop very well, probably better than his right hand. His power move left in the post for the baby left hook is actually very effective. He has pretty good footwork as well, doesn't travel when using spins or on quick steps to the hoop. Obviously his power game and athleticism is still a skill, and we all know about that.

The guy has skill, he just has no range at all and probably the worst thing, absolutely no handles. If he had handles like Amare Stoudamire, he would average 25 a game even with his limited post moves and little range. Fix the passing out of double teams and dribbling, and all of a sudden the lack of post moves will not matter.

[SpursDynasty]

I was having this argument with many people today. I said Dwight is a beast but he does not have great skill. He cannot shoot, his low post moves are not that developed or diverse and his defense is only good.

I said he relies only on athleticism, but he is still a force because his athleticism is off the charts. They said I was crazy and kind of mis-construed what I was saying, taking it as bashing him. What does everyone think?

Dwight Howard is probably among the least skilled in the league. I'd take Matt Bonner and Jacque Vaughn on my team before Dwight Howard.

[DPG21920]

Dwight Howard is probably among the least skilled in the league. I'd take Matt Bonner and Jacque Vaughn on my team before Dwight Howard.

That is just dumb, and that was not the point of the thread. I would take Dwight over most. It was just the differing definitions of skill. Jamstone and some others think certain things are skills where as I see it differently. But to deny the impact Dwight has is just silly.