Showing posts with label "7 Seconds or Mess. Show all posts
Showing posts with label "7 Seconds or Mess. Show all posts

Friday, May 15, 2009

Deconstructing Dwight

Like a lot of people, I haven't been particularly impressed with Dwight Howard's offensive game, particularly in the playoffs. Sure, he's an absolute beast, with shoulders approximately the size of my waste, but his offensive game is still limited to put backs, dunks and other high-percentage shots. Despite learning at the broken-down knees of Patrick Ewing, one of basketball's greatest jump-shooting centers in the history of the league, Howard can't play with his back to the basket, or more than 8 feet from the rim. Kendrik Perkins has done an admirable job of shutting him down on the low blocks, and, at times, even outmuscling the hulking Howard out of position, or forcing him into some terrible shots. 

I find it funny, then, that Howard wants the offense to run through him. It's simply not his game, and any attempt to accommodate Howard's odd request does a disservice to Orlando's otherwise fluid and better-than-average offense. Plus, it gives them almost no shot of winning. The guys at 7 Seconds or Mess agree with me. 
If you want to call Dwight Howard dominant, then point out the parts of his game that make him so special. He'll clean that glass for you and dunk it in the process. He'll swat Rajon Rondo's floaters away like a gnat. But don't try to prove to anyone watching closely enough that Howard deserves more opportunities to assert himself in the post. You'll look as silly as his running hook.
They even put together a snazzy video to back up their points.  

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

TrueHoops Nation

Henry Abbot's wonderful site TrueHoop, which is hosted by the worldwide leader, has brought into their influence an impressive cadre of previously established and independent basketball blogs from around the country to offer unique perspectives on every team in the National Basketball Association, from Toronto to Portland.  

The goal of the TrueHoop network, according to Abbot, is "to find and foster excellence in online basketball writing." I'm all for that, even if I wasn't invited to the party. 

Here's Abbot explaining how the network, which is basically an aggregated basketball blog, is going to work:
Put those talented new voices together with the stuff every sports fan wants to know about their team day in and day out, and I believe you have something that will prove to be must-read. To savvy fans in many markets, those kinds of blogs are already must-read. And they have tremendous promise to get even better over the following years.

[...] The nuts and bolts of the TrueHoop Network are quite simple. In a nutshell: Bloggers maintain their own sites, which they run as they see fit (even with their own ads they sell, if they'd like). They agree to carry some ESPN stuff on their blogs (like that video player), and to generally be responsible. And ESPN.com promotes the blogs' work and content.
The good folks over at Knickerblogger get the honor of covering the team for what I can only assume will be a much wider audience. I trust they'll continue to run their fantastic "7 Seconds or Mess" webisodes, which I steal from, both on the blog and in my personal life, all the time.