This. People talk about TJ as though he is a finished product and won't improve anymore the same way some spoke about Dmo last year. I am glad that these 2 bigs brings different skill sets so we have options depending on who we are playing. People seem to have forgotten what a good start TJ had this year to only be bitten by the injury bug. If TJ gets back to this form, we can make a good case that we have the best front court trio in the league without having to break the bank.
Code: SEASON TEAM GP GS MIN FGM-A FG% 3PM-A 3P% FTM-A FT% OR DR REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS Jones '13-'14 HOU 76 71 27.3 5.1-9.4 [B]0.542[/B] 0.4-1.3 [B]0.307[/B] 1.6-2.6 0.605 [B]2.1 4.8 6.9[/B] 1.1 [B]1.3 0.7 1.8 0.9 12.1[/B] D-Mo '14-'15 HOU 23 18 27.1 4.3-8.4 0.508 0.4-1.4 0.273 1.5-2.3 [B]0.648[/B] 2 4.2 6.1 [B]1.4[/B] 0.6 0.6 3 1.9 10.4 Marginally better shooter... well I can live with that because they both are average shooters. Shooting percentage also gives Jones albeit this season is still short (better than comparing last season). Jone's handles are night and day better than Dmo. You don't remember all of his crossover/ball handling moves from last year? You don't remember Matt Bullard going on and on about him being a guard in high school? Watch some of his highlights from last year. Dmo does not have far superior passing either. His assist rate this year is still lower than what Jones had despite logging same amount of minutes (albeit smaller sample size). I agree with you that Dmo post defense is better, but Jones has better hands (steals) and blocks. Also Jones has better help defense than Dmo (mainly because of speed). See above as well. At the end of the day, their minutes should be equal unless Jones regressed a lot since he has only played 4 games this season. Both have their own pro's and con's. I still think Jones fit better with starters because Dmo should be able to post up and score on the opposing team second unit fairly easy.
The bottom line is in the playoffs you need 3 bigs. Dwight/Jones/D mo is a solid 3 man rotation when playing well and healthy. D mo rounds this group out more than Asik did which is why I didn't care that Asik was traded. In certain matchups in the postseason I would start Jones and others I would start D mo. The regular season starter is not important although I would start Jones because he plays off the stars better and D mo can be the second unit's go to post scorer and wear out backup bigs. D mo's team defense is better than Jones but Jones would start with Bev, Ariza, and Dwight to mitigate that. Just like the PG situations of the past, whichever PF is having the better game stays in at the end and finishes the game which is all that matters. In the end D mo and Jones should roughly average the same minutes with Dorsey/Black sprinkled in for foul trouble or with certain matchups (Z Bo for instance).
TJ will never be the defender or post player DMo is. I like TJ a lot but DMo has a lot higher ceiling. I hope we keep DMo because I think he will only get better. He can guard Aldridge if we play Portland in the playoffs again while Jones is overmatched.
We are on the same page with your last comment. It's all about fit and what maximizes the team potential, not who we each think is better. The difference between them as we sit here today is negligible so fit and matchups should dictate who plays when. Until T Jones comes back it is a moot point though. I'm just glad summer league D Mo finally showed up to the regular season.
You could have a decent version of Jones, Dmo(height and some skills in the post), Black,Dorsey(playing above the rim, toughness) and Capela (shotblocking) in one guy. No more assets but one huge ASSET and you save 4 roster spots for the rotation. Addition by substraction and talent upgrade
i like that most guys on our team can play 2 positions depending on the style of basketball we want to run ie Kostas is our 4 if we want to play a "1 in/4 out" type offense. And if, for some reason, we ever want to grab every rebound for the next 4 minutes, we could certainly slide Jones down to the 3 (with a rim protector behind him to help). And you're right - as the season goes on i think his overall game will develop - outside shooting, finishing at the rim, post and perimeter defense. His injury might be a blessing in disguise as it keeps him off the trade block for the present, and he may not show enough by Feb to be traded at all this year.
The problem is that we only have him for this season and next. He has basically no trade value right now which is why we'll need him to come back strong in order to flip him at some point before the trade deadline next season. I'm hoping he develops enough to where we get something decent for him rather than have him leave for nothing after next season.
I like them both, and as the NBA game is one of matchups and mismatches, having 2 young quality bigs with varying skillsets makes us a much better team overall. I love the DHo, DMo and TJo big rotation with Black getting sparse minutes in case of fouls etc, and Dorsey as a last resort. That is a great big lineup. And when teams go SMALL against us, we can counter their small by going BIGGISH small. Think about it: Harden - PG Ariza - SG Papa - SF Dmo - PF Howard - C Or add in Jones at SF some too.....we have so many options...this is Morey's best job ever, and the injuries forced the coaches to find some gems in Canaan, DMo and Papa.... This team is stacked, we got enough to win it all THIS year.... CAN'T WAIT ! DD
AMEN brother. Preach it!! I am just as excited as you are to see a fully healthy lineup. After talking about DMO, NBA TV last night finally recognized that the team is so deep and looking very good. Even more intriguing is what kind of magic DM will do with that Lin TPE.
Dmo can't guard Aldridge. You guys are WAY overrating his post defense. He has size but that doesn't mean he can guard one of the best PF in this game. Honestly noone can guard Aldridge. He will make a fool out of Dmo like he did against Jones, Dwight (best defender I think against Aldridge), and Asik.
DMo was never really given a chance to guard LMA in the playoffs. I can almost guarantee he would be better than Jones in slowing him down. Nobody is going to completely shut down LMA but I believe DMo can do an adequate job , not to mention our defensive rotations are light years better than last year which will make a huge difference if we face them again.
Dmo defense last year was atrocious... Do you not remember Clutchfans wishing he got fewer and fewer minutes? In all honesty, I think he would have gotten dominated just like Jones. Hell if Asik couldn't slow him down, what makes you think Dmo can? LMA was going to get his points regardless of who guards him. If you put Dwight on LMA, then you risk him picking up silly fouls. Dmo defense this year has been a lot better. I think he put on more muscle over the summer and that seems to do him great! I think he is a better post defender than Jones (albeit, we haven't seen Jones this year). I agree this year if we do face LMA, regardless of Jones or Dmo, we would have a better chance of slowing him down due to our team defense.
DMo has more up-side IMO. Bigger body and low-post game, both highly valued in the NBA for good reason. I think DMo + NO 1st-round pick + contracts is more likely combo to get a GM to trade a current star than TJones and the same package. Much like OKC traded Harden for proven vet (KMart) + potential (Lamb) + 1st-round pick. In this case I believe DMo is playing well enough to fit the bill as a current performed and future potential because he has that All-Star level up-side.
This is just wrong - he was pretty good on Defense last year, his rotations are outstanding for a big man, best on the team this and last year. We had Asik though, and he was a much better big last year. DD
