Over the last 5, D-Mo is averaging 15 and 8 on 59% shooting. All while playing spectacular defense. I'm happy about it, but he could have done this last year if he was given the chance. The team never has, and still doesn't, give him regular looks in the post even though it's clear he always does good work down there. Instead he was just asked to shoot 3's, which he sucks at. He has always played nervous and out of control because he was constantly worried about being benched. If a team was asking me to do what I'm least effective at offensively, I would be nervous too. Now he is guaranteed minutes because of the situation and he is killing it.
Seeing how DMo has done this year just hammers it home how incredibly foolish it was to have Jones out on LMA and DMo sitting the bench in the playoffs last year. Sitting Jones while LMA was on the floor and keeping one of Asik or Howard on him at all times while putting DMo on Lopez would have been all it would have been the only adjustment necessary IMO to turn that series around and move the Rockets into the second round.
I think Dwight and DMO can coexist. If this production continues he needs to start. His defense, rebounding, and passing abilities alone are reason enough for him to start.
I fear DMo's production will drop considerably when Dwight comes back. But if he can play well with Dwight, I actually may feel comfortable at our PF position for the playoffs.
I was saying that during the entire playoffs last year. Was just dumbfounded by McHale's rotations. Hopefully he has learned.
Trust me. NBA coaches know best. The coaching staff has 70 years of NBA experience. We have exactly 0.
If Dwight were content with PNR buckets, lobs, put backs, and trash buckets this team would be so much better haha.
If he continues scoring out of the post, we'd better scrape up some decent PFs so he can move to playing backup C, because Dwight's gotta have his post touches for whatever reason.
They still make mistakes though, IMO that was one instance. That's not to mean it would have certainly worked had they done what I described, and I sort of understand why they went the route they did, but I feel pretty safe saying it was wrong.
Honestly one of the reasons I am fairly certain that Motiejunas and Dwight can co-exist on the inside is because of D-Mo's interior passing ability. He gets more than a few good looks for Tarik Black each game. Now just imagine Dwight on the receiving end of those passes. The only thing to worry about is Dwight's ego. Even that, however, is probably not an issue. Dwight is a great guy. And there have been lots of times he has just bought into whatever the team offense is. I've liked the Dwight/Donuts combo whenever I have seen it. I hope we will see great things this year from the European crew (Motiejunas/Papa) playing with Dwight once the season rolls on. All the flashes are there.
I'd rather see his minutes staggered with Dwight's when TJ is back. Having those two on the floor at the same time seems like a waste of DMo's skill set, IMO. Unfortunate, because I faaaaaaaaaaaar prefer him working in the post to Dwight down there.
NBA defenses have just gotten too good to run out two post players at once. Memphis maybe but then Gasol has a pretty good jumper.
Well currently we are running one post player and one "no offense" player (Black) and it is effective. Milwaukee has some of the best front line defenders/shot blockers in the NBA and it worked pretty well against them.
I don't think that's it quite as much as there is simply a lack of quality big men in the league. The PF position has a ton of tweeners these days, guys like Dirk, Duncan, and LMA are increasingly rare
D-Mo is looking more like a quality NBA center every game. I worry that the Rockets cannot afford him in the summer of 2016.
Dmo was making constant defensive mistakes last year, little ones, not being square on, not having his hands up, overplaying containing off a screen, all sorts of things where he'd foul, often giving the team free throws or putting them in the penalty. He has cleaned all that up, but this happened over the offseason/preseason, he was still doing some of them in the summer league but those players were scrubs, so no it wouldnt have helped last year.
Boy did i hate this dude so much until just like a week ago.... it seems like decades ago now. D-Mo is quickly becoming a very nice looking worm on Morey's fishing hook.
D-Mo has somehow evolved into both a defensive and offensive force in the NBA. I personally am very glad to see it. Actually, even though he scored 20 points tonight, his defense was the main attraction.
He was a solid defender last year, but you're right. He had a lot of ticky tacky lapses that ended up in mistakes that we could not afford late into last season. When he was given time though he looked good for the most part. It just became a numbers game for Motiejunas. I fully believe he just needed consistent playing time and familiarization with the speed of the NBA as well as the play style of his teammates to become a force. It would seem those things have finally happened. It'll be interesting to see how the Rockets are going forth. D-Mo just seems to be a way more attractive option at the 4 given his defensive abilities/overall skill set as well as his sheer size. <br> I said it in my OP and I will say it again. Terrence Jones is the overall more attractive trade bait given his production last year, his athleticism, and his age. D-Mo is the type of player who can develop into something amazing (we might be seeing it before our eyes) under the right situation. Given Morey's style at handling these situations I expect Jones to be gone by the trade deadline as long as his health remains intact from January onward.
Well, DMo has been playing with Black and Dorsey next to him. There is no way, NO WAY, that having Howard next to him instead of those two should mean the defender has an EASIER time doubling DMo. That's just impossible. Our problem is simple, they post up Howard to appease him. We do not run any plays for Black or Dorsey. And really shouldn't run them for Howard, but we do. McHale just might keep feeding DMo when Dwight gets back, and if he does, our offense will flourish.
