Could Motiejunas and Jones both move out of the rotation?

Now you are just making stuff up.

Don't be confused into thinking I believe in T-mo. It's just that I don't believe in Casspi, either.

 

Wow. How can anyone seriously think that.

 

Who started at pf with shaq in orlando and later in La? Horace Grant. He wasn't a 3pt shooter,but he was deadly from 15-20ft. The so called stretch doesn't have to be ryan anderson. To me,he needs to be more like grant than anderson in every sense. Every team is not gonna double howard. There will be teams. That will play the rockets straight up. When that happens,they will need guys who can get points on their own.

 

What kept the spurs window open so long is patience and development. If we look at hill,green,leonard,and splitter,those players are the epitome of what I'm talking about.I mean they gave scola away because they thought they had the next best international big. They waited 3 yrs and as a 26 yr old,dude put up 5ppg,then 7ppg,and last a career high of 10. Do I think splitter is good,not really,just solid,but the spurs put in the work with him and they're nurturing his talent. The development of Hil allowed the spurs to get leonard. They're developing the small school young leonard. I just think they should just split the minutes between jones and D-mo to see what they have. At the end of the yr if one hasn't emerged,then go get that legit 4 to help complete the team.

 

100% agree.

DD

 

Jones might not be that guy. But as Lin did correct his shot at 25 years age, Jones can correct his shooting form as a 21/22 year old.

It is very likely to happen.

 

D-Mo is going to get plenty of time this season for the simple reason he is effective at setting picks. Howard does not show the willingness & Asik is good at it, but when he gets the ball rolling to the basket, it has to be for a dunk. D-Mo can set picks at the 3-point line and get the ball 10-15 feet from the basket.

 

Fine- Spacing isn't always just 3 point shooting. Some players can space really well at the 4 spot, but they do it in other ways.

-Scola was great at this because he could move well offensively without the ball, and get into spots where it freed up the offense and allowed for ebb and flow. He just knew where to be on the floor at all times... again on the offensive end. Defensively that's a whole other story.

-When the Rockets traded Thorpe (who also wasn't a 3 point shooter but effectively spaced), the Rockets started Chucky Brown at the 4 spot afterwards. Brown was really good at moving without the ball to where he was never a liability offensively, and really helped Dream with some of the dirty work.

Sure if you are going to be in certain spots and left open you have to be able to knock down your shot, but that's just what it has to be.... YOUR shot. Could be that your shot is a jump hook, could be a 15 footer, could be an 18 footer, but you have to be able to keep the defense honest wherever you might find yourself within the offense.

In McHale's system, there is more than enough freedom offensively where the PF can be inside the 3 point line just as Rudy T played Chucky Brown next to Hakeem, Horace Grant played along Shaq, and Scola played alongside Yao. The only reason McHale has Jones & D-Mo out at the 3 point line is because they probably feel all of their shots right now are pretty low percentage if they are outside the paint... so they might as well try and get 3 points instead of 2.

If they brought in someone like Millsap, LaMarcus Aldridge, etc. who can effectively space from 15 or 18 feet, I have no doubt in my mind that they would play INSIDE the arc.

-Team D- sounds simple enough, but it's not. The Rockets need someone who can be relied upon to anticipate the switches in the rotations, and come out to shooters off of picks....allowing Dwight or Asik to stay at home in the paint. Battier was one of the best I've seen at this, but actually Patrick Patterson wasn't far behind. There is a reason why he won minutes last year over everyone else. His team defense was solid. Man-to-man, and rebounding.... not so much.

-Passing- Casspi.... Are you having a laugh..... did you not watch Casspi try and feed the post when they played against the Magic or were you just watching a completely different game? Go back and watch that game, and then go back to the first preseason game, and watch how D-Mo fed the post, and MOVED the ball from side-to-side. Now come back and tell me who is the better passer in this offensive system.

-Fitting In- You might be right that D-Mo and Jones are 9th and 10th in the rotation, but go back and look at which starting units have posted the highest +/- of all the units. I'd be shocked if those two units that didn't post the highest +/- ratings weren't the units from games #1 & #2. They both "fit in" very well. Casspi has looked like the better scorer, and rebounder coming off the bench, but as far as the starting unit goes.... he's done nothing more than either of those two have done to MAKE THE STARS BETTER. I think you are significantly downplaying how good those two guys were in the first two preseason games.

