The Houston Rockets seem to finally be putting it all together now as they have won three in a row to get above .500 with their 15-14 record. While the Rockets have been playing much better, they still have their issues, including star center Dwight Howard. A lot of the talk surrounding Howard has been whether he is happy in Houston and if a trade might happen, but interim head coach J.P. Bickerstaff thinks he is happy and just needs to get his big man more involved on offense, according to Sam Amick of USA Today Sports.
Howard is taking the fifth most shots on the team (8.3 field goal attempts per game) behind guys like Trevor Ariza and Terrence Jones, and that number would be his career low. Because he is taking so few shots, Howard is averaging just 13.0 points per game, which is second on the team but would be the second lowest average of his career. Bickerstaff thinks getting him involved more on offense will not only help him personally but it will also help the team.
"I think he needs to have a bigger role, but I think it's a combination of how we get him to that point, I've got to do a better job of getting him the ball in positions where he can score. Our group has to do a better job of finding him when he's open," said Bickerstaff.
Bickerstaff also thinks the fact that Howard was still dealing with back problems at the beginning of the season and was so limited has affected his integration into the offense. The Rockets have mostly the same team from last season, so they should be comfortable with one another, but Howard did have a minutes limit and a bunch of other restrictions earlier in the season which could be a reason his scoring and field goal attempts are so down.
Howard isn't the best offensive player in the league because he doesn't have a jump shot and does most of his work within five feet of the basket. But he is still very good, as he has improved that part of his game a lot and could be very effective on the low post for Houston, especially considering the shooters he will have around him. Getting Howard more involved on offense will be good for the Rockets for two reasons: It will keep one of their best players happy, and it will likely improve the offense and open up wide-open shots for the perimeter players. Now we will just have to see if Bickerstaff comes through and actually features Howard more as the season progresses.
