Houston Rockets: Dwight Howard Must Avoid Foul Trouble
We all know that Dwight Howard is an amazing physical presence. Howard can take control of an entire game with just his physicality. It’s a massive positive point for any team to have a guy that’s so physical. But it’s also a detriment. A player who has the strength, size and jumping ability that Howard has is bound to run into a lot of foul trouble.
And Dwight Howard is definitely prone to foul trouble. Over his career, Howard has largely struggled with two faucets of his game: his free throws and foul trouble. Howard has tried and failed to improve his free throw shooting over his career. He has been abysmal at it and it’s probably his biggest flaw. However, foul trouble is equally as troublesome for a guy who has as big of an impact as Howard.
Over his career, Dwight Howard has averaged 3.3 fouls per game. That number is a bit high, but not ridiculously high. However, over the past three seasons, Howard’s foul trouble has gotten worse. Howard has averaged 3.6 fouls per game over the past three seasons. That doesn’t sound like a major increase, but it does manage to cut into Howard’s minutes. Over his career, Howard averages 36 minutes per game. Over the past three seasons, Howard’s minutes per game have decreased to 34 minutes per game. Two minutes doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s often times the difference between a win and a loss in a close game.
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The problem with Dwight isn’t simply avoiding fouls. That’s impossible, as most defensive centers will accumulate their fair share of fouls. It’s the nature of protecting the rim. But that doesn’t mean that players like Howard can’t avoid committing dumb fouls. There’s no reason for Howard to be committing dumb and unnecessary fouls. That’s what Howard needs to work on.
He’s not off to a very good start this season. Howard has been plagued by foul trouble to start the new season, averaging a whopping 5.5 fouls per game. As a result, Howard’s numbers are down to start the year. Coming in at 17.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, Howard’s numbers aren’t terrible. But they aren’t as good as they normally are.
Because of his foul trouble, Howard’s minutes are down to only 26 per game. Luckily, the Rockets haven’t exactly needed his full performance, as they played two lowly teams to start the year. Playing against the Los Angeles Lakers and the Utah Jazz means that Howard basically gets to rest more than he normally does to start the year. The Rockets certainly didn’t need him to beat up on two of the worst teams in the league.
The dumb fouls will come back to bite them against the Western Conference elite. There is no way the Rockets beat the San Antonio Spurs or Portland Trail Blazers or any other of the West’s championship-contending squads without Howard out there for 36+ minutes. Thus, it would be smart for him to start staying away from dumb fouls against the weaker teams and practicing on his discipline. After all, the Rockets are going to need him at full strength if they want to advance in the brutal Western Conference.