Sherlock (and O), Gotta agree with you. RT was just giving Morris crunch time experience, more concerned with that than winning the game. And he got what he wished for........ That being said, I got a- Question: EG scored easily over Martin back-to-back early in the gamewith easy turnaround jumpers from 10-12 feet. He showed me he is developing a nice inside game. Why didn't they go back to him again? Talk about building confidence: confused:
Kid, will you get off the 2nd rounder thing. First, in a very deep draft there is going to be great 2nd rounders and second, Mobley was one and played big minutes. It is obvious that Tmo is a top talent. Last night, I could not get the game because NJ's game are blacked out. So I listened on Audio Pass and watched a replay of the Rockets - Dallas game. In that game the Dallas announcers talked glowingly about Morris. In fact they see them, he and EG, as a pair like they talk about Wink and Cat. Rice, Taylor and Williams who were supposed to be here to take us to the playoffs are not here so let us expose our rookies. It will payoff in the end. Just allow yourself to think ahead to opening day 2002.
Thanks, DearRock, thanks for the info. With all the negative TMo posts, nice to see some positive info on Terence. I think when he gets his confidence, he will be shooting better, at least I hope that is the case. The PT lately hopefully will solve that. I usually can't see the Rocket games, but back at Maryland U. he was shooting better when he "mixed" up his shot selection. There were times at Maryland where he would shoot almost exclusively 3's and that was when he shot poorly at stretches. This year it seems that he shoots too many 3's at certain stretches, at least the perception I get from reading the Clutch City board or surveying the boxscores. Last night was not a good shooting night for Terence, but was glad to see him get 8 rebs, 2 assists and two blocks. I saw Steve Francis had a good game even though he was 6-23 shooting and Griffin was 2-9. Griffin was slow starting this season but has really come around since he got more PT; hopefully Terence will start shooting better. FREDTERP
I don't mind seeing Morris play, but why not have Morris and Griffin together? Why is Rudy so inclined to play Mobley at the 3 spot?
Becuz he canst leave superstar Mooch on tha bench in crunch time - dats Rudy's money right there, canst leave him sittin there on that bench.
I used to complain about us having no real inside presence. Now, I am a little more confident that despite having some inside presence, we will never go to it anyway. RUDY, when Richard Jefferson is guarding Griffin in the post, dont have him waived off, actually pass him the ball. It will work, or at least require a double-team. Second, to everyone who thinks this is a good learning experience for T-Mo, I'm glad, but this little thing in my head called logic makes me think that it would be an even greater learning experience for EG, someone who has shown he has the skills to be very good in the future, to remain in a game where he was getting schooled defensively. How else is EG going to learn how to defend different players across the league? Also, Kenyon Martin has turned up his game considerably. I was very impressed.
They went to EG in the post twice. The first time he converted. The second time the passer threw a crappy pass w/ no angle and it was a turnover. They never went to him in the post again.
Pippen, It was a learning experience for EG, maybe Rudy wanted him to sit, because his effort was not what it should be. Sometimes you have to sit down to learn some lessons. DD
What the hell have you been smoking?? The only thing obvious to me is well several things: 1) TMo can't shoot 3 pointers (so why in the hell was he taking 2 big, critical shots down the stretch?) 2) TMo was not worth losing a 1st round pick 3) TMo will probably never be a player that will average more than 6 points a game in his career and will average about 5 to 6 rebounds a game. How a role player like that is a talent is beyond me...did you think that Charles Jones or Earl Cureton were talents? I know that there are a lot of people on this BBS that likes TMo because they know him personally or they went to his alma mater, etc. Well, of course, I don't expect to change your opinion of him, but to the lurkers out there, who don't know any better, they need to know that TMo has been grossly exaggerated. And saying stuff like "it's obvious he is a talent" gives them a false impression of him. Here is a question for all you TMo supporters: if TMo is such a talent, then why did his scoring drop for 2 consecutive years at Maryland (his Jr and Sr years)? I know, I know....he didn't have the Franchise, but if he is still such a "talent" then wouldn't he be able to continue to score without relying on the help of other players? The problem is that TMo is not a creator....he has to have other people set him up, which sounds more like a role player. And this excuse of playing for next year doesn't hold water for me. It's like someone else said, why are Francis and Mobley playing 40+ minutes a game? Why not more Oscar or even Collier or Boney? I used to defend Rudy almost at every opportunity...hell, I was the "anti-Caveman". Now, though, I am finding it hard to defend his actions...literally stupefying.
