It is all about spacing, if DMo and Black can figure it out, so can DHo and DMo, however, it will take Dwight giving up on his post ups, or doing far fewer of them to TRULY be effective. Because DMo is shooting 50% for the season now, and that is primarily because Black is now the garbage man. I am going to guess that once we have Dmo, Dho and Tjo all back, that our best most efficent bigs lineups will be: Dmo and Tjo Tjo and Dho Dho and Dmo In that order...just based upon how it looks like their skillsets mesh. DD
I agree regarding the stretch 4. The ideal four man IMO is one who can rebound, defend, and make plays in the post/high post area. DMO is slowly transforming into such a player. He's tested well against Randolph, and so far Griffin, i want to see how he fares against LMA. DMO's next progression is to get stronger (even more so).
Dmo over the last 8 games has roughly averaged 15 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assist, shooting over 60% <3 DMO DA GAWD!!! But seriously he has been really solid, which is awesome as hell because we really need him to be playing well with Howard and Jones out.
All I know is we ain't missing Terrence at all. We're now 12-4 without him. There's no way we'd have a better record if he was running out there for 30 minutes a game. DMo has effectively replaced Dwight and Tarik and Dorsey have replaced whatever minutes Terrence was burning. And we're winning at a .750 clip. Black and Dorsey replacing Terrence. Hmmmmmm.
I don't know about D-Mo and T-Jo being our most efficient big lineup, but other than that I completely agree. Dwight needs to model himself after Bill Russell. Dominate the paint without the basketball, and let Donuts go to work on the block. No egos, all about WINNING.
We didn't win at a .750 clip last year when Terrence was in there and 90% of the time he was riding with Dwight. He's not a difference maker.
12/8 for a 24 year old who isn't the focal point of their offense could be considered franchise numbers, not HOF numbers like Tim Duncan or Pau Gasol but comparable to other young players who got the max like Al Horford (15/9@24) or Andrew Bogut (11/10@24). And take note these guys were the focal point of their offense and got majority of the touches ala Cousins, DMo gets Harden and/or Howard leftovers. And I never said DMo belongs in the same conversation as Gasol, only that his GAME reminds me of Gasol and there's no doubt Spurs would have made him TD's heir apparent, look at what they did with Splitter and Kawhi Leonard. The other thread talks about how DMO is anchoring the league's 10th best defense at 24 years old. I dunno what your standards are, but if he keeps this up in my book DMO's gonna be our next star and if I were DM I'd keep him around at all costs.
LOL you act like TJones has a negative impact on the team. So you'd rather he be injured and not healthy and playing? And if he's playing, who says that he needs to play 30 mins a game? It's all about options and adjustments. Having TJones in the line up is a positive not negative. Don't act like you would rather not have TJones get Black or Dorsey's minutes. we could have been 14-2 best case scenario or 12-4 worst case with higher point differential and still have everyone not playing too many minutes
I agree -- not to mention the fact that having Jones would also allow Kostas to play his natural position at the three, to thereby take minutes off of Ariza's plate, perhaps even allowing Ariza to play some 2, thus giving Harden rest -- AND the fact it would mean Garcia would get much less time, which, at this point in his career, would be a good thing.
It has been interesting watching DMo develop. He came in as a mobile, deep-shooting, Euro-type stretch 4. It was clear that he did not have the explosion and athletic ability to beast inside (unlike, say, Valanciuinas who is a legit power big) Then, however, McHale is all about wanting a 7ft to play as a big, around the rim... So DMo has been lifting, bulking-up, working with the Rockets big-man infrastructure (CD, Dream, etc.) to improve post game... However! His deep-shooting never progressed; I wonder if he even works on shooting, which is a pity because you can see that he has soft touch and good hands. he's not stone-handed like Dwight and Omer, he has the fundamentals to be a good shooter. So now he has grown into a passable around the basket big, but he will never be a beast, because, it's just not his DNA. he doesn't have the genetic makeup to be a destruction force inside. The case for DMo developing into an All-Star is only if he improves his 3pt shooting to a point where he becomes a triple threat. He COULD become a franchise player if he gets that unique versatility, otherwise he would just be a pretty good big, who is not powerful enough to dominate inside.
The problem with DMo shooting, he lost some lift when he gained weight (+50/70 pounds), he didnt adjusted his shot, he needs to start bending his knees and it will start falling again.
We had a completely different team last year, in a different situation. I can see logic isn't in the equation...
Lots of people became good offensive threats despite not being freaks, Elton Brand, Al Jefferson, ZBO, Marc Gasol, Andrew Bogut, Al Horford etc., no one calls these guys athletic freaks of nature but they have skilled post moves. DMo right now being the only post threat is scoring at a 50% clip, and he is doing mixing up some 3's and mid range shots with drives to the bucket so I he seems pretty solid to me. For me 3 pt shooting is the last thing he should be doing, because as we can clearly see it is not his strength. If he focuses on 3 pt shooting he'll never be as good as above average stretch 4s like Ryan Anderson, why bother wasting his career like that? Let him work in the post and mid range like Pau Gasol, he is already skilled with hook moves and has the ability to pass out of double teams when the opponent collapses on him.
To me, out of ALL the players we have that are not named Dwight and Harden, DMO is the guy I don't want to trade. Even moreso than T.Jones. (Don't want to see Ariza traded too because he's the glue guy and it would be cold to trade him twice...) Do not get me wrong, I love T.Jones. He's a really good player but he does things you can find elsewhere in many a player. The fact that Dmo can score consistently in the post is a rare skill in the NBA. Not only that, but he can step out and drain threes which tells me that if you give him a few more years his shot may start falling more and with that he'll be pretty unstoppable on offense. He's starting to really play defense now too. The Rockets have some big decisions to make regarding him. There is no way they are keeping both and keeping both of them happy. Hope we make the right decision for the team NOW and not trade the guy who can get more assets back.
Yep, I hear you. And I guess you can add a certain Kevin McHAle to the list... Plus, not always the athletic freaks pan out: Amare got hit by injuries before winning anything; Shawn Kemp let his life out of control; Admiral's career got derailed through humiliation by a certain player in the same division... Still, if DMo gets his long shot working he would be absolutely impossible to stop offensively, a matchup nightmare... I think he can do it but we'll see.
When and if D-Mo hits a league average 35% of his threes (possible) and develops his post his post game and defense a little further (likely) he will reach my expectations for him. All star.
