Thaddeus Young 6pts (2/10FG), 3rebs in 27 minutes. Still anyone thinks DMo can defend only against scrubs? Young averaged 16 points this season, before this game.
8/7 with 4 assists with two blocks. While surrendering the ball to his team mates at every opportunity. With great defense. He did have one early mistake where he misjudged the explosiveness of T. Young. After that it was shutdown defense. I personally could not be more pleased.
D-Mo's defensive awareness really is exceptional, maybe the best on the team. If Jones had D-mo's awareness he would be a defensive monster. Frankly his offensive awareness is extremely high as well, he just lacks athleticism. In these last 2 games has shown much more confidence, he never looked lost, but he was playing very timidly before the last 2 games. If he could just maintain this level of intensity, even without great shooting, our PF liability could become a strength. Unfortunately we have seen performances like this before, but he can never maintain it. Lets hope he's finally ready to take the step.
And as an aside, I am sick and tired of professional broadcasters continuing to mispronounce his name. I give guys a pass when a player is new in the league, but he's not new anymore. I mean seriously, Montie-junas, where in the hell are they finding that N.
He is reminding me more and more every game of Asik. With a better shot and more athleticism. Asik showed as much defensive awareness as anyone I have seen in quite a while.
That the thing with DMo, the more minutes he gets the more confident he becomes. And confidence is crucial for his game.
As Asik showed us, a player does not have to be an athletic freak to be a great defensive big. Awareness, positioning, and being really really big go a long way on the defensive end in the NBA.
For DMo, like I have always said it is "between the years" The guy feeds off confidence mroe than others. He is a workaholic by all accounts, works really hard on his game day in day out and is harder on himself than most. The guy truly has high expectations for himself. DMo is getting there defensively. A much better defender than TJ and his defensive IQ is top notch. His rotations are spot on. On offense he is limited right now because of Dwight and Harden but he does a great job of keeping the ball moving and the offense flowing. The guy is the ideal back up 4/5 and I hope we lock him up on a cheap contract. He doesn't have much trade value but is indeed valuable for the Rockets.
I am not sure what to make of these. While Rockets homers are so convinced of Dmo's potential other team's GMs won't give us a good veteran for him.
Exactly. So his value lies with the Rockets. He is not going to fetch you much in any trade scenario. I doubt he is the final piece to any big star. And as such, I'd rather keep him long term on the cheap.
Love the Dmo, hate the bunions. Happy to see him play well of late. Can we revoke his 3-point access card though?
Really? Very good defensive bigs who are large enough to play center are probably the most valuable commodity in the NBA. Rumor has it that two teams have inquired about his availability this season. One was the Lakers, and I cannot remember who the other was. Unfortunately, with Howard here, at some point he will need to be traded. With very little offensive improvement he is heading for an eight figure salary per year in the summer of 2016.
Dmo is never going to make $10 mil+ per year. not sure what it is but you're severely overrating this guy who has done very little thus far.
Really? How much is Asik going to make this summer? D-Mo actually defensively rates out much better than Asik this season according to SportsVU, and Asik is very very good. You severely underrate the value of center defensive anchors in the NBA. Eight figures a year. The only other valuable non-starter assets the Rockets hold are the NOP pick and Papa. Even Jones would not bring much in a trade. Athletic shorter PFs who do not defend well are a dime a dozen in the NBA. PGs are really really cheap.
Asik is also an elite rebounder, and, this is great, a better offensive player than Donatas. I'm sure someone will say that D-Mo has a post game but no...he has a bunch of post moves that look buttery smooth and don't result in the ball going into the basket so it doesn't matter. He can't catch and finish.
Dmo is nowhere near the class Asik is in. that's actually an insult to Asik by lowering his value as a player and what he does at the center position. I understand the NBA values centers perfectly fine. 8 figure salaries is usually the bar for everyday starting centers that can hold their own night in and night out. And you're talking about Dmo who can barely stay on the floor coming off the bench as of last week. Your "defensive rating stats" are definitely misjudging Dmo as a player
When his confidence is high, he can be a solid player. He does many little things to help the team. His defensive fundamentals are good. His court vision is excellent. He is quick but clumsy. He still moves too fast for his own good. The coaches should tell him if he ever shoots a 3, they are going to glue his butts on the bench. Heck, they should tell him, if he is ever caught spotting up behind the 3pt line, he will be yanked from the floor immediately.
