D-Mo's D on Dirk in Dallas gave us the W. We now have our Dirk Stopper.

is it on par with ryan bowen's defense on dirk?

 

Yeah and the Spurs got a lot of injures so idk how low they will fall on the standings. And Portland has being going on the downhill as well.

it would be great to get Home court even with all the inconsistencies and injuries

 

It wasn't Dmo's defense that was noticeable..., it was that he kept getting back quickly when Dwight committed to the block, limiting the opponent's offensive rebounds. That alone has been a terrible weakness for us all year. It had a flow on effect, because Dwight was watching Dmo get the boards when he did, he felt free to commit to the block causing Dallas to have god awful trouble manufacturing a semi decent shot near the rim.

 

Dirk stopper? No.

But DMo definitely played better defense against Dirk than Jones did. I think DMo is a better on the ball defender than Jones although Jones is clearly the better shot blocker and help defender.

 

Oh this made me smile. Thank you for this.

 

DMo is the most active big on D we have. It's just an effort thing but he plays harder and smarter. Still makes an occassional dumb mistake but his effort is always there.

The thing that makes me feel good is I can see McHale finally gets it. DMo is a better defender than TJones.

Last night and tonight DMo finished the games for defense. Love TJones but DMo is a better defender. TJones should never play the 5 if DMo is an option.

I also like Casspi at the 3. He is better than Garcia. This team is coming around. If Asik can get off his pissy fit I think we could do something this playoffs. At least a shot at OKC.

 

5 star thread. would read again

 

I'd hardly call him a Dirk stopper, but DMo has begun to have some real value to this rotation. He still makes a few dumb moves at times but he is absolutely getting better with more playing time. What impresses me is not just his effort relating to hustle, but the attention he tries to give to fundamentals. No doubt he will improve further.

 

Sorry, DMo's stupid fouls down the stretch are too big for me to excuse. I don't care if they were "phantom" calls, you've gotta have better presence of mind in a close game. Neither does Beverly.

 

You don't care if the refs ****ed him over? How is that his fault? Part of why he is able to slow down Dirk is because he is in his face. Dirk can't stand it. Dmo does make mistakes but you don't care if he gets phantom calls is a dumb response.

 

I think the team plays better D with Dmo in the game. I'm really impressed that Mchale actually played Dmo at the end of both the Spurs and mavericks game. I guess there is still some hope for him, that he can learn from his coaching mistakes.

 

that was OK. what was not ok was the foul of PBev and DHo in the last minute.

 

Anyone notice how Dmo communicated mismatches with his man? I saw him direct AB and Lin a few times when they for matched with Dirk.

 

Bev got screwed, Dwight got screwed, Dmo's fouls on Calderon and Dirk were dumb. The Calderon one is a Euroball foul, european players will try to avoid that contact, nba players just run into you, that pften seems to be his biggest issue, getting used to players who will seek you out if you're ripe for a bumping.

 

That's a start. Now let's wait for him running some post play for DMo.

 

Imagine next season, McHale finally realizes Dmo post up is deadly, everyone will be like "Wow Dmo really improved his post game, he's really coming along well". Even though he showed his great post up game in his first summer league debut.

 

I was just talking to a friend of mine whom I watched the game with. I told him 'watch, some idiots on clutchfans will gush over how d-mo won us that game with his defense on dirk.' I should've put money on it, CF always comes thru in the clutch with inane homerism

 

/\ So in other words, you notice his very good defense too...

 

How many points did Dirk go off for while being guarded by DMo in the 4th? I'm personally not going to anoint him a Dirk stopper but he didn't give up 38 / 17 either. Dirk was guarded a lot be TJones and Chandler as well as DMo.

 

My issue with DMo (on defense) is that when he flashes on the pick and roll, he is so freaking slow to get back into the post which tends to leave easy shots for the opponents.