Don't downplay the Dallas games. Dirk was hurt and did not start playing until late in December and even then it took quite a bit of time for him to regain his form. Since Feb 1 Dallas is 11 - 7 with quality wins against Portland, GS, Brooklyn, Houston and Milwaukee.
McHale would have signed off on sending away his comfort-food chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes with brown gravy power forwards for his grilled chicken with lemon rookie power forwards? Hate to quote myself, but:
1. DMo does things when he does not actually get the rebound like boxing out that helps his teammates secure rebounds even if he does not. PPat must have been under doctors orders not to box out because he was just a spectator when it game to rebounding. Maybe he will be better in GS 2. DMo is a rookie which is why he only gets 22 minutes. In one post you claim DM did not have to trade PPat to open minutes for DMo because McHale has already said he was going to start playing him. In this post you claim he did not pass the eyeball test for the coaches. Which is it?
Any stats or video to back up your claim that Motiejunas blocks out but Pat does not? As far as I can tell, Houston was a top 2-3 defensive rebound team (75% DReb%) with Pat around, so his alleged lack of blocking out must not have hurt the team that badly.
Somewhere on ClutchFans, (after her seeing this picture) you can hear RocketGirl screaming: "D-MO!!!!" :grin::grin::grin: See you tonight!
Trading Pat was the right move. We weren't going to pay him what he wanted so why keep him? Move him and get the 5th pick who has upside or we can move him too as well. We've got a PF pipeline too. And we probably going to get a PF this summer. Moving Pat makes a lot of sense.
Not to say Dallas isn't underrated, but none of those "wins" are really legit. Portland isn't that good, GS has fallen back to earth, Brooklyn is an overrated East team, Houston is another inconsistent team and Milwaukee isn't that good. They've beaten a grand total of 0 real contenders during that stretch. That Dallas loss was bad no matter how you look at it.
That's true. Also Milwaukee has been a little better. On the other hand, GS, PHX, and ORL have been worse since Feb 1, and PHX has had a bunch of injuries to boot. In the overall scheme, none of that changes my point. It still has been an easy schedule, and Dmo's stats in those games are not useful for any comparison to Patterson.
It made perfect sense..... Morris and Patterson were just in the way. D-Mo is better than both and needed to get PT... Robinson is going to be a better rebounder than Patterson, he's cheaper AND....greater upside. Jones and White aren't really in the picture, but still...high upside. One or both could be traded on potential for picks, if needed. It's pretty clear that D-Mo deserved the opportunity and Patterson was in the way of his growth. Patterson is who he is.....he met his ceiling. At least he was traded and not screwed out of his minutes with the Rox.
Just because McHale would have played DMo does not mean he would have STARTED Dmo. Morey's job is to look for the good of the franchise going forward, and the franchise is better off with a 7' quick as a cat, left handed, skilled player at the PF spot than a barely 6'9" guy with a consistend jump shot. DMo has much greater upside, and you trade away guys that are in his way that have peaked already. So, PPat had to go. DD
When does putting your arms straight up constitute smart defense? You sound like you're coaching high school. That don't work in the NBA son.
Yeah..that Houston game really didnt prove anything...:grin: On the topic..I'd say we still have to wait and see, but there are more signs that it was the right move than there are saying otherwise imo
I agree putting hands straight up is poor defense. Its not like someone will drive lane and force contract with any arms that aren't straight up. James Harden
As starter, DMo averages 21.8 mpg, about the same as what Morris got primarily as backup. He would have likely played similar amount of minutes with or without Pat. The difference that the trade makes is that Delfino got some of Pat's minutes with the rest going to Robinson.
Don't forget that some of Patterson's old minutes have also gone to the inconsistent Greg Smith. I think you are clearly right that the team would have been better right now and for the playoffs if they would have kept Patterson and had him replace Morris in the rotation, and perhaps steal a few of Patterson's minutes when Donatus is playing well. However, I think the Rockets are better off long term because of the Robinson trade. There is also a combination of where the team is competitively in the Western conference right now (namely not a title contender) and to what extent the Patterson trade hurt them (some but not much) that made the Robinson trade an easy decision for Morey and the front office.
Don't come complaining to Carl Herrera when PPat is a perennial All-Star selection and MVP candidate...
You don't honestly think DMO would get 21.8 mpg with Patterson and Morris BOTH on the team, right? So you saying it was enough to just trade Morris to open up the backup PF spot for DMo? That may be true, but DMo would not be playing with the starters if Patterson was still around, and he won't nearly get 21.8 mpg if McHale has another option over him.
okay but maybe dmo would have made our bench unit stronger, which means our players are more rested because we have more depth
I think some of you are making far too much of Dmo's minutes being only 21.8 as a starter. When you watch him play, he plays himself out of gas in 5 minutes or less. Once he gets into shape where he can play 7 or 8 minute stretches before at the pace he tries to play at, his minutes per game are going to go up as well. Our announcers have commented on it several times as well.
