Exactly. He's a seven foot version of Scola that actually plays defense and may be able to develop a consistent 3 point shot. You don't trade that ever. I'm not ready to call him the best offensive post player in the league. He has to do it consistently. But he definitely has that potential and given the light bulb that has gone on for him recently, it suddenly looks like he could achieve that status. He's never going to be the most athletic big or someone who can really play above the rim. But in the post, he is going to be very, very good.
There really aren't many post players in the league anymore, Duncan once a year, Cousins i guess, but he's more bully ball than post play, Jefferson and Zbo?. He's probably done more post moves this year than 99% of the league will do all season, lol.
If tjones comes back and takes steps forward like Dmo has, which is somewhat reasonable, the Rockets are gonna be in great shape.
Youre wrong. This is not the same d-mo. Not everything is a fluke like jeremy lin. Plus, lin got injured. Who know how much that effected his game physically and mentally.
The question I have to ask is.... Can he defend Aldridge ? Blake griffin? Gasol/a-Bo in playoffs? That's prob the key component for this year We saw he can hold his own against an aging dirk ... But those still seem like they will be our weakness
I hope this type of hype has spilled over to most of the league GMs LOL. Maybe we can keep the Pelicans pick after all LOL. DMO is rolling big time and he's making some serious future money for himself, Morey definitely has some weapons to offer for his sought after 3rd star. IMO no one is untradeable accept Howard and Harden, those two players have produced at all star level for years now. I've learned the hard way as a rocket fan while under Morey's tenure in not falling in love with certain players.
I don't think we are going to trade dmo either. Not that I think dmo is more highly valued than dragic, but for this team as currently constructed dmo is more important than dragic would be.
It reminds me a little of Yao's development. Remember how in his 3rd season, the team was riddle with injuries(including Yao himself), but when he came back around midseason, he just started tearing up the league. He went from being a very good post player to an unstoppable one. D-Mo obviously isn't in Yao's league(yet), but sometimes it just takes these guys a few years(and the right opportunity) to take that next step.
D-Mo shut Cousins down big time in the last 9 minutes of the first Kings game. D-Mo blew up Gasol/Randolf in the second Memphis game. I have no doubt that McHale will stick D-Mo far up into the grill of LMA, Blake etc. in the playoffs.
Lin was also in a situation with D'Antoni and the Knicks where his strengths were maximized (or at least his ability to put up numbers). Same with D-Mo and Dwight going out. I'll be interested to see how he does with Dwight back.
D-Mo has been a very pleasant surprise. I'm nearly convinced that the front court can be solid if Jones is able to come back. Morey may be able to look into just adding a wing player with the Pelicans pick and or TPE and keep this team together as is. If there's a way for him to snag a Korver or Gallinari type a LEGIT championship run could be in store.
Agreed. If D-Mo can continue playing at this level (likely) and if Jones can get back to full strength this season (less likely) Houston's front court will be a match for any great front court in the NBA. Morey in all probability is just going to wait until the trade deadline and then make an attempt to grab an extremely discounted asset with the TPA, the NOP pick, and a young asset or two (not D-Mo).
You have to admit D-Mo has very real recognizable facets to his game, while Lin was a one trick pony depending on a hot shooting streak. D-Mo does not have to do much more than average 15 points and play great defense to become a long term starting NBA player.
I love DMo and he's been playing great position defense down on the block these past few weeks, but I'm not yet ready to have him line up against the league's best in the playoffs and feel good about our chances. That game against Memphis was very impressive, for sure. But a 7 game playoff series is a different animal altogether. Let's assume that his stretch of awesome play has earned him a starting spot if/when Jones comes back. In the playoffs he could be matched up against: LMA Durant* Randolph Duncan/Splitter (depending on who McHale feels he matches up against best) Dirk Blake That is just ridiculous. Too many amazing PFs in the Western conference. Can DMo guard these guys? LMA - We haven't played Portland yet, so can't really comment on that. But LMA, who in early years I've thought of as only a complimentary player, can go off on any night, as Rockets fans well know. Plus he's shooting more threes than ever and hitting 54%. The key against him is to not commit fouls and just hope he doesn't have one of his ridiculous shooting performances like he did in the playoffs last year. Durant* - No, but see disclaimer below. Randolph - Randolph is a man's man. His game is built for the playoffs, and personality-wise he too isn't afraid of the wolves in the woods (then again, why would a Grizzly be afraid of a wolf???). Yes, having size is probably the best way to make things harder for Randolph, but after watching him beast in the playoffs so often for years I can't bring myself to think that DMo will be the one to suddenly stop Randolph. DMo has to match his effort. Duncan/Splitter - We know Duncan can score on anybody and we know he will turn it up a few notches in the playoffs. One of the all time greats, I don't know if there's anything any one post defender in the NBA can do to hurt Duncan's game. For Splitter, he'll never really punish you inside but he plays very well within their system and can get 18 points without a single play having been called for him. Dirk - We all know what Dirk can do and we all know that even at 36 he can still win you a playoff series. You have to make him work on both sides of the court and hope to make him fatigued and therefore a worse shooter. Not sure that will help, but that's about all you can do. Blake - I'm not the biggest Blake Griffin fan. I don't know why his rebounding numbers are down this year. But whether or not I like his game, he gets you 20+ ppg on 50% shooting. Probably the best thing to do against him is have a good transition defense and limit his easy buckets, living with his halfcourt post-ups and jumpers. So... can DMo check those guys? To some extent, yes. But do I feel really comfortable with DMo as the guy we have to make life harder for them in the playoffs? No. With that said, I'm in favor of keeping DMo over trading him (unless we get an amazing offer, of course). But I do still view PF as our weakest link. *It's unfair to put Durant here because no one in the league can handle him, but still, he plays large amounts of minutes at PF.
