A couple of games I remember against Phoenix. Amare was man handling EG. Then Mo came in and started banging with Amare and turned his confidence upside down. Amare played like a big pu$$y after receiving some blows from MoT.
Please don't bust out your stats again!!!! To me, if you don't see that MoT is a better passer than EG, you must not be watching the games closely. Either that or you are stoopid.
Bottom line is that Mo T will never be a rebounder and defensive player. It's just not part of his game. It'll be interesting to say the least. It wouldn't surprise me if Van gundy brought in at least one NY player to teach his system. But's that's all I expect. And he already has that in Rice so maybe not even that.
Thanks. I thought we proved it already that Statistics aren't facts in the other thread. There are things in the game that can't be proven with stats. Its so obvious all you do is look at the box scores.
Facts mean a lot but circumtances have their effect too. Mo. did not have many assists because he did not pass the ball. He did not pass the ball because he was guarded 1 on 1. In Rudy T.'s game plan, when u r guarded 1 on 1 on the low block, u take the shot. The question that u have to answer is: when Mo and EG need to pass, who is the better passer? I'd say Mo.. He gets rid of the ball a little quicker when he sees double and/ or an open team mate. He has better vision of the court. He makes no-look passes on more than 1 occasion. EG always eye-balls the passes. EG's passes lot of times do not get to the receiver at the best location, i.e. too low, off target, too close to the defender ... No thing major though, EG can learn to correct all these things fairly easily.
So then why are Magic, Stocton, and Oscar Robertson the all time assists leaders in NBA history? Why is Hakeem the all time shot blocking leader? Why is Jordan the all time leader in scoring average? But yeah, stats don't prove anything.
Why has Mo never had a lot of assists? When he was a Clipper and the Clippers leading scorer, on a team with Lamar Odom, he was still one of the worst power forwards in terms of assists in the NBA. Considering he was the leading scorer, I'll assume he saw a few double teams.
pgabriel - Is Yao Ming a better or comparable passer to Shaq? Why does Shaq have nearly twice the assists per game average than Yao? It is the system they play under. The Rockets as a team are dead last in assists per game. Like mentioned earlier, if you haven't picked up on Taylor's passing skills you are not watching closely enough. The "black hole" label you have tagged Taylor with is directly attributable to the Rockets ISO style. And BTW, Taylor's a/pg is closer to Yao than Yao is to Shaq. I have a belief that Van Gundy will not run an ISO offense resulting in the Rockets' assist numbers to go up and for us all to start threads to the effect of "who knew Mo or Cat or Terrence Morris could pass". But then, I am usually an optimist.
Yao Ming's a rookie, he has plenty of time to prove his passing skills. Mo Taylor has never been a good passer, and I have been watching Mo Taylor since he was about 40 pounds lighter at Michigan. I watch games people, and I didn't see him pass at Michigan, L.A., and now here..
I refuse to get into the argument of why ASSISTS as a stat is difficult to calculate. MoT plays more solid D than EG. He holds his position well, and uses his body & size to his advantage. EG is a good weakside blocker, that's about it. MoT has better post up moves. EG ... I suppose he can spread the floor better with his 3 point shot. MoT gets double-teamed in the left elbow. EG ... spots up behind the 3-point line. MoT has had enough time to heal. It's time he starts & gets starter minutes. EG needs to learn how to contribute to an NBA team. He'd fare better against our opponents' second team than first stringers ... especially given the number of talented PFs in the western conference.
I would give E.G. about 30 games to prove he has worked on his game. I just don't see having a finesse power foward (MoTaylor) starting when there is a finesse center starting. Add to that, Mo Taylor is ineffective without the ball. The fact is he doesn't rebound, and the Rockets have enough scorers who require the ball to be effective in their starting lineup. MoTaylor is what he is, a backup forward who they overpaid. But if E.G. gives them nothing in the beginning, then there is no reason for him to start.
Thank God! I agree definitely. I don't think Van Gundy will like Eddie....especially his inability to make any shots...........what I don't understand is how Rudy like switched all the players and substituted like 4 of the starters with bench players.hmm....Van Gundy should keep Francis or Yao on the court at all times. One of them. Eddie will be given the chance to start...unless he is traded. Mo Taylor. He was supposed to be one of the new young stars coming to the NBA...until he got injured. He is a good passer. He's a better shooter than Eddie. He's slow....he really doesn't rebound...but he has stated that he is working on rebounding...and well...his defense...he can't block any shots...but he has good defensive positioning. He's just too short to guard Kevin Garnett...Tim Duncan.....Dirk Nowitzki. But Eddie's too skinny and can't contain them either. I think they will still split time..play about 24 minutes each. It really doesn't matter....either one can start.
Pre-cisely. If Mo offers JVG "I'll give you a ride, coach; I'm going that way," and JVG sees Twinkies (t.m. - all rights reserved, Hostess) wrappers on the floorboards, EG will start the next game's starter.
