No. It will be treated as if he got any other Class B Misdemeanor. It shouldn't affect his chances any more than it would if Camby got a DWI, or Brooks got caught with a spray can putting graffiti on the side of the Breakfast Klub. Nobody is a favorite to win the starting PF spot.... Im sure its completely wide open, and up for grabs for whoever is the best fit, and works the hardest to show the coaches they belong.... IN TRAINING CAMP... nothing is settled in August.
I think his struggles last season were mainly two things: 1. Game too fast/lights to big for him. He didn`t seem comfortable out there even a bit overwhelmed. Now with a year under his belt I hope the game slows down for him and he finally gets comfortable. 2. Body wasn`t there, got pushed around a lot. Well one look is enough to show you, that he was working on that. He got a lot stronger - we will have to wait and see if it translates on the court. When you have a 7footer with both, a respectable jumper, great feet, already polished post moves and fine body control, you give him time. His skill won`t hold him back, neither will his body - if he doesn`t succeed it will be a mental problem. But I see the passion in his work ethic and I do believe in him.
I want to add that with Howard, Asik and Parsons surrounding him, rebounding is the least important skill our PF needs to have. A prototypical PF needs to rebound, but our C's and SF rebound well over the average for their positions. What we need from D-Mo is to be able to score from mid range or 3 when he's playing with Asik so that teams can't relax defensively when Asik is in the game. There are BINDERS full of people who shot 30% from 3 in their rookie season and went on to become effective 3pt threats. We need him to be an average defender. We need him not to turn the ball over at a high rate per minute. The last thing we need from him is rebounding, and on a per minute basis he is not the horrible rebounder he's made out to be. He's below average, while our 3 C's are all way way way way above average. Putting on muscle and taking lots of shots will serve him well. He did not impress last season, but he did enough to show that he can pan out with hard work if he is not facing much defensive pressure. Every indication we have says he's one of the hardest working players on the team.
Something's been puzzling me for a while. A good buddy of mine happened to run into one of the board's favorite insiders a couple of months back on the way to New York. In addition to the usual nuggets of info on Howard and Lin, DMo's name came up. Supposedly there was talk coming from someone in the organization that they were not too happy with DMo, that he was a bit out of shape and that he needed to party less and work more. There were a couple of other concerns in addition to these, and everything we were told seemed to be in direct contradiction to some of the public reports we were getting saying the exact opposite. None of this made sense at the time, and I found it to be rather disappointing news. As for the insider who passed this along to my buddy, I have known him to be absolute money with his info. On top of that, he is someone I trust completely, having known him for a long time. At this point I definitely think the info was incorrect, and it makes me wonder two things. First, maybe the information came from a single source within the organization and related to a specific person's take on an isolated incident. Maybe what finally reached our guy was presented in a larger context than originally intended. Much ado about nothing. There's a second possibility that might be less likely, but is more entertaining. This info came out before the Howard decision, and during a time when a number of assets were probably on the table for other deals. Could this have been floated out there to proactively dampen any demand to include DMo in a trade? If that were the case, the Rockets would have to be high enough on DMo that they wanted to exclude him from any trade conversation whatsoever. Anyway, it may be neither of the two, but I found the outright contradiction from different sources to be curious.
I don't know any inside info, but I do know that the team apparently thought highly enough of Motiejunas to give him a starting job after the trade deadline. Maybe it was after he lost his minutes that he got down a bit and didnt work as hard? Who knows. Or maybe he was talking about the earliest part of the season or maybe right after the season ended? But if Marcus Morris could get his head out of his ass after his rookie season and got a steady rotation role, then anyone can.
You didn't watch him, that is why you don't understand. DMos issues were maintaining position in the post both offensively and defensively. He show exceptional passing ability, advanced low post moves and enough energy where he was always running the court.
