LMAO. if by we you mean people who believe in monsters and have tin foil hats then sure. A physical can't ensure that there won't be problems with the nerves or recurring back issues. That's why it's vital for him if he wants to get paid to come back in the court and play consistently and well till the end of the season. Otherwise he will be losing millions.
^^^ On that note, try to remember how great the Rockets' D was last year while Dwight was out and Donuts was our starting center...
With DMo's career over, rebounding in Houston got so much better: <div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 62.407%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/3u4o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen scrolling="no" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>
So a few things about D-Mo to follow up on these comments. I'm a huge fan of D-Mo since he was just a prospect over in Europe, but Rockets fans really get stuck on opinions with this guy. He went from underrated, to overrated on defense pretty quick here on the GARM. Early last season, he had GREAT stats for the first 10 games or so. He was even top 12 at some point in rim protection when he was playing backup 5. However those stats dissipated pretty quickly after he got more and more minutes. What that tells us is he has potential to still be an effective 5 in the future defensively. He's just not ready for that yet full time. Nothing wrong with that assessment. Defensively as a 4, he's good at rotations, and help defense. Much like Pat Patterson, and Scola before him. However he's really really bad at rebounding at the 4 spot. Even though his stat's aren't terrible, you look at rebound opportunity, and its pretty bad. There is a large amount of rebounds he misses that are in his vicinity. That's the area that he really really needs to get better at, and its an area the Rockets have been pushing him in mostly even before he was brought over from Europe. On his three point shooting... I don't know if we can say yet whether or not he's good or not. What we do know is that he is very good in small increments. Last year, shooting less than 2 Three point attempts her game, he shot over 40%. That's pretty good, but it obviously doesn't yet tell us he's going to still be good shooting 4 or 5 a game. But that's not really Motiejunas' bread and butter. His best attributes come from his ability to save a broken play with a post up, or slow down the game in the post. His passing is okay (sometimes gets too fancy), but when he gets the ball in the post, he's looking to score. As he matures more and more, he should look to pass more out of the post if he commands a double team which will take him to the next level offensively. What we know and what we don't know about D-Mo tells us that there are things to watch for in the future. The problem we have is he really only played a half season as a full time starter with a key role. In that half season he showed he has the ability to be the best big on a winning team. The Rockets don't win 50+ games last year without D-Mo. That's a good sign for his future. But then the back injury happened, and it takes that little teaser we got, and puts question marks as to when and how long we will see the main course of his career. Even when he gets back, he's got work to do to be a premiere NBA stud, but he's got the talent to do so. First things first though... let's get the guy freaking healthy please.
Here is another problem with the mass overrating of Dmo. If he is traded, people are going to freak out.
"People are going to s*** themselves" would be nearer the mark, although I was always a bit vulgar in my speech. I know a poster from the board, good guy; when we talk, within three minutes (even if we started on a completely different subject) I can usually hear something about how much better the Rockets will be when DMo gets back, DMo this, DMo that.... I like Donatas and he's talented and if healthy will help us tremendously. I also know he isn't quite on par with the beast power forwards we have in the Western Conference and, again, if healthy, could wind up elsewhere if the return is right. Not saying he will. Saying he could.
DMo wont be traded unless its for a big time player (All-Star). Codman has already stated Dmo is in the Rockets long term plans.
Great !!!! And if he is traded, I doubt anyone freaks out if we are getting someone better back. And not someone cheaper like the Parsons out and Ariza in...where we actually got a weaker player, but for less money. I don't care about the money, I care about winning. DD
Portions deteriorated in Dallas, you could argue about that......Trevor isn't that bad, he just does not score as easily as Portions used to do but brought other things to the table.
My point has and always will be, that teams that are AIMING to be great do not downgrade on talent - they move forward even if it is a slight upgrade. DD
People freak out anytime Morey doesn't do, or does what they don't want or expect. But after the fact (almost always) he brings us along kicking and screaming, and we thank him later for it. Morey is sort of our Tyler Durden. I could see (not that I'm rooting for this to happen mind you) Morey trading D-Mo and resigning Jones this Summer... not because I think Jones is a better player. Not because I'm rooting for it to happen. But because Morey almost always does EXACTLY the opposite of what people ASSUME he will do. Other than the Lawson trade (which he now likely regrets letting outside influences push him to make the move) I really can't recall too many signings or trades that were heavy fan theories. I have no idea what Morey is going to do about the PF situation here in Houston. All I know is that he isn't taking the situation lightly and he's going to have better and more information than every single one of us on the board. If I had to guess, I'd say that Morey would probably move all 3 of his PF's if the deal was right. I also think he's likely to gamble on both Jones & D-Mo in free agency to try and get at least one or both of them back on good solid deals. I don't think he invested Four seasons into both of them just to let another team sign them to a reasonable deal long term. I think he'd like to keep both unless he can cash out of both with assets or players that ultimately upgrade the Rockets long term even further than whatever he values what Motiejunas AND Jones will be worth on proper value equivalent deals. So its anyone's guess basically, and expect the unexpected. That's a very long winded explanation for a very simple situation.
