Dwight Howard & the 4th Quarter

[JoeTait75]

Here are Superman's numbers for the 4th quarter of March 17th's game @ Cleveland and March 25th's game vs. Boston:

@ Cleveland: 0-of-0 shooting, 0 points, 4 rebounds

vs. Boston: 0-of-4 shooting, 0 points, 4 rebounds

In both games, the Magic scored fewer points in the 4th than in any other quarter. They blew a second-half lead in Cleveland, and frittered away almost all of a 16-point third-quarter lead against Boston before hanging on to win. In both games, cold-shooting perimeter-oriented forwards monopolized the ball instead of Howard (Rashard Lewis in Cleveland; Hedu Turkoglu against Boston.)

My question for the esteemed minds here at Spurs Talk: who is more at fault for Orlando's best player not being a part of the offense at the most crucial period of games? Is it the scheme? Or is it Dwight Howard, for not being more assertive and demanding the ball in crunch time? I'm leaning toward the latter myself, but what does everyone else think?

[BUMP]

its Howard's fault, why cant he just demand they give him the ball in the huddle? If he's double-teamed constantly thats a different story

[dirk4mvp]

I like the guy alot, but he has absolutely no killer instinct.


I think he'd rather laugh about barely missing a hook shot using his off hand than not laughing about making one with his good hand.

[JamStone]

Combination of things. I think SVG is hesitant to give Howard the ball late in close games because he doesn't trust him at the free throw line. I think Howard himself is a little hesitant to demand for the ball for the same reason. Earlier in the season, this was when Jameer Nelson would take over as a big shot maker and a very steady free throw shooter. Plus, you have a guy like Hedo Turkoglu who likes the ball in his hands and wants to take big shots, whether he makes them or not. It's a combination of a lot of things, but as your stats point out, it's pretty ridiculous that he would have absolutely no points in the entire fourth quarters of those two games.

[BUMP]

i like the guy alot, but he has absolutely no killer instinct.
i think he'd rather laugh about barely missing a hook shot using his off hand than not laughing about making one with his good hand.

+1

[JoeTait75]

I like the guy alot, but he has absolutely no killer instinct.

I like him too. He seems like a nice kid. But that might be part of his problem. He's standing out there with a smile on his face while Hedu, Rashard and Skip to My Lou shoot his team into trouble. He needs to get pissed.

In Dwight's defense, his defense and rebounding were a major factor in Orlando getting the win last night. But damn, that dude needs the ball a of a lot more down the stretch.

[timvp]

All Howards suck in the fourth quarter.

[IronMexican]

He needs to demand the ball like Shaq did. Who cares if no one likes you for it.

[dirk4mvp]

Although he was pretty funny on The Jungle today.

[Morg1411]

Combination of things. I think SVG is hesitant to give Howard the ball late in close games because he doesn't trust him at the free throw line. I think Howard himself is a little hesitant to demand for the ball for the same reason. Earlier in the season, this was when Jameer Nelson would take over as a big shot maker and a very steady free throw shooter. Plus, you have a guy like Hedo Turkoglu who likes the ball in his hands and wants to take big shots, whether he makes them or not. It's a combination of a lot of things, but as your stats point out, it's pretty ridiculous that he would have absolutely no points in the entire fourth quarters of those two games.

I think you nailed it. That's the biggest thing they're missing about Jameer Nelson, because he was consistently Captain Crunchtime in the 4th quarter. Alston is a fine PG, but I still don't see Orlando getting far in the playoffs without Nelson, or without Howard taking over Nelson's mindset. Howard seems to perform well primarily when there's still a cushion in the game and his mistakes don't matter as much (i.e. the first three quarters of the game).

[Agloco]

all howards suck in the fourth quarter.

+1