KRIV channel 26 reported from the Rockets practice and showed Taylor working out. He said that he wants to be back on the practice floor within three weeks and get a chance to play before the end of the season. He said, "I really didn't want to miss the WHOLE season." No comments from the Rockets about Taylor. In worse news, Oscar Torres will likely miss the next couple games because he twisted his ankle in practice.
Dang it for Torres : http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/1276739 Good to hear Maurice has got the competive fires still stoked. Hope he's 100% before they let him on the court, though.
I get a feeling Maurice is going to whoop some major ass next year. The dude loves basketball and obviously wants to improve his game.
I can't wait to see what our team looks like with him in the offense. The guy can shoot very well for a big man. His jumper matches perfectly with the houston two step of guards. Steve drives, defense gets help from strong side, dishes to Maurice.....suddenly....I'm happy.
Mo T sucks. He sucks so bad that they should call him The Vacuum. Plain and simple. He is an overpaid , injury-prone, crybaby who has underachieved since he came out of college. The only 2 things stopping him from having the most ridiculous contract in the NBA are Juwan Howard's contract and Allan Houston's contract. You want to know why it always seems like he is so hungry to prove himself? Because he is always coming back from an injury or coming off a bad season. Now that I think about it, I hope he does come back ...because that will assure us of a higher lottery pick than we already have.
NJRocket, you usually make sense. But I believe you are in serious error on this post. MoT was working hard in the off-season when he suffered that freak injury. A front line of MoT, Cato and the Griffin IMO will be formidable when paired with Steve and the Cat -- assuming all are healthy.
I just think that Mo T is not the type of guy that can be a role player. And as long as Stevie and Cat are in the backcourt, thats what he will be. He isnt a good passer, he isnt good without the ball and he isnt the type of guy that gets others involved in the offense. The only semi-good years he had wer when he was the # 1 ooption on the Clipps. Look...as a Rocket fan, I hope I am wrong because we are sure as sh*t going to be stuck with his contract until it is up.
NJRocket, take it easy man! You are to hard on MoT; especially in a thread started by Jeff. Before you know it, they will tell you you do not know him and you are condesending. Be careful! I do think that you should give him sometime still.
Not true. Not true. and not true.... Mo Taylor is the definition of team player. It was only with him in the game last year that the offense flowed smoothly. The team regularly got out to 10 point leads in the first quarter because of his hot shooting. He ran the floor very well for a man his size - as evidenced by his large number of awesome in your face dunks on the break. He worked hard for his boards and tried to play good, tough defense - both not the best parts of his game, but parts that he was improving on. He may even be our second best low post defender (and I know that isnt saying a lot, but its something). Of course, he isn't going to come in and turn this team around himself in a few games. And he's not going to put up 20/10 numbers. But he will put up good numbers and drastically help improve the team's frontcourt and overall rotation. Plus, Taylor is a gym rat. He just loves basketball. He still comes to nearly every game. He has donated an enitre section of seats for the season - he is a good community guy. He had worked very hard to get in the best basketball shape of his career before the season started (and seeing him at the Tux&Tennies ball last night he looks like he is in very good shape given the lack of playing). It is ok to not like his game, but he puts in all the effort (pot smoker or not).
Ok Jay let's not get ahead of ourselves. He worked hard for his boards... ROFLMAO, Mo is a terrible rebounder he stands around and rarely jumps, he constantly gets outhustled for rebounds. In addition, he does not move his feet well on defense, thus the reason he was always in foul trouble last year. Mo is a mediocre player, but he is not all that. DaDakota
With all due respect JayZ...I stick by what I said about Mo T's overall game. Yes, he can score. But an offensive juggernaut (like you seem to be portraying him as) he isn't. And Dakota hit the nail on the head..his "D" is nothing to write home about either. To sit here and say that a guy who has been injury prone his entire career is going to come back from the worst possible injury (aside from reconstructive knee surgery) a hoops player can have and make our offense flow is , as Leslie Neilsen would put it...juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust a bit too much.
I think Taylor CAN rebound. Maybe it is his desire, but I have seen him fight, hustle and bang for some boards infrequently. At any rate, I love the guy, and what he brings to the court. Offensively, he is one of the better, more well-rounded PF's in the West, maybe the league. Plus, I am jonesin' for him to dunk on Bradley and Ratliff again. Hell, Ratliff has never been the same since.
