In Amare's face? Bad Nash!

[elindholm]

Well I like Bosh better than Howard right now

Oh sure, now you tell us. At the start of this season, when you weren't posting, I said I liked Bosh better than Howard and nearly got laughed off the board. I could have used your support.

 

[slinslin]

Well Bosh has improved quite a lot since last year, it's not like that was a sure thing to happen. He is the better player compared to Howard in every aspect of the game right now except rebounding and maybe defense, but individual defense is tough to judge anyway.

 

[Delmon Young]

Well Amare averaged like 27/10 before Nash signed after he came back from his toe/ankle injury. That was with a rookie Barbosa at the PG who couldn't even speak english and was far from a pass first PG.

We have yet to see Howards explode in a game other than rebounding he hasn't had any huge games really. Amare at this time had 38 points games, 20 rebound games, 10 block games. Not saying he isn't going to be an allstar for years but I don't see him leading a team to big success. First of all I'd want to see him contributing to a winning team.

Howard has had 20/20 games, and flirted with several others. Again, Howard isn't as good a scorer as Amare, but who, as a big man, is? Amare is incredibly explosive and can just blow past anyone. Howard has exceptional leaping ability and quickness, but he isn't as fast as Amare. Right now, Amare is still mainly dunks and jump shots. He is able to score at will because of his world class athleticism.

Again, I'm not saying I would trade Amare for Howard or anything like that... I wouldn't, but Howard is going to be a great, great NBA player. Amare is a great scorer, Howard is a great rebounder. Depending on the system you play in, rebounding can be just as important as scoring in some cases.

 

[Delmon Young]

Bosh is a nice player. He will be an All-Star for years to come, but he doesn't have the chance to be physically dominating like Howard or Amare. Amare has all the tools to be a dominant defender, but he's still getting there. Same goes for Howard. Dwight is a good defensive player right now, but he can still improve, a lot.

Bosh will always be an elite scorer, but he's a stick and is easily bullied in the post. Give me a choice between him and Howard, I take Howard every single time.

 

[slinslin]

Howard's season high btw is 24 points twice, and his career high 29 points. He had only 11 20+ games this season.

I think it is funny Amare got and still gets all the heat that his offense is supposedly only dunks and garbage points but Howard gets none of that while it is much more true in his case. Maybe that's a result of the Yao - Amare comparisons in the draft. The skilled soft guy and the raw mean guy.

Howard gets 16% of his close shots blocked, shoots 26% on jumpshots and only 19% of his attempts are not close shots, tips or dunks.

It's too bad you can't look at past seasons stats on 82games but I am pretty sure Amare had better "shooting" numbers than Duncan, Garnett, Brand etc.

 

[slinslin]

Bosh will always be an elite scorer, but he's a stick and is easily bullied in the post. Give me a choice between him and Howard, I take Howard every single time.

Bosh has to develop his body, Howard has to develop his talents. Neither is impossible and like I said I don't think Bosh will be an all-time great either, just a multiple allstar.

Bosh hasn't really bulked up yet and Howard hasn't shown me flashes of a great game other than rebounding. Marcus Camby is a great rebounder as well when healthy and a good all around player. That's what I predict for Howard at this point until he shows more.
A healthy Marcus Camby would be a multiple allstar of course and is a very good player.

 

[Delmon Young]

Howard's season high btw is 24 points twice, and his career high 29 points. He had only 11 20+ games this season.

I think it is funny Amare got and still gets all the heat that his offense is supposedly only dunks and garbage points but Howard gets none of that while it is much more true in his case. Maybe that's a result of the Yao - Amare comparisons in the draft. The skilled soft guy and the raw mean guy.

Howard gets 16% of his close shots blocked, shoots 26% on jumpshots and only 19% of his attempts are not close shots, tips or dunks.

It's too bad you can't look at past seasons stats on 82games but I am pretty sure Amare had better "shooting" numbers than Duncan, Garnett, Brand etc.

You make it sound like it's a bad thing that a majority of his points come off jumpers and dunks. Not in the least. Amare is always going to be a dominant scorer, regardless of whether or not he develops the all around offensive game of a Tim Duncan. Just like Shaq uses his strength to score at will, Amare uses his speed and athleticism to dominate. It's good that he does that, because he's playing to his strengths and isn't trying to be something he isn't.

As for Howard, if one thing has described him this season, it's consistent. The fact that he puts up 15.6 PPG despite having a season high of 24 points shows that he is almost always in the 15-20 PPG range on a nightly basis, to go along with his efforts on defense and on the boards.

I've said it all along and I still stick to it. Once Orlando trades Francis, and they are going to, Howard is going to make a fairly large leap on the offensive end. I've seen games this year where Howard is 9-11 or so from the floor, and then is totally ignored for the rest of the game. If given the opportunity, he can put up some nice offensive stats. Unfortunately, Francis's selfishness and Orlando's style of play have hindered Dwight offensively. Howard would be much more effective in an uptempto style of play.

 

[Delmon Young]

Bosh has to develop his body, Howard has to develop his talents. Neither is impossible and like I said I don't think Bosh will be an all-time great either, just a multiple allstar.

Bosh hasn't really bulked up yet and Howard hasn't shown me flashes of a great game other than rebounding. Marcus Camby is a great rebounder as well when healthy and a good all around player. That's what I predict for Howard at this point until he shows more.
A healthy Marcus Camby would be a multiple allstar of course and is a very good player.

Bosh will never bulk up that much because he doesn't have the correct body type. It's the same issue with KG. Some players just have a hard time gaining weight, and Bosh is one of them. I like Chris Bosh a lot, he's going to be a multiple All-Star as you said, but he doesn't have the potential to dominate physically like Howard and Amare do.

I know you are waiting for Howard to 'break out', but soon enough, he will, and it will happen before the end of the year. In watching him since entering the league, I can tell you that Howard has all the attributes to be a fantastic offensive player. He has exceptional footwork, is extremely quick and athletic, has great hands, and a tremendous work ethic and high basketball IQ. It's just a matter of putting it all together.

We'll see soon enough. Nice talking to you all, I'll try and post when I can, but I'm constantly hassled by work.

 

[George O'Brien]

Everything we've been reading is that Amare worked extensively on his jump shot prior to being allowed to run. My suspicion is that he will be using it more than in the past because he'll be more comfortable with it and that most guys are going to be reluctant to go out ot guard him.