You didn't see a lot from him in summer league when he was scoring 16 points and getting 8 rebounds per game in 25 minutes? What more would he have to do? It takes some time for Euro big men to get used to the NBA, but if you watched him play at RGV, you'd see the skills, he made people look absolutely ridiculous with his post game, and teamed well with Timmy O with a bunch of inside passes for assists.
You didn't see much of him because you obviously didnt watch any games. He was doing well on the glass. His problem was his ability to muscle his way in the post with NBA big men. He had work to do in that department but he showed plenty of skill for a rookie. More so than most. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/EG2yFtssXVc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
He's a 7 footer who dribbles like a swingman, moves like a small forward, has post moves of a PF/C, a good shooting touch, and you dont know what everyone sees?? AND he's only 22. He's got all the things that are normally seen as God-given down already. Throw in established post moves, a willingness to learn, listen, and he's on his way to success. It's mostly about effort going forward.
[youtube]DzMWK8bSftM[/youtube] 7ft and runs faster than small forwards? has range and great offensive skills, now bulked up and has mark of being hard worker.
I saw somewhere a picture of the Lakers's blackboard showing free throw percentages of their players last season in practice versus in games. I remember Dwight's percentage being good (maybe 75% range) in practice. Donatas has had great form on his three pointers for a while. I think Donatas will get better in games, but he has been in a bad shooting funk for two years now. I think a two year funk is something to at least worry about.
What? Aside from one game D-Mo was awesome in last year's summer league! I think people are just intrigued with his tools. Great size at 7 feet. Very good post game. Good basketball IQ. Hard worker. Needs to get more consistent with his jumper, but his form is good enough that with some minor adjustments and a lot of repetition, you can easily see him becoming a consistent outside shooter. Rebounding probably will never be his calling card, but putting on some weight should help with positioning some -- at least to the point where he doesn't won't be a liability, which is really all you need to be next to Dwight Howard. Box your man out. Grab the easy ones. He will need to get much better defensively and considering how much of out place he was last year, that's probably going to take some time. Still, even if he continues to struggles on D, there a lo to be excited/optimistic about his future.
7' left handers with his quickness and moves do not fall from trees, he has special god given gifts in height and quickness. Match that with desire and there is no doubt he will succeed, the only question is to what level that will be. DD
that will be determined this year. You can possibly write off last year because of being out of rotation and at RGV for most of the year until the trade deadline given the fact that we had to play PPat and Morris to keep their trade values as high as possible. However, this year is a different animal. He's going to be going to training camp with TJones competing for the starting PF slot. If he doesn't punch through solidly this year....well, I'm sorry, despite how great he looks he most likely will never achieve greatness. If he can't beat out TJones for the starting PF slot then I doubt he is ever more than a scoring bench 4.
Maybe - usually it is year 3, and foreigners can take a bit longer - and bigs even longer, look at Jermaine O'neal who broke out after 4+ years. Patience is key here, the guy will be fine. DD
Jermaine was different situation. He was 17 years old when he was drafted. He was just a kid. He broke out when he was 22-23. Donuts is currently 22. He's played way more in Europe than Jermaine played in the NBA before he was 22. This is the age that kinda sets player's ceilings. If they don't break out by the time their 23, the odds of them becoming more than a rotation player......miniscule. You know that Dada. If by fine you mean a rotation player but not a star level player...then I'll agree with that. But if he's going to be a star-to-superstar level player things have to start popping this season.
well Demo have no problem scoring, that his thing. So if he improves his defense, Coach have no reason not to keep him on the court. Offensively u either got it or on not. While defense u can work on. And Demo was definitely working hard.
He's hardly played in the last two years. He's not a sharpshooter. Those are the guys who will hit, even with spotty playing time. He's good enough to shoot a good percentage, once he settles into the rotation and knows what to expect. Just five more makes and he would have shot 35% last season. I know he definitely had quite a few rim outs.
Please watch that video again. He was scoring on San Antonio's 3rd team. More specifically, he was scoring on Matt Bonner and the world famous Justin Dentmon. Believe me, I want him to live up to his potential as much as anyone, but he needs to be able to keep up with the speed of the game. I watched the replay of the OKC game last night and I saw him make silly, basic mistakes. Not keeping the ball up, losing track of where the basket is. He looked physically and mentally to be playing in quicksand, always a half second late If he doesn't get the starting job at the beginning of the season, I don't know if he'll ever be able to raise his game. You need reps with the starting unit on a consistent basis to be able to keep up with that tempo. But basically, all he needs to do is what everybody that's ever been the 5th best person on a pickup team has told himself. -Don't turn the ball over -Know your role -Don't be a hero -And Don't turn the ball over Sorry for the long post.
He looks like he's Bargnani 2.0. He only shot 45% last year, can't rebound, and can't defend. He would have to improve immensely this year to even be a decent starter. The talk of him becoming a superstar is ludicrous.
You're right, the rookie season of Euro big men tells the tale for them. When Dirk shot 40.5%, couldn't rebound, and couldn't play defense as a rookie, they should have just cut him.
Could not disagree more...what D-Mo can do in the post Bargnani can only dream of. As someone alluded to earlier when you play as little minutes as Dmo did, your shooting percentages can fluctuate quickly. Dmo and Bargnani don't play the same game WHATSOEVER. Not only that, but Bargnani never improved in any facet of the game, whereas one of Dmo's main weaknesses (strength) appears to be dissipating fast. I think to compare the two is rather lazy, honestly
If history is any indication, never completely write off talented big men until after year 3. Case in point- recent history- -Larry Sanders -Asik -Nikola Pekovic -Roy Hibbert -Gortat Players that became key starters on a contending team- -Luc Longley -Mehmet Okur -Ben Wallace and to a greater extent-(hall of fame level) -Robert Parish -Dirk What do all these big men have in common???.... huge leaps taken in year 3. In year 3 either D-Mo will take a leap forward to being on one of these 3 levels or he will flame out, and probably be out of the league or in a bench role. However, the talent, body, and skillset are all there to setup for a huge jump in year 3 to be worth the wait of what could be a dissapointing year 2. Two years of patients are worth it IMO because it might be awhile before you can get another young talent like this through the draft without overpaying for an already developed big man like this in free agency, or trading away massive assets to get one. Patience folks... just for a little while.
Guess with TJ's little mishap D-Mo is favourite to start at PF, hope he's finally ready now with that big body to go into the woods and not be scared of the wolves.
