Exactly. And Duncan was no longer the Spurs offense in their last runs. An occasional post presence is nice to have but not needed from bigs. That can be Harden, 'Andersen, Nene.
I would feel really comfortable this season If I knew that Donatas and Clint were our emergency bigs. We need him back in the worst way.
You know - the thing I loved about DMo when he came up was the fact he could post up AND hit three pointers. But over time......I started to wonder why anyone should care about the post-up's. They say a post up is one of the least efficient possessions. It doesn't complement anything - unless you're adept at inside-out, which has never been our game. Certainly doesn't make it easier for Harden to drive. DMo's posting up does not set up his three pointers. I suspect DMo's offensive versatility may be overrated. Seems like being the team with the best post up game in the league is like saying your army has the best cavalry in the world. I'd like to be convinced I'm wrong though.
There were times in the 2014-2015 season where our offense was horrible. One thing we could count on was dumping the ball down low to DMo and letting him go to work. Even if it was just for a few possessions at a time. Someone who can get his own shot at his size is really valuable. Especially on nights when harden, Gordon and Anderson can't hit a shot. Also his versatility is important, it's harder to gaurd a team that can score from different places on the court. And not just shooting 3s
Against certain (the good ones usually) team, the game will often stagnate from high pace offense to half court offense and offensive sets. This is where things like post games can really shine. If Harden is off our game or our shooters are intent on construction work, having someone to dump the ball down to for efficient shots in the post is invaluable. D-Mo is also a good enough passer that you can post him up in the high post territory and run high post PnR from big to big for easy alley oops to Capela or Nene.
Sat next to DMO on a flight in March. He was on his way back from seeing his Specialist, and said he was 90% and expected to make a 100% recovery by last year's playoffs. Wouldn't expect him to say anything different though.
But see, that's the thing. Now that there's three guys who have proven that they can get buckets on demand, this shouldn't be that big of an issue. There shouldn't be too many nights were none of them are able to find their shot. Not to mention finally having a coach who can scheme. All of this is in theory of course...
Yeah but it's an 82 game season, and defenses will start to know that's how we play, those 3 guys shooting a lot of threes. It's nice to have a different option. If I'm not mistaken harden didn't shoot the 3 well the last two games, and I think Anderson was like 0-4 last game from 3 and had like no points, and he's arguably the best shooter of the three. And we've only played 5 games.. So over 82 games I think we'll still have some ugly nights from those guys
This is key in the playoffs when defenses really clamp down and when your threes aren't falling. Would be amazing to have him on this team, especially when you add in his passing. His 3pters were looking pretty good last year. Hopefully he'll take a one year deal with us for cheap to prove his worth for next year's big spending spree for the league.
That's often said, but I don't buy into it anymore. Like you said, he didn't get it that many possessions. He has good efficiency on post-ups, but the quantity is too small to be a difference maker. What you said about versatility is exactly what I'm questioning. Versatility helps you when it challenges an opponent with many ways to score from the same set. Posting up is a completely different set. DMo's ability to post up does not make Harden's drives anymore dangerous. DMo's post-up's are pretty much irrelevant to our core offense, because it's a different set.
A big who is good at posting up when he's also good at passing and surrounded by 3 pnt shooters creates spacing and helps in half court offence. In the playoffs when the D gets better and the pace slows down having that option is great. Having more options in the offence is always good. Having more capable players in the frontline though it's neccesary. Right now I only see at most 3 rotation caliber bigs, and the two starters are very injury prone. I don't know if I have been watching the same team in the preseason than some here, but instead of seeing that now DMO is not needed what I have seen is that without him we will have serious trouble. Harell is not ready and Capela at best is a backup right now. Very thin frontline.
Again, that's the theory, but I don't think it's been reality for DMo. He's just not been a force. If I was doing the negotiating, I don't think I'd pay any extra for DMo's post game. Just hasn't mattered enough.
Maybe, but this is the preseason. These guys aren't in regular season shape, the lineups aren't set and are all over the place, the offense isn't fully implemented, so forth and so on... Basically what I'm saying is that unless Motiejūnas was going to comeback as some type of defensive anchor, his services will not be missed. Offense should be the least of this team's worries. They will score points with ease. And stop kidding yourselves, Motiejūnas' post game isn't worth a cent during the playoffs when defenses lock in. He's not that guy.
While I somewhat agree with some of what you said, nothing matters until DMo signs and starts to play to see if he is even in some kind of game shape, and can stay healthy for the season. Otherwise we are just playing with our thumbs.
I don't understand why people offer up DMo of all people as durability insurance. I mean come on...... And like I said, past Rockets coaches have not used DMo as the centerpiece of a Clutch City offense (post up surrounded by shooters) and I'm pretty confident Mike D won't. It's not really where the game is
Everything is theory until proven otherwise, so that's a really weak argument IMO and if we DO end up signing him, it won't be just for his post game. We would be paying him for the following: - Big who can play both 4 and 5, critical with injury prone Anderson and Nene - Big who is a good positional rebounder and solid rim defender courtesy of being a 7 footer - Big who can high FT's at a high enough clip that teams can't just hack away at him - Big who can shoot at worst on par with OK shooting bigs and looked like he was rounding into a better shooting big - Big whose hook shot is proven in the NBA at a 1v1 level - Big who is willing to set good picks, do what the team wants him to do, and passes out, all without crying about it No one knows how Anderson, Nene, and Ego will do once the season starts. We all know what D-Mo could do with Harden. We have seen him do it, albeit for a partial season. That said, without having him prove his back is good to go, I wouldn't pay extra anything for him so it's all moot point.
Because we have his bird rights, he is a combo big with a good skillset and we have no capspace. We can't sign right now another quality big. Only D-league scrubs. IF we have 10 million available and there were good options still available then it would be a different story.
