First Game and What Houston Thinks of Our Team

[sutton 5]

I just took a few quotes from the bottom and loved what was said about Howard and Gortat plus Redick.

 

"Dwight Howard apparently had some Hakeem magic rub off on him as he made a couple of bank shots, and drove to the basket looking fairly fluid, rather than the Wounded Cape Buffalo he normally resembles when doing anything but dunking. Dwight Howard with even a semblance of a proper center's offensive game is something to fear - if you have to respect his short jumper and spin move on D God help you (19/12/3blk in 27 min) .

 

Two last magic points - Marcin Gortat has surprisingly fast hands and nimble feet. He's a legit NBA starting center, maybe even an all-star given the sorry state of the position in general. JJ Redick looks like an NBA player - he was faster, stronger looking and more assertive than I've ever seen him. I'm surprised and dismayed."

 

 

"

http://www.thedreams...e-hidalgo-story

 

[star_phenom35 1]

yeah man I agree. Dwight's footwork looked incredible out there last night. MUCH improved. Vince looked much better and Gortat should be seeing more mins at the 4. I didn't see too much of JJ to make any judgements though.

 

I'm so excited for the season to begin!!!!

[howard is a beast 80]

yeah man I agree. Dwight's footwork looked incredible out there last night. MUCH improved. Vince looked much better and Gortat should be seeing more mins at the 4. I didn't see too much of JJ to make any judgements though.

 

I'm so excited for the season to begin!!!!

i agree. some teams are not good measuring tools for jj. i dont think this was a team that he can really get off on. more of a spot up person against this team. i think whenever we play boston, we should start jj and move vince over to play the 3. boston is one of the teams that he plays well against.

[jacklj13 16]

i was very impressed with the whole team. they looked ready to start the season today. the team looks extremely deep with no drop off in play. howard appears to be much inproved and very quick on offense. trouble for the rest of the nba. i thught jj was very good overall and quicker on defense. if a couple of those 3's have went in he would have had a good game. ra seems to have gotten better as well. this team has as good a chance to win it all as anyone. just so everyone will know i had trouble getting my pass word reset for weeks so i had to start over. former was jacklj. thanks

[Magicman28 295]

Dwight will never resemble Hakeem because of build and athleticism but one player that Dwight reminded me of offensively, is Amare Stoudamire. Maybe its because both are quick, agile, athletic and strong.

[COLOMBIANO 118]

I like this team!

 

They looked pretty great almost the entire game. There were a few mins in the third that Houston cut the lead and the magic were just taking jump shots.

 

I really liked it when Shard played at SF and abused the Battier or whoever was defending him. I believe he scored 7 quick points at SF in the second q.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

Dwight will never resemble Hakeem because of build and athleticism but one player that Dwight reminded me of offensively, is Amare Stoudamire. Maybe its because both are quick, agile, athletic and strong.

 

They mentioned Hakeem because it's a compliment, Dwight worked out with him, and he played for Houston. It's not a perfect example but just realize they mean that Dwight looks like an MVP candidate on offense which combined with his DPoY ability puts him in the conversation for best player in the league. If Dwight can replicate last night's performance over an entire season (not shooting %'s but style of play), he should approach closer to 30 ppg (with a typical statline of 12/20 fg 5/10 ft). A Dwight with a jumpshot, post confidence, and tremendous footwork will be able to demand more shot attempts. This development might be a season changer for us.

 

The problem with Dwight was that when he couldn't exploit an athleticism mismatch he wilted offensively. Yao (despite being little more than a redwood planted in the paint defensively) used to neutralize Dwight because it's easy for a 7'6 person to effect a hook shot, he's too tall to dunk on consistently without a running start, and Yao is able to cover his slowness with his incredible reach so turning off him for a layup was difficult.

 

Now that Dwight can draw him 8-12 feet away from the basket, a difference in speed becomes a larger advantage. Yao can't step out to defend Dwight and recover when Dwight cuts to the basket.

 

I'm so excited right now. This changes our identity completely.

[Catman 380]

Dwight playing like this changes everything. No one can guard him if he continues to evolve this fast. It will also cut down on all the charging fouls he used to get.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

I feel like instead of working out with Hakeem, Dwight decided to absorb Android 17 and 18. Thats the only way to explain this rapid growth.

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

I feel like instead of working out with Hakeem, Dwight decided to absorb Android 17 and 18. Thats the only way to explain this rapid growth.

 

A Dragonball Z reference?

 

Really?

 

And it wasn't even the 9000 thing, either. I'm speechless.

[NickAnderson 14]

He's gonna develop into this beast and leave us in FA :(

[Nyce_1 311]

They mentioned Hakeem because it's a compliment, Dwight worked out with him, and he played for Houston. It's not a perfect example but just realize they mean that Dwight looks like an MVP candidate on offense which combined with his DPoY ability puts him in the conversation for best player in the league. If Dwight can replicate last night's performance over an entire season (not shooting %'s but style of play), he should approach closer to 30 ppg (with a typical statline of 12/20 fg 5/10 ft). A Dwight with a jumpshot, post confidence, and tremendous footwork will be able to demand more shot attempts. This development might be a season changer for us.

 

The problem with Dwight was that when he couldn't exploit an athleticism mismatch he wilted offensively. Yao (despite being little more than a redwood planted in the paint defensively) used to neutralize Dwight because it's easy for a 7'6 person to effect a hook shot, he's too tall to dunk on consistently without a running start, and Yao is able to cover his slowness with his incredible reach so turning off him for a layup was difficult.

 

Now that Dwight can draw him 8-12 feet away from the basket, a difference in speed becomes a larger advantage. Yao can't step out to defend Dwight and recover when Dwight cuts to the basket.

 

I'm so excited right now. This changes our identity completely.

:( so sad for missing the game. I want to feel as excited as you are.

 

side note: Do you have any FSU/UM trash-talking-pics I can send to UM fans?