Dwight Howard responds to being bashed by Kareem: ““Well you know, I don’t pay any attention to that stuff,” Howard said on Friday just off the floor of the Toyota Center. “I did hear about it but everybody is entitled to their own opinion. When I joined the Lakers, I was the greatest center and then when I left, I was the worst, mentally I wasn’t capable of playing center. I understand that a lot of things are said out of emotion but I would say that if he has anything to say, I’m here in Houston. We can talk man to man. That’s how I feel about it.” Abdul-Jabbar was on ESPN’s First Take on Thursday morning and criticized the new Rockets center. Here’s what he said: “Dwight is an extraordinary athlete and he has incredible athletic ability, but basketball is a game where the most important muscle you use on the court is the one between your ears. Dwight’s basketball IQ is not up to speed for him to be a dominant player. He has problems at both ends of the court. He doesn’t have a ‘go to’ move.” The Rockets signed Howard this offseason after the big man spent one tumultuous season with the Lakers. He said he and Abdul-Jabbar don’t have a relationship and never have. Howard said the two have only had one conversation and it came before last season.”
According to Joe Lacob, the Warriors were close to landing Dwight Howard: “Howard had met with five teams (the Rockets, Lakers, Mavericks, Hawks and Warriors) and was taking his time choosing among them. Conventional wisdom, though, held that the Rockets, who did sign Howard in the end, and Lakers were the only teams being seriously considered, and that the Warriors—lacking the cap space to hand out a full max contract—were a sort of window dressing in the process. Not so, says team owner Joe Lacob, who was part of the group making its presentation to Howard. “I don’t like to focus on those who aren’t here,” Lacob told SN as part of an exclusive conversation this week. “Good luck in Houston, Mr. Howard. And I am sure he will help that team, they will be better. But we would not have gone after him if we didn’t think we had a chance or that it made sense. … We were a lot closer than people realize to perhaps that actually happening, (Howard) coming here. I think that is a testament to what is happening here. He was affected by the presentation that he saw by our ownership and our management.””
From SheridanHoops’ own Dan Schayes, an inside look into NBA rookie hazing: “Pat Riley used to take the Lakers to Hawaii for training camp to get away from it all. The Denver Nuggets used to go to Alamosa and later Colorado Springs to train at 8,000 feet to really get in shape. Same for the Suns, who would leave cozy Phoenix and take a trip up to Flagstaff for some high altitude training. When I was a young player for the Utah Jazz, they had a different idea. Frank Layden was the coach and general manager and had this notion (the only polite word I can think of) to make training camp travel so onerous that the regular season would seem easy. Anyone who has followed an NBA season knows that it is filled with constant travel and sleep deprivation. What could possibly make that seem easy? How about a 19-day preseason road trip to such hot spots as Marietta, Ohio, and Chattanooga, Tennessee? We traveled on planes that were so small that the in-flight meal was the airline captain pulling back a curtain and handing us a box of donuts. Really. We had to tell the airline staff our weight so they could seat us around the plane so we could fly level. Really. We had to crawl up the aisle to get to our seats because the cabin ceiling was so low. Really. Remember, this wasn’t a Division III school, this was the NBA.”
It’s hard to imagine the Miami Heat improving on defense, but they plan to: “Miami started the season playing defense at a level that made no one in the organization happy last season, allowing 100.6 points per game, ranking only 23rd-best league-wide after 17 games. In the 65 games that followed, they gave up just 93.6 points per game, the fourth-best rate in the NBA over that span. Playing defense better from the start of the season has emerged as a top priority for the Heat, who left the Bahamas on Friday after wrapping up six practices of training camp that were devoted almost entirely to that end of the floor.”
“We knew we didn’t start off the season like we wanted to defensively,” said Heat forward LeBron James, the league’s two-time reigning MVP and a four-time winner of the award overall. “But we knew. I think when you have a problem and you face it, it’s very correctable, and we knew that. So one thing we talked about was defending and finishing.”
After mulling retirement, Vince Carter is going to return this season with the Mavericks: “The 36-year-old Carter averaged 13 points, four rebounds, and two assists on 44 percent shooting for Dallas last season. Carter’s cousin, Tracy McGrady, retired this offseason. Carter’s role will be especially interesting to watch this year with more guard depth after the signing of Jose Calderon, Monta Ellis, and Devin Harris along with the drafting of Ricky Ledo. He’ll still likely get a lot of minutes at small forward, but there’s no telling how the rotations are going to work out in Dallas this season. Carter has aged surprisingly well, and his leadership has contributed in Dallas. The Mavs have swung out on a few acquisitions since 2011, but this one has been really great for them.”
Ben Baroff is a basketball journalist who blogs for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
One thing you have to give Dwight credit for being very smart, is that he avidly believes and credits his Acupuncture (with Electric Stimulation) treatment for his recovery from injuries. I know the players aren’t supposed to talk about it, but he has tweeted photos during the past year. I don’t think Kareem meant to say that Dwight wasn’t Dominant – Just not as good as he could be. His poor FT shooting in games, but not in practice, is a good example.
Regarding Derek Rose, I agree that he isn’t enough to get the Bull’s past the Heat, Nets and Pacers, but there are now 4 Elite teams in the East.
Glad you mentioned the Pistons. I think analysts are factoring in terrible chemistry. They may be surprised if Detroit challenges NY for 5th in East.
Regarding Lawrence Frank coaching the 1st two games for Brooklyn, I think it will be an advantage. Lets face it, JKidd is there for important motivation and direction, but LFrank is the real coach of the team. Without Kidd, LFrank won’t have to pretend to defer to Kidd (they really like each other) which could hurt the Nets team. Instead Frank will take charge in those 1st two games. A win vs. Heat will establish Frank as the Best Asst. Coach in the NBA.