Like any player on the Rockets (even Trevor Ariza), I supported DMo and read up on him, his story and his strengths and weaknesses. He came to Houston with a clean slate. But at a certain point, even if it's your favorite player, you have to recognize talent, drive for improvement and desire. I think DMo lacks in some aspects of these areas. Over time, he began seeing some playing time, and from game to game, he was inconsistent. But, the coaching staff saw something in him, and so did the fans. Yes, he's tall, has an average shot and is very mobile for his size. He *seems* ideal at the PF position on paper. However, after getting more playing time, including even starting, he is way too inconsistent to see quality minutes. The OP used to word "potential" in his first paragraph. Well, potential can be sometimes overrated. Every player on this team has potential. Hell, so did Royce. The difference is that those guys (not Royce) used that alleged potential to their advantage consistently. With DMo, you don't know when or if he is going to show up on the nights that he gets playing time. At some points, his effort and demeanor out there show genuine disinterest. Look, I'm sure he is a great guy on a personal level, but I think this board tends to overrate potential. What does he have the potential for? 10 points/10 rebounds? What then? Every guy on this roster has potential then. Remember when some people though Jordan Hill was going to be the second coming of Amare with all of that potential? Well, he's doing nice things in LA with that potential, but we sure overrated him at times. I've noticed it from the beginning, but when he's on the court with the starters, he tries to do too much. I think he's trying to act like he is a starter, but he ends up turning the ball over. When you see guys like Chandler and Jeremy talk to him during the game, it seems like DMo doesn't really listen. He always is talking to them while they're talking, instead of listening to some good advice. This is my own opinion, but based on his interactions with our guys on and off the court, DMo has an ego (rhymed, lol). I think he planned on coming here and being deserving of minutes, but there are guys, at the same age, that play harder and more consistently than DMo has since he's been here. Even with his fouls, Greg Smith plays harder than DMo. He's involved and takes constructive criticism. Obviously, TJ has worked his way into the rotation, and rightfully so. Yes, DMo put up some good minutes last night, but I don't know if he is a rotation guy. As much as I despise McHale, I think he knows that you can only go to war with players you trust at all times. No matter if their shot is off or they're tired, McHale plays the guys he knows will bust their asses and get the ball poppin'. Dmo has not played to that level of trust yet.
I thought he played decent, which is a step up from how he's been playing this year (pretty bad) but lets not get carried away. He didn't play great or even good, imo, he played decent. 3 rebounds and 4 points in 23 mins is far from special, the 3 blocks were nice though but he did get scored on a fair amount of times as well (also understandable because he was guarding Zbo). I agree though he deserves some mins in the absence of Asik, Smith. Not sure he deserves a spot once they comeback though. I think his biggest selling point on more mins is his play last year when he was playing very good during a stretch where he was starting. If he could get back to that level he would be a 15 min a night guy even if all tge bigs were healthy.
Codman, I think DMo playing with his national team this summer hurt him a bit - as he probably worked on his inside game there, when we need him to work on his outside game. It is cool - he will find his way, he is only 23 years old. DD
our bench should be lin backing up the 1/2, casspi backing up the 3/4, and dmo backing up the 4/5. you can bring in garcia and smith as needed.
That's a good point. I remember how much I hated when Yao played in the summers. But, Yao was a different breed of a baller.
Great to see him have a good game. 5 fouls in 20 minutes in his "breakout game" shows you why he is not quite ready to get regular rotational minutes in the NBA
Well, his 5 fouls is against the toughest bruiser in NBA and DMo is just a youngster. Besides he really frustrated ZBO and stopped their momentum. Not bad at all. How did D12 do against ZBO anyway? And it was the best center against the same bruiser, LOL.
Howard probably saying inside, "Thanks goodness we've finally found a healthy and capable backup to give me some breather", LOL.
That's your opinion, but Howard, Harden, and Parsons said his play won the game for them. The Rockets were getting destroyed inside until Dmo entered the game.
D-Mo should get a lot of the back-up 4 minutes as well. I still think he would play well next to Howard.
I believe that D-Mo was miscast on this forum from the beginning, even by normally perceptive people like OHHMMMM and Carl. Back in the Prokom days, I personally thought that D-Mo's future lay as a NBA center. Everything was there even then. A nasty disposition on the court, the classic low post game, the quickness, hops and speed. The only thing that was missing was the bulk. Well D-Mo spent 5 months working on it and now he is a serious load at 265 pounds. With a frame that would easily accommodate another 20 pounds. And boy is he still fast and quick. Centers generally take longer to develop than any other position. Just look at Hibbert. We shall see won't we?
Yup! If he had more playing time, he'd be more composed (less spazzy and all over the place) each time he hits the floor.
Hmmm... didn't Howard have 5 fouls too ? He's got 6 fouls available to him, and he made the most out of them .
First I have never seen DMo not play hard. Not once this season. On the contrary I have seen DMo play too hard, run too hard, cover too hard and play out of control. I have seen play not smart. His inexperience causes him to sometimes overreact, make stupid plays shoot too hard but not to take off a play. Second not one Rocket player has been consistent all year long. There is not one Rocket player who you can trust to go to war with all the time. They have all come up short at times. Lin has been the closest to that definition and even he is lacking and you can see how McHale treats him. Parsons is also someone who is more consistent but he started off the season like crap and that didn't effect his playing time. McHale wants to win but he has no real sense of how to develop any one. He has no sense of chemistry and plays favorites. He has no clue that in order to build trust you have to show trust. He has to say to his young player, "Don't worry about that mistake do this instead and keep playing hard." He also has no sense of potential. He does not see talent until it slaps him in the face and then he is blinded by it. DMo is a talent, he is a 7 foot big who has a very good game around the basket. He is fast. Yeah he can't jump but he can play adequate D. has shown an ability to stop Dirk and now ZBo. What more can you ask for a young pf. He deserves minutes from Casspi at the 4 and certainly TJones at the 5. He is a much better backup center than TJones. McHale is too stubborn or stupid to see that. If DMo had a coach who wanted to develop him he would be much further along then he is now. Morey tried to force McHale's hand last season but even after trading Morris and PPat McHale chose Delfino over DMo. This year TJones stepped up and legitmately beat out DMo but both TJones and Casspi have had bad periods, not games but stetches of games that DMo has deserved minutes and both Asik and Smith have been injured and DMo has had DNPs during that stretch. There is no excuse for that. The player you saw last night didn't just appear. It may be one of his better defensive games but he had a great defensive game against Dirk in the preseason that pissed Dirk off and later got him ejected. DMo is not consistent because he doesn't have experience. But neither did beverly or TJones. McHale gives a long leash on the players he likes and a very short one on the players he doesn't. And sometimes takes the leash off and throws them in the doghouse indefinitely. McHale pulled DMo out of the doghouse last night but make no mistake about it the leash is as short as it can get.
