We owe Josh Howard an apology

[FINtastic]

Speaking of Josh and the lady acquaintance, I wonder if that couch is one of the places where "the magic happened"*


*Kind of obscure reference to the MTV Cribs episode with Josh (or at least I think it was cribs).

[SlimBig]

I had a feeling that was the main reason for his play as of late (a back injury doesn't help matters either).

If anyone has played basketball, you know that it is an instinctive game. You can't "think" out there because things happen in split seconds. If your mind isn't totally in the game, you're toast.

[SlimBig]

Originally Posted by chumdawg

When Brett Favre's dad died, he went out and threw five touchdown passes. Just sayin'...

*smh* Wow, just wow.

I also remember it being one game. I also remember the WRs discussing earlier that they would play their hearts out for Brett this game and they did. Favre threw up jumpballs all game and the receivers made incredible adjustments and catches to pull them down. No one talked about that.

Just sayin'....

[SkullLeader]

Originally Posted by FINtastic

Really? I couldn't get past what beautiful eyes she has.

TO be honest, I was more smitten by her pretty face. The boobs just accentuate her beauty. But hey, Josh lost his loved ones. Sad. She’s real pretty though.

[endrity]

This is sad actually. I am pretty sure he didn't feel alright when after losing family members he had the whole Dallas media on his back for not playing well. I hope the team can make him feel welcome. When you spend as much time together as these guys do, it's imperative that you feel well within the team.

[Silk Smoov]

Originally Posted by Dtownsfinest

Not apologizing for anything. Josh has been playing poor. He should be criticized for playing poor. You think Josh is the only player to have had a family member die? It sucks but if it effected him so much why play? Why hurt the team? When I have a family member die in my family and I attend work i'm expected to do my job efficiently. Just curious what explanation was given for why he actually played well yesterday? I just don't buy it. And its not like its his shot that's not falling. He's not attacking the basket and he's relying on a jumpshot that's not there. I probably sound heartless but ahh well f it.

Him not attacking the basket and whatnots, have nothing to do with family issues. Those issues all stem from his back injury. He is not nowhere near 100%, and is shying away from contact. This is a serious injury, and nothing to play with. It is alot easier to shot jumpshots, and hope they go in, rather than taking that punishment going to the basket. Once his back feels alot better, he will be attacking the rim, and loving playing with Kidd.

Josh is injured. That is the whole story. He cant take contact right now. We all know how he likes to fly around, and that is not good for his back pain. He is settling, and if his jumper is on, then he will score good, if not, then he will struggle. If his shot is off, then Avery will sit him more. Simple as that. Now, couple this with family issues, and you are looking at a very inconsistent player more times than not.

[MavsX]

Originally Posted by ShaggyDirk

she is 100% grade A stripper. And I am sure a train was involved. Choo Choo!

lol, i was thinking the same thing man. They probably D-P'd her a$$, that or watched two girls one cup..

[mavsjunkie]

I feel bad for him. All we want from Howard is to play towards the basket and stop taking so many jump shots. That's Finley's game, and we hated it.

[monty55555]

Cancer took one of the women who helped raise him.

He injured his back, lost his great grandmother and watched as his best friend on the team was traded in an emotional 10-day span last month.

And people wonder why Josh Howard doesn't seem like himself these days.

Howard isn't looking for sympathy. And this is no time for excuses, not with Dirk Nowitzki suspended and the Mavericks fighting to regain their equilibrium in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.

The Mavericks need a big game from Howard tonight against the Houston Rockets at the American Airlines Center. They need him to be the player he was to open the season. If he can't return to that level over the next few weeks, the trade for Jason Kidd may not pay the dividends the organization envisioned.

"This is the first time since I've been in the league where I've had a stretch like this," Howard said.

Kidd's impact these last two weeks has been obvious. Nowitzki is playing with a joy that had been absent, and Erick Dampier has flourished. Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse have had their moments.

The player who hasn't clicked with the point guard is Howard. It's puzzling since Howard is an athletic perimeter player who can benefit from Kidd's presence as much as anyone.

That should still happen. But there are several reasons why it hasn't.

The days leading up to the All-Star break are a good place to start.

Howard took a hard fall in the second half of the team's loss to Philadelphia on Feb. 11 and suffered a lower back contusion. The next day, his great grandmother on his father's side died.

This came slightly more than five weeks after Sadie Brown, the person Howard calls his God-grandmother, passed away. Brown watched Howard growing up when his mother couldn't.

Then Devin Harris was traded.

Then Howard's jump shot began to go awry.

And, oh yeah, his back hurts. Howard still feels a twinge from time to time and put his health at 85 percent.

"He was out for a while and when he came back, he was not really right," Mavericks assistant coach Paul Westphal said. "When that happens, it messes with your confidence and timing. You need both of those things."

You try attacking the basket with a bad back.

