By Josh Reese

Editor

The Rockets, at least for the preseason, have opened up the power forward battle. Terrence Jones may be the favorite, but he’s facing some competition, especially from Donatas Motiejunas.

That competition could be helping D-Mo step his game up. Motiejunas has been trending upwards since the NBA Summer League, in which he was named to the All-Summer-League team. Motiejunas also played well for Team Lithuania during the FIBA World Cup.

This will be D-Mo’s third year in Rockets red, and he’s looking to make his biggest impact yet.

“He’s being more active, he’s being more physical out there,” said head coach Kevin McHale, when asked what he has seen from Motiejunas during the preseason. “I think D-Mo has been solid,” mentioning that D-Mo has been in this offense for a few years and will just keep on improving.

McHale added that this is the time for D-Mo to become a good player.

“I can see him making strides and he is going to have to continue to do that,” McHale said.

“They (coaches) pretty much told me what I needed to work on during the off season,” Motiejunas told Red & Orange Report (ROR).

During the preseason, Motiejunas is not fouling as much, scoring more consistently down low, and even rebounding. That’s something the team needs when Dwight Howard is out of the game.

D-Mo told ROR that one of the things the Houston staff asked him to focus on during the offseason was being more physical in the post, and that is something folks are seeing during the preseason. On the offensive end, Motiejunas is scoring more frequently in the post. On defense, he’s fouling less and making it tough for guys to have an easy look at the rim.

D-Mo is still a long shot to start at the four spot, but he is looking like he could be a solid contributor to the team.

When Howard is out of the game, the Rockets could use a big man who has size, can score down low, shoot the three and even rebound the basketball. Doesn’t someone like that sound like a good player?

Well, his name is D-Mo!