So should Harden play summer league to work on defense? Jones is a starter. 3rd year starters do no play summer league. Ever.
It's a team game. Can't talk about one without talking about them all. That's why it's foolish to lay the blame at TJ's feet. The Rockets had an opportunity to win that series despite the play of LMA. Championship teams aren't winning championships with the fast break being their best offensive play. You have a very bad understanding of what teams are trying to emulate... No team has ever won a championship playing how the Rockets play. They play regular season ball and not playoff ball and that's why they were defeated by a less talented team.
If the Rockets thought D-Mo was better his azz wouldn't have been glued to the bench all year long. Obviously McHale doesn't trust him and it's easy to see why. He was even making bonehead plays during summer league play. If McHale thinks D-Mo is good he will play him... Simple as that. But debating over D-Mo at this point is meaningless.
Nice post. I'm sure Bobbythegreat will no longer respond in this thread. I think we have run him off for good.
For those screaming for DMo, I think we will see a lot of him at center this season. He seems more like a 5 than a 4 IMO. He has good moves but his foot speed is not fast enough to stay in front of most of the PF's in the league which causes him to get into foul trouble a lot. I'm guessing he will still get some time on the floor at the 4 behind TJones but I think most of his minutes will be logged at the 5.
What is interesting is how people who prefer Jones seem to openly hate Motiejunas, while Motiejunas fans support Jones, they just do not believe he has as much upside as Motiejunas does. Why is that, I wonder? Why the hate for Motiejunas? Because of his basketball skills? Really?
Wait, what? I feel like it's the exact opposite. No one here "hates" D-Mo. On the other hand, you have guys like basketballholic writing _ones instead of Jones, demonstrating, at least subliminally, some kind of animosity towards Jones. I've stated before that I really hope D-Mo improves, but as of now, there is no way he should start ahead of Jones.
Don't hate _ones. But _ones has no jump shot. I do hate the fact that _ones can't shoot a J. Because if _ones could shoot a J....he'd be Jones and he'd be very, very difficult for opponents to deal with. I have rooted for _ones and hoped and hoped he would develop a jump shot from the day we drafted him, knowing that if he could develop his jump shot that he would be a very, very good player in this league. But now we're going through the 3rd off season with _ones. Does anybody know what he is doing this summer???? Hopefully he's putting in work on his _ump shot and turning it into a legitimate jump shot. But somehow....I doubt it. I don't see that kind of work ethic in _ones. I hope he comes to training camp (if he's still a Rocket) with that new jump shot but I fear he comes to training camp with the same tired old broke _ump shot. I don't think Morey wants to take that risk. I think Morey wants to move him before his trade value craters down to nothing when he comes back to training camp with the same old _umper.
Good call. Im thinking DMO will play more the 5 spot than the 4 this upcoming season and Adrien will see some time at the 4 with Jones. Just my guess.
None of us "prefer" Jones. We prefer the better player. If D mo becomes a better player I will "prefer" D mo. I am a Rockets fan with no agenda. If one of them becomes a star I'm all for it. D mo and Jones both have the talent and skill to be whatever they want to be and if so our PF position will be in great hands for years to come. Here's to hoping they both reach that level. But as of now Jones is better and it's really not debatable.
Ha...!!! You don't know Bobby. Lol. But that wasn't my intention. What "hate" are you talking about...??? It was a TJ vs D-Mo debate. And I don't judge players by what most fans think. I form my own conclusions and TJ has the most upside of the two and it's not even close.
The Rockets have one of the most potent offenses in the NBA and you're burning up your thumbs about TJ's jumper...??? What about Howard's jumper It's official... You're just a TJ thread troll.
Do you really want to talk about T_'s defense?? Howard has no jumper. He's the top defensive center in the league, a game changer. But he doesn't have a jumper. That's why shooting and spacing around Howard is ultra-important. It's official. You're just a don't-understand-the-dynamics-of-the-team troll.
Jones shot better from the outside than D mo. He shot better from the outside than Asik. He spread the floor last year and it's not debatable. Whether it was by jumpshot or by handles and quick first step the fact remains Howard and Harden had proper spacing once Jones was inserted into the starting lineup. That is why he stayed there the whole season. Once again, this fact is not debatable. He shot 30% from 3. Not 10%. Find something better to do than trolling a 22 year old up and coming player because he doesn't shoot the 3 ball like Ryan Anderson or Kevin Love.
Compared to who's defense... D-Mo's...??? Lol. There's no talking to you when it comes to TJ because on this subject you flip a switch and turn into a big ol troll and it's documented in thread after thread. But I'm a basketballholic and I'm more concerned about the PG and SF position than the PF position on this team. The NBA game is played on the perimeter and if you don't have the players on the perimeter more than likely you're not going to make it though the playoffs. LMA, Kevin Love, Anthony Davis, Blake Griffin _ as good as those guys are they cannot carry a team on their own without good to great perimeter players... KG in Minnesota fits that category as well. Just look at the teams that made it to the finals the past 4 years and look at their personnel. All of those teams had multiple good to great players on the perimeter that can break down a defense and or score from the perimeter. San Antonio has Parker, Manu, and Leonard to go along with some shooters... Miami has LeBron, Wade, and shooters... OKC had Westbrook, Harden, and a super shooter in KD... Dallas had Kidd, Jet, Barea, and a super shooter in Dirk. Harden is the only guy on the team that can break a defense down consistently and score from the perimeter (rather outside shot or driving to the basket)... And history shows you that a team needs more than one guy who can do that... It's a reason Jordan needed Pippen because one guy on the perimeter isn't enough. It's more important to get Harden a better running mate(s) than it is to get Howard one. And Howard showed he can score just fine with TJ on the court during the playoffs by the way. The championship formula was laid long ago and people are paying wayyyy too much attention to the power forward position.
Some of you guys act like the season starts tomorrow. He has all summer and a regular season to learn to improve. Are we forgetting our Head Coach, among the best PFs of all time, played HIS position? Not just played it, but won multiple championships doing it. I think he might know a thing or two on what he needs to improve. Remember last year was essentially his rookie season.
