[ClutchFans] Frustrated Motiejunas just wants to play

I don't think DMo has gotten buried more than most players in his first year or two under similar circumstances, nor do I think it shows that the McHale or the Rockets are reluctant to play young guys.

First, the Rockets did give DMo minutes. He actually started at PF after the trade deadline. He struggled, and the team went with Greg Smith-- who is even younger than DMo-- at starting PF to end the regular season.

Second, the other guys who end up getting minutes that DMo was fighting for were all young/inexperienced. Smith, Jones, Patterson, Morris and even Asik all had 3 years of experience or less as of the start of this season. I am not sure how any coach can put all these young guys into the playing rotation without having the team's lineup being ridiculously fragmented.

Third, what the team did with DMo is no different than what this team or other (non-tanking) teams have done with most other young guys: make them prove that they are ready to contribute before giving them a regular rotation role. For example, we saw this happen with Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry, who didn't get many more minutes as rookies than DMo did.

I also don't get the whole thing about "How can a guy improve unless you feed him a lot of minutes?"

Getting minutes certainly is important. But offseason work, practice, etc. are also very important and players have improved even in the absence of heavy usage. DMo, for example, looks to have improved before getting his latest opportunities because he worked hard before it. Same thing with TJones, Marcus Morris and many others. There is a lot more to "player development" than just throwing guys in games.

 

Giving players minutes just to develop and ake mistakes is how teams like Sacramento, Milwaukee etc stay as Sacramento and Milwaukee. Role players needs to be given defined roles, mistakes while trying to perform those roles are ok, stepping outside those parameters get you benched.

Unless you've got Lebron, who can play every role, your stars play their game and you find roleplayers who fit around them. One thing about Dmo, I remember someone saying that his time with his national team would hurt him, and I'm thinking there might be some validity to it, as his habits defensively just screamed eurosuck, slowly he's starting to develop nba habits (again?) though.

 

You're exactly right, it's not like like Dmo magically got better the last two weeks. If he would have had consistent playing time all year he would be player better right now. He played good in the preseason, but Mchale benched him from the beginning of the season. Hopefully Mchale or somebody thinks he deserves a chance to play now.

 

he played like 10mpg in his national team. From what i saw his play in national team was similar to rockets. Aggressive defense + hustle. I think what hurt him is the fact, he expected to play big minutes in his national team, but nope, then he comes to rockets, performs pretty well in pre-season games, but again sits on the bench for 20games. So he got psychologically very frustrated.

 

I agree with you that he was given a fair chance last year, and it didn't turn out so well. The point is he hasn't been given much of chance this year. He played well in the preseason, thus showing that he had improved his game from last year. Still Mchale decided not to play him, this now looks like another mistake that Mchale has made. If he would have had a chance to play all season, he would be playing better now. Hopefully all of this is behind us, and he keeps playing well and gets better.

 

There was a reason why someone started the 'Are Jones and Dmo out of the rotation' thread in the preaseason. At the end Casspi mostly replaced them.
And the Twin Tower experiment took place which reduced his minutes.

 

No Dmo stats at pre-season were great. His stats were much better than Jones. But Casspi stats were "wtf is going" great. Dmo riding the bench for 20+games after Twin Tower experiment failed made no sense though.

 

Yes, I understand his defense is bad (please see the second paragraph of my original post), and I know Jones has earned every minute in that starting lineup. But I still think DMo fits better with that lineup. The type of fouls he gets called for are, for the most part, because he was caught out of position or didn't rotate fast enough. Those will decline as he catches up to the speed of the game. Jones will always steal rebounds and take wild off balance drives because he thinks he's the best player on the court. Which is EXACTLY what you want out of a 6th man / energy guy / irrational confidence guy. Our team would be better for it.

 

His defense is fine, his reaching in is the problem, young players need to play to learn what you can and cant do in the NBA.

DMo is playing well as a complimentary piece and backup center, he is the tallest guy on the team, and when he stands straight up on D it is highly effective.

He will be fine, people just need to be patient, the Rox are well stocked with Dmo and Tjo.

DD

 

with his development and Howard's backing, i really want Asik be traded asap!

 

Dmo is coming along nicely, I want Asik and Dmo. Our depth is showing it's advantage in getting wins with top players injured. Injuries are going to happen in the playoffs too, so you need 12 players who can contribute.

The fouling seems to be a result of exuberance, like he knows he's got this one shot to show his value so he is trying to do everything. But that's the way we want him to play, total commitment, leave all your energy on the floor.

I still have hopes he's the guy to slow down Dirk.

 

PLAYOFFS

 

If D-Mo keeps up his new found style of defending in the paint, and the Rockets are able bring back a motivated Asik for the 2nd half of the season watch out for that 2nd unit to really cause havoc on the defensive end. That's a ton of size in the paint for other teams to deal with & they should clean up on the glass. Not too many teams in the NBA have that kind of size coming off the bench, and that could be a huge asset for this team in the home stretch going into the playoffs.

If Asik is traded than over time I like what I see for D-Mo's potential to play the backup 5 for stretches if he keeps up the defense. However its wouldn't be a bad idea to have a Chuck Hayes type as a situational post defender & insurance if D-Mo struggles at times.