Larry Sanders is 24. He's probably hitting his zenith. He'll never be an offensive threat. Simply a garbage man and a great defender. Not a superstar. Omer Asik is the same player he was 2 years ago. He's just getting more minutes. Good role player. Not a star or superstar. Never will be. Just a real good player. And a defensive player. DMO is not a defensive player. Pekovic---same thing. Average NBA center. Already hit his zenith. Benefitted with more touches from Love's absence. He's the same player he was 2 years ago. If Love is healthy, Pek's stats will take a hit and he'll be overpaid and close to untradeable. Hibbert -- I suppose he has gotten better on both sides of the ball. Once again...a true 5. DMo is not that. Look at the position DMo plays and the competition at that position. It's a lot easier to make the "leap" playing at the 5 in the NBA right now. Gortat -- seriously? Solid player. But same guy he was early. Just became a starter after he left Dwight. Everybody knew he could play. Longley? -- another pedestrian big, functioned for the Bulls similarly to what Birdman functions for the Heat. And he was mostly in there for size in the paint, not for his offensive skill set. If that is what you think breaking out is...well, yeah... DMo will probably break out. But Longley was nothing special. Okur - I'll give you that one. But anybody that followed basketball knew he could play when he was in Detroit. He nutted up that playoff series in his second season. I knew he was a player then. Big Ben - Yes, he broke out late. But remember, he was a defender. DMo is not a defender AND never will be known for his defense. DMO has to become a knockdown 3-pt shooter or he has to become ultra-efficient with his low post offense to be anything note worthy. Robert Parish - different era when NBA only had 22 y/o rookies. Dirk - He broke out in his second season when he was 21 and continued to climb when he was 22. I'm surprised you left out Alex English. He's the one player that may be a good comparable since he was an offensive player (had a very low defensive reputation) and he essentially broke out in his 3rd season at 25 and then really broke out once he went to Denver's high-octane run-n-gun offense when he was 26. This is the one guy that I can find who was essentially an offensive baller who got significantly better after age 23. And then I question how much better he got since he basically went to a system that he was ideally suited for. I believe DMO is an NBA caliber player. However, if he doesn't take a significant step forward this season...then his probably career curve deflates significantly. And once again, he may be an Alex English type player, a player destined to put up big numbers on mediocre teams that ultimately don't win anything, basically a guy that puts up big scoring numbers but really doesn't do it efficiently enough to effect the wins on the scoreboard. That won't work here in this Rox era of analytics. I think DMo either brings a significant improvement this season or Daryl trades him before his trade value goes stale.
That's the problem with the DMo superfans. They assume that I have not seen him play. YES, I did watch the one good game he had. I also watched all the other mediocre ones. I'm not pumping someone up after a so-so summer league season. Just because he has a few post moves doesn't mean he's all-world. And those post moves were against NBA superscrubs in the summer league. Rotation player? Maybe Starter? Not on a championship team (at least not for another 2-3 years) Superstar? Not even close
@basketballholic Perhaps Gallinari is a good comparison? It`s hard to find a real comparison for DMo because he has such a unique skill set. There aren`t many 7 footers with great foot work, a decent outside jumper and great agility in the post with already polished moves. Actually I can`t think of one.
He could have been right. It would explain why his stock dropped so much in the draft. He may have just matured over the season and got a reality check and finally put in full time work this offseason.
Along with getting more minutes, Asik upped his scoring 50% more per minute (a little bit is pace), developed a lot of endurance, and went from good rebounder to great. I think the rebounding is probably a Rockets strategy as he was probably instructed to play more in control to grab defensive boards and to stay out of foul trouble. He blocked a lot less shots. He was in a lot better shape at end of last season versus the beginning of last season. His offense went from "My eyes! My eyes! The goggles do nothing!" bad to "I just wish he would catch the ball" bad. Not enough to make him a star, but he is better than Jrue Holliday, an all-star.
Working the hardest does not always translate to the actual game. If he can adapt to the rigors of the NBA game and he can prove he is clearly better than Greg Smith, Jones and Covington. Please he should take that spot.
Having watch the videos DMo will greatly benefit by Dream coaching him. DMo already has some good foot work for a big and with another year under his belt, I believe he will have a great season this year.
Lithuania's big men in a workout today. I hope Donatas will get in the team and we'll be able to see him play this summer. Since the center position is practically occupied by Jonas Valanciunas and a longtime team's captain Javtokas, Donatas competes with Linas Kleiza for greater amount of minutes as power forward.
He looks a lot bigger in these pics. I think this kid is gonna succeed. They told him to put on muscle and he busted his ass and did it.
