Orlando Sentinel: Dwight Howard Is A Greater Defensive Presence Than Bill Russell. Seriously, They Wrote it. Not Even Kidding.

I love the analagy at the end, sums up the article haha

… but can’t compare to Russell until he gets a couple of rings. After all, defense wins championships right?
Dwight is stronger and more athletic, but doesn’t possess the IQ, rebounding skills (he’s good but not Russell good) or the passing (that’s important to start the break after defense). Maybe if he can keep his elbows in, and stop goofing off we can talk.

name a nba center who was a top ten high jumper in the world

http://www.funtrivia.com/en/Sports/Bill-Russell-19444.html

He could stop Wilt when he had too though he was slender and 4-5 inches shorter. He dominated everyone else. Whats the point in discussing this? In 12 uninjured seasons he wins 11 titles. It will never ever ever bne topped. he was a different kind of cat. And the physical extension of his equally obsessed coach, and the love and respect they shared they shared

that Guokas is essentially giving Howard a lot of credit for living in an era were athletic training and equipment are waaaaaay more advanced, he seems to be of the opinion that skill has nothing to do with defense. “Of course he’s a better defender. Didn’t you see him in the dunk contest?”

Ha. wipes tears from eyes that was a good one!

to a Sequoia. How could anyone be more of a homer than that? I know one thing Smiley’s better at than Russell, throwing elbows then going “who me?”

As I point out on the Fan Page, there’s a lot of evidence that Howard isn’t even the greatest defensive player of his own era, let alone of all-time. That Magic article was much more shock value than substance.

Paid him off to say stupid stuff in an effort to kiss up to Dwight Howard in a last ditch attempt to keep him in Orlando

What a magnificently stupid opinion

i think if you took howard and placed in him in the russel era he might be the greatest player of all time but you can say that for a lot of players, the talent level back then was way lower, i have heard tommy say there is no way he could keep up with half these guys today and he’s a hall of famer and its true that he couldnt, its not fair to judge guys that way though, you can only judge them based on what era they plaid in and saying howard is as good as russel is a joke.

Russell was once asked how he would have done against Kareem to which he replied, “Young man, you have the question backwards.”

Bill Russell was the first NBA player to play above the rim. Russ invented the concept of defense. Russ blocked shots were basically equal to passes. Russ used psychology his game.

 From another poster: [“The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot.”

- Bill Russell

by Marjun Raposon]

Don’t think Dwight could even come up with this concept.

Basically, Bill Russell changed the game of basketball, Dwight has not done anything to change anything. Bill Russell doesn’t have enough fingers to put his rings on—Dwight——.

Nuff said.

Kevin Garnett was far and away the best defensive player this year and its a joke that Howard once again was named DPOY by rep.

’Not to say that Howard is not a great defensive player. But much of his accolades have come by way of reputation and not necessarily by way of results.

The only defensive big man of this last decade that I would begin to compare to Russell would be KG and only because KG has a similar effect on his team’s defense that Russell had. And yes I am including KG’s career in both MIN and BOS. As individual players though, in different eras, it is silly to compare them.

Howard is a huge, athletic presence in the post. He enables his teams to play a certain way. But I don’t think he really has changed the game nor does he elevate the play of his teammates the way Russell did and KG does.

Russ won 11 championships in 13 years. Russell was one of a handful if true competitors who wanted to win every game and gave their heart and soul to make it happen. To make that happen. He was 6’9" and owned 7’2" Wilt in the only head to head stat that means anything-winning.
 If you insist on stats, Russ had a game of 51 rebounds and 2 of 49. He had 12 seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds. In the season when Wilt averaged 50 points a game, NBA PLAYERS voted Russ as the MVP. The league didn’t count blocked shots at the time, but I’d be willing to bet his avg was around 5,and the threat of his blocking was so strong, it kept many payers from even challenging him. Most of Russell’s blocs stayed in bounds, were, directed at teammates, or hauled in by Russ himself.
Howard is not as good as Chamberlain and Russ was the best ever. MJ might have been. He had the talent and close to the same competitive drive. But MJ never had a nemesis- his own “Wilt” to compete against.
nhttp://www.nba.com/history/players/russell_bio.htmlhttp://www.nba.com/history/players/russell_bio.html

Off the top of my head, in their prime in the last decade, Mutumbo, Shaq, and Ben Wallace (Tim Duncan as PF/C) were better defenders than Howard.

I wasn’t alive for M. Malone, or Nate Thurmond, etc.

Just because somebody wrote that doesn’t mean any of us should pay any attention to it. Its not even worth discussing. I saw Russell and while Howard is a pretty good player I’d take Russell over anybody who has played before or since his era. Thus the comment that Howard is better than Russell or Chamberlain is totally without merit.

Dwight should consider Boston next year if he wants to win