Deuce, of course, both Rice and MoT are liabilities. Just because Tmo is not a ball hog, does not mean he hurt the offense. The guy passes the ball better than both and has been hitting his open shots. He takes those shots with no hesitation and for an offense that creates mismatches to get open shots, all you need is somebody to knock them down and Tmo does just that at the most critical times of the game.
Props for the 3 blocks he had which many do not notice especially the huge one he had against Marburry that got stuck between the rim and the board. He is twiner - 3 or 4 and don't know how he will fit into this team's future. He is a serviceable player who will not demand the ball to be happy. He was playing well in the pre-season before he injured his ankle. The down side of this is that our boy Boki will not see the hardcourt with Posey, Hawk and now Terrence Morris.
TMo played great against the Suns.... but I'm not ready to call him our savior. He is a good role player and hustles. He can hit his open shots, which is something MoT hasn't done this year. I think once MoT gets back into the flow of things and his injuries heal up he will be a offensive asset. TMo playing great.
Tmo! Tmo! Remember, he was wide open last year, too, and only shot around 38%. Don't forget the dunk on Kwame Brown!!! They replayed that dunk 40x times on local cable here.
I agree with Deuce that Rice and Taylor spread the defense (if they actually do) only by reputation. Neither of them has been shooting well when left open. Hell, Rice hasn't been shooting consistently ever since he went to LA. Maybe it has to do with his injuries. Whatever, the fact is he can't shoot like when he was an all-star player now. The only question I want to ask about TMo is: can he play good defense at the 4 against the big gun PFs in the West. If he can, then I say he is a better backup 3/4 than Taylor and Rice. BTW, I think the reason why TMo was in the game for so long was because Griffin got two fouls in the first quarter. Am I right?
I don't miss rice at all. He was too much of a liability on the defensive end and didn't hustle very much. I do miss MoT because when MoT is on, he can take over a game. He needs to lose 20 lbs though. The guy just doesn't cary his weight very well.
No you are not right on that. EG did have a bad start but came back and played well. I was somewhat surprised that he did not bring back EG at the end but it seems that Rudy gave the minutes normally given to MoT to Tmo. Tmo played well and was doing a good overall job. Contrary to what HP said about Tmo, it seems Tmo has justified the obvious faith Rudy and the players have in Tmo. There just does not seem to be in hesitation on anyone's part to involve Tmo and rely on him, even in crunch time. The recent record of the team and the manner and style of the team's play suggest to me that Tmo, who has played significant minutes, is a rotation player. Earlier in the season I said that Tmo was more talented than KT and recently I speculated that the presence of Tmo may have made it easier for CD to trade KT.
Rockbox, I cannot agree with you more. In addition, we are appoaching the time of the season that we cannot wait too much longer for MoT to get his act together, especially when you have a choice. We are coming up on the all star break and we are well within the reach of the 3rd seed. The young guns seem to be on the right page and we should just go in that direction. We should view whatever MoT gives us as gravy and he should concentrate more on losing weight instead of being a major contributor on this team this year. It will take too much out of him and the team to get him to where we need him to be. Hey you do not see the Suns sitting around and pining for Gugli. They are moving on and doing what they have to do and, up until this week, appear to have had a greater sense of urgency than us.
Are you serious?? Taylor has better handles and better footwork than Morris, even when Taylor was younger. Until T-Mo take the game by the horns offensively like MoT has often shown he can, I'd hold off declaring T-Mo an offensive equal of Mo-T.
heypartner: "Bowen hurts Duncan" Far be it from humble little me to question the mighty heypartner, but how does it hurt Duncan to be paired with the NBA's #2 (47%) 3-point shooter? Perhaps this is HP relying on Bowen's reputation as a poor shooter, even though he has (like TMo) improved? Even if TMo is only hitting shots because he's being left open, so what? It's still two points. If -- and this is a big if -- people start hawking him, then he has done his job and made the defense play Steve and Cat one on one. I say play him till he plays himself out of the rotation.
TMo is a big help to the rox, and yeah I believe TMo will surpass MoT in a few years, if not only because MoT has probly already peaked due to his injury. And Bowen used to be a huge offensive liability to the spurs, yet now he's shooting much better (although that's basically all the offense he has). His D has always been the plus side, and it shows quite often. Besides the fact that the spurs don't really have a better 3 to start in place of Bowen, he does not hurt Duncan a whole lot.
