I hope he ends up developing into a useful role player, but honestly, I think his days of being a starter are numbered.
DMo most likely, he was a better defensive player already last year than Jones and his post game and rebounding has been getting better and better. He's a much better option against most PF's in the league however Jones would probably still need to start against the smaller, more athletic PF's. That kind of platoon is probably what we should see this year, but who knows, we could see Canaan at PF and Nick Johnson at C given our head coach's track record.
clearly I don't see it. There is a reason that TJones emerged as the starter last season and not DMo. TJones per 36 minute stats are better across the board than DMo's. DMo had a few decent defensive games last season (most notably against Memphis) but had many others where he was not effective. I would be fine if DMo turned out to be a great PF but TJones was light years better than him last season. TJones is the established starter and will very likely not be unseated by DMo unless he is very clearly outplayed.
D mo fits better coming off the bench during the season. He is a 4/5 and can relieve Dwight or Jones. He also can play in the post for the 2nd unit and have offense go through him. I prefer D mo as the 3rd big. In the playoffs it's all about matchups so if the matchup dictates D mo starts then so be it. But as I see it, if both remain on the team D mo should come off the bench.
And James Harden, Lin, Beverley, Parsons, and McHale wasn't With the Mickey Mouse playground type basketball the Rockets play... Lol. Like I said ----> Foolish.
Well I agree that DMo is a more versatile player than Jones, but I think you play the better player and in most matchups, that's DMo. Again though, there are absolutely matchups where you'd still want Jones out there despite his terrible defense, but most of the time I'd prefer him to come off the bench.
I seriously doubt that. D-Mo is still too weak. Those summer league kids were pushing him around the paint with ease. Plus D-Mo doesn't play like he's 7 feet. I wouldn't be surprised if Clint eventually surpasses him.
Actually 12 and 7 with a 19.1 PER over an entire season says Jones is better right now. A lot better. Can D mo catch him and pass him? Sure..they are both talented guys. Both are very skilled soon to be 3rd year bigs. But right now Jones is much better and D mo is a fouling machine. If the Rockets thought D mo was better then why wasn't Jones at Summer League and D mo was?
Because Jones didn't ask to play in Summer League to get ready for playing with his national team in the FIBA World Cup. Summer time is when Jones goes hobo stomping, he doesn't give that time up for basketball.
ok We were not talking about them but TJ. Nice try at deflection. That type basketball that you sneer at is a offense that many other NBA teams are trying to emulate and for a reason.
Why would someone who started an entire season and dominated Summer League 2x go there. And D mo did not ask to go. He was told to go. They wanted him to work on his post defense and rebounding per Chris Finch.
D-Mo's got to rebound the ball," Finch said. "He's got to play with a physicality. He's got to defend without fouling." Regardless of what's going on out there, he's got to find ways to impact the game whether we throw him the ball or not. That's defense and rebounding." So no the Rockets do not have D mo rated ahead of Jones at this point. Nor should they.
ok Dmo has shown so far that he is a bust. There is no way he should even be mentioned as a starter until he improves.
Because he's one of the worst defensive players on the entire team and he has a ton of work to do advancing his game? You simply don't know what you are talking about, he asked to go AND the team wants him to work on his post game and rebounding.....I'm sure they have a list for everyone.
What do you base this on? Last season, I kept wondering what it is that some people here see in D-Mo. I'm really trying to see as many positive things as possible, but there is not much. He is a decent defender, that is true. But offensively? His shooting percentages are terrible for a PF/C. 44% FG, 25% 3PT (which, according to some people, is one of his strengths!), 60% FT. He can't shoot. At least not better than Jones, who is also not a good shooter, but at 30% 3PT still better than D-Mo. D-Mo is a decent post player, but in all honesty, I don't think his post moves are as good as some people claim they are. Perhaps better than Jones' post moves, but not that great, either. In my opinion, of course. Looking at last season's per 36 stats, Jones is better in EVERY category (well, except for fouls drawn, but that is a rather insignificant statistic). Don't get me wrong, I really hope D-Mo improves and I don't have anything against the guy; having said that, I simply don't see what others here see in him. You keep bringing up how bad Jones did defensively against elite PFs. That is, to a certain extent, true, there is no denying that. However, I sometimes wonder what expectations some people had last season? This was practically is first NBA season, it's just natural that there would be a few weaknesses in his game. But all in all, I like what he did last year, and I am confident he will only get better.
There are many articles pertaining to D mo and Summer League. He wanted to earn more minutes and they told him what they wanted to see out of him. According to you he is better than Jones so he should avg 30 minutes a night already.
So should Harden play summer league to work on defense? Jones is a starter. 3rd year starters do no play summer league. Ever.
