DMO's agent "Rockets not doing enough to re sign him"

Obligatory...

 

I'm picturing Onuaku using pump up sneakers to expand himself to the size of Two Sandwiches.

 

Dmo can bring some diversity to our offense with his post ups. However, with this new offense, I really have doubt whether he would overall improve or make the team worse. Let's not forget he still sucks at free throw, doesn't shoot the threes that well, and is a below average rebounder.

 

MDA would use him ala Boris Diaw. Mix some post ups with some shooting.

 

After watching the full game and thinking about the big picture (this is a building season, not a contending season) I'm starting to lean towards ditching D-Mo. I know it will be painful and I will hate myself for even suggesting this, but I think we should give Harrell, Dekker, Capela and maybe even Onuaku and Wiltjer the minutes this season. See what we have before re-tooling properly next summer. Raise their value. Even saving whatever we'd pay D-Mo to go after someone serious. Let Harden have his hiccups as PG, develop some chemistry with the young guys. Pump up Gordon and Anderson's value a bit.

Unfortunately, I think he's going to get paid more than we expect for 2 years with a partial guarantee on year 2.

 

I guess I'm forgetting that Dmo is a good passer. However, he is not as versatile as diaw. We'll see. I fell in love with Wiltjer and really don't want him get cut because we have to resign DMo . we may look back and really regret cutting him.

 

not if it means keeping Dmo.

 

Naw he was being sarcastic lol

 

I want to keep DMo but the longer he holds out the more the roster gets set.

DD

 

Missing valuable preseason time with the new team also.

 

Ah, I may have been a little too eager yesterday with that post, but here is the basis for MY statement:

1) You post that D'Antoni has done something that is the exact opposite of what all documented indicators say he would do;
2) What you posted also happens to further the narrative you've been pushing for a long time;
3) You don't provide any support for your post;
4) Your insider connections have never been verified to my knowledge.

I don't see the point of posting insider stuff without revealing your sources or without having your insider connections verified. I don't know why any reasonable person would believe a post like this. If no one's going to believe it, why post it?

That said, I acknowledge you're one of the smartest bball posters. I just wonder if you might get carried away and re-interpret facts to say something someone else wouldn't. Because that post just seems unbelievable. Still, I don't have any insider knowledge, so I can't definitively disprove anything. And I shouldn't make too bold of accusations.

 

Information is dynamic. Things change. MDA is seeking unity with Harden foremost. He has put on the backburner his desire for a true point in favor of another year experimenting with Harden as the chief distributor. The info is dynamic and the situation is dynamic.

It's not going to work. See my signature. As McHale has alluded to.....Harden is a scorer first and a distributor second. The only people that don't know that are Harden and all his blind fans. We will finally have to get a primary distributor on the floor with Harden. Who it will be? I don't know. But I do know some of the discussions going back several years. And I do know some names being talked about presently. Everybody would agree that all the names I'd mention are a possibility.......save one.

It is your utter rejection at the thought of Rubio which colors the discussion. I'm not insisting on Rubio. But I will say this. Any primary distributor we trade for will have to be a low turnover guy. Because Harden, Anderson, Gordon, etc. are all high turnover players. If you're going to take the ball out of Hardens hands as the primary distributor (which has apparently been kicked down the road since MDA cannot convince Harden to accept a primary distributor at present) then it will have to be with a low turnover distributor along the lines of Paul (a possibility next summer), Rubio (a trade possibility), Lowry (also a possibility next summer), or Dragic (also a trade possibility during the season). Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight do not fit the mold as they are also high turnover players and would simply represent secondary playmakers to Harden. If they are acquired, you can bet Harden is going to still dominate the ball and we're still going to have turnover issues.

If one of the 4 I listed are acquired it most likely represents a shift in strategy and either a forcing or convincing of Harden to step out of the primary distributor role.