 

They have nurtured their talent when they have gotten the right talent. The Spurs have flipped many players finding the right talent. And they have stashed multiple second rounders in Europe. And they've even flipped guys that turned out to be very good players in this league (Scola). However, somewhere in all those transactions they've uncovered gems like Kawhi, Danny Green, etc. They found guys that had a GREAT DESIRE, MOTIVATION, INTELLIGENCE, and PROFESSIONAL WORK ETHIC to succeed. And those are the guys they cultivated. It was guys willing to hang with the organization's developmental program. Guys willing to work with the organization on areas of their game that the organization advised them they needed to improve in.

This is the main factor in keeping guys around and developing them. You've got to get the right guys to develop.

Look objectively at DMo's game. Tell me one area of his game that needed improvement that he worked diligently on over this summer and improved it. You can't. Because there are none. He's the same player. The same defender, same rebounder, same poor shooter with poor shot selection, the same moved around the basket which work with the same effectiveness, the same turnovers being committed, the same inconsistent free throw shooter blowing hot and cold.

Look objectively at Jones. Same question. Tell me one area of his game that he worked on this summer and vastly improved. On second thought don't waste your time. He's the same player. Same guy. Defensive potential, too slow to react, out of position on pick and roll, same subpar shooter from everywhere on the floor.

These things speak volumes for these guys future. Talent alone won't get it done. There are more talented players out of the NBA than 50% of the players playing in thee league. And somewhere around 50% of the players in the league are making themselves millionaires for at least a short time on their talent alone. Those guys are JAPS.....just another player. JAPS are guys that o not make any significant contributions to winning basketball teams. They are guys that take up roster spots 9-15 on winning teams and they are starters and play major minutes on lottery teams.

Right now, DMo and TJones have fallen into this category. They're not even rotation players at this point and that isn't going to change in 2 weeks.

 

Dmo got much bigger, which was his main objective this offseason(40 pounds bigger). He also got much better defensively(maybe you havent watched last season? he was on another pathetic level defensively). More consistent shot come with age. Same goes for decision making(lower turnover rate). You only see what you wanna see. You dislike Dmo and dont see his upsides and areas he improved.

 

I was on DMo's bandwagon until I saw him again this training camp. I advocated starting him next to Asik last year coming out of training camp over Patterson. So, don't believe for one minute I dislike him just for the sake of disliking him. I don't. There's nothing that would make me happier than to have a 7 foot, 260 lb monster next to Dwight that could shoot the 3 and back up Dwight effectively when Dwight goes off the court. That's what I wanted DMo to become.

This is about the Rockets...not about DMo. The team is more important that DMo's development. As of today, he hasn't developed in the key areas we need him to develop in.

He put on 40 lbs.?? Yeah, that might have been his objective but was that really the Rockets objective?? If it was, you can bet your bottom dollar they know he can't shoot the ball and they wanted him to bulk up so he looked more like a center and could actually rebound the ball.

There was a whole lot more to what DMo was to do this summer besides just "put on 40 lbs.". I'm pretty sure their objective for DMo was for him to add solid weight and become a solid defender and rebounder. He packed on the lbs. But nothing else happened.

His shot is not any more consistent now than it was last year. In fact, I could make the argument that it's worse. He is mediocre in the corners and piss poor up top and everywhere else on the floor besides the lower box. His shooting mechanics haven't changed in the slightest and his shot selection is still the same. He's too big and slow to defend 4's and he's a sieve defending 5's in the paint. We could live with his defense at the 4 IF he could actually shoot the 3-ball effectively. But the combination of his poor D and his poor shooting from distance is the killer to his rotation minutes. We can't have both a poor defender and poor shooter on the floor at the same time.

Contrary to what you are saying, he hasn't gotten significantly better defensively. He's out of position constantly and relies on shoving his man off on help defenders.

Decision making? Are you kidding me? I'm wondering if you've watched the preseason games.

He's not ready. He won't be ready in 2 weeks. He's, AT BEST, the 9th man in the rotation. Know what that means?? Scrap minutes. Scraps.

 

He defends better than he did last year. Thats a fact. Btw why do you think rockets still lets him shoot 3's? Its been said countless times that he shoots 3's in practice at very good rate (same goes for ft's as well). He just cant hit them in games. Its more to do with his psychology than his actually shot.

 

You're mixing in some truth with a lot of misinformation in your post and trying to sling it as facts.

Here are some real facts for ya:

1. D-Mo probably has a top5 BBIQ on the Rockets right now (after Harden, Lin, Bev, Parsons). He's gotten pretty quick with his decision making. Far far ahead of T-Jones that it's not even close
2. His 3pt shot isn't consistent at all - I'll give you that.
3. He is a monster in the paint on the offensive end.
4. He looks much better in 1v1 defense than he did last year.
5. D-Mo still struggles in PnR and help defense.
6. His passing is leaps and bounds ahead of T-Jones or Casspi.
7. Not a great rebounder. Will likely never be above average in that department, but that's not really what we need from a PF on this team.

