doc, those numbers went up less than his minutes went up. that's improvement in my book. and i did not mean to be that confrontational, i'm just confused how you can post those numbers and say there wasn't significant improvement.
Yeah, but to develop you need to have some sort of potential? What potential does Morris have? He couldn't even improve his game his last two years of college, how do you think he's going to be able to improve in the NBA? There is a reason he was a 2nd-round draft pick.
Thing is, you can't just go by percentage increases. When you go from .6 to .9 blocks, even if the percentage increase is significant, the ACTUAL increase is scant at best. Dare I say that a .3 blocks per game increase is NOT significant when you add 10 minutes to your playing time. A 28 percent jump in rebounding despite a 40 percent increase in minutes at the power forward position isn't helping your case either. I am not saying KT isn't a good player or that I am not impressed with his improvements in the scoring and FG percentage departments. However, I don't think it takes a genius to see that improvements in other areas weren't nearly as significant considering the minutes he added to his time on the floor and, maybe most importantly, the amount of time he spent with the basketball in his hands. He became a central part of the offense and one of their only decent low-post one-on-one defenders. Essentially, he got more minutes, took more shots and scored more points as a result. The rest of his game improved but not to the degree of his scoring (although I'll give it to him in the steal category). Was his jump in scoring a result of his overall improvement or the fact that he got more of an opportunity to play? Hard to say. As for your other comments, nice attitude. I just don't get how it is that someone can point out the weaknesses in a player's game right alongside his improvements and have it be an indictment of everything he does. If ANYONE in here has been accused of being an optimist or a "Rudy T ass kisser" it's me. If anything, I'm too optimistic at times. Instead of jumping on my case, try those "Steve sucks" or "Rudy should be fired" threads. You'll have plenty more reason to argue there than you do here.
The fact that Kenny has improved dramatically is more incentive to trade him. I dont think that their is a high ceiling on his potential. I think he has almost maxed out. We can maximize our returns by trading him now.
Kenny is expendable with our logjam at PF. He's still on his rookie contract and put up great numbers this year, possibly a career year for him. This is probably the highest his trade value will ever be and we should trade him while we can.
Jeff, you are an idiot if you can't see that Kenny improved considerably more in almost every statistical category on an absolute basis and a PER-MINUTE basis. He scored more points because he took more shots and made a hell of a lot higher percentage of them. Why even bring up statistics when they fly in the face of your weak argument? Why support the quitter Rudy T and bash Kenny T? Don't worry about logical arguments and statistical evidence. Just call me a jerk or something and disregard the fact that your post was total BS.
JR you don't have to try to be a jackass to get your point across. Again, this whole debate about KT status with us has zero to do with T-Mo. So what the KT is the better player and I am not about to say T-Mo has more potential either. T-Mo is worth close to zero in a trade (might as well see if he surprises us), KT is not. Unless we think KT will remain better than EG or that MoT isn't going to rehab well or that we don't pick up a forward in the draft/trade he will simply be caught in a numbers game not helpful to us and bad for him. If we could trade him now and get something in return that is better than losing him for nothing after next season.
JR: You are not worth a response other than to say it is nice to know that your arguments consist of "you're and idiot and all you'll say in response is that I'm a jerk." Excellent work.
Relax JR...you obviously disagree with Jeff and that's ok. If agreeing with Jeff makes me a jerk than so be it. KT, while he did improve, did so for the reason Jeff gave. The guy got more minutes...period. He was pressed into duty when the slug with the 5 rpg career average went down and his nubers went up. I'm not saying he isn't a better player than he was the previous year, because he definitely is. That too, could be a result of the increased minutes and the opportunity to show his stuff.
