Right now, I think it would be best for us to start MoT. Here are some observations I've made: 1) When MoT is plaing DECENT basketball, Yao Ming looks great. They're a good tandem, as Mo takes some pressue off Yao down there. 2) Francis seems to do a much better job at running the point when MoT and Yao are both in there. Looking at the boxscore now, he had 7 assists and just ONE turnover. Usually, Steve benefits from MoT being inside too, but we all knew Lue was going to cause some super problems. 3) Eddie doesn't block as many shots as he used to, so that's one less reason to keep him. He's just not blocking enough shots for us to say "he's bringing this". 4) Eddie needs to be benched, so that he knows he's doing some things wrong. He's too confident for where he is as a basketball player at the moment. He thinks everything will just come to him, or happen naturally. He even said it to the Chron. What he needs is to work himself into the hands-down best rebounder and hands-down best shotblocker on the entire team. 5) Eddie's Defense is not better than Mo's. 6) With Ming, Posey and Francis in the line-up, and Cato backing Ming up, MoT's rebounding defficiencies are well covered. Also, it's time to bench Posey. He can bring the same thing off the bench, and even though Rice is not making his 3's often enough, opponents RESPECT his 3-pt shot.
I agree with carayip, The most important point about not starter Maurice is because he is foul prone in 1st quarters. The guy constantly sat early 2 yrs ago...that's the main reason he got the rep of "disappearing" in games. I wouldn't mind starting him, but I don't think it is enough to mask the Griffin hole we are stuck with this year.
GATER, Why move Cat to the bench? He brings more to the starting lineup than Mo would, he's their best player right now. IMHO, you weaken the entire lineup to strengthen one position. And what would making that kind of change do to Cat's confidence? Don't get me wrong, I would love to see Cat as the spark off the bench, but like many of today's players, Cat wants to start and be a "Lead Horse." Does he have the kind of maturity to handle that kind of move, this season or in the future? Besides, it's who finishes that's often important. Griffin, for now, can start while Mo finishes.
The key word in that statement is CAN. I remember at the beginning of the year I was so excited hearing Eddie talking about winning the shot blocking title. I was thinking he finally had some guts and his all around game would improve. Boy was I wrong. I didn't check this but I'm sure his shot blocking numbers are down from last season to this. I'm sure Yao being in there may have something to do with that so I'll give him some leeway on that. Whenever I watch games nowadays, at the end they show that EG Block Party and the number never seems to change, and if it does change it's usually only by 1! It seems to me EG is going downhill fast. He seems too scared and stupid to be playing in the NBA. On another note, has anyone else noticed one of my favorite traits about Mo? He constantly steps in and takes the charges, even if he doesn't always get the calls. It seems as though he gets 1 or 2 of them a night. Can you see EG PURPOSELY stepping in the path of the player and taking a charge? Yeah me either. Pugs
You all have to do a better job of not falling for fool's gold. MoT did what he had to do last night, i.e. take some old men to school. This is not about EG. MoT, simply, is not ready for primetime. If there ever is going to be a time when he earn's his keep, it is when he comes off the bench against backups. The top 10 PF in the West uses MoT to wipe the floor. Knowing that you should show some restraint and not call for him to start. MoT is not the answer. Do not forget he is a lousy rebounder and blocks a shot every full moon.
This from the guy who said the Rocks would be top 4 in the west. scuse me. Mo > Griff right now and should be getting more minutes. eos.
That first line I quoted you with is hogwash. For goodness sakes, get yourself a copy of the game recapped here http://www.clutchcity.net/game.cfm?gameID=149 Watch as Mo does more than hold his own against Tim Duncan, quite possibly the most valuable player in the NBA both then and now. Not only does MoT do a fine job of using DEFENSIVE POSITIONING and SIZE/STRENGTH to hold down opposing players, he has a sweet post game to counter the attack of the opposing PFs. In contrast, Eddie Griffin's best defensive plays are as WEAKSIDE HELP. And his post-up game is almost non-existant. He lives and dies from the outside, and since zone defenses are legal, it's not like he's taking his defender outside with him. No one will argue that MoT needs to work on his boardwork, but Eddie Griffin is only getting 5 or 6 rebounds a game with starter minutes now. MoT can get about that many with starter minutes as well, so if you're going to knock MoT for his rebounding deficiencies, you should also note that he's no worse than our current starter. Eddie's also been only getting 1 block a game as of late, while often leaving his man to try to gain another weakside block. The result? A dunk & a foul called on Yao. Which would you prefer? A PF who holds his ground against his opponent, or one who's too quick to try to offer help, and thus gets burned way too frequently?
