With Dwight Howard, the Hawks are playing more post-up offense.
Only with a catch.
A paint catch to be exact.
Ideally, the Hawks want to get Howard the ball as close to the basket as possible where he is required to make one simple move to score. The farther away from the basket that Howard gets the ball, the more moves are required to beat an opposing big man. The same can be said for power forward Paul Millsap in the Hawks’ offense.
“In a very simplistic way, that’s where we would like all of our post guys to catch it,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said of in-close touches. “Rarely does that happen. But when you have the physical tools and gifts that Dwight has, he’s very much committed to it. He’s committed to making it happen. It is designed and there is structure, including passing angles, running angles. To be honest, it’s something that would be emphasized by a lot of teams including us. His ability to actually do it and his commitment to it is unique. I think it’s critical to his success and to our success.”
Howard has a 60 percent field goal percentage (66 of 110) through his 12 games, third in the NBA. According to the league, here is the breakdown of his baskets:
- Less than five feet: 59 of 90, 65.6 percent
- Five to nine feet: 6 of 17, 35.3 percent
- 10-14 feet: 1 of 2, 50 percent
- 15-19 feet: 0 of 1, 0 percent
Hornets head coach Steve Clifford and Howard worked together as assistant and player during stints with the Magic and Lakers. Clifford said on Friday that he sees a healthy Howard for the first time in years. He also sees his renewed success near the basket.
“Actually with the way he’s playing, and Millsap, it’s a paint catch which is a big difference,” Clifford said of the Hawks’ post-up offense. “They play with such physicality that they are actually throwing the ball into the paint. There are no moves. That’s when he was always good when he was young. He was good in the post, better than people ever gave him credit for, but there is a big difference between you catching the ball two feet in the paint where you just turn and shoot your jump hook or you catch the ball at 12 feet where you have to maneuver, people can dig, there are things defensively that you can do to get the ball out of his hands.
“What he is doing right now, is he is playing with such force, as is Millsap, where they are catching that ball two feet in the paint seven or eight times a game. That’s old school. That’s the old NBA before the rules changed that’s how we all played.”
According to the NBA, Howard is averaging 7.4 paint touches a game and making 3.0 of 4.3 attempts from the distance. He is averaging 8.8 post touches (12 feet or less) a game and making 3.4 of 5.2 attempts.
Howard has 32 dunks with 20 coming via the alley-oop pass. It’s hard to guard that play.
“I know if I can get in there in the paint, it’s hard for teams to double-team,” Howard said. “I can go right up. It puts a lot of pressure of the bigs to either let me score or foul me and now they have to sit down on the bench. It’s better than just a post-up move.”
Millsap is averaging 3.5 paint touches a game and making 0.9 of 1.7 attempts.
“They are things we’ve done over time but I think, maybe, we are emphasizing it more, executing it better,” Budenholzer said. “It takes a lot of effort from Dwight and Paul.”
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