Howard-Jefferson comparison
Doc Rivers had high praise for Magic big man Dwight Howard before tonight’s game.
“He’s a terrific player,” said Rivers. “He’s a great athlete obviously, and I think we all know that. But he’s added to his game each year. There’s a reason why Orlando is one of the better defensive teams in the NBA. The stat that stands out with me with them is that they lead the league in [forcing] 24-second violations, by a wide margin. I think a lot of that is guys getting to the basket late because they’re worried about driving to begin with, and then when they get there the shots are blocked by Howard and it’s a 24-second violation. I think that’s what he’s great at now, but he’s going to turn out to be a [heck] of an offensive player as well.”
Rivers still sees room for improvement in Howard.
“Sometimes the curse of a great athlete who’s tall, they don’t spend a lot of time on the post [growing up],” said Rivers. “They spend time away from the basket, on the elbows, handling the ball. And then when they get to our league they have to spend time establishing the post game. There are some things he has to work on offensively, like a go-to move. But once he gets the feel of it, he’s going to be unbelievable.”
Last month, Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said Howard and Celtics forward Al Jefferson are two of the best young big men in the league. Rivers talked about comparing the two players.
“The difference between [Howard] and Al (Jefferson) is Howard’s a natural defender, where Al’s a natural post player,” said Rivers. “They’re two completely different players in the way they attack the game.”
“Al’s just a natural post. He has great post moves, great up-and-unders, and he has great feel down in the post. You can see throughout his life that’s where he’s been.Offensively I think Al’s going to be ahead of most of the young bigs all the time in terms of his post play. But in overall athleticism, I don’t think Al will ever catch up to that part of it. They’re just different players and I think they’re going to help their team in different ways.”
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