True. I thought I had proved the point with advanced stats. But then again I respect your opinion. But IMHO the best situation would be for D-Mo to back up both Jones and Howard. 100% great paint protection.
Agreed. I will say this though, this experience has been beneficial for both him and the Rockets. Now our bench play should be dynamic when Howard, Jones and Bev comes back.
I don't think it really matters who starts . As long as they both get around 30 minutes a game , we will be able to take advantage of a lot of situations. Also I think McHale is smart enough to finish with the player that has been playing best in that particular game . I can see dmo and jones finishing a game if Dwight has been particularly bad. I think that no matter who starts all 3 of our bigs will see significant amounts of time with each other and building up that chemistry will be key to our success in the rest of the season and playoffs. Dmo has to learn how to for in with jones and with Dwight. Same goes for the other two with dmo . If all three are healthy then our big rotation can become a nightmare .
Jones is a fine player but it would seem that Jones has reached his ceiling. As for DMo...who knows what tomorrow will bring in terms of the surprises we will see, both on offense, and defense. Every game he improves. His size and his intelligence are standout; and now we are beginning to see his confidence grow. He is unstoppable in the post.
Arguing Jones vs. D-Mo on both ends of the floor is kind of pointless. The truth is neither player has really had that second "breakout" season beyond their first one where they turn the corner from contributor who can have a good game every once in awhile into a consistent legitimate threat to kill you on a nightly basis. On D, D-Mo is very solid in his team defense. I think his time spent working with Asik did wonders for his fundamentals. Just night and day with his positioning. Jones is obviously a better shot blocker, is going to be able to go up higher for rebounds, and can get some steals every once in awhile. However, neither of them are worldbeaters who can lock down the best of the best in the West. They are just completely different players with completely different skill sets. I think over time if the Rockets aren't able to bring in that top flight PF (no Ilyasova is NOT that guy), they have a ton of versatility with their young bigs. If Capela turns into the defensive force we think he can be, then thats another weapon to use on the defensive end against tall PF's. All of these young bigs are completely different from another, and neither really should be judged against each others skill sets. Its unfair because they are all so different. We can't say anything definitive about them yet as NBA players, but at least the Rockets are going to have a ton of options in the coming future regardless whether they make a move or not.
I think it's remarkable how DMo is a better defender than Anthony Davis. Makes you realize just how pointless those 3bpg are if all other shots he doesn't block go in.
D-Mo's defense is built using the Asik model. While Asik could not jump and was slow, Asik was a top five defender two years ago. Asik based his defense on being huge and almost always being in great position. "Defensive awareness"? D-Mo learned from a master. It takes a lot of in game attention to understand why Asik and D-Mo are so good on defense. There is absolutely nothing flashy going on there. "Houston's defense is hanging tight with Dwight Howard sidelined, allowing just 99.7 points per 100 possessions over its last six games,the fifth-fewest in the league."
jtr has a good point, his defense isn't flashy where he blocks shots or make some risky overplay steals, but he just always does the right thing, rotates well, positions himself well. That's why his opponents percentages all season are abysmal compared to their usual averages.
I hope it is sarcasm. Anthony Davis is by far the best defensive big out there. And Valanciunas is still better than Dmo over a longer period.
No Davis is not a great defensive player, he's a good shot blocker. He's not liability but he's not a game altering defensive presence either. People just love simple stats, and blocks are an easy stat to love, but they don't tell the whole story. Davis is frequently out of position, and he's not great in rotations. There are no flashy stats to keep track of these things, but they are extremely important to good defense. People need to stop being blinded by blocks. Much like a great outfielder in baseball, great defensive players in basketball rarely look spectacular because they make it look routine. Tim Duncan is probably the greatest of all time at this.
Dallas, Bucks etc. I would not look to deeply at the Clips game, unless you want to look at how Blake got shut down for 12 minutes in the first half. It does though make an interesting comparison with the 12 minutes D-Mo did not play.
He has some ways to go before he even approaches what Dwight accomplished in Orlando, but Davis IS a game altering defensive presence. The only thing is, good offenses can take him out of the equation right now because he is still very young and (relatively) raw. ------------------ Also my post earlier was 100% serious. This compilation of a Warriors set by cfans very own HMMMHMM and (one example of) how we responded to it is exactly what I was looking for: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/f7Tusym-JOk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
