DMo only had a couple of fluke games right? He only scored against scrubs right? The previous video against NOP showed DMo scoring and schooling Anthony Davis in the post and Omar Asik. But that was one game. So how did DMo do against some others in the league? vs. Sacramento 11-24-14 Sac through just about every post defender they had against DMo and DMo made all of them pay including a sweet post move against Cousins at about the 2:15 mark in the vid. DMo's stat line was 21 pts / 6 rebs / 3 assists. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OBG8lbjodSg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
There's no reason to keep arguing this. The few short sighted fans who don't see it now will likely figure things out sometime during this upcoming season. It's only a matter of time.
He could very well become that type of player especially if he becomes a better rebounder and shot blocker. His offensive game is almost close to P. Gasol, just have to start hitting that mid range shot consistently.
Here he is against the Grizzlies on 12-3-14 out playing Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Zebo guarded him most of the time with little to no effect but he schooled Gasol pretty good about a 1:10 into the vid. His stat line was 15 pts / 7 rebs / 2 assists. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K1R3n7ILoWw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
DMo had lots of really good games last season so nothing he did was a fluke. The guy has very serious skills.
To further put things into perspective about D-Mo's rebounding, Chuck Hayes, at 6'6 with very little athleticism, is a better rebounder than D-Mo.
Exactly this^^^^^ My boy Bobby loves Dmo's game to the point he overlooks his glaring weaknesses. But he points out Jones weaknesses and ignores his strengths. Lol I am hoping for a healthy season for both of them because they will be the difference maker in our quest for a championship. We need ever position to be very solid. Adding Ty upgrades our PG position, Dwight and Capella keeps our C position strong, Harden and Thornton solidifies our SG position and Ariza, Brewer and KJ holds down the SF position. Now some of these players can play both the 2 and 3.
Same here. D-Mo has a lot of strengths and some weaknesses. He has done an incredible job coming as far as he has last season, but for someone to try and argue that he is not that bad and it is not a huge hole in his game is ludicrous. It is a gaping chasm and in a position where you need to be a decent rebounder to hit that elite level, it is absolutely critical he improves in that area as long as he wants to be a cornerstone type player in the future IMO. Thankfully, as our team is CURRENTLY constructed, we can hide that weakness to a large extent. However, if we have another situation next year where D-Mo is our only big that can play inside (lets not count Dorsey), it is absolutely critical that he is at least a serviceable rebounder.
The same reasons why any star player plays the position they play.... spacing and complement to that particular player. I'm not saying Donatas is a star just yet, but if you project further in his career where a team is building around him as their primary offensive option in the paint, I see his best complement players essentially being a stretched out 4 man, or someone that can crash the glass, has speed, athletic, etc. So while the other big might possibly be doing more "center-like" things (IE Blair alongside Duncan, Thorpe alongside Hakeem, etc.) they are very much a forward in the offense. You want your best offensive option on offense operating in the center of the court, getting the action playing off of perimeter creators, and sometimes creating from the elbow, or posting up. Where is the action offensively for big men in the NBA game... in the CENTER of the court swapping from side to side or elbow to elbow. So call it what you will position wise, but moving forward, I personally think Donatas should be the Center of the future for this team post Dwight prime years. The more he develops in his ability to operate creatively in the middle of the court, the more deadly he will become as a primary offensively option in the paint. Right now he does a few things well, ISO post ups, space the floor from 3 for drivers, and he's effective as a P&R big man. There is much more potential there with developing an offense around him operating from the elbow ALA Duncan, Gasol, etc. That would be the offense and role I would envision or GAMBLE on him if I was a desperate GM of another team taking a shot at him with a max contract. Long winded answer... sorry. But yeah if he progresses he will be a 5 like Gasol and Duncan are pretty much 5's offensively at least. Finishing around the rim seemed to be where his lack of athleticism due to the injury effected him. Its just going to be taken as opinion but that's the way I saw it comparing him to where he was the year prior. Team defense though has been a huge issue with Jones from day 1. Apparently it was a big reason why he had so little confidence from the coaches in year 1. Apparently he just couldn't grasp NBA team defense. I think he's better as we saw the Rockets still hold their own in small ball lineups against the Clippers. But yeah, he's still pretty bad at times. I'm not really too worried about Jones in the playoffs though. If you're relying on Jones to be more than a backup than that just means you probably had major injuries that season. As a backup that is there in case of injuries, you really can't find much better at the price than Jones though. He has shown he can plug in through the drudges of the regular season, and produce. The regular season matters. Like it or not, the Rockets need him if they want to win games and get good postseason placement.
