Why Prime Dwight Howard Never Truly Peaked

While most people know Kendrick Perkins for being a controversial NBA analyst, there was a time where he was one of the most dominant defenders and shut down Prime Dwight Howard. Today, we go over how he was able to do this and why Dwight Howard never truly lived up to his full potential. If you enjoyed the video, please like & subscribe.

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[Plague_Doc]

The big difference between Shaq and Dwight is that when the physicality wasnt enough to have an easy time. Shaq had that level of finesse and skill that made him unguardable. Where as Dwight never developed that finesse. His post moves were super basic and stiff.

[DirkNoWhiskey]

Best basketball content on YouTube, hands down. The Kendrick content I didn’t know I needed.

[MosSoSoDef]

I believe the interview is still out there but Dwight has said in multiple occasions that Perkins guarded him the best out of any big man

[BoolatGuzairov]

Because of 2 stereotypical aspects about bad good players:

• huge focus on physicality;
• lack of desire to develop outside your strengths.

[dimelo]

So basically Dwight had no touch around the basket and couldn’t finish through contact and was terrible from the line and couldn’t handle the ball so strong bigs really bothered him.

[heatwole]

you actually don’t miss with these topics 🗣️ W youtuber

[maartenvz]

At first i was like: yeah but dwight played perkins in 2009 as well when Orlando beat them. Then i saw dwightt only averaged 16 points in that series. Finishing through contact is such an important skill if your main weapon is physicality.

[dfresh]

This helps me understand so much about his perception in the nba

[Lewis.Alcindor]

Good rundown. As someone who has studied the low-post game for a while, I have determined the following aspects to success:

1. A reliable go-to move. This is the bread-and-butter move of the player, and he/she should be able to hit it 80+% of the time if he/she gets to their spot and isn't too well-defended.

2. SHOOTING. Every great low-post scorer was able to shoot. Even a bully like Moses Malone had a decent turnaround jump shot he could use if he got walled off to the basket. Even Shaq, who we think of as just an big but agile dunking bully, had a reliable middle righty jump hook and a turnaround counter bank shot. A good close to mid-range shot is basically the "air force" or "long range artillery" of the post game. It keeps defenders honest and closer to you to bite on your shot, helping to open up driving and passing angles.

3. Willingness to pass if double-teamed. By showing you are willing and able to make dangerous passes out of the post when double-teamed, it helps open the game

Dwight Howard did not have 1 or 2, and 3 was kinda iffy compared with the other great post players.


For 1, Howards go-to move was sort of a running righty hook from the left block towards middle (as you noted early in this video). But it wasn't that successful if the defender was able to absorb his initial blow and push him a few feet further from the basket. Once he was a few feet further than his comfort zone, his hook shot became more of a wild shot put.

For 2, Howard simply had no shooting ability whatsoever. He had zero jump shot, and his hook shot was iffy at best. If a defender was able to prevent him from getting a few feet from the basket, they did a good job because he wasn't able to counter with a reliable jump shot or hook of some sort. Basically, because he lacked 2 (shooting), he also lacked a good 1 (reliable go-to move).

As you mentioned at the end of the video, it is more of a testament to Howard's other abilities (athleticism, agility, strength, willingness to bang) that he was able to be a 20 ppg scorer in his prime. If he had even a modicum of 1 or 2, he would have easily been a 25-28 ppg scorer IMO, if not more. And of course, hitting his FTs at 65+% would have upped his average even further and prevented teams from a "hack a Dwight" strategy.

Finally, I would personally note that I didn't think that Kendrick Perkins was that great of a defender. He was strong, reasonably agile, and had quick hands. But much of his success was because (IMO) post defenders were allowed to get away with murder ever since Shaq eviscerated them in the early 2000's with the 3-peat Lakers. Prior to that, post defenders were only able to hold position before the post catch once the defender established position. If they did what Perkins did at 1:24 (shove Howard out with both hands after Howard got a deep seal position), it would have been called a defensive foul.

IMO, if Perkins did all the things that he got away with (which helped give him his "defensive-stopper" and "Dwight stopper" reputation) in the eras prior to 2000's Shaq era refereeing, he would have been in foul trouble every single game. He probably would have adjusted to earlier rules, and probably would have still been a solid to great defender. But he wouldn't have had the same defensive reputation.

The same goes for James Harden's reputation as being a decent post defender. It's only because he's a reasonably big and strong body, and he's allowed to shove the post player out before the catch with both hands.

[Quince]

Once the pandemic happened I stopped watching sports, but I'm slowly getting back into it and I gotta say, these videos have been really good and insightful. I am definitely starting to ease back into the NBA at least, with a sprinkle of boxing / ufc, we'll see. Anyways, great video!!

[Cbrunning]

Every player peaks. It's fans and media that decide in their minds if they thought there peaks were going to be better then they actually were or longer then they actually were

[dormajlin]

Interesting, can you add on why the Celtics didn't put 2008 DPOY KG on Dwight? I assume it's because Perk wouldn't keep up with Rashard Lewis but I'd love to hear your take on that

[OlympicSeason]

In this Celtics series (2010), Dwight actually had a solid series. He had a couple bad games but he still averaged around 22/11 and 3 blocks. But yes I agree with all the points you made. He never really developed that consistent touch & finesse around the basket but was a freak athlete. Eventually that catches up with basketball players.

[commenting]

Dwight really thinking he was better than Jokic. Heh.

[voiceofheroes]

Finally, an unbiased, analytic based video about dwight howard

[davidcook]

Dwight Howard peak was great. At rebounding, shot blocking, defense, catching lobs, put back dunks. So what his post game never became elite. It was pretty damn good. He won defensive player of the year three times.

[enzoseiji]

got curious abt how dwight was against jokic in 2020 when he got his ring.
of course it wasnt the 2x mvp jokic but also it was dwight way past his prime

[ZlN]

Orlando Magic legend, w fucking Orlando Magic reference

[injusticeanywherethreatens]

Also another thing. Howard nevee had the type of passing that those monstrosities like Jokic ans Bill Walton have therefore he couldnt really exploit double teams to his full potential. Just imagine if Dwight had the kind of passing that Jokic or Walton had.... it is not hard to imagine him really hurting the Lakers and Celtics when they doubled him, no? I would say that something that made Shaq so lethal offensively was his scoring AND his ability to pick up the pieces of a shattered offense when Kobe got injured . The Lakers played at an above 55 win pace when Kobe was injured during the Lkaer 3peat years ...cause even without a secondary playmaker like Kobe Shaq knew how to make some absolutely nasty reads that would shock the enemy team's defense.

Go watch some Shaq and Jokic videos. See how carefully they read the defense when they start getting double teamed. Youll never see such things from Howard.

[versatillion]

Can we get one of these on a few more underachievers like westbrook or Vince Carter