[ClutchFans] Frustrated Motiejunas just wants to play

I didn't say Morey was telling McHale who to give minutes to. I only said Morey may have (my hunch) told McHale "Hey the kid wants to be traded or go to the DLeague.. If you're not going to play him I am sending him to the DLeague."

It might not even have been that concise. He may have just ask McHale what his plans for DMo were because the kid wants to go to the Dleague and McHale thought anand said maybe I could use him a few minutes here and there and that's what started it. But make no mistake about it something changed because there were even some blowouts that DMo didn't even get scrub minutes.

Even last year Morey tried to force McHale's hand by dumping all the PF's on the team not named DMo and McHale gave DMo a shot out necessity but then switched to Delfino. Last year there were times Delfino was over matched but DMo got nothing, not even a look. Dmo was better coming into this season than last but that scenario continued until DMo requested a move to the DLeague.

DMo didn't do anything different. He still has games he makes stupid mistakes but he plays hard and he has done that all season. He is getting better a little bit at a time but there were games when everyone was injured and again if only because we had no other bodies DMo deserved minutes and McHale preferred to move a worn out Parsons at the PF and let Garcia play the 3 than give DMo minutes.

DMo is still raw. You won't here me say otherwise but he is a big body that effects things on the court and he has done that for a while. No one has played Dirk better than DMo did thiss preseason yet when Dirk was scorching us McHale didn't even give him a try for one minute. He stopped Dirk in pre season why not at least look to see if he can do it again. Say what you will about McHale's coaching but you won't convince me he could not have handled DMo better.

 

Boggles my mind how people don't see this.

Honestly, I think mchale doesn't or didn't like dmo for some reason. They still don't even use him fully on offense really. Why mchale doesn't get the guys to feed him in the post some when the offense is sputtering is beyond me.

Instead he just runs around setting picks on every defender and shooting corner threes. Dmo needs to get more confidence and demand the ball in the post sometimes.

But you are spot on with your post. Dmo should've been playing. He and TJ both have the potential to make of a strong position for us. mchale is just so slow reacting and archaic with his rotations.

 

Everyone wants players to get PT sooner than they do. Doesn't matter if the coach is Rudy T, JVG, RA, or KM. Coaches make players earn their PT and for good reason.

I doubt Maury was involved at all. I think DMO got his chance with the injuries and finally stepped up. He is going to have to avoid getting complacent because if he does right back to the bench he will go.

 

You don't think Morey informed McHale DMo wanted to go to the Dleague and asked if he planned on using him before he sent him down. That would be stupid GM'ing 101 if Morey didn't at least check with his coach to see if had any intentions of using DMo before sending him down to the DLeague. Of course he talked to him about it and you know it.

My problem is even with injuries to Greg Smith and Omer Asik Dmo has tallied 19 DNP's this season. Especially after D-Mo helped the Rockets earn a tough win with just a hard nosed defensive performance against Zach Randolph.
Howard couldn't stop Zach. Howard, Harden and everyone credited DMo for the win.

But that earned DMo nothing. On New year's Eve, the most pathetic loss of the season DMo was a DNP. He gets a DNP against the pathetic Knicks and we almost lose. Nothing changes until he request a move to the DLeague and now he is playing regularly but nothing changed. He is a little better with consistent minutes but he is still a good big body like he has been all season.

 

Kevin is just like Rick,if they didn't want certain players even on the roster they won't play them unless they have no choice.Same happened with Kyle,Rick told Rockets to pick Brooks,had Brooks not got injured we might never knew Kyle was a talent.Do you guys notice during games ,James hogs the ball,turns it over,don't play D,passes the ball with 2 seconds left on the clock,etc...,he pats him on the back with a smile.Now if Lin commits 1 turnover hes on him like white on rice,screaming and throwing a fit in front the whole arena during the game.To do otherwise would mean he made a 25 million dollar mistake, cause DM could have signed J Lin to a Parson or Beverley contract.Same with DMO ,Kevin is like a wife who always tears her husband down,when its to her benefit to build him up and support him and then complain about he never get a promotion or whatever.

 

One thing I love about DMO is that his desire to play includes going to the D-League. I remember him commenting on the Royce White situation last year and how he had requested a D League assignment so he could actually play and get better.

