March 12, 2010 9:00 am  |  89 Comments

Should Derrick Rose Listen to Dwight Howard’s Advice?


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Dwight Howard’s hard foul last night led to Derrick Rose’s injured wrist, which he reportedly had put in a sling following the Bulls’ inevitable loss to Orlando. Following the game, Howard and teammate Vince Carter offered Rose some advice about driving the lane.

In summary: don’t do it against Dwight Howard. It’s advice worth considering for Rose, seeing as how this is the second time this season a collision with Dwight Howard has led to injuries.

The media in Chicago, though, wasn’t trying to hear it. They were offended by Howard’s attempts at counsel, and none more so than Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald:

What bugs me about Howard is he’s always whining about those slap-on-the-wrist fouls he gets, which would have ended long ago if he’d learned to make a free throw. So a hack on the wrist to send a bad free-throw shooter to the line is an egregious offense. But if Rose gets knocked to the floor on a drive to the basket, that’s just weak flesh hitting powerful steel. Yeah, whatever.

Hard fouls are part of the NBA game, but violent mid-air collisions, whether it’s Derrick Rose or Othyus Jeffers on the receiving end, need to stop. Howard claimed he even offered Rose some advice on how not to get injured by guys like Howard in the future. It’s known as the “two-foot rule.” “I always tell him, ‘If you come down the lane, always come off two feet,’” he said. “That way you’ll be on balance. You come off one (foot), all it takes is for somebody’s body to hit you and you’re going to fall.”

If you’re 7-feet tall, standing under the basket and plan to go up for a two-hand dunk, then jumping off two feet makes terrific sense. But most athletic drives to the basket don’t call for a two-foot takeoff. So basically Howard is telling Rose never drive to the basket again and he’ll stay injury-free. Great advice, Dwight.

Meow. Catty!

It remains to be seen when Rose will be back in action, and going forward, if he’ll listen to Dwight Howard’s advice or that of the angry writers who cover his team.

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  • lucas Posted: Mar.12 at 9:03 am
    I was just thinking the other day “what would it be like if Kobe and LeBron and all them had to take hard fouls when driving like MJ did back in the day”.

  • Ken Posted: Mar.12 at 9:05 am
    It’s kind of a moot point now, isn’t it?

  • underdog Posted: Mar.12 at 9:10 am
    Well if somebody, Vince Carter is reliable on the topic ‘how not to drive the lane’.

  • vtrobot Posted: Mar.12 at 9:13 am
    advice to dwight: learn some offensive moves and how to shoot a free throw instead of relying mainly on you genetic good fortune.

  • Ryan Jones Posted: Mar.12 at 9:14 am
    underdog for the win.
    As for Derrick, this is one area where he could take advice from Allen Iverson, master of the little dude initiating contact, getting the call and getting back up largely unscathed. For the record, Derrick shouldn’t take advice from Allen Iverson on anything else.

  • Sparker Posted: Mar.12 at 9:36 am
    agrred, ryan. iverson could jump, but used it to extend away from defenders (like carter 2.0, funnily enough) instead of trying to sky over them. if you’re not dwayne wade and under 6′6″, that seems like the way to roll

  • Sparker Posted: Mar.12 at 9:37 am
    argh… *agreed

  • letsmotor Posted: Mar.12 at 9:40 am
    vtrobot: dwight doesn’t have any offensive moves? he’s actually developed a nice baby hook with either hand and some good spin moves.

  • OneStep Posted: Mar.12 at 9:51 am
    letsmotor: he doesn’t have enough offensive moves and the two he has are nowhere near well-polished. If he doesn’t work harder on his game then when his physical prowess diminishes he’s going to be Ben Wallace 2.0. That would be an awful waste.

  • NUPE Posted: Mar.12 at 9:55 am
    I’m not sure Rose needs to listen to Dwight’s advice but he does need to learn how to drive when a big man is down low. Maybe watch some game film of AI as Ryan suggest. If he wants to survive healthy in the L, he needs to stop trying to take-on the full body contact with bigs.

  • James the Balla Posted: Mar.12 at 10:06 am
    Soooo, is there no post up anymore?

  • bizzywizzle Posted: Mar.12 at 10:08 am
    “So basically Howard is telling Rose never drive to the basket again and he’ll stay injury-free. Great advice, Dwight.” Well, logically, that kind of makes sense…

  • jumpman3224 Posted: Mar.12 at 10:13 am
    @James with Holly on vaca I guess the post up is too.

