Could Motiejunas and Jones both move out of the rotation?

He looked huge next to Koufas.

The skinny man entering the woods of the wolves was gone

 

I agree he did play more physical as the game went on. I think Dmo is stronger than he is given credit for, and all he needs is consistent playing time.

 

I agree with McHale's approach. You give guys minutes when they earn them. DMo did not earn any minutes coming out of training camp. He did nothing. Couldn't hit shots. Was a total zero defensively. He did not earn any minutes.

He got an opportunity last night....once again born out of necessity. There was no one else to go to. When he first came in the game I didn't think it looked good. But then he started battling. That's the only way I would describe it...battling...with ZBo. It wasn't pretty. But it was more effective than what we were doing previously defensively. That's for sure.

Can he follow it up? Or will he revert to the same version of DMo we have seen up until last night?

 

One can only imagine if DMO keeps up that kind of defense playing next to Dwight. Imagine that with rotating with Tjones in different situations, i think our team would be that much harder to score on in the paint.

 

Could not disagree more.

Dmo has played the same when he's gotten consistent minutes. When he started in pre season he played well. Every time he plays he brings energy. He's not missing anymore shots than anyone else. In fact, when he gets touches in the post he's been very effective.

I really can't figure out what it is about him that makes people judge him so harshly. Maybe it's the way he responded to questions as a rookie. I don't know, but it's not like the guys that have been playing instead of him have been beasting.

Dmo should have been playing. He's 7ft tall with skills. He's going to make mistakes like everyone else...he just needs a chance to work through them.

 

And....one can only imagine what that game last night would have looked like if Asik had been in there in the Twin Towers configuration.....

Out of all this guess what's coming out of it? Neither Jones nor DMo is helping this team by being a stretch-4. Neither guy can shoot the ball out on the floor. The way they are finding to help this team is by battling at the rim...both of them.

Watch the games. All Jones' offense is garbage putbacks and forays to the rim. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. But it's not a stretch game that is giving Dwight space in the middle. Same thing with the little bit we've seen of DMo. Rather than stretch...it's compress. Stuff everything down at the rim and then use size, strength, and athleticism to win the battle in the blocks. My point here to you guys that think the Twin Towers experiment was such a colossal fail....it wasn't. It was given up on....first by Asik...and then by McHale because of Asik's attitude about it.

The "small ball" stretch-the-floor game depends on having 4 guys that can shoot from distance and a guy in the middle that can lock down the paint defensively. We DO NOT have the ability to play small ball right now because we cannot put 4 shooters on the floor that are good enough shooters to offset their lack of size on the other end and up until last night we have not had a secondary big that can defend the paint and control the boards when we play small ball and Dwight has to sit down. I'm sorry but those are the facts. Garcia isn't shooting nearly as well as last year. And Asik has no-showed. We've been trying to play small ball with Jones battling at the 5 behind Dwight. That will never work.

Power ball is what MOST of the big boy teams play. Look no further than the top 4 teams in the West. You gotta be able to match up against those guys defensively. You can't do that with Garcia and Casspi at the 4. That's why these 2 kids have to play defense and they've got to be physical to be effective.

 

It's because all he ever seemed interested in doing was posting up, wouldn't play defense at all, and was completely undisciplined on that side of the ball to boot. He'd give away more points from dumb defense and out of control offense, than he is really capable of scoring.

Yesterday, despite only producing 4 points and rebounds, it was his best game in the nba, he'll never be a great defender, but by just playing fundamental defense (straight on, arms up), he had an impact simply because someone that big is a roadblock. The offense will come and go, but by giving consistent and disciplined effort on defense, he'll get the opportunities. If he goes back to what he was, he simply doesn't deserve to play, no role player deserves time to develop if they can't do even the basics correctly.

 

rep'd.

 

While I agree his defense is less than desirable (a nice way of putting it) especially regarding a propensity to foul, I would not call his offense out of control. He generally keeps ball moving. I don't think he fits the Rockets when Dwight or Asik are on the floor as he just does't have a good enough 3 point shot, yet.

 

Is Tiago Splitter a stretch four?

 

Pops is reluctant to play Duncan & Splitter together.

 

Dmo does miss shots more than just about any other Rocket. He shoots 36% from the field and 53% from the free throw line. Only Ronnie Brewer is worse.

DMo had something the Rockets needed last night that no other Rocket could provide, and that's height. DMo played with energy, and that's good, but he still isn't a very good player. In 23 minutes he had 4 points, 3 rebounds and 5 fouls. He still got pushed around and beat up, but his height did cause problems for a 6' 9" power forward in the low post.

I'm happy that DMo contributed to a win, but let's not fool ourselves into believing he suddenly deserves a lot of minutes. He still needs to add a lot a muscle to play against stronger players in the paint.

 

But he does it, doesn't he?

 

He's come around to it but he at the end of 3Q and in the 4Q their minutes are more likely to be staggered..

 

Exactly. He' staggering their minutes with Baynes...another big banger. You've got Duncan/Splitter together for around 10 minutes and then one of them is on the floor the rest of the game staggered.

That's my point about the Twin Towers. We need Asik back and then sort out DMo/Jones from there. You play Dwight and Asik together for around 10 minutes and then you alternate them while feeding in either Jones OR a legit stretch-4 that can actually shoot from distance. OR DMo has to actually become something defensively in the paint.

If we are going to compete for a championship we have to have 48 minutes of paint and rim protection on the floor and bigs that can play together for some limited minutes when needed. We CANNOT win a championship without it. Spurs/Heat last year...look at the top teams this year. There's a consistent pattern.

No team including Jordan's Bulls have ever won a championship without having multiple bigs that were above average defenders in the paint and at the rim.

 

Disagree.

His defense isn't any worse than anyone else not named Dwight and Omer. Maybe Greg smith is a little better.

Dmo played the same yesterday as he always does. He played hard and was active.

Saying all he wants to do is post up is a flat out wrong. Most of the time on offense dmo is setting screen sandbox almost constantly moving. Several possessions last night you had four guys standing on the perimeter with dmo running around trying to set screens.

Your post is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Flat out misrepresentation of what the guy does. He should have been playing. Him being in Mchales dog house is a joke.

Like the guys that have been playing instead have been beasting.

But when his hand was forced and he had his ****ing ah ha moment that he had a 7 footer that plays with energy rotting on the bench it helped us win the game.

Yeah he makes mistakes. So does everyone else. Not like we have some players that are just so cold playing ahead of him to where dmo should be glued to the bench. That's just dumb.

 

Marc Gasol and Zbo are not stretch 4s or 5s either and they are good for WC finals

 

I said missing more shots. Dmo has not missed more shots than a lot of other players. I didn't say anything about a percentage.

If he had more minutes, maybe his percentage would improve. More easy shots. More chances to get into a rhythm. Usually the guy makes a mistake or two and he gets yanked. No chance to get into any kind if rhythm. While guys like Casspi and Garcia get to jack up shots left and right.

Good thing mchale had to pull Casspi last night or it might've been another crsppy loss.

 

Would rep you again if I could.

 

Gasol is a stretch 5. He has a good enough mid range game to force teams to guard him away from basket.