I think that is the logical thing to do, but knowing and listening to D-Antoni, as soon as D-Mo is available, he will crack the rotation or at least get minutes or both.
I don' think so. So many assumptions here. People are speaking as if this guy is just entitled to step right in and take PT away from guys who have clearly worked and earned their way. The same goes for Dmo here.
This is a very good question. Thank you for making it a new thread. I would not have noticed it if it were buried in the other DMo graves. This is more of a DMo reawakening thread. To answer, yes, Dekker gets same minutes but a few at the 3, pushing Brewer to the bench. ... Unless MDmA thinks we should reduce Harden's role because he's just not as effective as Cory.
That would be a shame. IMO the person that needs his minutes cut is Nene which should open up some minutes for Harrell at the 5.
As someone said-DMo has to earn the time. But he's probably been told he'll get it with the recent deal (and MDA talking about how much he wants him on the team). It seems like we go from 9 deep to 10 deep with DMo. I think Brewer will be played to showcase him. McHale, JB, and now MDA play him and no one seems to know why. Brewer looked like he had been playing better the past few games (to me at least), but then I look at his stats and they're just as bad. He needs to go. KJ needs his time or trade. Dekker could take Brew's time and then that opens some for DMo. But I don't want to mess too much with Dekker now; if PF is where he shines then I'm not cool with making him play SF. It looks like we drafted him to play PF and he's doing well with that. I'd love something like this: Capela 25 Ryan 28 Ariza 35 Bev 28 Harden 35 Gordon 28 Dek 24 Harrell 20 DMo 18 Capela doesn't seem to be able to play 30+. He does for a few games and then it's 22-25 min. Conditioning? I don't know. I'd love to see Harden and Ariza down to 35 minutes but that may be a fantasy. Keeping them fresh is important. DMo would have to work to get to 18 min. And this only really gives us one backup guard (though Dek can play SF). Nene gets spot minutes. Brewer traded. If injuries happen then KJ gets run (though I think he deserves more time now-coaches just don't seem to want to play him).
While your statements are accurate about his rebounding and shot-blocking, I think it worthwhile AGAIN to point out, DMo's best season was 14-15. That year he played +/-3x as many minutes at C as at PF. That year Dwight was out I think half the season in total. That year he played at C amongst PFs that included TJones, Ariza, Josh Smith, Papanik, and a couple others. Smith being the only decent rebounder of the bunch. That year the Rockets had their best Drtg in years... 8th!!! out of 30 teams. It was better than their Ortg ranking. That year they also rebounded at generally the same rate/g as their opponent, and were only slightly behind in blocks per game. Though their defensive rebounding wasn't great and overall rebounding was only solid because they were a good offensive rebounding team. Sure, it'd be great to have a great rebounding, great shotblocking, great Drtg team, but our roster is what it is, and if we can be a solid Drtg even if it means we do it a different way, then that should be explored. With DMo, the eye test from that season led me and others to believe that different way was by being fundamentally sound to overall team defensive schemes. Solid on screens, solid on rotations, good communication, recognizing the inability to shot block meaning he wasn't going for every block he could, etc. Perhaps all of it is better attributed to a still good and motivated Josh Smith. Certainly Smith's skill-set at PF is different from Ryno, Dekker, etc. Nonetheless, I think it worthwhile, especially with MDA and his offensive system, to try DMo at backup center first. If they can be defensively solid enough, and if DMo can have a solid enough jumper (in the lane, mid-range, 3 pt), it gives you a lot of options in the front-court you didn't previously have. Capela/DMo (remember Capela wasn't that good last time DMo was really healthy). DMo/Anderson DMo/Dekker DMo/Harrel Nene/DMo MDA's rotations took me a while to get accustomed to. But he seems to have a good grip on the team and finding rotations that work from a net perspective. It will be interesting to watch!
INB4 Dekker gets cut out of the rotation for Brewer. I think Harrell also gets benched, sadly Nene has seniority and signed here for the cheap for minutes.
brewer will probably get reduced min but i doubt he'll be out of the line up - if you read the espn article on pace. Brewer is a blur down the court which helps us. but again only with limited mins.
Do we have one of the deepest teams in the league? Superstar: Harden Secondary Scorer & Creator: Gordon 3&D: Beverley Ariza Paint Protector Capela Hustle: Brewer Dekker Inside Scoring & Rebounding Nene Harrell Stretch Big: Anderson Motiejunas (Healthy) What do we need to further improve? More two-way players? Do we need that second star caliber player (Hayward?) or can we have a 2011 Mavs-esque run?
Probably reduces minutes for Brewer, Decker, and Harrell and picks up minutes on back to backs at center position to rest NeNe.
Calvin Watkins talked about this when he was on the Truehoop podcast. Said Corey is one of the vocal leaders, and was last year especially when Harden wasn't as vocal then
Do you guys seriously/honestly think D-Mo is ready to just jump back in? It's going to take about a month before he works himself back into NBA game shape. You can practice all you want, but once that whistle blows, the game moves much, much faster.
I would take Brewer completely out of the rotation and do an 8 man rotation. Capela/ D-Mo Anderson/ D-Mo Ariza/ Dekker Harden/ Gordon Beverly / Gordon Let me see if I did this right. Behind the spoiler are my minutes and subs. Spoiler BEV 32min / HARDEN 34min / GORDON 30min Q1 / Q3 -------- Bev 6 Harden 6 - Gordon 3 Harden 3 - Gordon 3 Bev 3 -------- Q2 / Q4 -------- Gordon 4 Bev 4 - Bev 3 Harden 3 - Gordon 5 Harden 5 -------- CLINT 32min / RYAN34min / DMO 30min Q1 / Q3 --------- Clint 6 Ryan 6 - Clint 3 Dmo 3 - Dmo 3 Ryan 3 -------- Q2 / Q4 --------- Clint 4 Dmo 4 - Dmo 3 Ryan 3 - Clint 5 Ryan 5 --------- ARIZA 30 min / SAM 18 min Q1 / Q3 --------- Ariza 7 - Sam 5 ---------- Q2 / Q4 --------- Sam 4 - Ariza 8 ----------
"stop" - you mean wave his hands maniacally as he overshoots his man's position each time they cross him?
The starters will remain Anderson, Ariza, Copela, Beverly & Harden. The 2nd unit will be primarily EGo & Dekker with Harrell, Brewer, Nene & DMo also getting significant minutes; but not necessarily every game, depending on match ups. That's an 11 man rotation & no team runs an 11 man rotation, I know. Here's why I think it works. Copela only seems able to play 20-25 minutes. We need 2 other 5's to fill in. Anderson's a streaky shooter. We'll need someone to play more minutes when he's off. This won't happen until DMo gets his game legs under him, which I wouldn't expect before January. Also I would expect Harden & Ariza's minutes to be cut to 35 or less.