 

They are letting him shoot 3's in HOPES that he starts hitting them consistently. But it hasn't happened. So..that experiment is going to come to a conclusion after awhile.

I don't know what you mean by "a very good rate" in practice. I've seen enough even in practice to know his shot isn't going to work. It's too flat and too hard. Too much arm, not enough leg. It comes off the rim hard and ignites the run outs going the other way. He takes an inordinate amount of those shots from up top which means he's the guy getting back to defend. Are you kidding me? DMo attempting to play transition D?? DMo needed to break down his shot and rebuild it this summer. He has the talent to be able to do that IF he had wanted to. But he didn't. Instead he put on 40 lbs and simply ran up and down the court all summer....doing the same things he's done for the last 2 years at least. That is to say...putting up a lot of shots and doing a lot of post ups. Ineffective unprofessional work. Just further cementing bad habits and making it more difficult to make adjustments in the future.

Besides all this....hitting shots in practice....doesn't matter if it doesn't translate to games. Dude is a poor 3-point shooter. Why do I have to prove it to you? Watch him shoot. Then go look at his shooting statistics. Your eyes shouldn't deceive you. And the numbers agree with what your eyes see.


By the way...all this applies to TJones as well. Same gross looking shot. Extemely slow release after he winds up and then uncorks. Can't hit the ocean with a beach ball. TJones is so poor out there he won't shoot it anymore. All he does is upfake (useless because the D is daring him to clank it up) and then attempt to dribble drive on his defender who is already playing off him by 6-8 feet. Good luck with that. All it does is convolute the offense and pile up the paint. Ineffective.

 

I like DMo and TJ. Hope they can develop into solid role players soon.

 

1. If that is true...just having a top 5 BBIQ on the Rockets does not mean that he has a good BBIQ. He does not. He has a way too inflated view of his own efficiency. Hence all the heaves...and all the bad passes into the parking lot. His BBIQ lags behind Harden, Lin, Bev, Parsons, Dwight, Asik, Casspi, and Garcia's. Gimme a break. 5??!?!?!

2. .....

3. Agreed......now tell me.....is that what we need??????? An offensive monster in the paint???????? Is that what this team needs at the 4????????? C'mon now.

4. Dude may "look" better in 1v1 D. I don't know where you are getting that but whatever. Let me ask you...do you think he is even average defending the 4 spot?? How about the 5 spot? Is DMo even average at defending the 5 spot??

5. yep

6. his passing is better than TJones. It is not better than Casspi. Another deception....no-look quick reversals look great. But doesn't matter what it looks like if the ball is thrown into the parking lot. He's a mediocre passer because he creates turnovers at a high-rate. I don't care how crafty the pass is. IT has to be accurate to be a good pass. That's like a quarterback throwing a pretty spiral but the ball is always out of the receiver's reach. (Josh Freeman)

7. Once again....what do we need from the PF on this team???????????????

 

Before the season started, I broke down my view of D-Mo's game and said he has a "long way to go to be a good player on a contender." I thinks he's made improvements over the summer, but not leaps and bounds. Nevertheless, we don't have an obvious answer at the 4, and despite my misgivings I think he should probably start now. That's because I think he's the most offensively versatile of our 4s and will work best if they want to draw up a few plays for the beginning of the game. Plus, his low post game (requiring defensive attention) and passing ability will combine to give Dwight the best chance of getting his game going early, which I think is important.

I would like to see an early (after 4-6 minutes) pull of him and JLin for Asik (or sometimes Casspi) and Bev. That will stagger the guards' minutes so an attacking guard (Harden or Lin) are on at all times, and it will give the coaches a short, quickly subable taste of how the twin towers (or stretch 4) will work against this particular opponent. And though I think D-Mo should start the game, I think he will probably get fewer minutes than Casspi and maybe even fewer than the twin towers. Still, I think he makes the most sense to start.

The four is our biggest problem. At the same time it gives us great flexibility to go either large or small. And that flexibility may turn out to be a great asset in the playoffs.

 

This is a pointless discussion, because almost every player has his own fanbase that's 100% egocentric about their beloved player and tries to trash the opposition.

Our young guys will never develop into something good, as long as they'll keep feeling the pressure to perform in order to get minutes. And when those minutes at best mean 5th option on the floor, there's no good motivation in that. Guys like Leonard are rare, only few can blossom as a youngster in a good team. It is much easier to join a loosing culture and work on your game without any pressure.