We do not know how Dmo will recover from his back injury. And he was not playing out of position. I never heard a 7 footer low post player is out of position because he's playing Center. Chuck Hayes is a player we all can say was playing out of position during his tenure as a Rocket. Jones also played out of position at times. And that whole switch everything forces players to play out of position. So you bring up Dmo playing out of position is irrelevant. Like I said both players are very important to us. Now if Morey trades either one of them I will not be upset. Hopefully he nets us what we need.
Boxing out Goberts, Gasols, Jordans, Boguts of this league, and being guarded by them, all with longer hands, same or bigger size is called playing out of position.
Josh Smith averages 3.2 assists per game (career). In comparing Terrence Jones and Donatas Montiejunas (he's not good enough for a nickname) the first thing one notices is both average a miserable 1.1 assists per game (career). Difficult to go far with Black Holes in the frontcourt. Players incapable of creating because they have low bball IQs.
Do you even watch the games? The best thing about DMo is that he is constantly moving the ball. Comparing the career stats of a 10+ year veteran against a player who is finally putting it together is just unfair. Also, you'd have to compare Josh's time with Houston against Dmo's breakout year. In Houston's offense. I'm not going to argue 2.6 ast (smith)versus 1.8 (DMo). That proves nothing to anyone.
I've read most of your posts in this thread. All strikeouts. But I guess that's what you get when you have a home run hitter. Nice hit, kid.
DMo doesn't move the ball well enough (doesn't move well enough period) considering who the Rockets' point guards are. In today's NBA, Draymond Green will run circles around DMo and Blake Griffin will fly past him (or over him) like he's nailed to the floor. Rockets need a fleet-footed point forward next to Dwight. Bev isn't much of a creator, nor is Terry. Can't win in an offense that forces Bev to be a high usage creator.
So Hakeem by your definition was playing out of position huh? Because he had to box out Shaq, Mark Eaton, and Sabonis. Gotcha
Greatest players of all time aren't defined by one position. DMO is nowhere near to be a all time great. He doesn't do things that centers do, he's not a C. Are you really trying to tell me DMO is a center?
The complete picture on both players is exceptionally complex and to tell the whole story is a matter of pages and not a single post . Statistical analysis is amazing but it should be used in conjunction with the eye test and rationale to explain the meaning of the stats. I'm glad we have both players . I do not think jones will be traded now because his potential is still high and his value is low relative to that potential . I also like harrel but do not know if it wise to count on a rookie to play signifacant minutes on a contender. Either way I think the rockets plan on playing small quite a bit this season with our depth at wing . Ariza , brewer , and papa along with a few others can play the 4 in the right lineup. Assuming he comes back healthy , dmo is absolutely the better player and got on paper . But back injuries are serious and I'm not sure it is wise to expect him to be 100% at the start of the season ... Although I hope with all my heart that he is . Jones can do so much as a 4 that if he can simply improve his team defense then he can contribute well as a role player. He doesn't have to play as well as Draymond on that end , but playing around that level would make jones dangerous. His arhletisicm rivals Green and his physical measurements are better. On offense his handling is great for a 4 , but he does not yet posses the jumper to set up drives. He can still hustle and use his length and energy to grab boards . He is very flawed but the potential remains for success . Others have mentioned some of the obstacles he faced last season so his failure is somewhat offset. That being said this year is make or break for jones much more so than DMo ( again assuming health ) . I hope jones dominates during preseason and we trade him for a better piece.
I love DMO and I'm not knocking him but when you say he's boxing out the above players and Jordan still grabs 20 rebounds against him and Goberts grab 22 boards who was blocking out who? Both DMO and TJ are not perfect players by any stretch, they have their strenths and weakness's just like the rest of the role players in the NBA. The Rockets PF position is still one of the deepest IMO.
Boxing out has a different name when the player you are boxing out get the rebound anyway? And such maneuver doesn't cost any energy when you're dealing with more capable rebounders? Anyway, saw a troll talking ton of **** about DMO being a bad playmaker. Watch this video from 2:22. What is wrong with DMO's playmaking ability? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ET9MT1nWV0
Motiejunas and Jones are two different styled players who give out about the same amount of production. Offensively and defensively. Both have had up and down games throughout the season. To try and pick one over the other would be difficult. Those of you who are hating on Jones are doing so because he is the starter.
The thing that DMo gives us over Jones is an inside-out game. DMo has post moves, spins and hook shot that allows him to inflict damage in the post and wreak havoc in the interior. He was a better post scorer than Dwight (excluding alley oops of course) last year. Having a post threat keeps your outside defenders honest by having to sag in to help out in the paint. Adds an additional dimension to the offense. Having Dmo AND Dwight on the floor at the same time is devestating to opponents. We get scoring, cleanup and rim protection. Jones has no such ability. His strength is primarily defense (blocking shots and rebounding). His points come mainly from rim cleanup or transition. Dmo actually gives us a 3rd playmaker in that he can create and score on his own. How many teams actually have a true post scoring threat? Not many. And the few teams who do, have been very successful for the reasons described. (SA, Portland, Memphis, Atlanta, etc...). It's a rare weapon these days Offensively Jones draws a collective yawn from opposing D That's the difference
I think TJ's offensive ability's are a bit overlooked. He has a face up game, we've seen him face up and drive to the bucket many times, he also isn't a terrible post scorer with his backboard hook shot that he loves. His post game isn't anything like Dmo's, but he's similar to Smith with his ball handling and ability to face up, do a couple of cross overs and drive to the hoop or drive into a better position for a quick post up.
I like T Jones more as a player than I do as a power forward. He has a lot of skills, but similar to DMo he needs to develop a power forwards mindset and keep it for fulls games. With Houston being a running team it may also be good to have T Jones lose a few pounds, so he does not run out breath as much.
I think T Jones will surprise all of us this season, if healthy. Our PF definitely has a room for improvement but at the same time, I think TJones/DMo line up will still be above average this season.
