Throughout the series against the Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard was ridiculed for his struggles on the offensive side of the ball. His scoring average of 16.4 points per game for the series was well below his team leading 20.6 points per game during the regular season, and his 24 point per game average against the Philadelphia Sixers in the first round. Many people pointed to Dwight's lack of an offensive game as the reasons for the his team's struggles against the Boston Celtics. But is Dwight really that bad of an offensive player?
It's no secret that Dwight Howard has a ton of room to grow on the offensive side of the ball. However, even with his offensive shortcomings, he was able to lead one of the best teams in the league in scoring this season. Yes, he struggled against the Boston Celtics, but I'm of the opinion that those struggles had more to do with the outstanding defense played by Kendrick Perkins and the Celtics as a whole that Dwight's lack of an offensive game.
Kendrick Perkins is probably the one player in the league that can body up Dwight enough to push him off of the block and force him to shoot running hooks. This is nothing for Dwight to be ashamed of. Pau Gasol has one of the most refined post games in the NBA, yet in the 2008 NBA Finals against Kendrick Perkins and the Boston Celtics defense, he was held to only 14.7 points per game.
In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Cleveland chose to stay at home with Orlando's three point shooters and try to guard "Superman" one-on-one. Cleveland quickly found out that the Dwight is not as bad of offensive player as he was made out to be in the last series. He finished the game with 30 points on 14-20 shooting, and opened the game up for shooters like Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis to nail three point shots down the stretch.
Obviously it's only one game, but I think this might be proof that Dwight--while still with tons of room to grow--is not that bad of an offensive player.