 

Horse****, when Harden was a screen door on defense Mr. oldschool didn't bench him did he?

Old school...lol....McHale is a putz as a coach...

DD

 

You are making a compelling argument. I lean towards believing it. Just makes sense.

 

Yes but I doubt that influenced McHale all that much. Dmo was getting some minutes before he complained. He was just sucking it up. Then all of a sudden he starts playing better. And lo and behold, he is getting more minutes!

I tend to think that DMO wasn't playing well because he was sucking it up in practice because he was down on his situation, then he got a pep talk from Dwight and he decided to take it to heart, and played better (especially in practice) which got him more minutes. Nothing more nothing less.

 

Dmo isn't one of the top players in the league.

 

The problem with your argument is that Dmo played good in the preseason, he played better than Jones in the preseason.

When the season started we never saw Dmo. I know it's easy to make up all kinds of reasons why a player doesn't play, but when your good play gets rewarded with sitting on the bench, you have to wonder.

 

Casspi, Garcia played out of their minds. Asik played well enough that they thought Double Centers could work!

 

True, and Harden won't be either until he plays consistent defense.

DD

 

Incorrect. Harden won't be a top player in the league because he's ALREADY a top player in the league.

At least, everyone on the Rockets from players to coaches to front office thinks so.

 

You have a history of diminishing the best players on the team and taking the guys who don't crack the rotation as being far better than they are. I'm sorry, this smacks of another VSPAN go around.

 

Harden is the best shooting guard in the league. STFU.

 

You only see him in Pre-season - the coaches seem in EVERY PRACTICE. THis is what puzzles me, you guys act like they only time they play basketball is the 48 minutes during games.

DId you know they scrimmage against each other every day? Did you know the coaches have to worry more about whether or not they score or grab a rebound but some very important things before they can even step on the court?

You know, how to rotate on defense? In the beginning of the season, Dmo would be in the game and not rotate leading to easy wide open dunks for the opposing teams. THATS WHY he wasn't put into the game. Not to mention trying to experiment with the TT concept (which by the way was the no brainer thing to at least try to do).

The whole idea that DMO didn't get PT until he whined about his situation is ludicrous and offensive to me. He got PT because he changed his attitude. Guy looked like he was going through the motions out there whenever he was in the game. Now he looks like he cares. What happened? We know Howard talked to him about it. Could it be that made a difference versus anything else???

 

I think Dmo didn't start the games coz Asik was whining and they went with him and Howard as the TT which failed. And when Dmo got few minutes he seemed out of sync or lost. Then Jones got going and Dmo stay on the bench when Asik didn't want to play and wanted the trade.

tho i been saying that Dmo deserved a chance. He showed improvement on the preseason. And when we didn't have Asik we were left without size or back up for Dwight. Like against a big forward Like Dirk and LMA.

Dmo should have guard them or get some minutes and Howard Guard the center

 

The thing is, nobody has a crystal ball that lets them know for sure how a player will perform when you put him into a game. The best that one can do is make an educated guess based past games, practice, etc. Then, when you do put a guy into the game, you watch how he and the rest of the guys play and keep that in mind for future decisions.


It seems pretty simple that the coaches for the Rockets have just been trying to win games and making lineup and other decisions based on this. They made their best educated guess as to what would work, tried them out, and mostly kept what worked (like Jones staying a starter) and changed what didn't (like the Asik-Howard starting frontline).

With DMo, the coaches simply thought that it would be best for the team to try other combinations first. DMo did get several opportunities early in the season (due to injuries, foul trouble, garbage time, etc.) and the results were mixed at best. I don't think he was horrible all the time, just not clearly better than the alternatives. It wasn't like that the coaches were being insane playing these other guys. He's been a little more consistent in recent games and I am sure the team will keep that in mind for future decisions.

It really isn't different than how it worked with many other young guys-- if you are out of the rotation, you are still going to get sporadic opportunities to play (again, injuries, garbage time, foul trouble, rotation guys struggling) and it's up to the player to do well in these situations to get more opportunities. Carl Landry, Aaron Brooks and many others went through the same thing. Even guys like Terrence Williams and Cole Aldrich got their chances-- they just didn't do well enough to earn more minutes.

 

I think this is exactly right.