Once an NBA star himself and now a legend, Hakeem Olajuwon has become a teacher to some of the greatest in the game including Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and the latest, Dwight Howard. Though Dwight is averaging 17.2 points and 13.9 rebounds, many feel he still isn’t playing up to his full potential. His post moves or lack thereof are questionable and well his free-throws are an entirely different story. Olajuwon famous for his post moves including the legendary ‘dream shake’ was hoping to teach those to Dwight but so far the job just hasn’t gotten done.
The Hall of Famer was speaking Tuesday from Nigeria, where he was helping to launch a basketball initiative for youth. Even from half a world away, though, Olajuwon was thinking about the struggles of his current pupil, Howard, who he mentored in the offseason after the big man signed a four-year, $88-million free agent contract with the Rockets, Olajuwon’s former team.
“The truth is that I can’t wait to get back to Houston to do more work with Dwight,” said Olajuwon, who left Houston in early October to return to his home in Amman, Jordan and has been keeping track of his pupil on TV. “I wish he was doing a better job.
“Dwight has always been athletic and aggressive and he still is. But when I watch him, what I see are opportunities that he is missing. When he gets the ball, he seems to be taking his time to decide what move to make, where he should go.
“There should not be a delay for Dwight. He must be able to make a faster recognition of the situations and react immediately with a go-to move. You must move right away before the defense has a chance to set up. You must be the one making the first move so that you can force the defender to always be the one reacting.
“I thought we were doing a good job with this when we were working together over the summer and at the start of training camp. But what I see now is that when Dwight gets in competition, he has a tendency to go back to all of his old habits. He’s just doing all of the things that he did before. He needs a reminder.”
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