Dwight Howard And Pau Gasol: The Paradoxical Big Men

Dwight Howard is well removed from the disastrous one-year tenure he spent with the Los Angeles Lakers before bolting to the Houston Rockets. Howard clearly felt as though both the coaching staff and player personnel in Houston could augment not only his game, but also his chances for success.

Albeit a saga of the past, Howard’s time wearing purple and gold illuminated both the personality traits and basketball capabilities that the big man encompasses — and how those factors will dim his bright championship aspirations.

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When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Dwight Howard in the summer of 2013, many expected the star-studded Lakers to compete for an NBA championship. It’s undoubted that they despondently failed in their attempt to live up to those expectations — but for a litany of reasons.

Not one member of the Lakers that season is exempt from indictment; however, one key advantage that LA struggled to utilize for most of the season is the twin tower duo of Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. With Howard’s forceful athleticism and Gasol’s graceful virtuosity, the collaboration of the paradoxical big men was designed to constitute a formidable frontcourt tandem.

So why did they struggle co-exist on the basketball court?

To put it mildly, the Lakers hired the wrong head coach seven games into the season. Mike D’Antoni definitely clashed with the (aging) personnel on that Lakers’ team due to his run-and-gun system. Having two big men (Gasol and Howard) who occupy the painted area on offense is not conducive for an uptempo style of play overseen by D’Antoni, who prefers to spread the floor with four shooters surrounding one big man in the middle.

Although widely perceived as a power forward, Pau Gasol is a center who was asked to venture out around the perimeter to clear space for Dwight Howard, despite the fact that Howard has regressed since his All-Star level in Orlando.

The Spaniard is certainly adept at stretching the floor with his shooting touch from the mid-range and passing ability, but his new role with the team failed to accentuate Gasol’s dexterity on offense. Pau Gasol doesn’t possess the same power and athleticism that Howard relies on so heavily, but Gasol doesn’t need Howard’s savagery to be effective; instead, the Spaniard uses his brain to compete.

With his high basketball IQ and keen intuitive awareness of his surroundings, Gasol is able to utilize his impeccable footwork and vast array of offensive moves to either create his own shot or artistically draw plays for his teammates. Thus, relegating Pau to simply roam around the perimeter for catch-and-shoot opportunities only attenuated his impressive skill set.

Additionally, Howard seemingly found a fascination for post-ups and decided to spurn the pick-and-roll play, which debilitated the Lakers’ offense. His feeble passing ability and tendency to turn the ball over in the post not only hindered Gasol from operating in the high post, but it led to numerous transition opportunities for a Lakers team that was abominable at transition defense.

Howard turned the ball more than 20 percent of the time while posting up in 2013, per MySynergySports, which is double the rate of turnovers Gasol commits on average in the post. According to the candid Steve Nash, the Lakers performed better offensively in games that included Gasol and not Howard.

"“I thought the games that Pau and I played together where Dwight didn’t play, I thought we really played well together and the offense really flowed,” Nash told ESPNLosAngeles.com."

Gasol would never admit to it, but part of the reason he was relegated to the bench was due to the fact that Howard failed to exhibit the explosive above-the-rim freak necessary for the twin towers to function properly. As a result, the aging and injury-stricken Gasol was left ridiculed by fans abroad and belittled by his own coach, D’Antoni, who eventually benched the Spaniard for Earl Clark.

Ironically, it was Howard, not Gasol, who fussed to the media and after a loss to the Chicago Bulls, “brought a stat sheet around the locker room to show some teammates and reporters how he got only five field-goal attempts … A few minutes before the demoted Gasol spoke gracefully across the room about ‘not pointing fingers, owning up to our responsibilities, wanting to get out of this and having the pride necessary that it takes to utilize our talents and go beat the opponent — no matter who it is, no matter where we are'” –Kevin Ding of the OC register.

Moreover, Howard’s struggles in assimilating to this Lakers’ team was understandable, as he was placed in an unfamiliar environment from his days in Orlando where he was the main man; however, it’s difficult for one to adapt to a new situation if he or she is wrapped in narcissistic anxiousness, just as was the case for Dwight Howard.

He went to the extent of griping to Steve Nash, one of the greatest passers of all-time, for failing to deliver him the ball — despite the fact that Nash was smothered by defenders on the baseline. The incident took place during a nationally televised Lakers-Heat game on ABC.