East--- Antoine Walker Antonio Davis Jermaine O Neal Shareef Abdur Rahim West--- Dirk Nowitzki Tim Duncan Karl Malone Kevin Garnett Antonio Mcdyess Pau Gasol (if you disagree then you havent seen him play) Chris Webber Rasheed Wallace Elton Brand I was just wondering 2 things... 1) is this the West you were referring to or was in the NFC West? 2)have you lost your marbles?
Sorry if my post made him sound like the second-coming... I dont think he is all that either, but with all the "let's trade for Rashard, let's trade for Odom" posts flying around here, I think a healthy Taylor would help this team just as much, if not more. The point is that he isnt a superstar. He is a role player, but one who CAN go off for 25+ on a given night, and who can average 13-18 points a game for us to go along with 6 boards. Despite his propensity to stick the outside jumper, he is still the only real post-up threat we have. Is he a good rebounder...no, but apparantly I watched different games than you did last year. He isnt a good rebounder by nature, but he does give it all he's got. As you say, his footwork is not good. But I'm telling you, I watched the first half of the season on the tube or tracked stats via the net last year and pretty much agreed with you. Then I actually went to the second half of the season and Taylor changed my mind. It was obvious at most every game he was the hardest working Rocket on the court. He brings so many intangibles that helped this team win last year. Take his defense. It certainly can't be called great, as generally he got too many fouls to gauge whether or not he could play solid d straight-up. But he is just as good as KT defensively. And he is much better than Griffin defending the post. In the last game against the Clippers, you could see 5 seconds before they even took a shot that Elton Brand was going to get the offensive rebound. We were manhandled on the interior because of pure bulk all night really. Taylor would have helped stop that. Offensively there is no question that with him on the court last year the offense not only ran smoother but was also exciting to watch. Anyway, I'm not saying he is the greatest ever or anything. But I do seriously believe that if he had stayed healthy, and everything else about this season was the same (Rice gets injured, Walt injured, Francis injured, etc), the Rockets would be right there playing .500 ball and ready to make another playoff push. He was getting better and more accustomed to the team every game, too. oh...its not as if he really is always injured either. He's missed a few games in his career, yet, until last year, he was coming back from whatever minor injuries he had to improve. He is one of those players that takes time to adjust to the system. He was playing great at the end of last year.
Mo is currently the best frontcourt player on the Rockets. His loss has been felt in a big way this season.
Taylor is a much better ball handler and shooter (especially off the dribble) then any of those boys in the East with the possible exception of Antoine Walker. Now in the West, I love Rasheed, Webber, Garnett and Brand. Nowitzki too. I am speaking from a STRICTLY offensive standpoint here.....but I think Taylor, skillwise, matches up with those boys fairly well in terms of scoring ability. Obviously, defensively and on the glass, the others have distinct advantages. To answer your questions: 1. West.....no need to patronize my opinion. 2. No. But thanks for your concern. As Freak stated, he's our best frontcourt player.....without question. Why do you think the Rockets truly took themselves OUT of the Webber sweepstakes after firmly believing they could attain him? I am not by any stretch saying that Taylor is the same overall caliber player that Webber is, but the fact remains, we kept Taylor for a reason.
Cmon Hoop T...you cant honestly tell me that, maybe with the exception of Davis, you would rather have Mo T than those guys I listed in the east. There isn't one aspect of Mo Ts game that compares to Reef or Walker. On the whole, he is maybe a better shooter than O neal but thats where it ends. As for the west...I am baffled how you think Mo matches up with them scoring-wise. MoT cannot even come close to creating his own shot like those guys do. And apparently, the rest of league agrees because he rarely, if ever, draws a double team. The fact that he doesnt draw the double team shows you how other teams dont think he can create for others either. Those guys are all star calibur players and shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as Mo. IMO, the Rox front office made a HUGE mistake (and if you check the archives I said it last summer too) by not even attempting to land Webber. And a bigger one when they decided that Mo was their "4" of the future...especially given the quality of 4's in the west. The fact that he is OUR best front court player means absolutely nothing. OUR frontcourt, pardon my french, sucks. Aside from Griffin, there isn't much there to work with either. I hope I am proven wrong..but I have a hard time thinking that if Mo T was healthy that we still wouldnt be at least 5 games out of the playoff race as opposed to the 11 that we are now without him.
