Moochie isn't as explosive or versatile as the franchise, and his shot isn't as good - but he is an excellent playmaker. If you watch the games, it's apparent why Moochie gets a lot of assists - he puts a lot of balls right on the shooter's hands so that they can shoot immediately. I was really impressed with this ability when he came into games. I'm happy that we locked up another valuable piece of our franchise who fits in the Mobley mom club.
I don't know if this has been said in last couple of weeks, but I see one other piece of leverage that Fegan had: Moochie is insurance if Francis leaves for DC. Moochie is a quality point guard earning, now, a starter's salary. If Francis wants to leave, it's one less hole in the lineup we'll have to fill and more freedom in potential sign and trades. If Francis doesn't want to leave, in a couple years Moochie will be tradeable. I like the insurance of having him on the team. I hated to say this.
Amen, on your post Crispee. I enjoy this BBS very much, but there are a lot of whiney cry babies on here. You cry if he doesn't sign & you cry when he does sign. Not one of you have to pay his salary, so why are you crying about it? Moochie is & has been an integral part of the guard rotation that almost carried this team to the playoffs last year. Rather than discuss how much money he's going to make, you should be discussing how far the Rockets will go in the playoffs. His signing doesn't put us over the projected luxury tax (assuming there will be one) & we were already over the salary cap. My only gripe has been the way the negotiations drug out so long. Oh, by the way, he would be very easy to trade at this salary, because he is a pure PG & imo, good PG's are the second most difficult position to find. He makes some incredible pin point passes & is still learning. He's got experience playing almost starter minutes & let me ask you a question. Who would you rather have running your PG position, Moochie or Jason Williams? Last time I checked, Williams was a starter. They say that family can be the most critical critics you'll ever have & I believe it applies here as well. To listen to some of you talk, the Rockets have Francis, Mobley, & Griffin (who hasn't played a single NBA game yet) & everyone else isn't worth the sweat off your b*lls. How about showing some love & support for YOUR team, instead of dogging them. By signing Moochie to a 6 year deal, the Rockets are showing all of their players & the NBA that they are willing to make a committment to players that play hard & become an integral part of the team. This can only help in future dealings with FA's & it goes a long way to showing Francis that they are committed to the future & hopefully reducing the risk of him bolting for another team. They now have MO(6 years), Mobley(5 years), Moochie(6 years), Jackson(6 years, assuming we get him), Griffin(5 years), Collier(4 years), Cato(sorry,bad example ), & Rice(3 years @ $8.8 mill next year). If this doesn't show a committment to building & winning for the future, then I don't know what does. When we went into this off season, almost everyone agreed that our back court was solid & that we needed help up front. By signing Moochie, the Rockets didn't try to fix what wasn't broken. If MO hadn't gotten injured, we probably wouldn't have had a chance of acquiring Jackson. They added Griffin/Rice/T-Mo/Jackson(hopefully), while losing LOS/Bull/Shandon/Dream(the Rockets had planned their future team contingent on his retirement anyway). While losing Dream (when he had the right attitude) hurts us, imo, the Rockets are going to be vastly improved. When MO comes back next year (or, maybe even this year), we'll have a solid starting 5 with depth on the bench. So, in summation, let's talk about the positive & welcome our Moochie back to the family.
All this just shows how dedicated Rudy is to small ball. You don't give this kind of contract to a backup point guard. Im a little displeased but I'll trust the coaches on this one.
I'm happy to have Moochie the ONLY problem I have is the length, and I would feel better if only 3 or 4 years of it was guaranteed or that there was an option after those years. There's no way you can downgrade Moochie's importance. The Rockets could have survived without Mooch, but WITH Mooch, he gives us 20 to 25 minutes in the backcourt, an insurance policy at the point, depth, flexibility, and offense. I understand the people who are talking about the length of the contract, I agree. But now that Mooch wanted more money there are people talking about "Oh he's only a back-up PG", well he's the best back-up PG in the league and he gives the Rockets so many options it's scary. Welcome back Mooch!
Rudy is by no means dedicated to small ball that doesn't have a center. The bad rap on "small ball" is exaggerated, imo, because Rudy has no intention of playing KT or Bullard at C....he was forced to when Dream, Cato and Collier all got injured at the same time. Why do we obsess with a line-up of Bullard or KT at center when their are no plans for that in Rudy's rotation. Further, Dream, Barkley, TMass and Cato all got injured the year before. Now, Mo' got injured, but we are getting Marc. imo, just because Mobley can score 10 pts per 4th quarter (true!) while destroying SFs much of the time, and Francis can play SG pretty much identically to how he plays PG does not mean "small ball" is a gimmic. It turns into a gimmic offense when all your centers get injured, or even all but one (who must rest). Rudy would much prefer a shotblocker/rebounder in with the 3 guards, seems to me. Cato/Jackson Rice Mobley Francis Moochie or, pending the ascent of Griffin as a premier shotblocker Griffin Mo' Mobley Francis Moochie for 5-10 minutes in a game is not gimmic...it is a serious problem for the defense to figure out. Plus, it is a great way to light it up in an attempt to launch a comeback victory.
