The Rockets with Dwight Howard are going to be one of the more fascinating teams to watch as we enter the upcoming NBA season. With the drama of where Howard will play finally behind us for the first time in two years, and with the former Defensive Player of the Year expected to be 100 percent healthy, Houston should compete with the elite in the Western Conference all season long.
But it likely won’t be a breeze to acclimate the Rockets of last year to playing with such a large presence on both ends of the floor, and one of the things that needs to be determined is how the ball gets distributed, and which players will be the ones initiating things offensively.
The team has two capable point guards in Jeremy Lin and Patrick Beverley, and there seems to be a competition going on as to which one will earn the starting nod. For his part, Howard says he isn’t concerned with who comes out on top, saying that as long as everyone plays together the team should be just fine.
From Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:Given his turn to comment about the Rockets’ apparent battle for the starting point guard position, Dwight Howard said he was unconcerned with the choice, calling it “a luxury” to have two great point guards.
“It doesn’t matter and it shouldn’t matter to any of those guys who starts the game or whatever,” Howard said. “The biggest thing is that we all accept our roles. If we do that, we will have a great season. We can’t allow anything to affect us as a team and pull us in the wrong direction. I enjoy playing with both of those guys.”
The answer was a politically correct one, but it also speaks to how the team runs its offense.
Whether it’s Lin or Beverley technically running the point, James Harden is going to have the ball in his hands the majority of the time. Now, there may be specific post plays run for Howard where Harden may begin on the weak side, with Lin or Beverley being charged with beginning the play and either running a pick-and-roll or making the post entry pass.
But make no mistake -- Harden is the primary offensive option. It’ll be beyond interesting to see if his style of getting to the basket is at all impacted by Howard being in place on the low block, but either way, the importance of the point guard position is minimized on this team given Harden’s role and skill set.