Our front office and coaching staff is all about trying to keep Harden happy right now. But it is simply unrealistic to expect a player to win a championship when they are coughing up the basketball 4-5 times a game. MDA and Morey BOTH know and understand the turnover issue. You're going to see MDA subtly working on it and alluding to it. Harden has to get his turnovers DOWN for us to have any chance to win a championship. Right now they are willing to cut him more slack on accomplishing that objective than I am. I don't think he can cut turnovers....especially while handling the ball even more. I suspect his turnovers per 36 minutes are going to increase with his increase of distribution duties and an even greater focus on getting him the basketball. MDA and Morey are taking the ever optimistic "He's great, let's see if he can do it" approach for now.

See my signature. I remain very firm on that assertion.

 

You are overestimating the turnover angle. The more Harden handle the ball the better for all around.

 

Dwyane Wade, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant all have had multiple 4+ TO seasons during championship runs (either seasons they won or seasons right around the time they won). No, it isn't ideal, but it is also is not the cut-and-dry issue that you seem determined to make it.

Do you realize how much more respected you would be on this board if you just stuck to your opinion, qualified in reasonable terms? This hyperbolic exaggeration, self-aggrandizing, and attribution of your personal opinion to Morey/MDA/others is why many routinely tune you out despite what are typically solid fundamental observations. It reeks of over-compensation for intellectual insecurity. You are clearly a smart guy - just relax and engage like a peer living in a world of limited knowledge and an uncertain future.

 

I totally disagree with you, for MANY reasons. First, if you are trying to win over Harden, you don't do so by making him the PG, with the intent to show him that he can't do it because he is a high turnover player and therefore should learn to play off the ball. That is dishonest and only trying to destroy a superstars confidence in order to get what you ultimately want. That would be the definition in insanity basketball wise, if you want said player to be your leader to an ultimate championship.

Also you contradict yourself a bit when you say that Harden will always be a 4-5 turnover player, and that MDA and Morey know and agree that you can't win a championship with him doing so, but they will try to get him to lower his turnovers. That last part therefore contradicts the first belief that they don't think he can do it. It's like you believe they have decided to throw away this year and set up Harden to fail at PG just so that they can get him to agree for them to bring in a traditional ball handler to run point, so he would agree to play off the ball. The problem with your analogy on this is THAT THIS IS ALMOST EXACTLY WHAT HARDEN ASKED FOR LAST YEAR and what they tried to do with bringing in Lawson. So evidence agrees that Harden would not be against this, if they could get that type of player, and that Harden himself even wanted it.

To add to all that, it is perfectly reasonable to believe that Harden can become more disciplined throughout the year as he learns how to be a true PG and lower his turnovers. First, MOST of Harden's turnover are from trying to force bad passes that he could easily choose not to try as his decision making becomes better from learning the PG position. He biggest challenge to me will be when he gets challenged one on one with prime defenders and he gets picked by them trying to crossover on them. He can easily lower this number also by just learning to stick his arms out more as almost all PGs do and drive forward against them instead of sitting there trying to make them miss the ball before he makes a real move forward...or just passes the ball off and gets it back from a good screen. Basically, Harden's large number of turnovers can easily be decreased significantly just by better focus. I expect this to happen because now as the PG, it will be easier for MDA as coach to point these out to him moreso than if he was still just considered the shooting guard.

So I actually think MDA has strategically made Harden the PG in order to mold him into one of the best, if not the best PG in the league this season. If, as I expect, Harden puts up 25 plus points per game, over 10 assists per game, and around 7 rebounds a game; the only PG that can even be in the discussion with him this season will be Westbrook.

So again, I wholeheartedly disagree with your entire premise here and your signature. I look forward to continuing this discussion throughout the season and then pointing back to it after the season is over to say "See dude, you were 100% wrong."

 

Who cares that Ryan Anderson is our 2nd best player? It is JAMES HARDENS FOUR TO FIVE TURNOVERS that ruin our championship dreams! Ugh!

 

Doesn't matter how set the roster is. When DMO comes back, there will be room for him.

 

If anything I think we should cut or trade Prigioni.

 

Bballholic, you're your own worst enemy.

 

I agree. I don't like Harden being the long term option as our primary PG. The Rockets haven't played against any real competition so far this preseason so everything looks good now, but against better teams and better defenses it's going to get ugly with the turnovers like last year. Hopefully the front office will do what's best for the team moving forward rather than just trying to make Harden happy.