I'm interested to see what he looks like in training camp he left for the summer weighing in at 260. I have high expectations but I'm a huge Homer. watching him in D League I was so excited dude can ball. he just needs to get acclimated and calm down. I think he should be a low post option for the second unit.
I think that excerpt is pretty accurate. Sums up DMo pretty well. I'm excited to see how he improves. He could be a very valuable piece if he improves on the weaknesses in the OP. In a sense, he's already done so. He seems very willing to put in the work needed to improve. We'll just need to see if it pays off.
There is no one questioning D-Mo's talent. The main questions have always been two fold- Can he get strong enough to handle the NBA game, and can he learn to "crawl before he can walk" in terms of his NBA role. All the reports are that this guy works about as hard as anyone else on the team & has an insane amount of desire to improve. That's step 1. Step 2 is going to be finding a way to make himself useful to a team to get a shot at PT. Before we can start comparing D-Mo to anyone he's going to need to find a way to contribute to this team above what other guys can do at his postions. That's going to be by doing the little things that can help them win. This isnt' a team looking for stars anymore through the draft... this is a team ready to compete, and if he can't help them win games, dont expect any development minutes this year.
I actually see him as taller Scolla (once he improves his strength). Both are very crafty in the low post and have a pretty wide range of low post moves and shots to use. D-Mo just needs to improve his strength to be able to get good position in the post.
D-Mo's rookie year stats: Year Team G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG 12-13 HOU 44 14 12.2 0.455 0.289 0.627 0.8 1.3 2.1 0.7 0.2 0.2 0.84 1.66 5.7 Dirk's rookie year stats Year Team G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG 98-99 DAL 47 24 20.4 0.405 0.206 0.773 0.9 2.6 3.4 1.0 0.6 0.6 1.55 2.23 8.2 Dirk was no good either his first year in the league. D-mo is not likely to become Dirk good but to say he can't be Ryan Anderson good at the very least is very unlikely after only one year. Wait at least until the 3rd year is the rule of thumb before judging players in the NBA. D-Mo is very likely to surprise many over the next couple years. He still has more star potential than T-Jones and I really like him as well. This is why we have to wait and see before we make rash moves.
I still believe as well. He's our guy at the 4. Eventually the talent and hard work will pay off. I just want to see improvement this year.
So I'm the only one who noticed that in the thread title the OP spelled his name "Dontatas"? I would like to be the Don of the Tatas.
I believe DMO will show a lot of progress this year if he is still around or gets the required pt. last year I thought that he looked tentative and unsure of his role in the offense but I think that will change this upcoming season with more playing time. i met the dude one night at the bar and all he would really say is "I gotta keep working on my game, I gotta keep working hard" he wouldn't even let me buy him a shot bc he was driving (kinda glad he didn't take me up on the drink bc the irony of a broke college student buying a younger millionaire a shot is pretty absurd). so I told him to keep working on that three and that I got faith in him and the rockets (I was pretty intoxicated) and told him to have a good night . this dude is a hard worker and has a great head on his shoulders I hope that he doesn't get traded and gets plenty of pt, honestly im pulling for him to start over jones but the way hes been tearing it up in Orlando it probably wont happen.
As of right now DMO is the best pure PF on this team. He's not a tweener like T-Jones and he is far better than Greg Smith. His only obstacle is the physicality of the game and if he has indeed added strength like we are hearing than i expect him to have a good season. Now comparisons to Dirk and Players like Ryan Anderson are not fair simply because they are different type of players. DMO is a natural post player more so than he is a stretch 4. My hope for him is that he develops into a Luis Scola type player where he complements the center very well. While scola didn't shoot the three he was a great midrange pick and pop shooter and played great alongside Yao. If DMO can work on his midrange shooting and finishing through contact i.e. strength , look out the kid's gonna be a stud!
He wasn't better than Asik last season... you think DMo is gonna camp out on the 3 pt line and wet it up like a Matt Bullard or a Ryan Anderson? Nah not at the moment he isn't. Sooooo his offense is better overall than Asik.. Asik had a decent season (his first as a starter) BUT KILLS DMo on the Defensive side....
It look like Demo got some weigth :? dont you think ? https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/995113_10151486468201428_744788092_n.jpg
By the way De-Mo training kids in "DeMo summer school" http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WPqmPaQ3QiE and also training too, nice summer DeMo
He said he would play better BESIDE Dwight than Omer would. Again, Scola was the quintessential 1 way player, just ATROCIOUS on D, but you would NEVER have known that if Yao stayed healthy. Have a great center to mask your deficiencies helps insanely. Dirk is, was, and always will be ATROCIOUS on D, but no one cares, and once they had a great 5 defender, he was masked, and won. DMo has GREAT offensive post moves, it's just about strength, THAT'S IT. He'll never be a great shooter, 30-34% from downtown is all you will get, because, while his form is good, his shot is flat, that doesn't change ladies and gents. His post play, however, is spectacular, he'll become 15/7, not 20/10, by midway next year consistently. I think he will be fine this year, with 20 mpg, and next season (saying we don't get a stud 4) he will come into his own.
I'm hoping he at least gives us Bargnani (sp?) numbers sometime.... DMo is so overly-hyped on this bbs, which is weird, considering he hasn't done much to warrant the hype. Yet, we overlook the guys that can simply set a pick and hit an open J...I don't get it.