This signing is stupid at best. CD and Rudy are losing their minds, you would think Moochie is center. We have tied up $10 mil in Cato and Moochie for backup players at best. Have we not learned our lesson with Brent Price, Bryce Drew, and Maloney.
Moochie's signing just shows how much influence Steve Francis has, Francis said he would be hurt if Moochie was not back. If moochie was not real tight with Steve he would have been offered far less and we would have a so so backup point guard at the minimum salary. It's a moot point to debate the statistics and salary etc. for Moochie, this was about Steve and his circle- Steve, Cuttino, Mooch, MTaylor, WWilliams and whoever else comes into the inner circle this year. I believe this is becoming the team Steve Francis built. Which is OK with me, because Steve will be a superstar and we will have chemistry. I hope T Mo and Griffin fit in the circle. PS- Nothing wrong with doing everything we can to be sure Steve resigns next summer.
You guys are forgetting about something. Fegan was originally asking for about $4 mill in the first year. The Rockets were offering a little under $2 mill in the first year (according to some inside posters). It seems to me that they negotiated a deal somewhere in between. That's how these things work & yes, I'm being a smart a**. WELCOME BACK MOOOOOOOCHIE!!!
I wouldn't be too worried about him, he worked with Cuttino and Steve over the summer and they are pretty tight. Those 3 will do what ever it takes to win. And how many years was Damon Jones signed for? I would have been much more happy with 1 of them, not both.
No wonder Moochie was so happy when some people at this BBS saw him on Westheimer and stuff, saying that he will be back.
crispee, i agree rudy had no choice but to improvise at times last year but the three guard lineup that Rudy uses with Glen or Walt is very delicate. The shooting must be very consistent especially from Walt or Glen -- whomever he uses at the 4 -- becuase your usually going to get outrebounded and beat on the inside most of the time. I have no doubt it can be effective though. The end of the 99-2000 season was a great example. If I recall correctly, the Rockets were using the three-guard lineup and where on a tear near the end there for awhile mainly because Walt Williams was on fire and kept hitting his shots consistently. I can see a healthy Glen Rice doing this this year with even more consistencey than Williams. These tweaked lineups that have a shooting man playing power foward don't creat mismatches unless the outside shots are made. Walt and Bullard didn't knock down enough shots consistentely, especially within the arc, last year. But Glen Rice is the best at this so he will be the key factor. It should be fun to watch.
Don't you hate it when you want something so much and buy it, but after the fact realized you paid too much, and financed it too long?....I hate that feeling...When will the Rockets learn?
I hope the small ball line-up gets no run. I don't want to see Rice at the 4 or Thomas at the 5. We have langhi, Morris,Rice, and Walt to play the 3 this year. If steve plays 38 min per then that leaves 10-12 min per at the point. i guess Rudy will do some stupid $..t like play Francis at the 2 when Cat needs a break. I guess we will have to see. Do the Rockets preseason game come on tommorrow?
My only problem with this is that there was not another team that wanting Moochie. Why did the Rckets bend to his/Fegan's demands?? That is what I would like to know. Also, this deal ties the team down to what we have now. Yes, some guys become free agents eventually but think about it. Mobley, Cato, Mo, Moochie, Steve will be, Jackson probably, and Griffin, Tmo will be. All of them are under contract or will be for at least 4 more years. What if this team takes a turn for the worst and we can't move anyone or sign anyone? Yeah, in three years we could sign someone to replace Rice but I think that money will be used to resign everyone. I know this is pesomistic but this could be the worst case senario if the team turns around for the worst. Just my two sense on tying everyone for a long time. Then again and this is what I hope. The team could become a great team that people will say, "Boy, they were lucky to sign all those players way back when." Let's just hope this is the case.
Signing Moochie (and God I love him) for that amount of money, while not Maloney-esque, is still a major mistake. He's short He's not a particularly good defender He's not a great shooter, more of a "scorer" He's not a great passer Remember, I'm a big fan of Moochies, but I cannot in any way rationalize spending that kind of dough on a back up.....
