Donatas Motiejunas now a restricted free agent, no qualifying offer for Terrence Jones

sure. I don't think he's some kind of star or a great defender. A 2 way role player combo big who happens to offers some things that right now teams appreciate.
However since he hasn't signed any offersheet yet, that to me means his injury is serious and not healed yet.

 

It just comes down to fundamental differences when it comes to player evaluation. Some like highly skilled 2 way players, some like athletic players who at one point made flashy dunks and blocks while not being fundamentally sound on either side of the court.

There's really nothing that can bridge that gap.

 

To clarify, when I hear 2-way player, I mean someone who is good to great at D and can score when needed to.

 

well what you are describing that's a defensive specialist with some offensive game. I.E Bradley, Ariza, Aminu, Crowder etc. DMO is average at D and little above average in O. That is a 2 way player.
There are some players who are far bellow average in one side of the court and that make them one way players.
I.E Ryan Anderson who is so far bellow average in D that he isn't a 2 way player no matter how much good he is in O.
Or Marcus Smart who is elite at D but so far bellow average in O that he's still pathetically so a one way player. (and the worst offensive player in the league).

 

I don't agree that DMO is a better play maker than Anderson. I agree DMO is an overall better defender but not by as much as a lot of fans think. As I pointed out a lot of defensive ability at the four is dependent on the quality of the five next to you. Anderson benefited from Howard early in his career and ditto for DMO.

Post play in neglected, and that will change... I just don't see it in the next few years. Agree with you that stretch 4/shooter is out dated, an ideal 4 can make plays and not just hit stationary 3's like Robert Horry. Anderson is a play maker and he had very few open shots the last 3-4 years, he had to work for his shots. Really goes to how dysfunctional that Pelicans organization has been.

I am fine with Motiejunas back for one season or at a good price. He has some skills that would mesh well in this offense and with the players we have. A line up of Motiejunas; Anderson; Ariza; Harden and Gordon in certain match ups would overwhelm teams.

 

When I say "2-way player" I mean that the player is a plus on both ends of the court. They bring some offense and they bring some defense. DMo is a plus defender and he's got offensive tools that make him a plus on that end as well.

 

I haven't seen any playmaking by Rhyno. Quite the opposite tbh. Quite often reverting to a black hole.

Oh I;m not calling DMO a good defender. But hes average. Passable. Rhyno in the last seasons even when paired with a good shotblocker next to him has been awful.
If we were actual contenders that would matter. But since I don't believe we are even close to a contender anyway, not so much now. Because in the playoffs having to hide Rhyno all the time and the other team targeting him repeatedly and scoring at will on him would be an issue which wouldn't be wiht DMO.

For DMO imo he's not elite playmaker but a very good one. (taking out of the equation legit point forwards).
Anyway he does some things that right now are indeed valued around the league.
But here we are with no offer for him. So to me it tells me everything about the severity of his injury.

 

Some people definition of a two way player will vary. The observation of the game is totally different.

 

Dmo was doing pretty decent for himself playing next to the likes of Joey Dorsey and Tarik Black. :grin:

 

The entire at that point was playing inspired basketball. We had several players to step their games up. Something they suppose to do when you have key components out with injuries.

Let's not act like it was all because of Dmo.

 

That was not the case whatsoever. It had more to do with a few of you not being able to admit when you were clearly wrong.

 

LOL irony.

You were wrong about this from day one and are still wrong and it's pretty clear to just about everyone. I'm not sure why you can't admit it at this point, there's nothing for you to gain by holding out.

 

Wrong! How so? Didn't he not produce 12 points and 8 boards a game before the crazy injuries. You act as if that's easy to do in the NBA.

If I'm wrong about anything I don't have any problem admitting that I was.

On the Texans front I was( well we were) completely wrong about Ryan Mallett. I admitted it on that forum but hmmm have you. I highly doubt it.

 

You never looked at the "how" when looking at his raw numbers which is why you didn't realize that they were a fluke. By now, everyone should realize that. You and some others bought into that fluke and thought that it was the beginning of something good, it's okay, it happens. You should just admit now that it's obvious you were wrong that you were fooled by raw numbers that weren't indicative of talent.

When it comes to Mallett, I still maintain that he's better than Hoyer but that means almost nothing. Hell TJ Yates and Brandon Weeden are better than Hoyer, doesn't mean I'm a fan. If you remember, I was very much against the Texans trading for Mallett to begin with and I'm glad that the Fitz-Hoyer-Mallett years are in the past.

 

I was an OG Donatas fanboy when he was drafted, but I think the hype is greater than the product. Don't get me wrong, he flashes as a very good rotational player/passable starter, but he's weak on the boards and one on one defense. His post game was come and go last year, although it was a strength the year before. Pretty good help defender and can make the rotations, which is good.

Believing that he's anywhere near Anderson is just insanity, however. Anderson is more than just a great shooter. He can create his own offense, and he can do work in the post (better than DMo, even if his moves are less flashy). Pretty good defensive rebounder too (I'd also give him the edge over Donatas here). I'm really excited to see him with a team that can get him open looks and space to operate.

EDIT - While we're talking about power forward debates, I'll fully admit I was wrong on Terrence (who I thought was on par with Donatas). I maintain that injuries really ravaged his potential, but he also failed to assert himself at all last year.

 

Dude I've admitted that at the beginning of the season. Now when are you going to admit you were wrong for 2 years straight?

 

....I wasn't. You just didn't realize it at the time, and apparently can't bring yourself to admit that I was right about it even now.

 

And some folks are like broken clocks....

What's Ryan Mallet doing? LOL

 

Of course you were wrong. You can't possibly be right when you claim TJones was garbage his sophomore season. You automatically discredited yourself once you made that player evaluation.

 

LOL, I mean, are you still trying to argue that Jones was good? I get buying into the mirage at one point, but c'mon man, we drove through that already and saw there was nothing there. If you stick to your guns about seeing an oasis on the horizon you only make yourself look bad.

Like I said then, look at the "how" when it comes to stats. When you looked at Jones' game, he never did anything well, you just got blinded by raw numbers that were an unsustainable fluke