Mo Taylors injury is a blessing in disguise! Yes, a blessing. 1)Fact - Mo is a great scorer facing the basket, however his defense is suspect. I've seen some potentially great flashes of defense from him but we need a defensive, block-minded player at that position since our Center position is suspect as well. Best Outcome - Eddie Griffin is that defensive, block-minded defensive player. I wasn't sure at what postion he would get his minutes. Now, there is an opening at PF. That is the position that he said he Wants to play. Coming out of college, he needs NBA experience and now he will get it! "I believe" that this is the best thing that could have happened for Eddie to be able to prove that he can dominate at this level. If he proves me wrong, then when we get Mo back we have a young, experienced, block-minded back-up. If he proves me right, then Mo will have to prove himself as a defesive player as well as a scorer to get more minutes! 2)Fact - The year before San Antonio got Tim Duncan, David Robison missed more than half the year (I think) due to back injury. Best Outcome - Because of that (and other reasons) it tanked their year and they got a lottery pick - TIM DUNCAN! They were a good team (I'll only go as far as "good")before and when they lost a key player their lottery pick helped them win a championship within 2 years! If we a good year, we get playoff experience and a key scorer bak after that. If we have a bad year we have a great chance at another lottery pick! Let me know if I'm just looking through rose colored glasses.....
seriously franchiserulles, even without MO this team is still solid and won't come close to being a high lottery team as long as steve and cat are on the court
This team's chances of making the playoffs WITH Mo were suspect...now they're slim to none, in my opinion. I've read in other threads that Mo is the 4th scoring option. True...but he's the only true frontcourt scoring option. This just made the weakest frontcourt in the NBA that much weaker. As for depth...what depth??? The Rocks have absolutely no frontcourt depth at all right now, assuming no move is made. We could get a Pig Miller or someone like that...but it's not a great option. The Rocks play in what is easily the best conference...a conference where 50 wins was not enough to get out of the lottery last season. They lost Hakeem Olajuwon, their best scoring threat in the frontcourt and their best defensive frontcourt player. Hakeem was very valuable in winning some key games down the stretch last year. They've now lost their starting power forward. I don't think there's a good way to spin this. Is it good for years down the road because it forces Griffen to step into starters' minutes???? perhaps...but that's not this year. And there is also the argument that putting that kind of pressure on him could actually hinder him. So you can go either way with that. We'll have to wait and see. But trying to spin this into good news for the 2001-2002 Rockets is silly. I'm not a skeptic...I'm not a negative person...but I am a realist. And as much as I'd love to see Franchise in the playoffs, I don't t see it happening this year. One injury to any other of our scoring options and this team is looking at a top 10 pick in the next draft.
Someone must have been reading my mind! Even though I'm never happy when an athelete suffers an injury, I think its good for Eddie and the Rockets. From the minute the Rockets drafted Griffin and said they didn't need Webber, I just didn't understand. Why would you draft Griffin if you didn't have every intention of him plaing the 4 spot? Personally, I don't think you have a player of Eddie's talent weemed into the line-up. Maybe if they had taken him late in the first, then I can understand. Eddie was taken 7th for a reason and the reason is he's a tremendous talent and your team was in the lottery. Basketball is not like baseball or football where sometimes it takes a while for a player to show what he has. In basketball, you can just about tell what kind of player you're going to have within the first 4 or 5 years in the league. Francis wasn't coddled, Carter wasn't and neither were a number of good players today. People always want to look at Kobe and McGrady when comparing minutes and numbers. Kobe was on a contender with La, Shaq, Van Excel, Eddie Jones and Campbell, thats why he couldn't get the Minutes and McGrady's coach, Darrell Walker didn't know anything. Eddie should've been starting anyway, so all this do is speeds up his progression into becoming a legitimate 4 in this league. We all know he will have his problems with the premier 4's in this league, but Mo did too. When Mo comes back, which will be in 2yrs at full strength, he will be a man without a position and a large salary to match. I don't know how the Rockets can convince a team to take a player like Mo coming off a injury like that with that kind of salary. He will not come back like the $6,000,000 man, bigger,stronger, faster, he will come back bigger and slower. Now we won't have to worry about where he will get minutes from. Sorry Mo.
