Donatas Motiejūnas: "I want to play, rather than sit on the bench"

It does seem odd that he and/or Jones are not playing more in the NBA, for two reasons:

First, the guys playing ahead of him in the depth chart are playing quite badly.

There goes the "look at Morris last year" theory. Last year, Morris didn't play because Scola was clearly the best PF on the team. In fact, they were trying to groom him to play the 3 because they didn't really need him at the 4. This year, No one PF is clearly above everybody else. I can understand earlier when Patterson and Morris were playing decent. Now they clearly suck.

Second, Beverley came in an was played right away, taking the minutes from Douglas who was not exactly terrible. In a way, Douglas was playing better than Patterson and Morris.

There goes the "McHale doesn't play rookies" theory. Beverley, like Donuts played professionally in Europe. And Parsons is always the counter example for that theory anyway.

The remaining viable theories are these:
1. He simply is not ready. That's the simplest theory and is probably true. But unlike Morris and even Jones, Donuts has been consistently playing well in the D-League. It is hard to imagine that he is not close to the level of Patterson and Morris. Even if he is inferior now, he can't be that much worse when the other two guys aren't playing well.

2. They are showcasing Patterson and Morris. This theory is possible but not probable IMO. When the two guys aren't playing well, you are pretty much showcasing their negative values.

3. Coaching is stubborn or dumb. Again, it is possible that the coaching staff is stubbornly stick to the rotation even when they are not playing well. It is also possible that they want this core to gel. However, I think this theory is not likely true because Patterson and Morris aren't showing the potential of having a high ceiling. What is the point of developing the "core" when they might just be trade assets?

(And I don't want to entertain the "dumb" theory. It's just the easiest cop out way from trying to understand the situation.)

4. They are hiding Donuts' talent to avoid trading him. Personally, I think this theory makes the most sense. Yes, it is still odd but it does answer all the questions raised above. Look for Motiejunas to shine after the trade deadline.

 

The thing about playing Dmo is this:

1) If he gets minutes and plays bad, his value and confidence go south. Nothing gained.

2) If he gets minutes and plays well, then Morris or Pats value and confidence go south (whoever ends up DNP)

While the potential of 2) seems perhaps worth the risk, why not wait till we can move Pat or Morris and then insert Dmo (or Jones)? It not like either of them is proven NBA ready and/or couldnt use more practice and experience to build their game.

 

The theory of them not playing him so as to hide his talent is ludicrous in my opinion.

If this in fact was the case - why wouldn't management or McHale pull him aside and say "listen, the reason you're not playing is because we don't want other teams to know how good you are. Stay patient for a couple of months and when we make a trade PT is all yours"

Boom. He is happy and smiling on the bench knowing the big picture.

He isn't good enough at this point in time.

 

It's a good thing Van Gundy isn't here now. After Spanoulis and his agent did this, Van Gundy permanently put him in the dog house and that was it for his NBA career.

Hopefully, McHale won't be that much of a tyrant and douche bag towards Motiejunas and his agent.

 

He put him in the doghouse because he sucked.

That was the end of his NBA career because he was a quitter.

 

that would cause all kinds of problems in the locker room...

 

I agree that's how it was don't blame it on JVG.

 

There is always a big myth about practice time in the NBA. The truth is that NBA teams hardly ever practice at all. The arguments about players being picked for playing time or not being based on how they perform in practice have never made any sense and are not logical.

Simply because NBA teams rarely have any practices during the season. Beverley isn't playing because he blew the Rockets coaches away in practice. He's playing because the Rockets' coach gave him playing time. It's just that simple.

 

I approve this message. McHale is hurting this team more than helping it. What a pity that Les continues to let it persist.

 

That's why I said they'd pull him aside and not let anyone else know about it.

It doesn't even matter though because this is not why he isn't playing.

 

NBA big men are no bigger or stronger than the big men in Euroleague are. There is no adjustment to size or strength coming from Euroleague to NBA for him. The problem is that he's just a young guy and his body isn't strong.

He was very weak and soft in Euroleague and everyone pushed him around there too. But he still was getting a chance to play and develop through that, on a bad young team. The more he played, the more you could see he was incrementally getting better dealing with physical play step by step. Even though every big man he matched up with in every Euroleague game was way stronger than him.

The point is that this guy has this weakness. The Rockets can let him play some and develop him and try to get him through it step by step slowly, or they can't let him rot away on the bench, claim he needs to "bulk up" then trade him away fro a bag of peanuts. Then Morey can draft three more 6-8 power forwards this summer.

He's going to need to play some, despite that he is outmatched physically. It's a bad young team. It was the same exact situation he had in Prokom. A bad young Euroleague team, playing him to develop him. Even though he was getting pushed around by every opposing Euroleague big man he played against. He got better through the year as they played him. Better in all areas. He's not going to improve at all with the Rockets by not playing, or by just playing a few practices a month.

 

Me too... ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!

 

The Rockets need a physical presence at the 4.

Donatas Montiejunas isn't a physical presence. His current style is better suited to Europe.

If he can learn to play the physical game down low, as Pau Gasol once learned, he can become the starting 4.

 

we are 2 and 8 . how much worst can it gets?
nobody is proven when they come to the nba. \
they werent giving any chance . mj, durant, nash, etc... no one is proven their first year.
u sounded like mcfail trying to justify why they are on the bench

 

Free DMO

 

Free DMo!!!

 

Rockets are dumb for not playing DMO when the other pf's are struggling. It sends a bad message.

 

I think you are correct.

Another potential reason is that 2Pat and Morris actually looked decent good when the Rockets played well, and I don't think they're the reason why the team has played poorly.

Like Morey said in his interview ... Morris (& 2Pat) doesn't make the team better, nor do they make it worse. They play well when the team plays well, and are invisible when the team plays bad. Pretty much role players that you can substitute, except Morris is essentially a rookie so he's still got the potential to improve, while 2Pat is the one likely to get traded so still need to play him some.

Does that mean we don't need an upgrade or shouldn't trot our DMo or Jones for a look? Absolutely not.

Let's wait, like you said, until after the trade deadline

 

I've been hoping this the entire time. DMo and Jones are in their long term plans, and Morris/Pat are on the way out for some draft picks. I think he's our future starting PF.