  • Saku 39 Posted: Mar.12 at 10:18 am
    Dwight didn’t do anything wrong - hard fouls happen when you drive aggresively into the lane. Rose has a pretty good floater, so I think he’ll be able to avoid these injuries in the future.

  • Mo Charlo Posted: Mar.12 at 10:26 am
    “First thing, Derrick, is to be seven feet tall. Once you’ve got that covered, do curls. No other weights, just curls.”

  • Bryan Crawford Posted: Mar.12 at 10:26 am
    I don’t think D12 had any intention of hurting DRose, but I can see how some writers would be upset being that it’s the second time it’s happened. It won’t stop Derrick though. Once he’s better, he’ll still continue to go at him. That’s Chicago…we go HAM (Hard asa MF’er)

  • Sparty's Law Posted: Mar.12 at 10:31 am
    I’ve always thought D-Ho was a bit of a D-Bag, but I don’t think he’s the kind of guy who would try to hurt someone. If I we coaching him I’d want him delivering good, clean, hard fouls when small guys like Rose drove.

  • Eboy Posted: Mar.12 at 10:36 am
    I am not Eboy, but I am posting as him because all his information is in my comment box. This has happened before, I wonder why?

  • vtrobot Posted: Mar.12 at 10:40 am
    maybe my criticism isn’t quite as relevant anymore as d. howard does seem to be improving on the offensive end, slightly. i don’t know why i don’t like the magic. maybe it’s those ugly, Fing pinstripes.

  • DP Posted: Mar.12 at 10:55 am
    Tell Howard to develop a consistent post game.

  • Dfrance Posted: Mar.12 at 10:56 am
    DRose should follow Barkely’s advice and keep his hands in the air as he lands. Inside the NBA is the best… even with horrible Mchale!

  • Sparty's Law Posted: Mar.12 at 11:00 am
    McHale’s not that bad; he’s better than Magic.

  • md33 Posted: Mar.12 at 11:01 am
    @ Lucas: you remember that ‘92 semifinal series, Bulls vs. Knicks? That sh*t was brutal, dude. Jordan and Pippen both got straight up punched in the face every time they drove to the basket.

  • Zach Posted: Mar.12 at 11:01 am
    First off, D Rose won’t back down from nobody. Second, if Howard things he is as tough as he thinks he is, Just stick Shaq on him. He might start to cry again.

  • niQ Posted: Mar.12 at 11:12 am
    I think Derrick Rose will only use this as motivation to dunk on D12. Lol.
    But on another note, this stangely reminds me of that time someone tried to drive into Shaq’s elbow. Clearly Shaq’s elbow won. I think it was Stackhouse. LOL

  • Ronald Posted: Mar.12 at 11:37 am
    Is it me or are the Chicago writers really really petty? And it’s obvious they’ve never played down low in a physical games, they cannot fathom the pounding guys like Dwight take day in and day out

  • Ree Roe Posted: Mar.12 at 11:45 am
    Ain’t Bizzaro the same cat who was pleading & begging for Shaq to be his friend & give him advice and now he wants to be D. Rose’s guidance counselor & mentor on how to survive in the lane? This cat Bizzaro…smh @ him being from my city

  • Ree Roe Posted: Mar.12 at 11:45 am
    Ain’t Bizzaro the same cat who was pleading & begging for Shaq to be his friend & give him advice and now he wants to be D. Rose’s guidance counselor & mentor on how to survive in the lane? This cat Bizzaro…smh @ him being from my city

  • rainman10 Posted: Mar.12 at 11:49 am
    Well it wasn’t a hard foul. Just because somebody falls and gets hurt doesn’t mean it was a hard foul. And how can anyone think Howard is a D-bag? He gets the least love from the refs out of any player in the league. And this topic has nothing to do with Howard’s post game, or ability to make free-throws. That Daily Herald part was just written by a Bulls fan, who because they are mad and crying about a losing season and injuries, goes attack mode on Dwight Howard. First of all, Howard never complains about the hack that sends him to the line where he makes 6 of 10, he complains when the hack doesn’t get called.

  • LeoneL Posted: Mar.12 at 11:57 am
    DP Posted: Mar.12 at 10:55 am
    Tell Howard to develop a consistent post game. (This is not DP is it?)

