Friday, March 12th, 2010 at 9:00 am  |  90 responses

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

    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

    It’s kind of a moot point now, isn’t it?

  • underdog

    Well if somebody, Vince Carter is reliable on the topic ‘how not to drive the lane’.

  • vtrobot

    advice to dwight: learn some offensive moves and how to shoot a free throw instead of relying mainly on you genetic good fortune.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/category/blogs/farmer-jones/ Ryan Jones

    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

    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

    argh… *agreed

  • letsmotor

    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

    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.

  • http://theurbangriot.com/ NUPE

    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.

  • http://www.slamonline.com James the Balla

    Soooo, is there no post up anymore?

  • bizzywizzle

    “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

    @James with Holly on vaca I guess the post up is too.

  • Saku 39

    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.

  • http://theghostofroyhobbs.blogspot.com Mo Charlo

    “First thing, Derrick, is to be seven feet tall. Once you’ve got that covered, do curls. No other weights, just curls.”

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    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

    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.

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

    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

    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.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com DP

    Tell Howard to develop a consistent post game.

  • Dfrance

    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

    McHale’s not that bad; he’s better than Magic.

  • md33

    @ 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

    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.

  • http://slamonline.com/ niQ

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

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

  • http://bulls.com airs

    @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

    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

    Petty writers. However, like many noted, he needs to learn how to drive the lane but minimize the punishment.

  • cecil

    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.

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    @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

    Nobody here is going to call Dwight Howard a major jack@ss? Okay, “Dwight Howard is a major jack@ss.”

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    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

    So yeah, I take back what I said about Dwight Howard.
    But Marcel Mutoni made it seem like Dwight was mocking Rose. Whatever.

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

    im not eboy

  • David

    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

    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

    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

    When he get’s that “hard foul”, I wonder how he’ll react. Probably depends on who gives the foul.

  • peter

    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

    I’m not Eboy, but I hope Rose recovers smoothly.

  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com BETCATS

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

  • http://thegoodpoint.com Sam Joynt

    For an example of what this sort of advice can do to a promising career see: Carter, Vince.

  • http://big11mel@yahoo.com Big Mel

    I thought I was the only one that noticed the Bulls broadcsasters cry the whole game.

  • Tommy Patron

    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

    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.

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