I'm agreeing with Crisco, and my new hero: ILLEST...although I think he's a bi-uid. Forget stats, although I'd have to agree with JR on that too. But stats is not the issue in noticing Kenny's improvement. We constantly say on this board how this or that player will improve with more PT and/or more touches. Well....Kenny damn sure did! Kenny's shot improved noticeably, and he is as fast as big men come off the dribble. What he does facing players is amazing. very rare, imo. Plus, he has that drop step ending with spinning both left and right at equal success. He has learned a left-handed hook that destroyed Malone, AT WILL! He's a complete hustle guy and never showed any signs of getting tired. This guy is peaking right at playoff time. That is what you want. He is trade bait for one, and only one, reason: because he has a far superior game to guys like Malik Rose and Scoreless Williamson. Those guys do not have Kenny's speed off the dribble or his low post spin moves going left and right. And if you've ever seen Scoreless live, you'd agree that Kenny is taller. And that Marcus Fizer waste of a draft pick is puny compared to Kenny. As I like to say to poke fun at Rudy T: Kenny is a prototypical tweener! Kenny's defense is entirely underrated by many still, who I consider very skilled at fundamentals like deny-the-ball defense, followed by shear strength and lateral movment to force most people to shoot over him out of their comfort zone, and stripping players with quick hands to boot. He has all the defensive fundamentals you can possibly teach, and together with is speed, he is doing everything that he can at 6'7-8. Plus, anyone notice how quick he is off the floor when jumping. Deceptive. Anyone who can block a two-handed thunder jam by Jermaine O'Neal with one hand is VERY STRONG. O'Neal had the running start, too, while Kenny was under the rim jumping straight up. And his system knowledge will show itself, as soon as others start participating with him, like his point guard for starters. He is not a ball hog, and never has been one, and he has pretty impressive court vision for how fast his moves are. I cannot comprehend any thought that Kenny has peaked. I can comprehend that Maurice Taylor has. For that reason alone, I cannot trade Kenny, because I do not know his true worth. It would have to be an amazing steal for me to part with Kenny Did I ever say I love Kenny more than Cuttino GO RAGING BULL!!!
Great post Heypartner, but what is a bi-uid. Look I don’t care what you call him a PF or SF just as long that he is on the floor. All this talk about trade value is pointless. Why make a trade now and why Kenny? The last thing the Rockets need to do is waste another year waiting for some new guy to acclimate himself to Rudy's so called system. The Rockets need some stability.
and the magic dog bite. Don't forget that. Sick that dog on Cato! Hmm, maybe Mo-T could use some dog-time, too. And...glen rice, TMo, just imagine what dog-face therapy could give us! p
I agree with Jeff, disagree with JR, and disagree with the way JR expresses hi opinion. Another thing. Who's to say T-Mo doesn't have potential? He played much better towards the end of the season. People are second round picks because they have "knocks" that teams don't want to take a chance on. Chris Porter. Loren Woods. Cuttino Mobley. These guys are talented, filled with potential. Some make it, some don't. Your opinion may be that T-Mo has no potential, my opinion differs. In fact, he doesn't need incredible skills to win a place on my/our team. You can tell he's the hardworking type, and with Steve on our team, he's probably much more motivated than he was before. If he works on his jumpshot till it's decent, and uses his frame to learn to go to the post against smaller players, then I'd be extremely happy with what we got out of this guy.
Sane Morris is a grown man living out the dream of everyone who has ever played a game of pick-up basket ball and getting payed quite well to boot. If he needs Francis to motivate him then there's a problem. Do you need someone to motivate you at your job, probably not. I like Morris and I hope he has a lot of productive years in Houston. My only point is that Kenny is a solid player, and that I would hate to see him leave. There is no way that he shouldn't start next year. He has proven himself, what has Griffin, Rice, Morris, or Taylor done to start over him. Potential is great, but it doesn't win games.
ILLEST, We may not like that Morris needs to be motivated, but he does. He's here. If motivation and confidence is all he needs (my opinion) then so be it, give him that. I explained to you in your poll what I think of KT. I don't think he's a bad player. But right now, what he brings we don't need. Mo Taylor shot a VERY high percentage when he played. Alongside Cato, and backed up by Griffin, I'm not worried about his rebounding anymore. It's best for KT, and the Rockets, if we traded him BEFORE he asks to be traded, and WHILE he's being asked about. Because at some point early next season, KT will be unhappy. Someone who, due to unfortunate circumstances, will be 3rd string at both positions he "can" play, is not worth disrupting chemistry over. I'd rather sign some journeyman for 1M to be 3rd string.