Regardless of whether it was beneficial to the team or not, the only method Howard knew and wanted to carry out was the one that allowed him to be the go-to-guy offensively. To appease the disgruntled Dwight Howard in fear of getting fired, Coach Mike D’Antoni was integrating Dwight Howard (who had the ability to leave Los Angeles in the offseason as an unrestricted free agent in the offseason) at the expense of Pau Gasol, as reported by Zach Harper of CBS Sports.

These collective factors took a tamper with Gasol and Dwight’s ability to coexist. Nonetheless, — as both Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol recovered from their various injuries — the Lakers finally rebuffed D’Antoni’s run-and-gun system for a slow-paced offense, and the two big men transformed into a cohesive front court tandem.

Once the healthy Pau Gasol became the focal part of the offense, he was liberated to portray his multifaceted game as he morphed into a pass-first point guard in a 7-foot body. His numbers improved to 16.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 6.3 assists on 53 percent shooting from the field during the Lakers playoff push near the end of the season — including multiple triple-double performances.

His increased role in the offense also benefited the rejuvenated Dwight Howard, who averaged 20.2 points and 12.2 rebounds on 63 percent from the field, with a plethora of his shots coming off lob passes from Gasol. The combination of Howard and Gasol was beginning to embody the peerless blend of power and finesse that many had anticipated before the start of the season.

Perhaps Howard should look to Blake Griffin as an example…

Coincidentally, Dwight Howard faced off against Pau Gasol in the 2009 NBA Finals, which displayed Howard struggling mightily on offense. He averaged an inconsequential 15 points per game on a subpar 48 percent from the field for a center whose points are generated within five feet of the basket.

He never exceeded five made field goal attempts in any game of the 2009 NBA Finals, and in Game 1 he made a grand total of one field goal attempt. Howard also turned the ball over excessively (four turnovers per game).

Conversely, Pau Gasol had his way against the defensive prowess of Howard, as he scored 18 points per game on an uber-efficient 60 percent from the floor while only turning the ball over once per game. Dwight Howard, whose defensive capacity is confined to standing under the basket like a refrigerator to alter shots that come his way, was inundated with Gasol’s voluminous post moves and ability to score in various spots on the floor.

Perhaps Howard should look to Blake Griffin as an example, who was initially mocked as a player who “only knows how to dunk.” As he entered his fourth season in the NBA last year, Griffin shocked the NBA world by showing the aptitude for regularly knocking down mid-range shots, improving his free throw percentages to 71 percent, and facilitating to teammates like an offensive maestro to compliment his deadly athleticism.

As a result, Griffin finished third in MVP balloting as his embellished skills helped buoy a Chris Paul-less Clippers team to the third seed in the Western Conference. The prevalent notion among NBA fans is that Howard is the better center over Gasol; however, his restrictions as a basketball player may restrict Howard from ever helping a team to an NBA championship as the second option — which Gasol has done twice.

While Pau Gasol’s adroitness and elegant versatility rendered him as a potent second option during the Lakers’ back-to-back championship runs in 2009-10, it is yet to be determined whether or not Howard can accomplish a similar feat as either the first or second option in Houston.

Dwight Howard’s heavy dependence on athleticism and lack of ingenuity could hinder him from ever doing what Pau did — winning. The NBA’s leading scorer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, eloquently delineated Howard’s inability to integrate skill to go along with his freakish athleticism, which may preclude Dwight from ever contributing to a championship team while occupying a major role.

"“Dwight is an extraordinary athlete, he has incredible athletic ability, but basketball is a game where the most important muscle you use on the court is the one between your ears. Dwight’s basketball IQ is not up to speed for him to be a dominant player. He has problems at both ends of the court, he doesn’t have a go-to move. I had to prepare Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum to play against Dwight in the playoffs in 2009 for the World Championship and it was an easy job, because if you take certain things away from him he doesn’t have an answer for it. So he needs to develop some skills, at both ends of the court, that would enable him to consistently contribute to a winning effort, and he hasn’t done that.”"

Although Abdul-Jabbar expressed his observations regarding Dwight’s weak play following Howard’s departure from Los Angeles, the majority of his words still ring true. Dwight’s self-induced skill-scarcity continues to be a problem in his game despite the fact that he has worked with Patrick Ewing (Orlando), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles), Kevin McHale (Houston), and Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston), who were all exquisitely skilled post players during their time.

Another proficient big man, Pau Gasol, puts all of Dwight Howard’s weaknesses in the spotlight as he’s essentially Dwight’s inverse — all of Howard’s weaknesses are Pau’s strengths and vice versa. Lest Howard purposes to make serious alterations to his repertoire, he will continue to clown his way out of the preliminary rounds of the playoffs. What a joke.

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