Dwight Howard’s Secret To Being A Legendary Defender
Note taking.
I remember when Dwight Howard was in his prime and at his athletic peak, some of my friends said that the reason he was a good defender was because he was athletic.
They said he was just getting blocks and rebounds because he was big, strong, explosive and a high jumper.
Though those specs did help him be a better defender and rebounder, they’re not solely responsible.
He also had to have good timing and footwork to be a good rim protector. As for rebounding, he had to know where to position himself and have good reaction time.
And that’s just to be a good defender.
To be a great one -which I think Howard is seeing how, ya know, he’s a 3-time Defensive Player of the Year (won them consecutively) and 5-time All-Defensive- he had to study his opponents.
Howard told Kevin Garnett on the KG Certified podcast that his first coach in the NBA (Stan Van Gundy) made him write down everything about his opponents -what they liked to do, how they moved, etc.
He said Coach Van Gundy wanted him to learn and memorize his opponent’s tendencies so that he could defend them better.
“My first coach in the league made me -I had a little notebook and I had to write down after I played you… What y’all did and I had to memorize it,” Howard said. “So now, I did that for everybody in the league. ‘Okay, this dude like to do this, he like to do this...’ So now, every game, I knew what you doing. I’m on your moves before you do them.”
He continued, saying that this is how defensive players should be training if they want to be elite.
“That’s how we supposed to train. Like, if I’m a defender, this is how I’m looking. I’m watching every part of your body -how you move- so I know how to stop you before you even get to your move. So, that’s why I did that. That’s why I had to develop that because I knew it was going to give me an advantage.”
Another reason Howard believes players who want to be certified pests should take notes is because it’ll give them the upper hand.
He said by studying your opponents meticulously, like a boxer, you’ll find out their bad habits and weaknesses, so that you can take advantage of them.
Additionally, he said he likes to meditate and imagine plays before games.
“It’s always more than just the physical side. I’m looking at the whole spiritual side. I’m playing a game in my head; I’m doing moves in my head before I’m actually playing them outside.”
And this is what it takes to be a scary-ass legendary defender who led the NBA in blocks twice and rebounds 5 times.
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