Taylor signed and sealed Rockets power forward never interested in leaving Rockets power forward never interested in leaving By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle Maurice Taylor wasn't fooling anybody. Free agency was days away, bringing likely the most important negotiations of his career, and his hand lay open on the table. He announced to the world he wanted only to be with the Rockets. He would not even talk to another team. Taylor had become like the car buyer who walks into the showroom, gives that convertible a loving pat and shouts, "I have to have this car!" By Tuesday, he no longer needed to haggle over price tags anyway. It turns out that with the Rockets, he never did. Taylor signed a six-year, $48 million deal to remain with the Rockets, who deemed him worthy of being one of their foundation pieces. Taylor in turn promised improvement to dwarf his first four seasons in the NBA. Ben DeSoto/Chronicle In a move that pleased Rudy Tomjanovich, Maurice Taylor signed a deal expected to be worth $48 million over six years. "I feel like I have a long way to go," Taylor, 24, said. "I'm not even close to the type of player that I want to be. But I feel like with hard work I can be the kind of player that I want to be. With C.D. (Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson) and coach (Rudy Tomjanovich), they work a lot with me, do a lot of things after practice. It's up to me to determine how good I want to be. "Last year was a good season for me. But I'm expecting a lot more from here on out." Taylor averaged 13 points and 5.5 rebounds last season, averaging 16 points per game after the All-Star break despite battling Achilles' troubles he said have fully healed. He has averaged 14.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in his four-year career. But Taylor showed flashes -- streaks of brilliance, Tomjanovich said -- that showed potential to do much more, so much so that Taylor might typify the retooled Rockets. "I think he represents where we are as a basketball team," Tomjanovich said. "I think Mo Taylor is a good basketball player. But he has this desire to be a great player. That's the same thing I think you can say for the Rockets. We're heading in a direction. You've got to have talent. You've got to have desire. You've got to have a work ethic. That really impressed me about Mo. "He fits this team very well in the way that he plays the game. But he also fits this team in the kind of person that he is. We got to know him last year. He got to know us. I really like him as a person. He's easy to be around, very coachable, gets along his teammates, gets along with the coaching staff very well." To make cap room for Taylor, the Rockets as expected renounced their rights to Charles Barkley and Carlos Rogers. With Taylor locked up, sources said the Rockets moved close to an agreement with guard/forward Shandon Anderson, the remaining unsigned free agent. Though Dawson would not predict how quickly he could wrap up the next step, he said negotiations have been similar to the swift resolution of the deal with Taylor. "It's been an ongoing process ... because Dan (Fegan) represented Hakeem (Olajuwon)," Dawson said. "At times we talked about Shandon as well. So I think this is going as well as can be expected. There haven't been any bumps in the road so far. Free agents Hakeem Olajuwon -- Can we still be friends? No hard feelings after long, hard month. Maurice Taylor -- Already Houston house-hunting. If only every deal were this easy. Shandon Anderson -- Can Dan Fegan/Anderson match the David Falk/Taylor speed record for coming to an agreement? Moochie Norris -- Rockets want him and he wants to be back, but conspicuously missing from Comets games lately. Will likely sign last. Matt Bullard -- Has another offer to consider, but still a valuable gunner/example with Bird rights. Sean Colson -- Could be renounced and still invited to training camp. Carlos Rogers -- Team declined option last month and renounced him on Tuesday. Will try to move on. "Normally, there's a lot of things you go back and forth over that take a little time. This one, because Mo was so set on being here -- and I think Shandon is, too -- it makes it a lot easier. There are fewer things to negotiate. The way it's going along, it could happen pretty quick, too. You want to make progress every day and so far, we've been doing it." The Rockets could then move on to Matt Bullard and Moochie Norris, who both have at least limited Bird rights to exceed the salary cap. Any center brought in to fill Olajuwon's vacated roster spot appears unlikely to be one of the remaining higher profile names. Dawson said he would predict that only a small amount of cap space would remain after the next deals are done. But with Tuesday's moves, the Rockets finally had something to celebrate in their summer trying to keep last season's 43-win nucleus together. "We definitely have something to live up to," Taylor said of moving on without Olajuwon. "We're a younger team. We have a totally different look just not having the Olajuwon name on the court. I feel we have a legacy to live up to. He won two championships. The Rockets were a winning franchise before I got here. It's up to me to make sure we're always a winning franchise as long as I'm here. "I'm happy to be with a winning team. The sky's the limit for our team. It's just up to me and the rest of us to continue the winning ways. Last year, we made a lot of improvement over the year before. We expect to continue making improvement every year." While Olajuwon on Tuesday modeled Toronto Raptors' gear, enjoyed his first day exploring Toronto and said that players that remain in one place so long can be "taken for granted," Taylor celebrated with a morning of house-hunting. "When I became a free agent July 1, I told David (Falk, his agent) from that day on I don't want to talk to any teams other than the Houston Rockets," Taylor said. "I felt comfortable here, comfortable with my teammates, with the organization, the front office. I even felt comfortable with my coaches' families and teammates' families. "It was kind of a tough situation being with a one-year deal and not knowing what may happen. They accepted me with open arms. Security is a great feeling, knowing where you're going to be, knowing you've committed yourself to a team for a long time."
