Fantastic move Pritchard!
You just took one of the youngest teams in the NBA to one of the oldest teams in the NBA with two free agency moves and I’m ecstatic about both. By now we all know what Andre Miller is going to bring, but I don’t think a lot of Blazer fans know how much Howard is going to help this young team.
Career Line:
|
1043 |
871 |
32.8 |
.469 |
.122 |
.763 |
6.6 |
2.5 |
.7 |
.2 |
14.9 |
We first saw Juwan hoop it up as part of the fab five at
Now don’t read this and expect that Juwan is going to come in and compete with LaMarcus for a starting spot. Howard is 36 years old and should not expect to play more than 8-10 minutes a game.
Howard’s real value to this team is his leadership. He has extensive NBA knowledge. He has played for 6 NBA teams over 15 NBA seasons. Juwan will push Oden and Aldridge while instilling patience and solid post moves. Juwan will play limited minutes as a rebounder and as an intelligent presence. We won’t see many turnovers from him. We will see smart fouls and strong leadership. Juwan also gives the second unit a solid post presence.
Howard has already made his presence felt in
Jason Quick of the Oregonian was on Wheels at Work and quoted Kevin Pritchard as saying the voluntary scrimmage went well and when the participants were seemingly ready to quit, Juwan barked orders to the team saying “We got one more”.
Juwan was guarding Greg Oden often in the sessions and was heard ordering the other team to “Get the big man the ball!” This will go along way to getting Greg off to a quick start which could be the difference between another underachieving season for the 7 footer or an All-star appearance.
That’s just some of what the Blazers expect from someone that has played in 23 playoff games.
End of story, this move makes the Blazers older and wiser!
Zach vW
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