  • airs Posted: Mar.12 at 12:04 pm
    @ronald: chicago writers are ridiculously petty, eg. marioti. chicago analysts as well, eg. stacey king. chicago sports are too proud for their own good and its quite annoying. we have an undeserved sense of accomplishment right now that has carried over from the 85 bears and the 90s bulls. blackhawks however get no love and all cubs fans are douchebags. its hard out here for a chicagoan

  • Jeff Henderson Posted: Mar.12 at 12:14 pm
    I don’t think Howard was trying to be malicious in any way, but at the same time you need to do something. When someone hurts your best player twice in the same season, teammates need to step up and get his back. Dwight trying to give him pointers on how not to get hurt is just bs too. You hurt the guy twice, accident or not just keep your mouth shut and don’t try to give him pointers.

  • LA Huey Posted: Mar.12 at 12:21 pm
    Petty writers. However, like many noted, he needs to learn how to drive the lane but minimize the punishment.

  • cecil Posted: Mar.12 at 12:43 pm
    I co-sign LA Huey, Dwight is telling Rose sound advice that coaches have been teaching kids for a long time concerning drives to the lane. Going off two feel gives makes you much more stable in the air in comparison to a one foot takeoff. Some people will argue that there are plenty of other players that go off one foot in the NBA and do not get hurt but they are either bigger than Rose (Lebron) or jump away from the contact (Monta). But normally if you take off with one foot and are making contact with anyone other than straight on you are going to be thrown off your trajectory and sometimes fall hard to the ground. This is just physics and anyone who has played basketball for a long time knows this or at least they should. The writer commenting as he did just indicates to me that his basketball playing knowledge is limited.

  • Bryan Crawford Posted: Mar.12 at 12:59 pm
    @airs… For a minute, I thought you weren’t local. You should be ashamed.
    @Ronald… You have to defend your own. You can call it petty if you want to, but it’s a responsibility shared by all beat writers, analysts, etc.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.12 at 1:34 pm
    Nobody here is going to call Dwight Howard a major jack@ss? Okay, “Dwight Howard is a major jack@ss.”

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.12 at 1:37 pm
    Woops, nevermind. I just read Dwight Howard’s statement and it wasn’t malicious at all, really.
    SLAM, why are your headings so freaking misleading? Wow.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.12 at 1:38 pm
    So yeah, I take back what I said about Dwight Howard.
    But Marcel Mutoni made it seem like Dwight was mocking Rose. Whatever.

  • Eboy Posted: Mar.12 at 1:39 pm
    im not eboy

  • David Posted: Mar.12 at 2:22 pm
    I’m not eboy either but that’s neither here or there. I thought the foul shouldn’t have happened because Rose traveled on the play - jump stop on to one foot, then the other…

  • The Philosopher Posted: Mar.12 at 2:27 pm
    Big guys love fouling guards like that. A guard has to be able to anticipate that kind of contact. Any player, for that matter. Players do tend to trust each other not to hurt each other, though. Guys just have to be careful.

  • ENDS Posted: Mar.12 at 3:01 pm
    Im not EBoy, Dwight wasnt actually giving him advice he was joking acting like he knew why he was down. HATERS! Dwight has done nothing to no none of you why y’all continue to spread hate in the world buck nasty. and ps D12 has been playing great ball, and shooting good freethrows.

  • The Philosopher Posted: Mar.12 at 3:08 pm
    When he get’s that “hard foul”, I wonder how he’ll react. Probably depends on who gives the foul.

  • peter Posted: Mar.12 at 3:23 pm
    I just see Dwight trying to help. Catty’s just being harsh, but I do think that if Dwight was a better free throw shooter he would probably be fouled less

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Mar.12 at 3:29 pm
    I’m not Eboy, but I hope Rose recovers smoothly.

  • BETCATS Posted: Mar.12 at 3:35 pm
    “Eboy Posted: Mar.12 at 1:39 pm
    im not eboy” That is something to be proud of!

  • Sam Joynt Posted: Mar.12 at 3:36 pm
    For an example of what this sort of advice can do to a promising career see: Carter, Vince.

  • Big Mel Posted: Mar.12 at 3:56 pm
    I thought I was the only one that noticed the Bulls broadcsasters cry the whole game.

  • Tommy Patron Posted: Mar.12 at 4:17 pm
    Howard’s whole persona is phony. It will come out one day. This deal is the same as Kobe not purposely elbowing guys in the face on his follow through. Howard knows what will happen when he leads with his midsection/hip (hands up) when challenging shots. Rose drives all the time, but only gets hurt against the Magic.

  • Diesel Posted: Mar.12 at 5:38 pm
    First off - Stacey King is on a local station broadcast only. Of course he’s going to play to the Chicago folks. He’s entertaining to me and I love it. If these were nationally televised I’d understand your guy’s beef. As for the foul, it was a good hard foul by Dwight. My only problem is that no one on the Bulls retaliated…for the second time. B-Miller needed to foul Nelson a little extra on the next play to show the Bulls won’t put up with that crap.

