Mo Taylor: You Are On The Clock!!

Actually Eddie Griffin is the one on the clock, he's the one that is starting. Why do you hate Mo Taylor so much?

 

It's been hard to figure out why Mo has been in such a funk this
year.. he had a couple of decent games when he first got back,
but since then he just has not been able to get anything going..
maybe he's just one of those players who needs to get worked
hard in a game or two, play a LOT of minutes, really get a froth on,
before he breaks out.. I dunno..

But I hope he does it sooner than later.. if you listened to Walton
last night for a change, instead of Bill and Calvin, Walton was ALL
over Eddie's case.. being pretty harsh really.. I don't know how
accurate he was in calling EG the 'worst transition defender' he
has seen in years, but in any case it seems quite clear that EG is
still a couple of years away from really becoming the force we all
hope he will be.. but hey he's only 20, so no biggie..

It just means that we had BETTER get some decent production
out of the combo of MoT and EG..

(on a side note - so what does the Posey signing do to Hawk?)

ciao

 

Rocks, Mo Taylor was terrible last night. Yes he may be rusty after not playing in the last few games but seriously, who's better right now - Mo Taylor or Cato?

Taylor has a hard time rebounding and his offense game is non-existent.

Trading KT will give Mo T more playing time by default. However, if he doesnt start playing better, we should explore other possibilities like letting Cato back up both the C and PF.

 

I really like Taylor but it has been hard to watch him this season. He looks good physically, but he seems like he has totally lost his game. The question is will he EVER get it back; he is definitely not the same player he was before the injury. He is playing himself out of ANY playing time.

 

I sure wish you guys would get off Mo Taylor's back.

I mean, the guy is coming off an entire missed season. He is going to come around. Now that KT is gone, Mo will finally get his chance to shine.

As for the game last night, Mo T made a couple of great hustling plays. He had 4 offensive rebounds in limited minutes last night against the beasts of the east. And he made a couple of tough shots in the paint. Mo T will be alright

People say he cant rebound, he averaged 6 a game in 2000-2001. Plus, his big body helps the Rockets interior defense. And people were not calling him a detriment when he helped the Rockets to a 45-37 record 2 years ago.

More importantly, once Taylor gets a flow going, he is one that can actually hit a 20 footer with any sort of consistency. And his low post game is underrated. He has a decent jump hook, and its because of that big body he can get off that shot.

and for fun value, he is a sick dunker.

 

heh...bashing with the KT stick...nice...

I'm actually torn on this one..
I know Mo has some game...but he aint showing it right now.
I'm a patient man tho..if Mo is still sucking it up by the break, I'm really gonna start to wonder about him.

oh yea...spending more time with Mr Pine than Yao...priceless.

 

I'm willing to wait a few weeks before I pass judgement on MO's play. I hear he works out hard during practices and of course needs to find his game rhythm time again, so let's give him some time and support. I'm sure he'll get his game back and the Rockets will go deep into the playoffs.

 

It's because he averaged 6 a game that people say he can't rebound. Doh.

 

Cato is playing like a beast right now. He's probably playing better than half the starting centers in the league, he's just unfortunately playing behind the guy who's playing better than every other center not named Shaquille. Besides, Taylor has played almost exclusively PF, and Cato has played nothing but center. Why bother comparing them?

As for Taylor having a hard time rebounding...the Rockets are absolutely crushing opponents on the boards. Indiana came into the game as the #5 rebounding team in the league. Yao has been consistently averaging 10+ lately. Cato has been putting on rebounding clinics in limited minutes, and Eddie is a good rebounder as well. I have yet to see us lose because of Taylor's inability to rebound (never mind the solid rebounding job he did last night, even with Cato absolutely dominating the boards next to him). Taylor's offense is simply rusty. We know he has the sweet 17 foot touch, and he's been working inside. He started getting buckets to go in in the 4th quarter last night, and is a good passer. Most importantly, he doesn't get in Yao's way.

 

Mo will come around, just wait. He's still recovering from the injury, I assume. Now that we won't have to rely on him for rebounding like a couple of years ago, there should be less people whining about his play.

I like the idea of a twin towers thing with Yao and Cato, but I'd be worried that they'd both get in foul trouble, or for example Cato would and Yao would end up having to play too many minutes and get tired. It may be a good idea in the future, when Yao gets used to the grueling schedule, but for now I like the way it's working.

 

well everyone says KT has no problem rebounding, but he only averaged 7 per game last season.

 

Correct. Kenny was no great shakes on the boards but he did <i>everything</i> he could do. Taylor has never had that approach. That's my problem with him. He doesn't invest the time and/or energy to work on rebounding and defensive fundamentals. Once he puts forth the effort, I'll leave him alone. Until then he's a defensive liability.

