When he has given opportunities? Last year? After that he bulked up, got better on defense, competed at Eurobasket with one of the best European big mens. He didn't get any chance this year so far to show what he made off after summer full of hard work.
GEEZ, watch the man move off the ball and make good passes, clearly he has a very high BBall IQ at least on offense. Defensively he needs to slow it down and play using his height - that alone would make him effective on that end as he is the biggest guy on the floor most nights. DD
wanted to post the same, he makes great screens and passes and hes pretty crafty with his post moves.
I say play him. He has great post moves. Not good ones, great ones. He has a decent 3 point shot. He can run the floor well. He's a 7 footer. He's 22. He'll make mistakes and look lost sometimes and play terribly sometimes. That comes with the territory. He's fun to watch and can get into a nice rhythm when given the chance and he can improve defensively. The bench is short, not very good this season. Asik doesn't want to be on it even when he plays, Lin is not always on it, so another player that can really contribute would help the bench greatly.
I agree with you. The Rockets have a really good team. Besides Harden and Howard you have Lin and Parsons. Then there's T Jones now showing what he can do and look like stars to me and T Jones a possible star down the road. D Mo and Smith have potential too. They both have to play. We know about Casspi and Garcia, D Mo and Smith need to play more.
I'm curious to see how Dmo goes against Davis, Davis basically made a highlight reel out of him in preseason
I am encouraged by his defense. If he can show consistency, it will be a big plus point for us, and lead to a decrease in foul trouble. I hope his rebounding will improve. He is a good passer and cutter, and he can score on the low block with consistency if he gains more strength. I don't think efforts should be made to convert him into a stretch 4, but he does need to shoot better. He needs more chances after this game.
You said even as DMo got more time. Here's his game log. Game 2 - 4 minutes (garbage time) Game 4 - 5 minutes (garbage time) Game 11 - 16 minutes 5-6 FG, 3 reb, 1 blk, 12 points Game 12 - 18 minutes 2-8 FG, 5 reb, 1 blk, 5 points Game 14 - 1 minutes (garbage time) Game 16 - 4 min (garbage time) Game 17 - 7 min (garbage time) Game 20 - 6 min (garbage time) Game 21 - 13 min (garbage time) Game 22 - 4 min (garbage time) Game 24 - 9 min Game 25 - 5 min (garbage time) Game 27 - 8 min (garbage time) So out of 30 games before the Memphis game, DMo has only played in 3 games that is not garbage time, and there was another half dozen games where DMo could easily have gotten garbage time minutes that he didn't. The minutes are as inconsistent and non-meaningful as they get.
He should take some of Caspi minutes. Caspi has not been that great on offense for the last games and defensively he is really outplayed by bigger players.
There are three types of teams in the NBA. The great teams who have a real shot at a chip, teams fighting for a playoff berth, and then the developing (tanking) teams. It is only on developing teams that young players get to play in order to develop into a NBA talent. This season the Rockets have a chance at the chip if things go their way. McHale does not have the luxury of playing D-Mo regular minutes because every game is important for playoff seeding. Would D-Mo have seen the floor in the Griz game if Asik had been available? Probably not. What I expect to happen is for D-Mo to get some PT while Asik is out as the backup center. He looks focused and aware on the defensive side of the ball. Then when Asik is traded at the trade deadline D-Mo will step into the rotation. It is what smart coaches do.
The Rockets are not at that level yet and championship level teams generally have a mix of veterans and youngsters. There is room to play a 7 foot, super quick, athleticly gifted left handed big. What it takes is living with the mistakes.....because the upside is greater than most. DD
McHale has bigger priorities than developing or guaranteeing a 23-year-old, former 20th overall pick and second year player minutes. Some of you guys need to cool it with the laptop coaching thing and cut McHale some slack. That said, I like D-Mo and think McHale should definitely feel good about the idea of increasing his playing time after the type of two-way effort he displayed against Memphis. Hell, one of the best big men in the league sat the entire 4th quarter because of the way D-Mo was playing. He was the x-factor in that game. Obviously, minimizing the significant defensive drop-off we experience whenever Dwight is off the floor is our goal. D-Mo isn't much of a rim defender, but if he can bring that type of one-on-one defensive intensity on a consistent basis and finds a way to put the ball in the basket a couple times on the other end of the floor, you have to feel good about his playing time increasing.
Under Adelman, Twill played eleven total games at 8mpg. Dmo started more games last year than that. The "Free the Squid" contingent was much larger than you acknowledge. Anyone who isn't in the practice sessions has no idea whether Dmo deserves more playing time, especially since he hasn't lit the court on fire this year or last. Dmo has a lot of holes in his game at the moment and I say that as a big supporter. Go ahead and look up my post history regarding his ceiling. McHale is a very positive coach, according to players from his time in Minnesota and today. What he won't do is force feed players time when they aren't ready. Most coaches don't. Even Pop, who some think would've turned Dmo into an all-star by now, expects players to contribute to the team when they step on the court. Dmo hasn't yet. It doesn't matter how many players are injured. Did Canaan deserve to play because of the PG injuries or his potential?
D-Mo defensively is about halfway between Howard and Asik in rim protection. He had 3 blocks against the Griz. Has Asik ever had 3 blocks in a game? D-Mo obviously has the size, strength and quickness to be a great defensive center. Where D-Mo has defensively failed is in keeping track of his cover. Most new NBA players suffer that fault. Jones can repeatedly lose his man for easy buckets. In the Griz game that most certainly was not the case. D-Mo is beginning to have situational awareness of not only where his man is, but where his teammates are. Defensively the center position is the most difficult to master in the NBA. We shall see.
