Dwight Howard Must Step Up for Houston Rockets to Become Legit Contenders
The Houston Rockets are far from a bad team and, at 8-5, seem to be on the way to a respectable seed in the West. However, as it currently stands, they cannot yet be considered a legit title contender.
Until Dwight Howard steps up and shows that he can do much more than he currently is for this squad, the Rockets will—at best—find themselves located on the fringe come springtime.
D12 was once regarded as one of, if not, the best defensive player in the league and was capable of completely altering a game with his interior presence on both ends of the court. For proof of that, just look at the three-straight Defensive Player of the Year Awards (2009-2011) he earned, or the five-straight First Team All-NBA (2008-2012) nods he received.
However, Howard has struggled mightily in certain areas over the past three seasons, and the big man now has to prove that he can turn things around in order to be worth the massive four-year, $88 million contract he signed with Houston this past offseason.
| 2010-11 (ORL) | 25 | 78 | 37.6 | 7.9 | 13.4 | .593 | 14.1 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 22.9 |
| 2011-12 (ORL) | 26 | 54 | 38.3 | 7.7 | 13.4 | .573 | 14.5 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 20.6 |
| 2012-13 (LAL) | 27 | 76 | 35.8 | 6.2 | 10.7 | .578 | 12.4 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 17.1 |
| 2013-14 (HOU) | 28 | 13 | 35.2 | 6.1 | 10.8 | .560 | 13.7 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 18.4 |
One area where the Rockets need Howard most is on the defensive end, as his presence hasn’t resulted in any drastic increases in efficiency.
According to Grantland’s Zach Lowe, the team has allowed 101.7 points per 100 possessions when Howard is on the court, 101.6 when he is on the bench and 101.2 when he plays without Omer Asik. (Stats as of Nov. 19)
That is slightly better than last year, when the Rockets gave up 103.5 points per 100 possessions—a figure that had them tied with the New York Knicks for the No. 16 most efficient team in the league.
With Asik more than likely on his way out of H-Town in the near future, it will be up to Howard to log more minutes and anchor a defense that must improve to survive.
Great defenses definitely help win championships—as evidenced by the table below—as only the 2005-06 Miami Heat won a title with a D ranked outside the top 10 over the past decade.
| 2012-13 | *Miami Heat | 110.3 (1) | 100.5 (7) |
| San Antonio Spurs | 105.9 (7) | 99.2 (3) | |
| 2011-12 | *Miami Heat | 104.3 (6) | 97.1 (4) |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 107.1 (2) | 100 (9) | |
| 2010-11 | *Dallas Mavericks | 107.6 (8) | 102.3 (7) |
| *Miami Heat | 109.3 (3) | 100.7 (5) | |
| 2009-10 | *Los Angeles Lakers | 105.9 (11) | 101.1 (5-tie) |
| Boston Celtics | 105.4 (13) | 101.1 (5-tie) | |
| 2008-09 | *Los Angeles Lakers | 109.8 (3) | 101.9 (5) |
| Orlando Magic | 107.2 (8) | 98.9 (1) | |
| 2007-08 | *Boston Celtics | 92.6 (12) | 82.8 (1) |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 96.5 (4) | 89.8 (9) | |
| 2006-07 | *San Antonio Spurs | 92.7 (5) | 84.4 (3) |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 89 (17) | 85 (5) | |
| 2005-06 | *Miami Heat | 92.2 (7) | 89.4 (17) |
| Dallas Mavericks | 94.6 (3) | 88.4 (12) | |
| 2004-05 | *San Antonio Spurs | 91.2 (8) | 82.3 (1) |
| Detroit Pistons | 89.2 (17) | 85 (3) | |
| 2003-04 | *Detroit Pistons | 85 (19) | 78.7 (2) |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 89.7 (6) | 85.1 (11) |
Dwight must also make strides on offense, as his low-post game has been severely lacking over the past few years and is downright pitiful in 2013.
According to Lowe, Synergy Sports has found that the 10-year veteran has shot just 33 percent on his 60 post-up attempts this season. Of the 92 players that have attempted at least 75 shots from the low-post, Howard would rank 88th, as per Lowe and Synergy.
With his diminishing speed and explosiveness—likely stemming from a back injury in 2012—Howard can no longer use his natural athleticism to dominate on offense.
He’s being exposed for his poor fundamentals on offense and will have to make an improvement there to allow the Rockets to run their system from the inside out when defenses tighten up come the postseason.
Offensive firepower is quite important to winning a title, as the 2009-10 Lakers, 2007-08 Boston Celtics and 2003-04 Detroit Pistons were the only teams in the past decade to win titles with offenses ranked outside the top 10.
While it’s hard to see the Rockets—tied for third in the league with 106.9 points per 100 possessions—fading from the top during the regular season, things could quickly buckle under increased pressure in the playoffs.
Howard is and always will be the key to the success of this particular Rockets team. Be sure to monitor his progress closely over the next few months, as it is essential to their success down the stretch.
If he makes the correct improvements, the sky is the limit for this club. If he just continues to play at this same level, there is very little chance the big man raises a banner in Houston.
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