Did anyone see Mo yell at Yao during overtime? He apparently wasn't happy that Jordan beat Hawkins to the basket but Yao wasn't underneath to stop it. He shouted at him. Then at timeout, while walking towards their bench he stopped Yao and confronted him. When Yao got impatient and tried to walk away, he even grabbed his arm and held him there so he could finish his freaking surmon. If someone did that to me, I would think twice about making friend with the individual. Who is Mo? A freaking bench player who got hot once in a blue moon. And then he thought he's Jesus Christ. How good is his own defence? Would he challenge Steve when he made all those mistakes? Attitude-wise, I wouldn't give a flying freak about this guy.
So now you hate Mo because he chewed out your hero for not rotating over on defense. (To a certain Sr. partner, you're right, Yao needs to step it up on his defensive rotations, that's not just in reference to last night either.)
I agree w/ Live, we need players who will stand up and not be afraid to steer our younger players in the right direction, especially when that players 7-5 and getting dunked on. I still love YAO
Well, well, well. Once again, all you can do is to repeat that Mad Yao Disease sh*t. Look at all the knee-jerk reactions here, I bet when Mo plays as a starter and performs his usual mediocre game, all of you will yell TRADE. All I was trying to say is, he's never appeared to be a good team player to me. And I challenge his own capability on defence. Agree or not, suit yourself.
The keyword is CONFRONT. If you are in the work place long enough, you will know it's a big NO NO to grab someone when that person doesn't appreciate and try to walk away from confrontation. So it's alright for the other fellow teamplayers to yell at each other on the court in front of all your opponents and opposing fans? Don't think so.
LIVE - The Rox are 7-13 since beating the Faker$ in Shaq-Yao 1. And they have been a horrible road team for the entire season. It's time for a shakeup. Whether it's starting MoT or Hawkins or TMo or Moochie (Francis is hurting, right?) or even Rice...it's time... Mo is as good a change as any other. As one of the oldest Rockets, I think Cat would understand...especially when you look at 7-13. Many Cat fans have pointed out that Cat has done everything he has been asked to do this season without sulking or rants in the press. I wouldn't expect this to be any different and he'll likely still be on the floor at crunch time.
Compgeek, it was a tense, "heat of the battle" moment. It happens all the time. No, you don't want them to yell at each other in front of the opposition & their fans, but I'd rather them yell at each other than put the issue to the side until after they lose the game and then talk about it. What does it matter then? BTW, Yao was very complimentary of Mo and his performance last night, so obviously Yao still likes Mo.
CompGeek, I am glad that Mo did that to Yao. Yao needs to hustle on both ends of the floor. Mo only has the teams best interests at heart, and he has a ton more experience then Yao. Yao should listen to him, and move his a$$ over and challenge the shot. DD
I don't dispute the steering intention. It's the way the coaching was delivered. Wow, so Mo is a saint now, who did no wrong. I can't wait to pound on him when he screws up as a starter.
Comp, I can not wait for the point when Yao is the one doing the talking, at that point the Rockets will be a VERY good team. All Yao needs is experience and he will be the best player on the Rocks. DD
Don't start assuming anything. I absolutely stand by everything I said in the Eddie Griffin / Rasheed Wallace thread. There is no doubt that Eddie will be the Power Forward of the future for this team. He is still a better shot blocker and rebounder than Rasheed and when it is all said and done I think he will be a more complete power forward than Rasheed Wallace. Right now though Eddie still has too many off nights on the defensive end and there was never any debate from me concerning his offense. I think his offense will become good but as I said never as good as Rasheeds. Mo Taylor is the better defender and offensive option right now. This does nothing to contradict what I said in the other thread. Eddie is the future and I certainly have not lost my cool with him.
GATER, You fail to mention that Hondo played behind Sam Jones and McHale played behind Bird and Cedric Maxwell (1980 finals MVP). If you have Larry Bird or a couple of veterans like Cornbread or Sam Jones then I have no problem playing MoTaylor behind them. Of course when the hall of famer Sam Jones retired Hondo stopped coming off of the bench and as soon as it was obvious that McHale was the best power forward on the team Cornbread went to the bench and Kevin started.