  • Tommy Patron Posted: Mar.12 at 5:41 pm
    Whatever happened to the days of the bench big man/hatchet man. Used to be most teams had a bigger guy that occasionally played, who would be the go-to guy when their team’s star was targeted. Sports have become overly civilized.

  • slamfan4life Posted: Mar.12 at 6:02 pm
    Eff D12, how the hell is that gonna happen twice? I’ve i was rose, id bust a cap in dwights big ass

  • nate the great Posted: Mar.12 at 10:14 pm
    watch the play. the wrist rose hurt was the one he flung and hit dwight with. dwight went up strong, but its nothing different then he usually does.
    rose was the one that created the contact when he flung his arm into dwight.

  • Dallas Posted: Mar.12 at 11:04 pm
    That’s just D Rose’s game, agressive to the cup

  • Mike Posted: Mar.12 at 11:31 pm
    its Rose’s fault, whats Dwight supposed to do , not jump and let someone in the lane, if you look at the last 2 plays its Rose who initiates all the contact. Anybody in the league would “rose” for flying in the lane with no regard

  • I'm Not Eboy Posted: Mar.12 at 11:51 pm
    I’m not Eboy.

  • Rob Posted: Mar.12 at 11:56 pm
    Mike McGraw needs to chill

  • airs Posted: Mar.13 at 1:15 am
    ashamed bryan? i dont know why
    if its cause of the cubs thing, its true.
    but so many of the chicago analysts, writers etc. are the definition of homers, so much so that its too hard to bear at times. im not condoning what dwight did. just was making a statement about another’s statement,

  • airs Posted: Mar.13 at 1:17 am
    and the bears suck, bulls are mediocre right now, and cubs fans a douchebags. just to reiterate.

  • LetsGetIt Posted: Mar.13 at 1:42 am
    Dwight Howard has no offense at all. those “baby hooks” are garbage and he doesnt make them that often. And do you see the way he shoots free throws? No wonder he doesnt make a decent percentage. And his defense is pretty overrated more than half of those blocks come form weak side which means hes leaving his man which means if the ball handler would just pay attention to Dwight slippin he could drop the ball off. As far as rebounds just look at him he 7′ tall and arms like tree trunks I would expect at least 20 rpg. Bottom line is Dwight Howard is overrated.

  • LetsGetIt Posted: Mar.13 at 1:46 am
    @airs- bears dont suck their management sucks and bulls arent mediocre their coach is mediocre and cubs are super douchbags

  • therighttoremainsalient Posted: Mar.13 at 6:57 am
    Just need to drive AT him, not passed or to the side of him… and give his mouth the “dirk elbow”

  • Shem Posted: Mar.13 at 7:48 am
    I think everyone should listen to Dwight Howard’s advice. You probably shouldn’t take it in the paint without knowing Dwight Howard’s the best shot blocker in the L. But then again you shouldn’t give Dwight a free pass for the night and not make him work on D.

  • Hursty Posted: Mar.13 at 8:20 am
    Telling a guy to effectively “back down” after he’s had to scrap and compete every single day (theoretically) to get to the position he is in now?
    No, I don’t think it’s in Rose’s character to back off like that. Nahhuh.

  • nastierthanu Posted: Mar.13 at 9:06 am
    @letsgetit every great shot blocker leaves his man to block shots, that’s how u control the paint. Get a clue man! Rose is a young cat in the league and d12 is right. Develop the floater and once u create the space necessary use the pull up j. The paint is for big men if u come down there expect to get ruffed up. Keep comin down and go home early. Somewhere rick mahorn is proud

  • BostonBaller Posted: Mar.13 at 9:11 am
    No intentional hard foul just a misfortunate injury on a drive. Todays players would cry bloody murder if they had to play TheOriginal Bad Boys of Detroit or The Knicks under Riley. hahaha. Some of these younger guys have the physical strength but not the mental toughness to take such a pounding on almost EVERY play. rose will be fine and he will learn as his career grows.

  • davidkompton Posted: Mar.13 at 11:23 am
    funny i like chicago broadcasters
    i always thought everybody else’s announcers were kinda of annoying and im pretty sure every beat writer loves their respective city its just that chicago writers love chicago sports team more than any other writer loves their city sports team
    its called pride and chicago loves their sports team whether they win or lose

  • Orlando Green Posted: Mar.13 at 12:19 pm
    Howard is a big bytch!

