Because every time Motiejunas gets in position, the whole world should stop and pass him the ball. We'll also just the ignore the fact that Lithuania's interior defense was non-existent with him and Valančiunas on the floor.
Just because he boxes out doesn't mean he can't also grab it. That is the idea, to do both. I think that may be what you are saying. Nonetheless, D-Mo is not a good rebounder. He obviously has bad technique or he would get more rebounds. I think the rule which allows the player to knock the ball off the rim produces poor rebounders because it makes them get into the habit of jumping too early.
Man, I've never seen so much hate towards players on our team! You would think that it was T-Mac & Pippen out there. D-Mo is still very young. He is a skilful, hardworking 7 footer. I know that we've been spoilt in the past with Moses, Ralph, Hakeem & Yao...but come on guys, give the kid a break. This is the best Rockets team that we've had in years, but y'all hate Lin, D-Mo, Jones, Caspi & were even giving harsh critique to Omer Asik. D-Mo was put into most of the games he played with around 2-3 mins on the clock. When he did get an opportunity to play big minutes, he wasn't the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th option. He will surprise a lot of his doubters this season.
I'm rooting for the guy, but from what I've seen, at least defensively Donatas is just as terrible as he was last year. He does not have a high BBIQ.
I really want him to do well. I just want realism. He's a project. He is very agile for a seven footer and has a lot of confidence. He has some decent low post moves that he can display against lesser competition. But what did he show in the NBA last year? He runs the floor very well for a seven footer. One point clearly in his favor. His low post offense was OK at best. His shooting was mediocre. His shot blocking presence was remarkably poor for his height and agility level. His defensive rotations and help defense ended up at mediocre (and started at absolutely horrible). He was a mediocre rebounder. He got bullied in the paint by stronger players. He ended up losing his confidence, which was one of his strong suits to start. Over the summer he has bulked up and worked on his shooting. He seems to be more clued in on defense. But he is not shooting the lights out, dominating in the low post, showing much presence as a shoot blocker, or demonstrating substantially improved rebounding skills. I still have hope that he can and will improve farther. But he has a long way to go to be a good player on a contender in the NBA. I think people need to be realistic.
Pietrus and Diot made layups, Petro and De Colo close jumpers. France was on a 14-5 run with DMo in. Donatas came back in the last quarter to get bamboozled by Diaw in the post and airball a three. 1 minute was more than enough to bench him.
I know you think it is hating, but D-Mo should be better than he is by now. Even by just a little bit. I mean he has been with this Lithuanian team for years, right?
He was quite efficient actually when he got the ball in the low post. Granted he had a hard time holding his position which limited his opportunities.
Actually, it was the first time he made the final squad, though he was in summer training camp for 2 times and got cut pretty quickly.
Wow.... unbelievable opinions we have today. How can anyone watch the championship game and have ANY realistic opinion about D-Mo from that one game? I would assume that for most of these individuals posting, this was probably the first Eurobasket game they have watched this Summer. Lithuania went with the veterans today. Simple as that. The team was going to live and die with their defensive system they have been running all Summer long, and Kleiza providing them their main source of offense. France had their number, and gave them a knockout punch at the end of the 2nd quarter. D-Mo, Kuzmiskas, and Valanciunas will all have their time to be featured stars for Lithuania for probably another ten years but their featured veterans like Kleiza, Siebutas, and the Lavrinovic twins still have the trust to play in big games like today. The truth is, if you watched the entire tournament, D-Mo had some great moments where he really showed how far along he has come. There were lots of positive moments for him. By the same token, he had some moments where it showed that he still has work to be done. This Eurobasket tournament didn't really show us, or the Rockets coaches anything we didn't already know. However it did give him experiences that will help way more than sitting on his couch all summer, or getting drunk in Ibiza ever would for a young NBA player on Summer break. Whats going to be important for the Rockets is if his weaknesses can be hidden enough in certain lineups for them to be able to use his strengths this season and beyond. Lets just wait and see what kind of player the Rockets have in D-Mo come March/April when it really matters. As for this Summer.... if you are making judgements based solely on the Eurobasket tournament, your opinion of D-Mo should be taken with a grain of salt.
Thanks for qualifying that. My list was of course completely impressionistic and from memory. Do you disagree with any of my other statements? I'd really like to change my mind about my general assessment. If he could contribute substantially, it would really help the team.
Wrong. He has been cut from the final roster the last several years. This is the first real meaningful tournament he's played with Lithuania on, and he had some real positive moments. During the meat of the tournament, the coach started going with the veterans more, but D-Mo in the last few games earned more and more minutes during the last few games. The fact that he even got any playing time at all in the championship game should be taken as a positive for Rockets fans.
Truthfully, i haven't watched any of the tournament. I don't have to watch him playing now to judge his performance. All i have to do is come to Clutchfans and read the comments that posters are leaving because some are watching every game. There are times when posters note that he has made some improvement. But they were more times when posters were saying that he still looks the same as last season. Where he hadn't improved on somethings. The main reason we are watching and judging him so is because we are still in need of a reliable PF from our current bunch.
