Let's take a small look at the comparing players stats
Marquis Daniels vs Josh Howard
10.7 - Points Per Game - 12.4
4.3 - Rebounds Per Game - 6.5
2.2 - Assists Per Game - 1.4
1.50 - Steals Per Game - 1.55
.24 - Blocks Per Game - .66
.437 - Field Goal Percentage - .466
.732 - Free Throw Percentage - .717
.194 - 3 Point Percentage - .292
26.3 - Minutes Per Game - 32.6
DEFENSE
Josh Howard takes this one fairly easily, he's put a body on various players around the league
- Richard Jefferson (who had come off succesive 30+ point nights)
- Dwyane Wade
- Tracy McGrady (Marquis marked him the 48 point night, Josh marked him the 15 point night on poor shooting)
- Kobe Bryant*, and last but certainly not least
- A new and reformed Vince Carter
* indicates that Kobe went for 40 points against us, Erick Dampier was injured (having a low post prescense really heaps a perimter defender, think about how much Tayshaun Prince benefits from how the Wallace and Wallace co. down low) and Kobe Bryant was having a freakish night (damn crazy acrobatic layups, shots were just dropping).
Josh has all the right tools to become a great defensive player in this league, if you watch his feet you'll realize he has a good defensive IQ, not afraid of big names, long arms whic help when: Trying to reach in to pick pocket, Block Shots, Interfer in the passing lane, Stop the inbounds pass & get a hand in his mans face. I will go out on a limb and say Josh will be a future All-NBA defensive team player, and he has a good chance this year depending on where he's listed.
With all that in mind, Marquis still is an above average defender. I can't count how many times I wanted him in the clutch defending somebody this season. Unfortunately injuries have taken a toll on his ankle, and has had some illness. His absence was dealthy for this team, we had to get Michael Finley on the oppostions second best offensive player...see that? We need Marquis here to guard the opponets second best offensive player, Josh was too busy guarding the best offensive player
Josh Howard also has a good two inches on Marquis, meaning he has a better chance at guarding the post. Marquis basically is non-existant if your looking for a post defender, but Josh can do it, and has done it. Whilst he's not going to be marking Amare Stoudemire or Shaquille O'Neal, Josh has already done a good job on BBB.net most loved Kevin Garnett
OFFENSE
Offense will include playmaking ability, for the record. People will look at this and say "Oh Marquis definately, he can play PG with ease". Yes, Marquis is a more adept ball handler but the situation goes far beyond that. Marquis does not work at the PG position for over a few minutes, I've seen too much of Quis bringing the ball upcourt only to settle for a questionable jumper or drive it in for a suspect layup. He brings the teams offense down, something that he should work on (pin point passes). When Quis heads to the bench, our offensive input increases by 7.2 points per 100 possesions -- surely a sign that he slows down our run'n'gun offense too much
Marquis Daniels is better at putting the ball in the basket, but Josh Howard is one of the most underrated offensive players in the league. Josh has showed time and time again that he can step up if needed (30 against the Suns, 25 against Bucks, 26 against Knicks & the list goes on). In the 3 games Nowitzki has missed this season, Howard stepped up to become our 2nd leading scorer on one of the top FG%, including a massive rise in his 3 point percentage. Yes, it's a small sample size but he produced in those matches -- and considering they were all basically from a different time in the season you get a fairly decent idea. Still on Dirk's missed games, Marquis obviously tried to do too much. He did lead Dallas in scoring (+2 on Josh), but his FG% was horrific: 36%
Their Points Per 48 number equate out to be almost identical (Quis infront half a point), the higher percentage shot that Josh has puts his offensive game above Marquis' IMO. In a game were every basket counts, Josh' 4% better shot can make the world of difference. With Dirk downlow in the paint, an established shooter will be needed for kickoffs, Josh shoots a massive 10% better from the 3 land -- making his surprisingly weak shot seem great compared to Marquis
OVERALL
Boy, am I glad that Don Nelson found not one, but two diamonds in the rough in the 2003 draft. I love having them both here, but if I was forced to choose -- I would most definately keep Josh Howard now and for the future. This kid is a leader, as shown at Wake Forest and his inspirational defense here. The future is brighter than Albert Einstein for these kids, but Josh is just simply amazing. He fit's in much better in this Dallas Mavericks team, in our top 15 5 man units on the court (on 82games, it shows every teams top 20 5 man units), Josh appears 11 out of the first 15 ranked lineups, Marquis appears a petty 3 times.