Good article — Howard’s return could be catalyst for Dallas Mavericks – in the Dallas Morning News about the soon to be returning Josh Howard
Josh Howard’s season is about to resume, probably Tuesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Teammates have indicated Howard has looked sharp in recent practices, but Jason Terry offered the clearest sign of Howard’s imminent return after Monday’s practice at the Target Center.
“He looked great,” Terry said. “Even last week, he was good in our last hard practice. He looked confident.
Eddie Sefko, the author of the article, continues
That’s the best news the Mavericks have gotten in about a week. Howard’s left ankle problem is severe enough that off-season surgery is possible. Physically and mentally, he appears to be on the upswing, and the Mavericks desperately need him if they hope to keep their slim hopes of moving up in the Western Conference seedings.
A home loss to Denver and a second-half meltdown in Cleveland on Sunday have left the Mavericks with a bruised psyche. They are discovering their limitations when they don’t have a dependable third scorer like Howard.
His return could trigger a quality stretch run leading into the playoffs.
Dirk Nowitzki adds
“We’re missing Josh. Right now, we’re a jump-shooting team. Josh can make a difference in that area. Over the last couple of years, he turned himself more into a jump shooter than I think we all wanted. But he still has that ability to get to the foul line and slice in there, and that’s what we need to make a good run in the last nine games.
“It’s been frustrating, no doubt. Right now, if me and Jet don’t shoot the ball well, we’re going to lose the game. That’s why we need Josh. It’s tough to make up for a good scorer like Josh for a long time. It’ll be great to get him back. Then we can let it all hang out there.”
Will the return of Josh Howard be a catalyst for the disappointing Dallas Mavericks?
Based on his play this season, I’d have to say no.
Does he have the talent to spur the Mavs onto greater success? Yes, but he has done that with regularity this season? No.
Josh Howard has been very disappointing this season. There’s been a noticeable drop in every area of his game outside of scoring, and that has limited his impact on the Mavs. He’s simply been another guy who demands touches and shots, and does little else to help his team.
We haven’t seen the usual high quality defense or impressive rebounding from the wing. And all too often we’ve seen Howard look for his own offensively, with little regard for his teammates (many instances of selfish offensive play).
It’s been a disappointing season …. and I want the former Josh Howard back, and if he did come back, the Mavs would suddenly become a lot more potent come playoff time.
Is Josh Howard’s play the biggest reason why Dallas is the eight seed and not fighting for homecourt in the first round?
Yes, it is.
It would have been a different season for the Mavericks had Howard showed up, and played his best game. Unfortunately, we got a selfish one dimensional Josh Howard.
I hope we get the real Josh Howard back soon — because as Mark Jackson annoyingly says on almost every broadcast — “you’re better than this”. It would make a massive difference to Dallas and could make them a sleeper team out West.
The Rebounding
Josh Howard is currently posting the lowest rebounding numbers six year career, averaging five rebounds per game in thirty two minutes a night.
His previous worst came during his rookie campaign when he pulled down five and a half boards per contest. During his second and third seasons, Howard averaged 6.3 rebounds in 32.2-32.5 minutes a night. In his fourth and fifth season Howard averaged around seven boards in 35-36 minutes a night.
There has clearly been a large decrease in his rebounding numbers this season. The result has seen Dallas being a good rebounding team instead of a very good one.
Dave
April 10, 2009
Nice article in Hoopshype about Howard’s scoring outburst against the Suns recently.
The Dirk quote
There have been a bunch of quotes like this about Josh Howard for the last couple of months, and especially over the last few weeks. You can see clearly his teammates using words like “if” and “capable” “engaged” “focused” and so on, so on. Small remarks showing their dissatisfaction with Howard’s performance.