Hey Manny, Morris is a talent. It's just that his mindset will probably relegate him to role player status. In the end though I imagine him being an awesome role player. The pick that Detroit is now sending Atlanta can be any pick they have or can get anywhere in the first round for the next few years. You think it'll be any good. I'll tell you right now it'll be bad and unfortunately gauranteed. Give Morris a little time b4 you lose it.
You have to blame last night's game on Rudy's system. It should have been Cuttino that was sitting in the corner waiting for his man to rotate off of him. It just happened to be TMo that was the open guy. Granted, he is not the guy you want to take that shot, but, if he had made either or both of those shots, we would be talking about sizing his blazer for the Hall of Fame (or similar fancies).
Manny, EG is a special player and for some reason he has adjusted quickly, practically out of high school. Who knows it could be because his brother was a college basketball player and he lived with him during his teens and the fact that he has a cousin in the NBA, I do not know. You are using those standards to evaluate Tmo which is unwise. How could you mention folks like Earl and CJ! How about Al Harrington, Bender and countless others who are coming into their own after a few years in the league. There is room and capacity for improvement with Tmo. As far as I am concerned there are very few things he cannot do on the basketball court. Yes I would like him to be more aggressive but who knows how disruptive that would be on this team. I am also happy that he is not a punk. Tmo is not remotely part of this team's problems and when the team gets it act together, Tmo will be a key element. Mark my words. I do not see how you would have difficulty seeing Tmo as a very effective player, one year from now.
He is playing like Tim Breaux... He does have potential though - unlike #15 mentioned above... I just wish he would hit an open shot.
T-mo's college 3 point average was higher than Eddie Griffin's. I'd be the first to admit that he's not making the shots he can, but I also realize he's capable of converting on those shots. As for him taking those shots down the strech? That's a problem with Rudy and his system. I can assure you Morris wasn't asking to have plays called for him In your opinion that may be true, but half a season is hardly the most accurate timeframe to judge a Rookie. Once again a pretty bold statement, on very little info. I'm curious how you've come to this conclusion. Well I'd first ask that you get your facts straight. His scoring average went up over his Junior year, not signifigantly but go up it did. Second, no one's ever billed Morris as a creator, so I'm puzzled where you've come up with this assumption. I don't remember anyone saying that he was going to be the star of this team. He's a talent because he's capable of doing a multitude of things on the basketball court. He plays tough defense, he rebounds well, blocks shots, he's got solid ball handling skills, he works well inside the offense, he passes the ball, he can shoot the ball well, although he isn't right now. He's an all around talented player, and understands his role on the team. He's not going to pull a Moochie and try to do more than he's capable of. He's just a very talented role player, and I don't think anyone's claimed otherwise. I think once he's had time to acclimate himself to the NBA and starts shooting again, I don't see why he can't put up 12 points a game, 7 rebounds, a couple steals assists and blocks. I look at his Junior year numbers and I think that's the type of player he could easily develop into, probably with a point or 2 fewer per game. And as maybe the 4th option in the offense, that's not too bad. It's just going to take some time. Year Team G FGP 3PT% FTP BPG SPG RPG APG PPG 97-98 Maryland 32 .523 35.1 69.5 0.9 0.8 3.5 0.8 7.4 98-99 Maryland 34 .551 35.5 82.5 2.3 1.5 7.1 1.7 15.3 99-00 Maryland 34 .493 36.5 76.1 2.1 1.6 8.6 2.4 15.8 00-01 Maryland 36 .432 28.9 79.5 2.2 0.9 7.7 1.9 12.2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DIV I TOTALS 126 .495 33.8 78.0 1.2 1.9 6.7 1.7 12.7