DD - You and I rarely agree on face value arguments, but I think you do have a point here. At the time that it happened (Parsons/Bosh conundrum) I actually said pretty loud and clear that if Parsons is the better player, they should have just bit the bullet and signed him. *(or maybe NOT made him a free agent a year earlier, or NOT made a deal with the devil with Fegan to sign Dwight in Houston where he wanted to go regardless) Now Morey sort of lucked out that Parsons hasn't been healthy, and there is a point to be made about LAST YEAR Ariza actually being a better fit because of the defensive improvement. But that being said, Ariza isn't a band aid to fix all of the defensive issues. The coaching on defense got worse this year along with other players creating more issues on that end. And... there is no doubt in my mind that Parsons is a better player than Ariza, and if they wanted better defense, they should have coached the team better to create a greater emphasis. You have Dwight Howard.. you shouldn't be this bad EVER even with Parsons at the 3. Saying that we chose the lesser player because he's better at defense doesn't really make sense to me when you have Dwight Howard as your 5. All things considered the Rockets made a good move by sheer luck that Parsons hasn't been healthy, but AT THE TIME, the right move would have been to retain the better player. ................... If D-Mo is the best player they can get longterm at the 5 they should resign him in free agency. However if he's not going to be healthy, that adds another dynamic. By all accounts, Parsons wasn't going to have major issues from what we knew at the time. D-Mo's medical chart might show something we don't see as fans. I don't think these decisions are black and white as you portray but I do believe there is some validity to the point you are getting at. Especially with the Rockets and their free agency cap situation. IF the Rockets are doing what they need to do in free agency, they can go HOWEVER far above the cap to resign D-Mo AND Jones if they want to. Its Les' money at that point. So why do we care if it just has to do with Luxury tax, and money above the cap?
People will freak out just like they freaked out over Parson, ppatt, budinger, landry, scola and tons of other players. They will calm down once it's obvious he's not a superstar
This is the kind of post this thread needs, rather than flinging poo from two polar ends like the D&D and the Lin thread.
Actually, the biggest fan theory about the PF situation is that at least one of DMo and TJones will not be a Rocket after this season. If we still have both guys on the roster next season, that would be the EXACT opposite of what people ASSUME. But that assumption is not really because we look at the two players and evaluate whether or not we need one of them or both. The assumption comes from what we expect of Morey, which is not keeping two expensive players coming off their rookie contracts at the same position.
Also people assume that Morey makes moves like he's still back in 2012. In 2012 Morey would have valued short term "On-Court-Value" < long term asset value. However December of 2014, Morey changed directions from his normal trade/Free agency roadmap and traded FOUR picks for essentially rental players (Brewer & Prigioni). Those are minor in that they were only 2nd rounders, but major when you consider the bulk amount he was willing to part with, its pretty significant when you move that much in such a short period of time. Then 6 months later he parts with a mid to late 1st rounder to get a player that HE MAKES an expiring contract (by trade market terms). Now if we are still considering Morey to be acting in the same direction as he was just several months ago, you SHOULD view D-Mo and especially Jones (since he's healthy) as ON-COURT-VALUE assets in real time. So that comes back to the part in bold. "Whether or not we need both of them" is the question that shouldn't include next year, or the year after but right now. If we NEED them both RIGHT NOW I think it bears emphasis on Morey likely NOT trading either if it actually hurts in the short term. So I would even make the case that, in terms of expectations, trading either or BOTH guys would be exactly what you wouldn't expect Morey to do based on his history in this direction of the team..... which is interesting enough because if he does what we SHOULDN'T expect, maybe he will trade one or both. But the consensus seems to be that the Clutchfans majority are still stuck back in 2012 asset collection mode, and don't even realize what Morey's recent track record is. So either way people will be baffled, and likely some will get all angry and get their panties in a wad.
I'll admit, I forgot to mention his 3 point shot. But I do disagree when it comes to his defense. He had a few good games guarding Dirk and all the sudden he's a "solid defender". Also, people forget Morey has to re-sign him too. I'm sure he'll get $8M-$10M from some team. Someone said Detroit was really interested in him. I think Toronto would be too. I highly doubt with Lawson and Dwight expiring, Morey wants to waste his money on over paying D-Mo or T-Jones especially if he can dump Brewer for next to nothing. We can really create some cap space this summer.