Howard began to settle for jump shots. Defenders began to sit on that shot knowing he was reluctant to take the ball to the basket. The forward averaged 15 points and shot 34.1 percent from the field in his first seven games with Kidd.

Mavericks coach Avery Johnson sat Howard down before Monday's game against Utah and showed where his game had slipped. Howard responded with 25 points and went 9-of-13 from the field, only the sixth time since early December that he has made more than half of his shots from the floor.

"I think it's over now." Johnson said. "He was in a bad stretch there. He snapped out of it against Utah. We asked him to do a few things offensively, and guess what, he did it. He was much more aggressive.

"If he stays aggressive like he was in that game, then we'll have that behind us."

Staying aggressive is only part of it.

Howard was at his best early in the season when the Mavericks isolated him, let him gather himself, then decide how to attack the defense.

That's not how Kidd and these Mavericks roll. There is more pick-and-roll, more fast-break opportunities. Howard must adjust and score on the run.

"It wasn't going to be like how it was in New Jersey," Howard said. "I'm not Vince Carter. I'm not Richard Jefferson. I've just got to get used to Kidd. Not just used to him but the whole team. We're still getting used to everybody.

"It's only a matter of time until I get used to it. It's not going to stop me. It's not going to hold me back."

It can't.

If it does, the Mavericks won't be the team they hoped to be with Kidd.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...e.307a4c8.html

[ShaggyDirk]

The stuff Howard says is so indicative of how his brain works. Moron.

[Dtownsfinest]

Originally Posted by Silk Smoov

Him not attacking the basket and whatnots, have nothing to do with family issues. Those issues all stem from his back injury. He is not nowhere near 100%, and is shying away from contact. This is a serious injury, and nothing to play with. It is alot easier to shot jumpshots, and hope they go in, rather than taking that punishment going to the basket. Once his back feels alot better, he will be attacking the rim, and loving playing with Kidd.

Josh is injured. That is the whole story. He cant take contact right now. We all know how he likes to fly around, and that is not good for his back pain. He is settling, and if his jumper is on, then he will score good, if not, then he will struggle. If his shot is off, then Avery will sit him more. Simple as that. Now, couple this with family issues, and you are looking at a very inconsistent player more times than not.

Then why is he playing? Why hurt the team and in the long run hurt himself? Its not like the Mavs have been winning. They've been losing so why play?

Originally Posted by DirkFTW

But that's the thing... he looks like he doesn't have a ton of energy out there a lot of the times. People are complaining that he isn't attacking the basket, isn't rebounding, isn't slashing inside, and is making really slow decisions in terms of shooting/passing/dribbling... That sounds to me like a lack of energy and focus, which would be more affected by losing loved ones. Oddly, I would think his shot would be relatively intact since it's more muscle memory.

I don't think Josh has had a consistent jumper all season. And before tehse deaths in his family occured he still had problems playiing a full game well. He'd play well in the 1st half and 2nd half he'd disappear. Maybe its the injury but honestly I think what we see is what we get from Josh. He's a athletic player who relies too much on his jumpshot and happens to not have a jumper.

Originally Posted by mavsjunkie

I feel bad for him. All we want from Howard is to play towards the basket and stop taking so many jump shots. That's Finley's game, and we hated it.

Well atleast for Finley he established himself as a pretty good shooter in this league. Josh didn't even wait to develop a jumper before he stopped attacking the rim. I don't mean to be too hard on the guy because I know death is difficult. Sit out. Take some time off and heal your wounds. Instead he's hurting the team.

[Silk Smoov]

So, do you actually believe that sitting out scoring Zero pts and rebounds is better than 15pts and 5 rebounds? Please dont say that another player would pick up those stats. A 85% Howard is better than no Howard anyday of the week.

Howard is trying to make the best of this injury, while not letting the team down by NOT playing. He is playing through it, and it is hurting the team a bit, but alot less than him being out. Not only that he would be out, plus not getting any chemistry with Kidd.

[Dtownsfinest]

Originally Posted by Silk Smoov

So, do you actually believe that sitting out scoring Zero pts and rebounds is better than 15pts and 5 rebounds? Please dont say that another player would pick up those stats. A 85% Howard is better than no Howard anyday of the week.

Howard is trying to make the best of this injury, while not letting the team down by NOT playing. He is playing through it, and it is hurting the team a bit, but alot less than him being out. Not only that he would be out, plus not getting any chemistry with Kidd.

We're losing with him out there right now. The only thing worse is if Josh gets hurt further. He's hurting the team right now. Guys will step up in his absence. It happens night in and night out. Yao is out for the season so do you think no one will step up in his absence? If so, then they won't win any more games from here on out.

[fluid.forty.one]

Originally Posted by craggmac

hahaha I really love drunkathlete.com

[Murphy3]

I'm sorry for his losses..
However, that doesn't change the fact that I believe he's about as dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to on court IQ.