As for D-Mo asking for a trade, I think Morey needs to go ahead and tell Arm that they plan on playing him heavy minutes going forward in a role similar to what he is playing now. If he wants to have a staring role on another team that's fine but he's got another 2 years committed with the team now before he hits free agency that they are going to need him for.

I dont think you trade D-Mo right now unless another team just blows you away with an offer now. Believe it or not they actually NEED D-Mo right now which is crazy to think if you look back just a month ago what D-Mo's role was with the team than.

-Greg Smith- Sucks that he's probably going to have a tough time staying on this team now long term because when Asik gets back, or is traded & they bring in more big help, he's most likely the one thats out. Its unfortunate cause I like Greg Smith, but if he can't stay healthy and he can't bring more to the table than what D-Mo is bringing right now than its hard to see him having a future with the Rockets beyond an insurance 3rd string big.

 

Bench players get to prove what they can do in practice. I think players can learn something by sitting on the bench. I think DMo is player better, and it may be because he sat on the bench for two months. Play the right way DMo or you aren't getting in the game. Maybe the message has finally been received. We don't know what goes on behind the scenes. This season the number one priority for McHale is to win as many games as possible. Giving minutes to the last guy on the bench during a tight game is not what the coach should be doing. You may think you know more than the coach, but I don't think you do. McHale sees these guys everyday in practice, we do not.

 

DMo had a good preseason. He deserved minutes. Yeah TJones outplayed him but it wasn't like DMo didn't improve.

Okay so McHale went with Asik and Howard and tried too long to make that work leaving no minutes for DMo. Then he dumped the Asik project and switched to casspi and TJones at the 4. Not too much problem with that. But then Casspi started sucking and Smith and Asik got hurt and still no minutes for DMo almost none. He preferred to play a tired Parsons at the 4 than give any minutes to DMO and play a small TJones against much bigger centers to play DMo.

McHale did not want to play DMo that was clear. What isn't clear is why he had a change of heart. DMo didn't get better on the bench. The only thing that changed was DMo requested to go to be traded and when that didn't happen he requested to go to the DLeague.

My hunch is that Morey confronted McHale and said look this kid wants out of here and if you're not going to play him he wants to go to the DLeague. There is not much point in that but if you're not going to play him I might as well do it. Maybe some other team will see him and want to give us something for him.

And McHale says okay I'll play him a few minutes you don't have to send him down and now he is in the rotation. But DMo did nothing on the court to warrant not playing when we desperately needed bodies. He had some good games but never got more minutes for it. He had a good game and Howard had to tell coach to keep DMo in. After that he was benched again. Only after his request to be sent down is he now getting minutes. My hunch may be wrong but what isn't wrong is DMo's ability to contribute all season and when opportunities presented them self DMo was passed over. That's on the coach.

Don't get this twisted either. DMo is not a star in this league. Asik is a better backup center and Smith may be too. But when both of those guys are injured and Parsons too to not play DMo is stupid.

 

Great, great post.

 

I like DMO and he has been playing solid D and hustling and rebounding.

I still stand by my word that he has a lot more to offer this team especially on the offensive side. I'd like to see more post ups as he is the best post up player not named Howard and come playoff time when games slow down to half court this could be invaluable

 

Here's my theory - McHale is old school, he doesn't reward guys who aren't busting their tails or not playing well in practice.

DMO was getting PT, just not a lot of it. Because he looked iffy out there. Then he started looking a bit more comfortable and his confidence and attitude starting improving and he's now in the rotation. I think Dmo wasn't doing the things he was suppose to be doing, and McHale - being old school was making a point.

Maybe this is the explanation, maybe it's not but I seriously doubt Maury is telling McHale who to give minutes to.

 

I tend to fall along this side of thinking as well. I mean, I could see it myself... the small things that D-Mo has been doing this past week are what has shown me the difference so you'd have to think that the coaches are looking at the same thing. Doing the right things defensively, setting better screens, filling the lane correctly on defensive rotations, making the extra pass, etc.

To me he looks like a much more comfortable and confident player than he did when he was used sparingly earlier this season, and last season.

Now could McHale have found more PT earlier this season to get D-Mo that comfort....???... maybe, but it would have been at the expense of other things like minutes from the Twin Towers, Casspi, and the few minutes Greg Smith has gotten.

Even then, if you say "Well D-Mo should have gotten those Greg Smith minutes" just realize that D-Mo obviously doesn't function well in those "Greg Smith type" of minutes. Obviously IMO he's a player that gets better as the game goes along and needs to be able to get shake the rust off a little bit.

IMO a situation like this past week (as bad as it is to deal with injuries) is exactly what D-Mo needed. A chance to play meaningful minutes, get his confidence back up, focus JUST on the little things by playing a complementary role next to the core group, and shake the rust off a bit.

Sometimes when you are thrust into a game maybe late in the 2nd quarter, you haven't played in a month, and your mind isn't in the right frame of thought, it is very conceivable that a player wont focus correctly on the little things that the coaches are really looking for, and will just try to hit the home run play.

 

Because they aren't a very good judge of talent?