I would say he is "starting to figure it out". For every time he, say, guards the perimeter well, he struggles against another perimeter shooting matchup. Then he fouls out Griffin one game (albeit with some embellishing), but gets destroyed by DJ and struggles against GSW. The inconsistency is still there, but he is able to stay on the court, at least, and be productive this season around. I'm hesitant to give him a firm "plus" label right now.
He keeps an arm out to keep away the defender in that split second right before he's about to score, which explains how he can score without getting much lift off the ground.
If he has a healthy season, I don't see a team out there not giving D-Mo a very near max contract. I think after what Morey did with finding & trading for Harden, the League is obsessed with trying to project these type of young players that can be a star if given more opportunity & more money. If GM's are paying Reggie Jackson that type of money to hopefully be that guy, the Bucks with Middleton, OKC with Kanter, etc. Then I think its safe to bet that GM's around the league will be willing to bet on D-Mo. ....... For the Rockets, I think they gotta keep him even at the max. I said it before, and I'll say it again... He's the Rockets future center post the Dwight years. However he can play and get better next to Dwight at the same time. He's not a perfect player and likely never will be, but you have yourselves an answer to play with Harden throughout his prime as a guaranteed big man who can provide you a #2 option to Harden for the foreseeable future. You don't give away or let that guarantee walk away in free agency. I'd rather the team punt on free agency next year in order to keep D-Mo then add players that aren't named Durant.
He was still horrible this season. Hopefully we see the defensive players we all grown to love. Jones and Smith are not just bench players. And as big time sports fan you of all people should know that already. But your hatred towards Jones game clouds your true basketball view. Again you do not know how would have performed in the playoffs.
Smith is a very good bench PF, Jones is an inconsistent bench player...unless it's the playoffs and then he's best friends with completely worthless. I don't "hate" Jones, I just don't overrate him like some do. I have high hopes that he can improve to where he'll be a solid bench PF this season. With Smith gone, we'll need Jones to step up and be better than he ever has been before.
There is no need to build up one, and tear down the other. Both guys are far from perfect, but just because you are a D-Mo fan doesn't mean you need to be a Jones anti-fan.... but pretty much everyone here still chooses sides, and roots for "their guy" and roots for the other guy to have a career ending injury or something. I love D-Mo and think in this market, if healthy, a GM in the league or two will offer him a max contract at his salary level. The reason is he has the talent offensively to run through him, and expand his game to the elbow as well soon. Someone will take a shot at him as their new franchise cornerstone. However, he's got his warts. The guy DOES NOT rebound nearly at all. The guy now is coming off back surgery. That's a huge deal that too many people are sweeping under the rug. I have genuine concern about that this year. As for Jones.. I think he is more or less who he is as an NBA player but that doesn't mean anything negative. He's a very usable multi-faceted forward. He was also THE ONLY BIG MAN WHO COULD SHOOT FREE THROWS last year, and forced himself to be the lone big in small ball lineups. He was the Rockets poor mans (ok broke man's) version of what Draymond Green was for the Warriors IN THAT ROLE (not comparing him to Green so stop it right there). He has value to an NBA team. He's just not a superstar like people are expecting him to be. That doesn't mean he needs to get traded for nothing, and get out of the league. THEY ARE BOTH GOOD.
Just curious why you project him as a center? Do you think he's going to develop a lot more at that position? He just seemed to be a lot better at PF last year.
If PF's are moving further away from the basket defensively league-wide, then why are some PF's getting the job done better than DMo at rebounding? I know TJones & Josh did off the top of my head, and I know there are even better PF rebounders in the league. I just don't think rebounding is gonna be DMo's strength. If DMo can really score at will on all those guys, then why the heck wouldn't he be an all star? Why is this Harden character getting so many touches?? McHale is so dumb!
How much do you think that injury affected TJones in the playoffs? His defensive numbers were great in his shortened regular season and then he got torched in the postseason so embarrassingly bad..... That is what bothers me about TJones - defense.
I think we should look at rebounding in context, weren't a lot of Rockets fans supporting the team picking up a weak rebounding Chris Bosh to play PF just a year ago? Would we be harping on his rebounding now if he had signed with the team? Rebounding is certainly the go to topic for those looking to pick nits, and it would be great if DMo boosted his numbers up a bit, but it's not some huge hole in his game the way some try to spin it.
If it affected him at all it would be all mental. Physically he'd have no ill effects from the lung injury a month before the playoffs even started.
Personally, I am hoping that D-Mo becomes a Pau Gasol type player for us, but Gasol was a strong rebounder even next to Bynum. D-Mo is just a ****ty rebounder and NEEDS to get better at it. That said, for the purpose of our team, I will be content if he serves a Brad Miller (prime) type of role next to Howard and Harden. You are honestly one of the most unbelievably biased posters when it comes to D-Mo IMO. No one is trying to spin anything here. D-Mo IS a ****ty rebounder. He simply sucks at it. Bosh was a solid rebounder when he was playing as THE interior big man. He just doesn't like playing inside and banging with other players and as such, his rebounding suffered. When D-Mo was playing our C due to Howard being out, his bad rebounding was completely exposed. I would be ecstatic if D-Mo could rebound as well as Bosh.
DMo took it to both Asik and Anthony Davis pretty damn good in that video. I don't see how anyone could watch that and not agree with most of the good stuff being said in this thread about DMo.
Going to be interesting going forward when Howard & DMO are both free agents 2016 Summer. Do u pay DMO as postups are his strength to play next to Howard ? I know he shot 3 (1.8% better than jones) YEP.... but postups is where all the hype like this thread comes from. He's perfect fit with a PF/C that can shoot, D, rebound. Like how gasol/zbo play together, but a jump shot isn't in Howard's vocab. Can u play a strech 4 next to DMO knowing he's not a good rebounder ? Nawh This is why DMO is always going to be a debate. If he could rebound not get pushed round, bigger and play Center type D he would be a max center for sure next yr but he's not that player. FYI- all this highlights good game are......... Without Howard
I suggest you go back and look that up. Bosh was THE interior big man during the "big 3" years and he averaged 7 boards a game. Know what you are talking about if you want to call someone out for bias.
I like what both Dmo and Jones brings to our team. They're completely different and when healthy could make this team even dangerous. I really don't understand why some people can't see that dobro. Yes both players have their weaknesses just like every player whose played this game. Injuries imo hindered Jones's game this year. When he came back from that 1st injury he was playing very solid for us and then his lungs were stepped on. It was very clear to me that he wasn't 100%.
Anyone that thinks they could have known how DMO who can be foul prone and a soft rebounder at times would perform in the playoffs is just purely speculating. The game is much more physical and played with tons more aggression when its all about win or go home. I will admit they did miss Beverly and his physical style of play over the two 37 year old PGs and I've actually seen him play in the playoffs and its hard to beat Smith and his 38% from the 3pt line for the playoffs as well. Is DMO a very good player and does he have an incredible post game, absolutely. Will DMO have a good upcoming season if healthy for the rockets, absolutely. Do I want to see DMO destroy LaMarcus Aldridge in some iso post ups down low, absolutely. Is DMO overrated by some of the DMO-Insanity fans, absolutely.
Completely wrong. Bosh might have been the most skilled big man, but it was Haslem that was doing the dirty work down low. After that, Lebron started moving inside. Bosh has been drifting out of the paint since he's gotten to Miami and even said so himself that he won't be in the paint anymore. When he was basically the only big man on the Raptors, he consistently hit 20/10. Kindly take your own advice, mmmkay?
