| Grand Larceny Authored by Jeff Stotts - April 12, 2006 - 2:50 am
LeBron James. Carmelo Anthony. Dwyane Wade. Chris Bosh. The top of the 2003 NBA draft board reads like an All-Star game roster. Even though there were enormous amounts of talent found in the lottery picks of the draft, scroll down to the last pick of the first round and you can see that the Dallas Mavericks may have pulled off the biggest heist in one of the best draft classes of all time by selecting Josh Howard of Wake Forest. Despite being unanimously picked as the ACC Player of the Year, the 6’7” swingman saw names like Troy Bell and Ndudi Ebi come off the board, before the Mavericks took him with the 29th pick overall.
Now three years later, Ebi and Bell aren’t even in the league and Howard is the most important player not named Dirk on a team with legitimate title aspirations.
In his rookie year, Howard started 29 games on a Dallas team coming off a Western Conference Finals defeat and stacked with All-Stars. He earned All-Rookie Second Team and established himself as a gritty defender. His playing time and statistical production increased during his second year despite the Mavericks bringing in Jerry Stackhouse to combine with Michael Finley. Now in his third year in the league, J-Ho has again seen his statistics climb and has combined with Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry to form the New Big Three in Dallas.
The Mavericks are simply a better team with Josh Howard in the lineup. Howard is second on the Mavs with 12 double doubles trailing only Nowitzki. He’s the third leading scorer and Dallas is 21-0 when Howard scores 19 points or more. His defensive abilities are a huge component of Coach Avery Johnson’s newly implemented system. The fact that the energy Howard expends on the defensive end doesn’t affect his offensive game makes him a potent weapon and the perfect compliment to MVP-candidate Nowitzki. Dirk recognizes the talent of his sidekick and is quick to note that what makes Howard so effective is that all the things Dirk struggles with, Howard excels at.
Howard’s value to his team was evident in the Mavericks’ recent victory over the Spurs. It was Howard, not Nowitzki, who led the team out of the gates and kept Dallas in the game until Dirk found his rhythm in the second half. J-Ho scored 20 points in the first half including fifteen first quarter points to go with five boards. This efficient style of play is exactly what the Mavericks will need going into this year’s playoffs. Last postseason teams successfully double-teamed Nowitzki and were able to place their best defender on Dirk. However with J-Ho on the court, teams like San Antonio will have to pick their poison as Howard’s presence will help free Nowitzki on the offensive end.
There were 28 other players selected before Josh Howard became a Maverick and Dallas fans have reaped the benefits ever since. Howard has blossomed into a unique talent in the league and teams around the NBA have taken notice. If Dallas is to challenge for the Larry O’Brien championship trophy then look for Howard to play a key role alongside Nowitzki and Terry. And look for teams like Minnesota and Boston to kick themselves as they imagine what could have been if they hadn’t let this gem slip through their fingers. |
