The last nine games (after the 1st Grizzlies game and all without Dwight) the D-Mo/Papanikolaou pairing actually has negative net rating with 101.4 ORTG and 105.6 DRTG. The number for whole season so far (that 100.5 DRTG number) actually also includes 41 minutes of Dwight/D-Mo/Papa with DRTG of 91.3 when Papanikolau has played the 3. NBA.com doesn't seem to support sorting line-up stats by player's position so these take some effort to manually dig out. These are from SportsVU data that actually counts the possessions instead of estimates like at ESPN, Basketball Reference etc. Using this data, that 100.5 number would actually rank 9th in the league. You have a point, though. The D-Mo/Papa pairing hasn't been awful by any means, just not nearly as good as the teams defense overall (96.5 for the season, 99.1 for the last 9 games). As for other pairings, D-Mo/Dorsey has a DRTG of 80.4(!) for the last 9 games, the sample size is really small though (14mins). D-Mo/Black has DRTG of 97.8 (and surprisingly great ORTG of 114.6) the 9 last games. So there seems to be some evidence of D-Mo performing better at the 4 defensively. That ORTG number with Black is also encouraging, D-Mo shouldn't have any problems posting up 4s with Dwight on the floor (if Dwight's ego permits that, of course).
Awesome post. I have been saying this for a long time. I think D-Mo can provide good minutes at the 5. But he will really flourish playing at the 4 next to Dwight as long as Dwight can keep his ego in check. And as I have mentioned, Dwight is really showing a great amount of maturity going back to last season so I think that is a definite possibility. He really is all about winning. Another thing is that Dorsey is actually performing quite well given all the stats. He deserves some praise, as does Morey for digging him up from Europe. I really like the potential of this year's bunch.
It also should be mentioned that we really don't have a 4 that can mask D-Mo's weaknesses when he plays the five. A PF in the mold of Ibaka or either Gasol would be really great, providing additional rim protection and rebounding on D. D-Mo/Jones at C/PF seemed to be really dreadful in the past, hopefully that has changed too. As for Dwight's attitude, I'm cautiously optimistic. Hopefully D-Mo doesn't start to defer too much and become passive when playing with Dwight. His assertiveness and quick decision making has been really great lately. Dorsey has defended well, yes. Offensively he won't ever offer much but he provides much needed shot blocking and rebounding in his limited minutes.
Teams are choosing to front D-mo right now, and there are reasons teams don't like to front. It really leave's your defense vulnerable when you willingly give up inside position. When we had Yao it killed us, because we absolutely had to get him the ball to run our offense. We don't "have" to get the ball to D-Mo. Hopefully our guys can learn to utilize it when D-mo is being fronted instead of just fruitlessly trying to force him the ball. As for playing with Howard, ego is the only problem. Black and Dorsey are offensive zeros, and D-Mo is doing work, no reason whatsoever he can't do it with with Dwight.
Yeah I definitely agree with the first part. The stats that Papa and D-Mo aren't a good defensive duo also probably stem from the fact that Papa is a 6"8' SF having to play minutes at the 4. If a shot blocking 4 (Jones??) was next to D-Mo I'd expect those stats to be better. I'm cautiously optimistic as well, but optimistic nonetheless. I really think D-Mo can help to get Dwight some easy buckets. We shall see what happens. Furthermore, if teams try to front D-Mo while Dwight Howard is on the floor, they will have serious problems. And I mean it will literally be a shot at the rim for our team every single time down the floor.
Wish everyone would temper their enthusiasm a bit. A month ago Dmo was sucking offensively and defensively. Dmo is not a stretch 4 to be playing next to Howard so his impact will be less. As a back up 5 though he could be a game changer.
Eh. I think it's a myth that a team needs a "stretch 4" to win in the NBA. Sure, Miami did that a couple of times. But before that, the Lakers won with Gasol and Bynum both playing in the paint twin towers style. Also, San Antonio won with both Splitter and Duncan both in the paint. Duncan does not shoot as many jumpshots anymore as he did in the past. Both those teams did have "stretch 4's" coming off the bench though. Lakers with Odom and Spurs with Diaw. So it does count for something, but not everything. You just need that dimension at times to keep the defense honest or else they'll pack the paint against you. I think our 3 point shooting counteracts that to an extent. Also the Grizzlies are winning with Gasol and Z-Bo packing the paint right now. Regardless, there's a lot of evidence that a balanced team with a tall front line can do well under the right circumstances.
I generally agree with the gist of this post, but I don't think he needs to be a stretch 4 to be effective next to Howard. He certainly will probably score a little less though simply due to the fact that our offense will be more diverse when Howard gets back. If we had our full lineup and assuming that Jones picks up where he left off in the beginning of the season (which is a HUGE "if") then I would like to see his minutes staggered with Howard's as much as possible to utilize his low post skills more. But some of the posts I have seen here are pretty laughable, like the ones suggesting that we won't need Howard in the future. Entire defenses are designed around Howard, the guy completely changes the game offensively and defensively, DMo hasn't even seen a double team yet. We can do much more offensively with Howard in the lineup.
Exactly. Howard just makes everything easier on the offense side due to the respect he commands. Also, the team gets to the free throw line so much easier given how many fouls Howard constantly draws. That's something you cannot replace. That's exactly why I think D-Mo will play the best next to Howard. Everything will just be easier simply because of how much teams fear Dwight. Just imagine this: Harden creating for our team as usual with a D-Mo or Dwight pick and roll. Canaan/Bev/Ariza/Terry on the perimeter waiting to bomb threes. The pick setter rolling to the basket. The other low post player (be it Howard or D-Mo) having one on one coverage or perhaps an easy layup due to their man helping on the roller. There's so many ways the Rockets can hurt a team under that scenario. Our offense is going to be a huge problem for the league as soon as Dwight is back.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>.<a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets">@HoustonRockets</a> have won 7 of their last 8 w/o Dwight. In that span, HOU has +11.5 NetRtg w/ D-Mo on the floor, team-worst -8.1 w/ him off</p>— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) <a href="https://twitter.com/nbastats/status/541668736600928257">December 7, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
That pretty much sums it up. The Rockets will be totally screwed if both D-Mo and Howard are out at the same time. Of course the Rockets defense is predicated upon forcing the ball handler to the sideline or baseline, and if he breaks to the middle, funnel him into the paint protector. No paint protector no sustainable defense. The layup drills will commence.
Yep, essentially a similar plan to when we had Yao..... And I want to clarify something, I am not saying, TRADE Howard - but I am saying that he is a fickle guy and he might leave next year, so you can't trade DMo at this point, and leave that much leverage in his hands. Because if he chooses to walk, DMo would be a decent option as a starting Center, different type, but still not a bad option, and centers are VERY hard to come by these days, especially ones that play both ends like Dmo. DD
An excellent summation DD. And that is why D-Mo is not getting traded unless the trade returns something huge. I actually kind of expect Howard to walk in the summer of 2016. With the cap increase he could easily get a four year contract at $35M+.
Hmmmm. Do you have a crystal ball? Does Morey choose D-Mo over a 31 year old Howard at half the cost? Howard's next contract will have an NBA team paying him until he is almost 36. Just asking.
I want Dwight and Donuts to figure it out together. That should be a championship level front line...
Hopefully Jones gets back soon. D-Mo, Howard and Jones would be one of the premier front line rotations in the NBA.
