Happy Birthday, Dwight Howard!

by Evan Dunlap on Dec 8, 2009 8:00 AM EST in Diversions

For the second consecutive year, Dwight Howard will spend his birthday in Los Angeles, hoping to lead the Orlando Magic to victory over the Clippers. He turns 24 today, which makes him younger than every NBA regular starting center save for Andris Biedrins, Andrew Bynum, Spencer Hawes, Al Horford, Roy Hibbert, Brook Lopez, and Greg Oden.

I'm not sure what else to say, really. Anyone who's watched the Magic since the 2006/07 season--turnover-plagued, sure, but check his splits from February--knew he'd be more than a defense and rebounding specialist, as not a few people predicted was his ceiling. Needle his unrefined post game all you want. Berate him for smiling (?) on the court, or for complaining about whistles who don't go his way. But in no way can anyone argue with Howard's overall results. Even his slump during the first 9 games of this season, when he could not seem to avoid foul trouble, Howard was average at the very worst among NBA centers who average at least 30 minutes per game:

"Slumping" Dwight Howard, Average NBA Center (min. 30 MPG), and "Post-Slump" Dwight Howard, 2009/10 NBA Season
Player	Pts	Rebs	Blks	Fouls	Mins	FG%
Dwight Howard (slump)	18.1	10.6	1.4	4.1	31.1	64.7%
Avg. NBA Center	14.3	9.3	1.5	3.0	33.0	52.5%
Dwight Howard (post-slump)	17.8	13.4	2.1	3.7	33.7	64.4%
Howard statistics from Basketball-Reference.com; avg. center statistics from Hoopdata.com

So he brought the stats just about every night, even if his commitment to defense wasn't quite there until recently. That's how good he is just when he shows up and tries a little. Think of what he can do when he's really engaged.

Maybe that last paragraph comes off as harsh, and I don't mean to disparage Howard (especially not on his birthday). But it was obvious to anyone who watched the first 9 games of the season that Dwight wasn't all there. Now? He's more into it. For me, the biggest statistical indicator of that is his fouls-to-block ratio. In the slump, he averaged 2.8 fouls per blocked shot. In the games since, he's improved that figure to 1.8.

We've gone way off the rails in what was meant to be a simple happy birthday post, so I'll conclude here before I get too carried away. In any event, I hope we appreciate Howard's improving work on the court, as well as his efforts in the community.

Many happy returns, Dwight.

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Happy 24th Birthday Dwight

May God continue to bless you as the years progress.

"Blue and white...ignite...BOOOM! - Dwight Howard

by magic12ball on Dec 8, 2009 8:58 AM EST reply actions

D-12

I look back on “the slump” and have to think a good percentage of that was adjustment to playing without Rashard. To see the difference in defensive play since Shards return gives me this opinion, plus Shard just understands what Stan wants so well and his feet and position on defense is exceptional. Dwight had to play differently without him. Also I sometime wish Stan just would take Dwight out after his first foul for about 2 clock minutes, it seems like he gets his 2nd foul always within those 2 minutes and about 75% of the time it’s a frustration foul on D12. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DWIGHT! Thanks for the magic!

by shaq O'flopapanick on Dec 8, 2009 10:25 AM EST reply actions

I don't know about that.

When Lewis was out, Anderson stepped right in until he went down with an injury. Even then, I don’t think Dwight’s slump had entirely to do with Rashard and Ryan being out, but more with his own play.

I write for Third Quarter Collapse and have a Twitter account.

"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat

by erivera7 on Dec 9, 2009 1:00 AM EST up reply actions