Originally Posted by King Glorious

What you aren't getting is that the ONLY reason they can get anything is because of Howard's presence in the middle. It's the same thing that happened with the Lakers and Miami. When Shaq was with LA, everybody shot higher percentages and the team was among the league leaders in fg percentage. Miami was nowhere near the top. Once they traded Shaq to Miami, it totally switched around. The presence of an inside threat is going to open up the floor for the outside guys. It's been that way since the beginning of the game. Howard doesn't have to be a guy that can score 30 a night. He has to be a guy that the defense has to respect that his team can go to him inside and he can consistently get you 20 a night and on given nights go for 30+. When you don't even go inside to him and the defense has to pay no attention to him, then you get what you got last night. Guys running around throwing up airballs and trying to create off the dribble too much. Howard doesn't have to score but he is a threat to score and has to be respected when he gets the ball. By not giving him the ball at all, you are only hurting yourself.