Atlanta Hawks 2016-2017 Player Preview: Dwight Howard
Weaknesses
Howard has caught a lot of criticism about his declining skill set and his ability to adjust to the new small-ball, high-pace era of the NBA.
Shooting
Dwight has never been much of a shooter.
Whether it be from mid-range, 3-point land, or even the foul line, Howard has struggles with shooting throughout his career. This is alarming to people around the league who see his fit with the Hawks as a troublesome one. The Hawks have had big men that can space the floor in their time under Mike Budenholzer, leading them to great success.
But, Hawks fans can cling to some hope, regardless of how slight, that Howard’s shooting form is improving. His work with new personal shooting coach, Chris Matthews has been well documented on social media. These videos display Howard’s new shooting form and perhaps an ability for him to improve on his mid-range game and his 49 percent free throw percentage.
Passing
Passing is another essential element of the Hawks’ offense and one that Howard has been inconsistent with throughout his career.
Howard’s passing ability is average at best. When he is in the post, Howard has struggled to consistently find the open man on the perimeter when he is covered up down low. Some of that is attributed to issues with seeing the whole floor and some is related to slower decision making. If Howard works to make quicker decisions down low, his kick-out passing will be much more effective.
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He has shown flashes, but Howard’s passing ability needs to be more fluid so that he does not stall out Atlanta’s offense.
Perimeter Defense
Howard’s size and lack of quickness hurt him on the perimeter.
In pick-and-roll situations, Howard struggles when forced to switch onto quick guards. This may have been attributed to the lack of defensive trust to players around him in Houston, but Howard should still do a better job of positioning himself to not get blown by on the outside.
Also, in transition Howard tends to be slow getting back on defense. The Rockets struggled mightily defensively and Howard was not part of the solution by getting back too slowly on defense.
Let’s hope that improves in a more stable situation in Atlanta.
Next: 2016-2017 Projections