 

If we could've shipped MoT's contract out, we would've. The reason we traded KT is because of Griffin's potential and MoT's contract.

I trust Mo to do much much better now that KT is gone though. He will NEVER be the rebounder we want him to be. In extended minutes, he may average 6. But he's not going to get extended minutes with Griffin around, so expect 4 or 5 in 25 minutes or so. That's decent, and good enough considering both our C's are rebounding machines.

This was a GREAT trade for the Rockets. You'll see how much better both Griffin and MoT become now that Kenny is gone.

One thing I've always suggested to MoT: Lose a few more pounds. He doesn't bang that much, and with the slight drop in pounds, he's less likely to re-injure himself, and will be a step quicker. It may also help his rebounding.

 

Great post!
I completely agree with every thing you just pointed out. I really do hope he kinda takes a turn and starts to rebound and defend well. Perhaps he'll follow Othella Harrington's footsteps and begin to try to rebound like mad.

 

Well Cat is playing better this year, but no where near his 7 mil a year salary, but MT is 100 percent untradable with his fat bloated salary. The only way the Rockets get rid of MT is either by packaging him with another player, or throwing in a draft pick, or accepting another washed up player in return. Here are three players not worth their salary.

MT: Our own version of Vin Baker. A complete waste of salary cap space, and total non factor on the team. 100 percent untradable, unless the rockets sweeten the deal, or accept another over payed bad player in return.

GR: Not worth the salary, but is at least hitting a few outside jumpers, and only has two years left on his contract.

KC: Until this year, was a complete failure as a center, and his monster contract probably represented the biggest mistake the Rockets front office ever made. Even playing better, he is still not worth his salary, and probably is 90 percent untradable. He's not quite as untradable as MT, he'll still be a Rocket forever, unless the Rockets throw in a number one, or accept another bum in return.

Don't forget that the Rockets have to accept an equal salary in return for any one of these guys.

Raven

 

The edit button doesn't seem to work, but when I typed Cat in my first paragraph, I meant Cato.

Raven

 

I liked MoT's pass to Rice at the close of the indy game. Sweet. If he can pass from the post - that's an entirely new, more valuable weapon next to Ming or taking that attack forward with Cato.

Clankathon with the J. I hope he gets motivated to hit the open teammate or a cutter like Ming has done. You have to think that's infectious. Hope he finds his legs to hit that midrange shot.
We need that, and some muscle.

 

Raven, Cato makes almost 2M less than the average C in the league, 2.1M less than starting C's, and .5M more than backup C's.

We've already been through this. Cato doesn't have a big contract. He's easily a starter in this league. No doubt about it. He makes less than the average starter at C. I took Shaq out of the equation, and Cato still made less than the average C.

He's better than tons of starting C's on playoff teams. He's not untradeable, but we need him, unless we can get a quality backup in return. Andrew Declerq is not quality. When I say quality, I mean a starter on 10 teams.

BTW, no we don't have to take back the same contracts to trade these guys. That's an inaccurate statement. We can take back Tyrone Hill, for example, and it would only be 10M. We can also take back Chris Mills and Bob Sura, and Mills contract would expire, leaving us with half of Cato's contract. You have to think long-term.

Rice is valuable to us. He really provides spacing on the floor with his perimeter game and smooth post game. His experience is PRICELESS. It's difficult to get experience like that in this league, and with such a short contract. This coming offseason, he'll be a huge commodity. Just like Juwan Howard, his contract will be for 1 year.

The only bad contract we have is MoT. But, at the time, it didn't seem bad. He just put in a great season, showed constant improvement throughout the season, and was through an offseason of intense workout and had dropped some extra pounds too. For the MoT we got, plus an offseason of INTENSE improvement on his game, physically as well as technique, I think the contract wasn't such a terrible idea. Now, of course, he has to get through this injury, and he's still at his original playing weight, which was a bit much to begin with. Just because someone sets his playing weight somewhere, doesn't mean it's a good playing weight for someone. We need to see Mo recover, and then some, for him to be playable and tradeable eventually.

I think MoT's return to health and Griffin's breakout from his shell will coincide perfectly for us to trade MoT for a veteran backup with a short contract.

This team is looking real good. Now, more than before, I can agree with some people who say "let them develop chemistry."

But then, when the offseason comes, its time to become contenders. Mooch and MoT shouldn't be here long term. We also need to sign Tyrone Hill to a minimum contract in the offseason to backup Griff next year.

I love the direction we have. Here's what I hope we look like by NEXT midseason:

Ming/Cato
Griff/TyHill/T-Mo
Posey/Boki/T-Mo
Mobley/Posey
Francis/Veteran FA signing

That's 10. When it's time to make a push, or when the playoffs come, cut T-Mo and the backup PG out of the picture, and we have a VERY solid 8-man rotation. Finals-worthy almost.