  • Enigmatic Posted: Mar.13 at 1:52 pm
    airs - take your ass out of Chicago!

  • DC Posted: Mar.13 at 2:04 pm
    You know what D-Rose has to do?
    Next time, the Bulls play Orlando, he has to fly down the lane, take off of one-foot, and slam it over Dwight Howard.
    That would make my day!

  • DC Posted: Mar.13 at 2:04 pm
    You know what D-Rose has to do?
    Next time, the Bulls play Orlando, he has to fly down the lane, take off of one-foot, and slam it over Dwight Howard.
    That would make my day!

  • DC Posted: Mar.13 at 2:04 pm
    You know what D-Rose has to do?
    Next time, the Bulls play Orlando, he has to fly down the lane, take off of one-foot, and slam it over Dwight Howard.
    That would make my day!

  • airs Posted: Mar.13 at 2:34 pm
    see, too proud. buts its alright
    not saying i dont love my bulls, cuz i do.
    just can’t really put us up there yet like some people already do.
    just bein objective. cubs suck.

  • Ansonpanson Posted: Mar.13 at 5:48 pm
    i dont like dwight very much… so childish for a man of his age

  • D. Cole Posted: Mar.13 at 6:44 pm
    so Dwight Howard just posted his covers for the new Men’s Health magazine. if Derrick wants to drive in against him, that his prerogative.

  • Whotey Posted: Mar.13 at 7:36 pm
    Rose for MVP!!!!!

  • Mack Posted: Mar.13 at 9:43 pm
    I want Rose to punch one on Howard, so bad… actually someone needs to, one more time…

  • OTSS Posted: Mar.13 at 11:29 pm
    I like both players and i think that D.Rose will decide whether he wants to listen to D.Howard or not.

  • Jalepino Sausage Posted: Mar.14 at 7:48 am
    I THINK D ROSE SHOULD NOT LISTEN TO DWIGHT AS HE HAS BEEN RIDDEN LIKE A DONKEY BY KOBE BRYANT. DWIGHT IS ALL TALK NO GAME> ROSE IS ALL GAME NO TALK > PEACE

  • Jalepino Sausage Posted: Mar.14 at 7:52 am
    REMEMBER WHEN KOBE SAT ON DWIGHTS BACK, AND SAID GET OOF ME PUNK !!!!!!

  • Jalepino Sausage Posted: Mar.14 at 7:54 am
    Remember when Dwight said some shit to shaq in theallstar game then shaq put the ball between his legs ,DUNKED ON dwight & LAUGHED HA HA !!!

  • Twon Posted: Mar.14 at 8:50 am
    @Jalepino Thats True….Never Thought of that.

  • BossTerry Posted: Mar.14 at 3:18 pm
    Glen Davis wants to lose the nickname “big baby” and be called “uno uno”. good luck with that catching on, fatty.

  • Justin Posted: Mar.15 at 2:20 am
    How about this? Develop the lost art of the pull up jumper. Watch when Jordan was not driving the lane as much or as hard, like Kobe does now. They’re still quick enough to blow by people but then they have the nice pull up jumper. It’s sad how nobody does this anymore

  • ab_40 Posted: Mar.15 at 3:53 am
    mike mcgras is probably a 4-7 white guy who doesn’t understand bball. And D Rose is even more wreckless then manu and D wade a few years back. Where manu had the best body control I’ve seen in a long time. He can be a lot more effective if someone would teach him. too bad he has only lindsey hunter to listen to

  • Josh Chin Posted: Mar.16 at 7:28 am
    i really want to see the bulls in the playoffs playing magic and Rose doing a huge facial on dwight

  • Linda Bart Posted: Mar.19 at 2:07 am
    I’m a Magic fan. I was at the game and watched this accident happen. Dwight was in the lane, and Rose ran into him and fell down. If you charge a man that is so strong straight on then the results are you will be on the floor. Dwight gets a bad rap from some of newsmedia because he enjoys the game. Dwight plays hard but he puts some sunshine into lives that may have lost a job, had a bad day, lost someone, or just needs to smile because of his SMILE during the game and in the community….I do hope that Rose recovers quickly.

  • Dee Posted: Mar.22 at 9:13 pm
    Howard is a dum! Why don’t you do that to someone your own size

  • G Posted: Mar.23 at 9:05 am
    Dwight is a strait up PUNK! his game is ugly and indeed he’s always BiT€in# about everyhting down low….so yeah he should keep his advice to himself! Superlooser instead of superman!

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