FranchiseRules...I feel that there will only be two good things that will result from Mo's injury. 1)Eddie Griffin will see a lot more playing time. This should help speed up the learning process and possibly allow him to begin to work his way as the third 'rising' superstar on this team. On the other hand, most of the weight of the world has just been dumped on his shoulders. Already, the expectations from the fans have started mounting. This guy will be under an extreme amount of pressure. We should get an early indication of how he will handle pressure. Since most people are predicting the Rockets to make the playoffs, there will pressure to hit the ground running once the season starts, so if they hit a snag early, I think tensions will start to mount and we will really get to the see how the team's character holds together, Griffin's included. 2)More shots for Glen Rice. Since Griffin will not demand the ball as much as Mo might have, there should be more touches for Rice. With this scoring burden removed, Eddie Griffin might be able to integrate in the flow a bit easier. As for the comparison to David Robinson going down with an injury, Mo Taylor is no David Robinson. Without DR, the Spurs were crap. Without Mo Taylor the Rockets might move from a 6th seed to a 7th or 8th seed. Anything less than that should be seen as a bad season (barring any other major injuries or dog bites). The Rockets should still thrive and look for Mo Taylor to have a difficult time working his way back into the rotation with an experienced Eddie Griffin in the 2002-3 season. Lest we not forget Rudy and CD. These guys always seem to find diamonds in the rough. There's got to be a garbage man in Europe or playing streetball that these guys can sign to become a hard-working fan favorite, ala Chuckie Brown.
That's funny, I don't remember Minnesota winning 50 games last season. Yes, this injury sucks, but I find it funny that so many people here have automatically given up on the season. We still have Francis and Mobley, a great outside shooter in Rice, and a burgeoning young rookie in Griffin. If guys like Cato and KT play up to their potential and CD can get another front-court player that is decent i.e. White, McCoy, Jackson, then this is still a very talented team. I know that is a lot of "ifs", but it's not like the Rockets haven't been down this path before with injuries. Yes, the talent was better, but you have to believe that another year under the belt of Francis and Mobley will make them that much better. If Franchise or Cat gets hurt like this, then that would be the time to throw in the towel.
Franchiserules, I totally agree with you with the exception that the Rockets arev lottery bound. I for one think that Griffin should start because of his defensive presence and 6'10"- 6'11" frame. Yes, he maybe a rookie but he will have to learn one way or another. The reason why they will still make the playoffs is because they still have three perenial scorers in Francis, Mobley, and Rice. I think that once Cato see's how intimidating Griffin can be in the paint, that maybe, just maybe that may light a fire under him and get him going. I'm just trying to have a positive outlook and I truly hope that Francis and Mobley would stop playing all of these pickup games before one of them gets hurt also.
A 45 win team's talented starting PF going down with and injury is never a good thing, no matter how you try and spin it.
Please tell me this is a joke. If losing Taylor to injury helps the Rockets, then why wasn't he renounced earlier this summer instead of being given millions and millions of dollars to hang around?
HPD: I don't think anyone is saying that this helps the Rockets. He's just trying to put a positive spin on this situation, and there's nothing wrong with that. God knows, I've read all the negative spins that I can stand for a lifetime!
The weight isn't on his shoulders no more now than when they drafted him. I still like this team with him starting playing the 4 more than Taylor. This is basketball, let him play, make his mitakes and see what you have. if it hurts him not to succeed and he goes into a shell, then you drafted the wrong player anyway
uh...how exactly does this mo injury hurt this team at all? how can it NOT help?!? even i can see that this is the best thing that could have happened and im not even a rockets fan! think about it - yesterday your sitting around and lets say someone asks you "what could be the best thing that happens for the rockets tomorrow?" what would be your answer? MO TAYLOR GETTING A SEASON ENDING INJURY. am i and Franchiserules the only ones who see this????
Hey Nugz, maybe McDyess can screw up his knee, and the Rocks and Nugs can have an all-out battle for the #1 seed in the West this season!
Yup, you guys are in the minority. However, this can benefit certain players for the Rockets. Griffin, KT, Langhi, Wiz and maybe even Rice since there should be more shots to go around.
Oh, NOW I get it - thanks Nugzfan for showing me the light. There's nothing wrong when people put a positive spin on a negative situation (example: This will give Eddie more time to develop, etc.). But saying something like "This is the best thing that could have ever happened" seems just a little ridiculous to me.
