When refs don't eliminate dwight=domination

[MagicFan32]

People were trashing our depth in knee jerk fashion yesterday

the truth is we can weather injuries to anyone BUT Dwight Howard last night when he was systematically removed from the game we struggled but when he can stay on the court the rest of the others can fill in for other guys that are out

not just refs but in general dwight is the ONLY player we cannot afford to lose at all

[Hilltop]

Dwight also has to work on not eliminating himself. For stretches there, it seems like he's almost working with them to get him out of the game.

[MagicMadness]

Just goes to show how extremely important Dwight is to our team's success.

BEAST

[MagicFan32]

Dwight also has to work on not eliminating himself. For stretches there, it seems like he's almost working with them to get him out of the game.

like backing guys down and sticking his arms straight up

[MagicFan32]

dwight is +68 this year, and I imagine if you factored in when hes on the bench its even more glaring his importance to the team

[Hilltop]

I'm just saying he shouldn't lose his head too quickly. In all fairness, a lot of calls on him were legit as well. He's not without blame.

[craig01]

Howard needs to be less vocal after contact/

[AGENTSTEVO]

I think we could keep our heads afloat for a game or two if we had Rashard. (see Playoffs) But we need him on the floor. And everybody knows that backing down your opponent or holding your hands straight up are not fouls. the NBA needs to evaluate their refs or we should oust Stern out of power.

[Solid Snake]

What about when he faces Perkins, Pryzbilla or Haywood? He has a habit of dominating weak defenders but the good ones neatralize him. You know its true.

[Official]

Howard dominates good defenders, too. Lets not make generalizations because of Perkins.

[Chris_ORL]

The statement about solid post defenders hampering Dwight is legit. It's not to knock him, but lets be honest here - he's no Duncan/Shaq/Dream in their hayday when NOBODY could shut them down but themselves on a poor night because they're human. He's still a superstar, but his post game is predicated on defensive mistakes or weaker defenders thinking they can single cover. When he gets a guy who can physically push him and doesn't make many mistakes, dwight gets minimized if not shutdown on offense. He doesn't have a big enough bag of tracks or the footwork.

As far as being able to handle a loss at any position but Dwight, I think that losing Jameer is almost worse. The drop-off from Dwight to Gortat or Bass is huge, but from Meer to either AJ or JW is sickening - especially on D and scoring.

[drsd]

From today's O-Sen:

Smith told Howard to stop whining about the whistles, the soccer-like flopping by opponents and squash the Suns like a monster in a sci-fi movie.

"I'm frustrated and the refs feed off that," Howard said. "They know they can get me going. The other teams know that also. That's the thing Otis told me at halftime. 'Don't let them frustrate you.'"

O-Sen Link

I fear the fine will come.

[Hilltop]

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if it did. Anything about the referees performance seems to be a sensitive topic nowadays, even with the replacements gone.

[Jaxfann]

Howard needs to be less vocal after contact/

+1

[Solid Snake]

Howard dominates good defenders, too. Lets not make generalizations because of Perkins.

Name these good defenders he dominates. Looking at his split statistics, these are the teams he dominated offensively last season:

Dallas - 26.5ppg, 58% (2 games)
Detroit - 22ppg, 56% (3 games)
Indiana - 24.8ppg, 53% (4 games)
Miami - 22.8ppg, 72% (4 games)
Milwaukee - 23.3ppg, 61% (3 games)
Sacramento - 27ppg, 79% (2 games)
Oklahoma - 25.5ppg, 50% (2 games)
Utah - 28ppg, 67% (1 game)
Washington - 22.5ppg, 70% (4 games)
Toronto - 29ppg, 63% (4 games)

Out of those teams, I'm thinking Jermaine O'Neal and Rasheed Wallace are the only good defenders matching up against Dwight.

I don't know why some people take it so personally. It is pretty common knowledge that Dwight simply doesn't "dominate" most of the good defenders. Its not hate, its just trying to be realistic. Believe me, I want him to bust out these numbers against the whole league no matter who is guarding him.