Ok, here are my 2 cents. People have complained that Rudy doesn't discipline his players when they make mistakes etc. Now people complain when he sits a guy having a bad night on the bench. Isn't that the kind of learning and teaching that people have been asking for? It seems Rudy is d#mned if does and d#mned if doesn't. EG say because he was having an off game. The Rockets overcame a huge deficit with Morris on the floor, thus he was still on the floor at crunch time. How fair would it be let the guy be part of the comeback then sit him down after he worked hard to help bring the team back? TMO was having a better all around game with a better effort that night, thus he was there at crunch time. It was part of learning for both guys. While Griff has been there in the clutch he's definitely not automatic. In the Dallas game Griff had the opportunity to hit some big baskets at the end of the game and he missed, much like Morris did last night against NJ. TMO took those crutial shots and missed them because he was the open man. He was the open man becuase NJ knew that we was the most likely to miss. They were right. They weren't going to leave Mobely who had 40+ points, or Francis who had the hot hand at the moment. They left TMO because he hasn't proven he can score consistantly from the outside. The Rockets found the open man, and weren't playing 'selfishly' which they are often accused of on these boards. This time it didn't fall for the Rockets maybe next time it will. I think it matters less whether it was Morris or Griff in the game in the end, and more that the Rockets gained a one point lead, and just stopped playing defense. Here's one difference. Jefferson doesn't have any more of an outside game than Morris does(Morris, IMO, has more potential for one) but the Rockets went for his ball fakes from the outside time and time again, and allowed Jefferson to drive to the basket for good shots. NJ went ahead and let Morris shoot from the outside and came out ahead. If the Rockets played smarter defense we wouldn't have to argue this point at all.
DearRock/Jaybird: We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I hope that I'm wrong about TMo, but Jaybird, you ask how do I know that TMo is never going to average more than 6 points a game? This is going to sound crazy, but I really don't know how to explain it other than that from what I have seen, he is a good complementary player, but I think he has to work too hard to do the things he does well . I'll give you a perfect example: Kenny Thomas. Some of you might laugh, but when KT was a rookie, he had 22 rebounds in a game! That was Barkley-esque numbers there. You could just tell or at least I could that if given a chance, KT could average 7 to 9 rebounds a game and come close to scoring in double figures. I honestly don't see that in Morris. Yea, granted Rudy's system has a lot to do with it, but I still don't see the logic in having Morris in the game at the end camped out in the corner. Why not bring in EG for offense and bring TMo back in for defense? I don't think that would have been too hard to do. But it's like this quote says: Exactly. BTW - I will be the first person here to admit I'm wrong about TMo (if he proves me wrong), but so far, I'm not budging on my stance.
After all is said and done it could be Eddie was sat down simply because: * EG was tagged by the Nets all night long and his defense was even less effective when the Nets stepped up their game. -Or- * The Rockets did not need another offensive option on the floor as the indecision fairies circled above every ball handler's head. -Or- * TMo was the best match for defense AND offense at the time, including grabbing crucial rebounds late. It is ironic that TMo ends up with the ball, and is invited to shoot. But that is what the team is taught. We have a basic flex half court offensive set. The guy who is open gets the ball. He was open, he got the ball. But don't forget we would not have been that close if we hadn't defensively pressed the Net's collective butt prior to that, including TMo's crucial stops and effective interference.
Now, pops, you know that I probably respect you more than any other poster here, but I will have to disagree with you on the "guy who is open gets the ball" theory. I have seen too many times Francis and Mobley (especially, him) and Moochie drive into the teeth of the defense and throw up some weak shot that has no chance of going in when guys like EG, Oscar, Walt, etc. are wide open for a jump shot. It's frustrating for me, as a fan, to see basketball played like that & then when they finally do the fundamentally correct thing in passing to the guy who is open it's to our worst shooter. I'm sure you've been asked this before, but I will ask you again anyways. Does Rudy think that TMo can be a Robert Horry type? Someone who can knock down 3's? I would be curious to know, if you know, who is really pushing Morris to shoot 3's. Does he feel that he has to because of Rudy/the system or is he that confident in himself to make those shots?
Eddie was having a poor outside shooting game, but his low post game was a thing of beauty. He hit his first two inside buckets, and never got the ball down low again. For a team that is lacking a low post threat, not going to Eddie was yet another stupid decision by Rudy.
