Mr. Optimistic: Josh Howard Off To A Fresh Start

Josh Howard has been a hotbed of controversy. His antics aghast over the last 8 months have completely overshadowed his radiant basketball career.

 

But with a new season comes refreshing forgetfulness, a clean slate that Howard’s persona was in dire need of.

 

Howard’s 28 point, 11 rebound 4 assist and one blocked shot performance in the Mavericks’ home opener against the Rockets has temporarily distanced his existence from his cantankerous image.

 

Though Howard’s numbers were clearly envious, his most momentous stat of the night was lucidly 0 turnovers in 41 minutes.

 

The Wake Forest Alum completely abolished Rick Adelman’s and Ron Artest’s defensive schemes accounting for 15 of the Mavs’ first quarter points and 20% of Dallas’ offensive rebounding total.

 

Josh’s 28 points in the season opener against Houston was especially remarkable since it took Howard 3 months into last season Jan.21, to reach that plateau scoring 32 points against the Wizards.

 

To be precise, Howard didn’t produce 28 points exactly until 11 days before the All Star Break.

 

He’s also ahead of schedule in his rebounding output, as last year’s 11 point raking didn’t appear until 21 days into the season.

 

Nonetheless his output was a grave improvement contrasted to last year’s opener, in which he was suspended for the first 2 games of the season.

Head Coach Rick Carlisle candidly embraced Howard after his mistake in judgement saying "Josh is our most important player". Perhaps its because he's their engineer of their offense.

Of the last 2 seasons, Josh Howard has finished second in scoring on the Mavs' but hardly in second fiddle form.  He also had the lowest turnover rate on Dallas' last season at only 1.4 turnovers per game.

 

While the season has yet to unfold, Josh Howard has briefly deposited ill fate behind him and has ventured on the path towards revamping his career and rehabilitating his personal image