Dwight Howard says he had a better prime than Nikola Jokic

[SaltyMeatballs]

Dwight beat LeBron because LeBron was playing with absolute trash.

Exactly. LeBron was going off in that series. His supporting cast wasn't doing jack

[warriorfan]

You really add to this forum, don't you? Fascinating contribution.

lmfao

Dwight beat LeBron because LeBron was playing with absolute trash.

It was good enough to get 66 wins in the East. I guess the entire conference was trash then.

The Magic were starting an and1 point guard, lol

[AlternativeAcc.]

Exactly. LeBron was going off in that series. His supporting cast wasn't doing jack

Magic shot 41% from 3 in that series on far more attempts than Cle, who only shot 32%,


This idea that Dwight's numbers would go crazy in todays game because of increased spacing is nonsense. He had elite spacing already. It's his defensive game that would take a major hit in todays league if anything, due to increased 3pt shooting league wide forcing him out of the paint.

[1987_Lakers]

It was good enough to get 66 wins in the East. I guess the entire conference was trash then.

Warriors got 73 wins in 2016 and we all know what happened.

[TheMan]

Magic shot 41% from 3 in that series on far more attempts than Cle, who only shot 32%,


This idea that Dwight's numbers would go crazy in todays game because of increased spacing is nonsense. He had elite spacing already. It's his defensive game that would take a major hit in todays league if anything, due to increased 3pt shooting league wide forcing him out of the paint.

Changing the subject, g'head and tell me who's winning tonight, Nostradamus?

[RRR3]

lmfao



It was good enough to get 66 wins in the East. I guess the entire conference was trash then.

The Magic were starting an and1 point guard, lol

They got 66 wins because of peak LeBron. One man teams can dominate a regular season but not the playoffs. Not that you’d know about one man teams because Steph has never been on one since he became a star. God you’re dumb.

[RRR3]

Warriors got 73 wins in 2016 and we all know what happened.

Commence him sobbing Draymond wasn’t allowed to play MMA

[Im Still Ballin]

Magic shot 41% from 3 in that series on far more attempts than Cle, who only shot 32%,


This idea that Dwight's numbers would go crazy in todays game because of increased spacing is nonsense. He had elite spacing already. It's his defensive game that would take a major hit in todays league if anything, due to increased 3pt shooting league wide forcing him out of the paint.

2009 Orlando shot 49.5% on two-point shots. 2023 Orlando shot 53.9%. The three-point attempt rate went up by 2.6% too, and Orlando is ranked 22nd out of 30.

So, let me get this straight. League-wide 2pt % goes up like 7.5%, the three-point rate goes up significantly, and pick-and-roll frequency increases... Yet Dwight wouldn't see an increase in his shooting percentage?

We have guys like Mason Plumlee and Nick Claxton shooting damn near 70% on 6-8 two-point field goals. Deandre Ayton scoring more efficiently and taking more two-point shots than Dwight? Come on, man. Look at this page; filter by 2pt%.

https://www.basketball-reference.com..._per_game.html

Dwight would be doing like 65-70% FG on 11+ attempts per game. If Nick Claxton is doing 70.8% on 7.7 attempts, prime Dwight is doing better.

I don't think you understand. 2009 Orlando would be a below-average protomodern team. Almost all of the teams in the league shoot more threes relatively speaking. Set more screen and rolls too.

[RRR3]

2009 Orlando shot 49.5% on two-point shots. 2023 Orlando shot 53.9%. The three-point attempt rate went up by 2.6% too, and Orlando is ranked 22nd out of 30.

So, let me get this straight. League-wide 2pt % goes up like 7.5%, the three-point rate goes up significantly, and pick-and-roll frequency increases... Yet Dwight wouldn't see an increase in his shooting percentage?

We have guys like Mason Plumlee and Nick Claxton shooting damn near 70% on 6-8 two-point field goals. Deandre Ayton scoring more efficiently and taking more two-point shots than Dwight? Come on, man. Look at this page; filter by 2pt%.

https://www.basketball-reference.com..._per_game.html

Dwight would be doing like 65-70% FG on 11+ attempts per game. If Nick Claxton is doing 70.8% on 7.7 attempts, prime Dwight is doing better.

I don't think you understand. 2009 Orlando would be a below-average protomodern team. Almost all of the teams in the league shoot more threes relatively speaking. Set more screen and rolls too.

Dwight shooting that high would mean you’re eliminating asking him to create for himself which imo makes it unlikely he threatens to average 25 like you’ve said.

[AlternativeAcc.]

