Dwight Howard's Ultimate Training Camp Checklist for 2013-14 Season

Every basketball player has weaknesses, even the rare few who sit comfortably atop their respective position for an entire generation.

Dwight Howard, the NBA’s best overall center since Shaquille O’Neal left Miami, is no exception. Now on his third team in three seasons, Howard is looking to reassert himself as not only the league’s most influential defender, but also as the central hub of a championship contender—a role he nearly perfected with the Orlando Magic.

While it’s easy to ascribe Howard’s relatively poor play last season to a recurring back injury, the facts are that he missed only six games, led the league in rebounding, started in the All-Star game for a sixth straight year, averaged as many blocks per game as he did two seasons ago (2.4) and was named to the All-NBA third team.

It’s fair to say that playing in a different city, in a different system, with brand new teammates had just as much of a negative impact as his aching back, but that’s something we’ll never fully know.

What we do know is that nearly all Howard’s basic per game averages were about on par with how he’s fared throughout his career, allowing the 2012-13 season to justly be used as the foundation for any article discussing what areas of Howard's game need to be worked on during his first training camp with the Houston Rockets.

None of these issues are new, and nearly all of them come on the offensive end. Some of Howard’s frailties have lingered since the day he entered the league, and to expect any drastic change would be unreasonable. However, here are a few subtle alterations that can be established in training camp, then wheedled away at throughout the season.

Solidify His Post-Play

The first is the most obvious and oft-criticized: Howard’s flimsy post-game. Howard shot 44.5 percent from the field whenever he posted up last season, according to SynergySports. (Relative to his colleagues: Tim Duncan shot 46.3 percent, Marc Gasol shot 43.7 percent and Roy Hibbert shot 42.4 percent on post-ups.) But the numbers aren’t what get Howard’s detractors worked up so much as the aesthetic unpleasantries that come with his back to the basket.

At this stage of his career (his 10th season), Howard might want to focus on the basics instead of complicating things by expanding his arsenal. While there have been several big men throughout history who’ve spent years carefully crafting a serviceable jump shot (Al Jefferson being a notable recent example), it doesn’t appear Howard will be one of them. That’s fine, so long as he’s consistently able to establish position deep in the paint—as one of the league’s strongest players, Howard has this part down pretty good—then read how his man is playing him and execute a simple, timeless post move.

Backing his defender down with three or four dribbles should be eliminated from Howard’s repertoire (it allows defenses time to rotate and bring a second defender down to double, should they so choose). Instead he should be reinforcing a quick up-and-under, or an unstoppable drop step towards the baseline. Anything that he's comfortable with.

Last season, Howard loved facing his man up, dribbling towards the paint then spinning back and going up for a shot. It was his favorite move, and also his greatest curse. Too often it resulted in an ugly travel violation or, when his defender wasn't falling for it, stubborn and reckless movement where the outcome was an offensive foul. In his first training camp with Kevin McHale in his ear, Howard should put those complicated moves on the back-burner and focus on crafting two or three classics.

Here's a case where Howard's spin move was successful (disclaimer: it's against Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, who's a horrendous defender).

And here are two more examples of Howard not having much success at all trying the same thing, this time against better equipped personnel. 

The bottom line here is that while Howard is ultimately productive enough to deserve numerous post-touches every game, what he decides to do with the ball must improve. He's barely scratching the surface of how successful he can be down there. Only part of that has to do with his inadequate footwork. The other part is related to making those around him better.

Become a More Useful Passer

Howard isn’t a great passer—a career average of 1.5 assists per game is hard to shake—so once he gets the ball down low there’s a good chance his team’s possession will be decided on whether or not he can score.

If there’s one part of his game that needs a hardcore redesign, it’s that. Nobody demands double teams like Howard, but unlike nearly all contemporary big men, he simply can’t find open teammates.

According to Hoopdata, centers who averaged at least 25 minutes per game had an assist to turnover ratio of 1.01. Howard posted a ratio of 0.48. While Marc Gasol assisted on 2.1 baskets at the rim and 3.5 three-pointers per 40 minutes, Howard was at 0.4 and 0.7, respectively. Howard will never be a playmaker of Gasol’s caliber (or even Joakim Noah), but reasonable improvements as a passer should be expected from a player whose ceiling was once that of a top-five talent.

Here are a few examples of Howard making the right, simple pass. If he wants to maximize his potential, especially with the high level of young talent surrounding him in Houston, Howard will pass the ball more often. 

The latter clip is especially interesting for situations when Omer Asik and Howard share the court. While the defense worries about Howard and the ball, Asik (playing the role of Pau Gasol) is able to set a flare screen and free up one of Houston's many three-point threats for an open look. Expect Houston's coaching staff to incorporate this specific variation of horns in their playbook this season.

Making the most basic pass is a step in the right direction, but Howard should also work on finding open teammates after he catches the ball in the paint off a pick-and-roll. He's like a vortex down there, forcing help defenders to swarm him whenever he's near the hoop. If he can catch a pass, then in one smooth motion find an open teammate and deliver him the ball, Houston's pick-and-roll game just might be the most unstoppable sequence in the league this season.

The previous two aspects of Howard's game were analyzed specific to him as a player in any general team-oriented context. Meaning if he signed with the Charlotte Bobcats instead of the Rockets, he'd still need to improve his post game and dilate his awareness as a passer. But the next suggestion has more to do with how he can best fit into Houston's uptempo style.

Find Easy Scoring Opportunities in Transition

Only four teams were faster than the Lakers last season; with Howard on the floor their pace was still at a top-10 level (96.04 possessions per 48 minutes, per NBA.com/Stats).

One of those four faster teams was the Rockets, a young group that remains so this season and is expected to stick with their advantageous rapidity. This isn’t necessarily a problem for Howard, but he only attempted 32 shots in transition last season—a curiously low figure.

As the last line of defense, a guardian to his own rim who’s responsible for grabbing the rebound then quickly getting it to a speedy guard, transition baskets aren’t designed to be any center’s forte. But in Houston they can definitely be Howard’s, especially when he shares the court with Omer Asik, another defensive anchor who can assume those same responsibilities and allow Howard to beat his man up the court for an easy look at the rim. (As Houston’s starting center last year, Asik attempted nine more shots in transition than Howard, according to SynergySports.com.)

It’s easy to pin-point a notorious malady like free-throw shooting, and say Howard “just needs to make more” from the line, but even though most high-school players could sink those at a higher rate, this isn’t his greatest concern. Howard hovered around 60 percent from 2008 to 2011, so we know he can be better than the 49 percent he shot last season. But anything noticeably higher shouldn’t be expected, and no amount of work in a few weeks of training camp will change that.

Working on how to locate open shooters; further understanding where teammates like James Harden, Jeremy Lin, Patrick Beverley, Francisco Garcia and Chandler Parsons like the ball; turning rim runs into a militaristic routine; and developing an already productive post game are some of the things Howard can and should refine throughout the regular season. Training camp is a good place for him to start.