I agree but the good news is that he seems to be a lot more relaxed lately so the game has slowed down for him. For balance, experts state that a strong core gives you better balance. If he can allocate a higher percentage to his core workout, that might pay huge dividends for him.
FLEXIBILITY Beg a differ with you on Garnett. Saw him play many a game in person. He has had tremendous flexibility over the bulk of his career and that would translate his center of gravity lower. It hasn't been until the last few years that KG has become a more ground-bound upright player as he has aged and lost his flexibility and subsequently his explosion. Same thing with Hakeem. When you watch video of Hakeem today working with DMo and Dwight....worlds of difference in their flexibility. Hakeem is an amazing person. At his age, at least for a few moments, he still has greater flexibility than either DMo or Dwight. Hakeem can bend the knees and get low on the toes. Flexibility affects your center of gravity whether you are making offensive moves or whether you are boxing out (what a novel term) to rebound. McHale was the same way.......except....McHale didn't have explosion like Hakeem or KG. He couldn't jump over anybody. But he could compress or coil his length and lower his center of gravity. This is what kept him upright more than Yao and DMo are upright. Then McHale would simply unwind all that length as he was making his move and lay it on the defender who didn't have the length or girth to contain him. Yao and DMo are examples of players that play upright. They don't use hops to get over people. They don't crouch and try to jump over the defense. They stretch out and play long. And lay all that length against the defender for their moves. But they lack the flexibility that McHale, Hakeem, KG and others have to lower their centers of gravity and stay upright. In support of what I'm saying here look at Pau Gasol's career. When he was young he was more flexible. He could get lower on his post-ups and box-outs and lower that center of gravity and he stayed on his feet much more. Now, as he has aged and lost some of that flexibility you see him struggling more against power and he seems a lot more awkward out there. It's because his center of gravity is higher because he plays more upright. That lack of flexibility is what causes DMo to get tossed around and fall down when he is in traffic and it's what hinders his jump shot from being more accurate. He simply doesn't get enough bend in his core so that he can use his legs on his jumper instead of slinging with his arms. And that means his center of gravity is higher than a lot of his competitors who are either shorter and have a natural center of gravity that is lower than his and/or they are his size but have the ability to bend and crouch and lower the COG.
bballholic, Sorry to go off topic, but I have a question about somebody in your sig & did not think it would be welcomed as its own thread. How good is Ersan at defense, and is he ever going to get his shooting touch back?
Not a good man-on-man defender. Ersan is smart though defensively. He uses his intelligence to disrupt the offense, force guys to go the other way, etc. But he'll never be a good man-on-man defender. His shooting touch is there. He's just not getting major minutes. Plays with the bench brigade. Comes in when he doesn't get major minutes and forces his shot somewhat, thereby knocking his percentages down. I'm convinced if he were starting on a playoff team, playing in our system where we eschew the midrange jump shot and work for the open 3-ball or the layup/dunk/foul that he would be great and his shooting percentages would drastically improve as a 4th or 5th offensive option.
Thanks! I figured he wouldn't be that great of a defender.... There just aren't that many stretch 4's who can actually defend well. That's why I wanted Patrick Patterson over the summer - only $6M a year...
Somebody please teach DMo how NOT to get blocked point blank at the basket. He's a 7fter. As Bill Walton said, "Throw it down, big man. Throw it down."
wish we had scola to teach him some tricks. like using the rim as protection and going reverse. DMo is never going to slam it down, but he needs to learn how to lay it up crafty ways to not get blocked.
I agree with this generally. D-mo needs to work on that. Or as another poster said, be crafty around the rim like Scola (who also got blocked at the rim a lot) to avoid that. Last night, however, as annoying as it was to watch motiejunas get stuffed 3 times, you have to remember DeAndre Jordan is even bigger than him. And he's exponentially more athletic. D-mo just couldn't compete with his athleticism. I expect a better showing tonight hopefully.
I understand you're cheering for him but...... He's got better real post moves that Dwight?!@! He can score from the left or right block, in the middle of the paint, and he's got the 3-ball. If he gets consistent minutes, this guy WILL BE and all star - a la marc gasol.
Haters gonna hate. Donuts has clearly improved his game. I appreciate the minimal 3 point attempts this year and his commitment to his post game. Guy has wonderful moves around the basket despite his, at times, lackluster ability to finish them. He's gotten stronger, too -- there were a couple times last night where he gave some body to Blake and moved Blake back. He definitely seems more invested and is playing with more heart. I love Donuts.
You think Jones is just gonna come in and pick up where he left off? He will take a couple of months to regain his pro-form. Remember, he couldn't even move his toes! By then, DMO's gonna be like number 3 option on offense!
lol Just an opinion. I remember PP and thought he was good and should be a starter on many teams but in my opinion he was at best a back up on a deep playoff team. His ceiling was not going to be much more than what he played at then. It is hard to say though that after a few years he may get better handles.
Handles? Why would a PF need better handles? Well, PPat is killing it from the 3 point line this year as the best shooting power forward in the league this year. People always got on him about rebounding, but he's been pulling down about 8 rebounds per 36 minutes the last couple of years. And he's getting paid like a backup anyway - $6M. What I would really be interested in seeing is some of those fascinating advanced stats like the FG% of players he's defending vs. the avg. FG%. That would finally answer, for me, whether he truly is a good defender or not. It's just sort of sad for me though, because we have no chance of getting him, no matter how perfect of a fit he might be. I've said this earlier - LMA completely exposed our HEALTHY frontcourt, and Morey did jack sh#t over the offseason to address it. I just would like him to answer to that - be accountable.
lol Maybe to have the handles to not TO the ball and if needed to find an open man? Many reasons it is good to have handles. From what I remember he was a very inconsistent shooter and his defense was terrible. He was also easily over matched by larger bigs just like TJ. TJ has a more versatile game and has the potential to overcome his defensive difficulties. If his 3 shooting is improving then he can help stretch a floor but again PP is not a player to have as a starter.