Why does this happen? It wasn't always the case. When we had Scolandry, we didn't root for one over the other. We even combined their names, for crying out loud! Neither was a perfect player, both had pretty glaring weaknesses actually, but we loved them both. The nasty Brooks/Lowry debate didn't carry over into a Lowry/Dragic debate. Why can't we just appreciate the good players we have on our roster?
Actually, Brad Miller was known for his rebounding in his early days. LOL. On his first team (I think Charlotte?), he was more of a threat to get an offensive rebound than a jumper. Make no mistake from my questions, I am a BIG DMo fan. I do acknowledge rebounding as a weakness for him though. I had also thought that would not be a big deal with Howard at center, but I know we've had problems with defensive rebounding the last couple of years even when Dwight's been healthy - which is surprising.
Well, D-Mo has shown the ability to play stretch 4 and move inside outside as needed before he got hurt, so there is a good amount of leeway there. Personally, I think someone like Garnett, Miller, Milsap, Green or Z-Bo would be the best "partner" down low for him. For kicks, if I were to envision a team where D-Mo is the I of the team, it would be the following: PG: Kyle Lowry SG: Klay Thompson SF: Trevor Ariza PF: Zach Randolph or Paul Millsap C: D-Mo
My memory of Miller's rebounding is admittedly fairly hazy. I recall that he was a capable rebounder playing next to Webber. I primarily would love to see D-Mo serve as a relay and scoring big man who can step in and out depending on what we need from him.
Good question. I don't recall either Landry or Scola ever having a negative rep overall on Clutchfans. Jones does (I'm included, shamelessly... I just think Jones needs to improve in effort/motor.) Scola/Landry both had good motors on the Rockets. (Let's be honest... as a fan, that's what you really want to see.) DMo made visible strides in 'effort' last season, and endeared himself to the 'what have you done for me lately' nature of Clutchfans.
Thanks for your answer. I agree DMo will continue to work best in the low post. I don't think he makes a very good defensive center. I don't know if you always call the guy in the low post the center. Barkley operated in the low post all the time, but no one called him a center.
Answer is in the post. The only ones who are not suffering from this change are the most athletic (faster, stronger) players. D-Mo is not an elite athlete so his rebounding suffers more. D-Mo scoring at will on those guys with single coverage is not an "if", it's something that happened for 70+ games last season. Did you watch the games? Consistently putting up EFFICIENT points with a variety of moves against even the best big man defenders in the NBA (Noah, Davis, Green, etc). Marcus Thornton can score against single coverage at will too. Doesn't make you all nba first team. The reason all this works out fine is because our management/coaching is brilliant. They know that FG% shouldn't determine how much Harden shoots, and reb/min shouldn't determine how good Motie is. The game is more complex than that. I remember an exact quote from Morey saying "players are who they are, and there's very little you can do to change that". That's exactly right. D-Mo is not an elite athlete. You can dump him in the post at PF against players his size and he will get your standard rebounding numbers. Alternatively you can play him as a stretch 4 or a full time 5 and his rebounding will suffer. Either way, you have a superb offensive, very good defensive player on your hands. As for why he's not an All Star, that's absolutely meaningless. That's a fan voting competition, it has nothing to do with who is better/worse and we all know it and discuss it every year. Even if he rebounds at the same rate as last season, this guy is going to be insanely good.
So, you are saying that DMo is not a good rebounder, because he is not as athletic as some? Seems like that's the exact same thing everybody else has been saying, so I don't really know what you were arguing. I know DMo can deliver in the post. I watched most of the games last year. But then, how many 30 point games did he put up? The player you're describing is an unstoppable force night in/night out. That wasn't DMo. Coach's fault? Entry passer's fault? DMo's lack of assertiveness' fault? You are hyping him up so high, but the guy is more likely to have single digit points in a given game than 30.
Good points oak.... Unfortunately, I just don't see the same DMo that everyone is hyping up... I see a good player, but not this dominate superstar everyone keeps trying to make DMo to be. T_Man
