He pretty much called himself the highest energy/effort player in the NBA. And he took a jab at the NBA/NBDL players with his "In Europe, people pass to open guys and don't shoot over 5 people" line. Brutal honesty! If he had what Royce has, he wouldn't stop at "I want #PROTOCOL"
Lol, Val is playing great lately, 22 points 7 rebounds 3 blocks 3 rebounds and game tieing free throws that led to a overtime over Spurs
He's given a lot of minutes. that's not so impressive for a 39 minutes. Moreover did you watch the game? TD was outplaying him very easyli. raptors coach had to switch bargnani with JV. It was Bargnani who started defending TD after the break and we all know how "GOOD" is bargnani in D. And he also did stupid turnovers at the last minute of 4q and during OT.
I didn't follow this argument, so I don't know if maybe someone implied that Valanciunas is playing at an All Star or rookie of the year level or something. Which wouldn't be true, obviously. But he deserves every minute he's gotten so far. Jonas is a skinny 7 footer, and he regularly sets 3 hard screens in a single offensive possession -- his hustle / energy game is off the charts. He's a positive defender, even if he got owned by Tim Duncan and Brook Lopez when he met them for the first time --- not really surprising, when you think of it. And his boxscore is solid.
THats funny, he must be fully NBAized because there were a couple times he could have passed to the open guy but decided to take it himself
I do not think that DMo will be better than an adequate starter in the NBA, but he moves very well without the ball and gets himself into position to score well. He is fairly mobile but lacks explosiveness.
I question his ability to defend and whether he has the strength to rebound effectively right now in the NBA. He could be a lot of things in the NBA. I think he has huge upside with his mobility and instincts to be dominant offensively in a couple of years in the PnR. He also has the option to be used in the post. I like that the Rockets were using him as a center in the D League. He needs to work more in being physical than on skills at this point offensively.
Look around the NBA at all the skilled 7 footers. How many of those are extremely explosive athletes? He doesn't have the defensive ability that alot of those players have right now to keep him on the court, but its aparent that he can get there in a year or two with some off the court training, and added muscle in the lower body. Still... SKILLED 7 FOOTER... those just dont grow on trees. He might not be a superstar in the elk of Dirk or Pau, but he's going to be an excellent NBA player in a few years. The skill, the attitude, and the size are already there, its just a matter of making him adequate on the defensive end enough to stay on the court. Because right now, on the defensive end.... lets face it... He's pretty aweful.
As far as I'm concerned, you don't trade Dmo or Terrance Jones. Those guys will both be studs in two years. Play Greg Smith, and Pat a ton. Then move them in the offseason. We need to get DMo and Jones on the floor next season.
I agree with most of what you said, although I would argue that with his arm length he is not a "real" 7 footer. However, his back to the basket game is very polished (assuming he is not pushed out of the block), he is very mobile and a good passer. Offensively I like him as a center. He understands posting up and passing out of the post..... but defensively I cannot ever see him being a center based on his lack of length and rebounding. I could see him being a very good scorer, rebounder and passer.... he really knows how to move without the ball... but he is probably going to be a Scola/Dirk level defender unless he gets much bigger.
