Houston Rockets: Dwight Howard, Defensive Player Of The Year?
Dwight Howard is a tremendously talented player. Whether it’s muscling his way into the paint and throwing down a ferocious dunk on his opponents, or coming out of nowhere to swat a ball into the 10th row, Howard makes it look incredibly easy.
Although Howard is quite the offensive player, we all know his well documented weaknesses on that end. He still can’t shoot free throws and his post moves still aren’t the smoothest. For all of his natural talent and ability, Howard still doesn’t put up the numbers that other superstars put up. Instead of averaging a monstrous 28 points and 12 rebounds, Dwight “only” puts up 18 points and 12 rebounds per game.
There is nothing wrong with 18 points and 12 rebounds; he is still a tremendous player, and those numbers put him on the All-Star ballot year in and year out. But it shows that offense isn’t why Howard is a superstar and one of the best at his position. His true calling card is his defensive prowess.
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Dwight Howard is nothing short of a defensive mastermind. He sees the game in a way that very few star players see it. The vast majority of star players are focused on producing on the offensive end. The current culture of the NBA is heavily driven by offensive numbers. You can’t be considered the best if you aren’t scoring 25-30 points a night. Somehow, Howard has pushed past that philosophy and is considered one of the NBA’s premier players, despite offense not being the focus night in and night out.
Where others, like James Harden, will see offensive numbers and points to be the most important aspect of their games, Dwight recognizes that the most important part of any given basketball game is the defensive side of it. In the modern NBA, there is nothing more refreshing than a star player who, not only cares about playing defense, but excels at it. Dwight has made a career out of being one of the best defensive players of the past ten seasons.
And it hasn’t been much different for him this year. Offense takes a back seat to defense for Dwight. He has been an incredible anchor for the Rockets and their stellar defensive efforts to start the year. Howard has been a big reason why the Rockets are 9-1 and looking to run over the Western Conference. Let’s look at a few of his advanced stats:
| Season | DRB% | TRB% | STL% | BLK% | USG% | OWS | DWS | WS | WS/48 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | 28.7 | 20.5 | 1.5 | 6.4 | 26.4 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.2 | .220 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/16/2014.
Howard has been a monster on multiple statistical categories. His stellar Defensive Rebound Percentage (DRB%) of 28.7 percent is fifth in the league. He is also fifth in Total Rebound Percentage (TRB%) with 20.5 percent. He has been blocking at a higher rate than last year as well, as he has averaged 2.8 blocks per game (up from 1.8 last year), with a Block Percentage (BLK%) of 6.4 percent. Howard is third in blocks per game and eighth in Block Percentage this year. Howard is the league leader in Defensive Win Shares (DWS) and is also second in Defensive Rating with an incredibly good 90 rating.
Dwight Howard is still an elite defensive presence. He is one of the reasons why the Rockets have been so good. It’s kind of a shame that he won’t win the Defensive Player of the Year award this season. Unfortunately for Howard and the Rockets, Anthony Davis has been an absolute beast on both ends of the floor, but more so on the defensive end.
Davis is easily leading the league in blocks per game with an unreal 4.1 blocks per game. He is also third in rebounds with 11.8 rebounds per game. It isn’t just blocks and rebounds that Davis is dominating in. Davis is averaging an incredible 2.3 steals per game as well, good for fourth in the league. That is simply unheard of for a big man.
While Dwight Howard has been very good on defense and would certainly deserve heavy consideration for the award in past years, Anthony Davis is simply a freak of nature who can do things the average NBA player can’t. If this pace keeps up, Davis could win both the Most Valuable Player and the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Howard has been doing his job superbly. As our own Sam Richmond covered, he is potentially an MVP candidate for this season.Unfortunately for him, this year is looking like Anthony Davis’s breakout season. The good news is that it’s early in the year and Howard can still make up some ground. Nonetheless, Howard doesn’t need the Defensive Player of the Year award to validate what he is doing on the basketball court and we, as fans, should never take his hustle on the defensive end for granted.