Personally, I am still waiting for a definetive quote from Steve, now that Dream is gone, saying that this is indeed <i>his</i> team, and that he intends to lead it as such.
I doubt Francis will ever come out and say, "this is MY team." That doesn't seem like his style. Hakeem never said it either. It was just understood.
Thanks for posting that article NIKEstrad. I was recently looking over some of my first posts on this board, and I read one in which I called Maurice -- Mo "No-Show" Taylor. That was December. Since then, I have taken a complete 180 in my view on him. I guess I was kindof skeptical at first, and let's face it, when Mo first got here, he wasn't as solid as I think we'd hoped. But midway through the season, the team fell into sync, and Mo became a huge part of this group. In my mind, he's probably the most important part of last year's upturn. He didn't dominate the post, provide the rebounding or defense that we'd like, but Mo fit in nicely, and he was an excellent scoring option to have. Furthermore, I feel he is somewhat underrated as a rebounder, and I'm sincerely hoping that he'll improve markedly in this department next year. I saw about 18 games last season, and I always carefully watched Maurice. The feeling I got from him is that he really puts forth the effort in rebounding, he just doesn't block out as effectively as he should have. He'll never be a great rebounder, but if he gets 8+, I think we're doing servicable in that department. I am truly happy to have MoT back in the pinstripes for a long time, and I can't wait to see him play next year.
That's great to hear. It's nice to know that he isn't going to be content with a big contract. A lot of players sign a contract like that, say a few sugar coated words, but you don't haev a clue if they're really dedicated. Mo shows that he's dedicated, even impressing his teammates and coaching staff, and he has the desire to get better, something guys like Derrick Coleman and Shawn Kemp stopped having after a big contract. I know there are some people saying that now that Dream is gone this team is a lottery team, but I just don't see it. I think this is a 50 win playoff team, and I think the improvement of Mo will be a huge key to this team's success next season.
I like Taylor's attitude and I think he can improve alot the coming years. If he can just take his rebounding avg upto 7 or 8, it will be enough to help this team. Only if that LAZY BUM CATO had an attitude like Maurice
Jeff- Hehe, guess what? I agree. I think Cat is going to be the "mouthpiece" of the locker room. There may not even need to be a pecking order because everyone is on the same page. This team has locked down it's core pieces. Mobley, Taylor, Griffin, soon Shandon, and Cato are all signed for the next FIVE years. Steve is up for his extension next year. Assuming Steve signs, If Moochie is signed to a 5 or more year deal, and Cato solidifies as a starter, this team will have it's 7 main pieces for 5 years. And, our cap still looks flexible for at least 1 more year. THAT is impressive. Can everyone take those Rudy quotes as pretty solid evidence that Mo is working hard to improve?
I think that Mo is the real deal, unbelievable in one on one situations, like francis and mobley. This guy has so many skills offensively, but unfortunately they are overshadowed by his lack of rebounding. He's ONLY 24, and the potential can be great, if he wants it.
And he does want it, he proved to me what type of player he can be in that game against the Magic where he earned his career high 34 pts. He had that killer instinct look in his eyes that night and nobody could stop him. I forsee great things for Mo Taylor and the Rockets for the future
When I became a free agent July 1, I told David (Falk, his agent) from that day on I don't want to talk to any teams other than the Houston Rockets," Taylor said. "I felt comfortable here, comfortable with my teammates, with the organization, the front office. I even felt comfortable with my coaches' families and teammates' families. Looks like Mobley's mom and her cooking skills land us a player.
Mo's quotes are all warm and fuzzy but what do you expect? He just signed a $48 million deal man! I hope he comes to camp in great shape, that would be a terrific start.
I've had the league pass since about 97, and I've watched taylor play plenty and I always come to the same conclusion, he doesn't play hard. If the guy just played as hard as Kenny Thomas. the debate about his potential wouldn't become an issue. Kenny Thomas is actually our most skilled big man, his problem is he has a problem against the tree's in the west. He has a real difficult time getting good looks in the west. The jury is still out on Taylor, if he comes in out out shape and overweight, expect him to get abused and play 28 minutes per. If he comes in in great shape, then maybe he'll regain some of his quickness and won't get abused as much. Aside from the injury concerns that evry team has, the Rockets just have to many "ifs" to unseat one of last years playoff teams. With all things being equal, if no teams have a significant injury, the Rockets will have less victories than a year ago. That doesn' t mean they didn't improve, the east is stronger this year and the west is just as strong as last year.
I not usually negative, and this isn't necessarily a negative post, BUT... Mo Taylor knows all the right things to say. He's very good at it. Does anyone remember the press conference when he first signed on with the Rockets? He addressed his deficiencies, admitted them and promised to be better. Sounded great, but didn't really come to fruition. I just wouldn't get too excited about what he had to say at his press conference. That said, I'm glad to have him back, I just don't expect the kind of improvement he's promising.