2009 Orlando shot 49.5% on two-point shots. 2023 Orlando shot 53.9%. The three-point attempt rate went up by 2.6% too, and Orlando is ranked 22nd out of 30.

So, let me get this straight. League-wide 2pt % goes up like 7.5%, the three-point rate goes up significantly, and pick-and-roll frequency increases... Yet Dwight wouldn't see an increase in his shooting percentage?

We have guys like Mason Plumlee and Nick Claxton shooting damn near 70% on 6-8 two-point field goals. Deandre Ayton scoring more efficiently and taking more two-point shots than Dwight? Come on, man. Look at this page; filter by 2pt%.

https://www.basketball-reference.com..._per_game.html

Dwight would be doing like 65-70% FG on 11+ attempts per game. If Nick Claxton is doing 70.8% on 7.7 attempts, prime Dwight is doing better.

I don't think you understand. 2009 Orlando would be a below-average protomodern team. Almost all of the teams in the league shoot more threes relatively speaking. Set more screen and rolls too.

The only guy I see scoring more than 20ppg and over 60% on 2's are Jokic and Durant. It's not like there's a crazy amount of guys doing it now.


Dwight would probably doing it obviously, but acting like he would take a massive leap on offense doesn't seem right. He would probably be slightly more efficient, but he's not miraculously a high volume scorer. His impact overall stays about the same.

[Im Still Ballin]

Dwight shooting that high would mean you’re eliminating asking him to create for himself which imo makes it unlikely he threatens to average 25 like you’ve said.

Would it? Dwight would still play bully ball in the post when plays break down and stagnate. When he has a mismatch. All that's changing is that he'd benefit from even more spacing and a greater focus on PnRs and DHOs. Here's a little 411 on prime Dwight's post-up game:

This video is a good representation of how Dwight's post-up game looked at its best. Notice how he rarely makes a shot further than five feet. How his strength and athleticism allow him to get high-percentage looks close to the basket. Whether that was backing down a guy or facing up and blowing by him. It wasn't pretty; people wouldn't call it skilled, but it was effective.



Was he a great post-up player? I'm not sure; I'd have to see Synergy numbers. But anyone saying he was bad is just flat-out wrong. He was, at worst, a good pivot threat.

Would he average 25 ppg? Probably not. If you look at my original post, that was the maximal peak of my estimation. I said 22-23 ppg is more likely, and that 23-25 is a maybe. Dwight could do 25 ppg if he wanted to. He put up 22.9 ppg on 61.6% TS in 2011. He had a 40-game stretch averaging 24.5 ppg, 14.7 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.3 spg, 2.2 bpg on 60.4% FG, 63.1% TS.

The only guy I see scoring more than 20ppg and over 60% on 2's are Jokic and Durant. It's not like there's a crazy amount of guys doing it now.


Dwight would probably doing it obviously, but acting like he would take a massive leap on offense doesn't seem right. He would probably be slightly more efficient, but he's not miraculously a high volume scorer. His impact overall stays about the same.

It's all relative. 20 ppg on 60% FG back then would be like 23 ppg on 65% FG now. It's just numbers; the impact wouldn't change. He was a top-five guy then; he could be now. Dwight did 22.9 ppg on 59.3% FG in 2011, including a 41-game stretch of 24.5 ppg on 60.4% FG. That was a period of time when 25+ PPG scorers were scarce.

[AlternativeAcc.]

It's all relative. 20 ppg on 60% FG back then would be like 23 ppg on 65% FG now. It's just numbers; the impact wouldn't change. He was a top-five guy then; he could be now. Dwight did 22.9 ppg on 59.3% FG in 2011, including a 41-game stretch of 24.5 ppg on 60.4% FG. That was a period of time when 25+ PPG scorers were scarce.

But that implies Jokic goes down to 22ppg and loses 5% efficiency in 2009, and I'm not buying that. Guys like Dwight have a certain ceiling, and I think his numbers then would be about what he'd average now. He had more spacing than anyone at the time, his team took the same amount of 3's as the current Suns on better efficiency. They were perfectly suited for his game and maximized his numbers.

[kawhileonard2]

Dwight lost in round 1 to Josh Smith with HCA.

[NbaFan432]

Idk who’s better but Dwight was a beast and it saddens me people seem to have forgot. I remember thinking he was every bit as good as Lebron around like 2009-2011.

[1987_Lakers]

Idk who’s better but Dwight was a beast and it saddens me people seem to have forgot. I remember thinking he was every bit as good as Lebron around like 2009-2011.

You were greatly overrating him if that was your mindset.

The consensus was that he was top 5, but LeBron, Wade, & Kobe were seen as better players.