Good god!! When did that happen. But the anecdote still got across visually what I was trying to say, because it was soooo true last year. I thought of using Shandon as the example, but figured that would cause an argument. My apologies to Bowen. Now that you set the record straight regarding Bowen, are you saying TMo is improving at 1 for 14 on 3s. From my seats, defenses are daring TMo to shoot, and he's not exciting me like Posey is, and Rice is rarely ever that wide open. TMo's improved offense is exciting me about as much as Cato's improved offense. It's like you have to be a diehard Rox fan looking for even the slightest improvement to see it or believe it. But ricealum, honestly, tell me...do you think opposing teams consider TMo ito be a better offensive player to Maurice. ? Do you believe it? As much as I love defense over offense, I have always preferred a rotation that had guys that could get red hot off the bench. MoT just needs to get his legs under him and jump properly (he's admitted to jumping without his right foot) to get it back.
HP, Tmo is not shooting the 3 very well, in fact, he is not shooting it very often either. If you notice he has moved in a bout 2-3 feet to a shot that he is more comfortable making, and his percentage has gone up. I like the 18-20 footer...at least he is playing within himself. DD
Bowen is a career (gasp) 38% FG shooter and a career (gasp squared) 56% FT shooter--it isn't reputation but a consistent history. I admit his career 37% from the 3 isn't bad--though it isn't great considering the looks he gets. What you also fail to mention is along with his best brief stretch of FG shooting in his career, also consider his FT shooting is an unthinkable 42%. The guy is also well over 30, I don't think he improved so much as being even further selective (only shooting if he is way, way, wide open) and just had a hot streak from the 3 land land while an equally horrid streak from the line--those things will even out. He also still is only averaging 7 PPG on 31 MPG. There is no question in my mind he hurts the Spurs offense and will be a major weakness in their offense down the line--that is the major reason Jackson is getting as many shots as he is. As far as Tmo--I have been pleasantly surprised with what I have seen from him. But he still misses too many wide open shots for me--I think he needs to work harder to find 18-20 foot range floor spots he is more of a dead eye on to ever move beyond the 9th-10th man role or emergency 6th-7th man. Also, I think EG should have got more of his minutes the other night--I think EG is just a little more disruptive and better on the boards with his length, plus is a threat from 3 land. Though I admit many of the criticisms of Tmo should apply to EG--finding the spots on the floor they are really efficient at. Except in EG's case I hate it when takes 18-20 footers because he is no better at them than 3s--so just take the 3s Eddie or get in the 12 foot range, just don't get caught in between.
DaDakota, 20% of Morris's shots are 3s. Last year it was 25%. Compare this to 30% by Griffin this year, and 41% last year. The 3 pt selection by Morris is not that much different, especially considering he can do that dribble to 18', because the defenses want him to shoot. I think all the difference is is that this offense allows him to get more easy buckets around the rim, than last year. I don't see this great improvement in midrange. What do you think about the conversation regarding how guys like Bowen, Shandon, and TMo can hurt offenses more than their stats show. Do you not believe that the mere presence of Rice or Maurice on the court makes Yao's life easier, not to mention their chemistry with Yao? That's the conversation I'm interested in, not some discussion of how a marginal improvement in TMo will eventually stop defenses from daring him to shoot....or the more laughable claims that TMo's offense is better than Maurice. it's like, people can bash Maurice if they want, but propping Morris's offense to that level is too much bashing for me, in the transparent guise of praise.
heypartner: "Now that you set the record straight regarding Bowen, are you saying TMo is improving at 1 for 14 on 3s. [...] do you think opposing teams consider TMo ito be a better offensive player to Maurice. ? Do you believe it?" No, no, and no. I will only go on the record as saying he deserves a spot in the rotation. Last game we used nine players (Yao/Cato, Griffin/TMo, Posey/Hawk, Cat, Steve/Mooch) and when Mo returns, what happens? For me, I think we figure out a way to keep TMo and (possibly) Hawk in the rotation, even if it means going ten deep. Yes, I know eight deep is what almost everyone does in the playoffs, but it's not necessary to settle on an eight man rotation yet. And remember, over the course of the season, saving one minute per game is the equivalent of playing two fewer games per season. If you have depth, use it. You'll be glad you did when your stars' legs still have kick in the fourth quarter of important playoff game... "What do you think about the conversation regarding how guys like Bowen, Shandon, and TMo can hurt offenses more than their stats show. Do you not believe that the mere presence of Rice or Maurice on the court makes Yao's life easier, not to mention their chemistry with Yao?" I can't honestly comment on this, not having seen enough games. All I will say is that you're probably right, but that players like Taylor and Rice can also help the offense less that their stats show. Taylor and Rice are clearly more dangerous offensive threats than TMo (or can be), but they can also hurt the team when they're on the floor. Taylor's defense is underrated, but I do think that if we need a stop or an offensive board, I'd rather have TMo on the floor. No question the $8 Million Men deserve more minutes (if healthy and producing) than TMo, but TMo does deserve some.
Heyp, I think you exagerate the ease by which MoT makes everyone else's offensive opportunities easier. By your logic shouldn't the team be scoring more points per game on average when Taylor is playing signifigant minutes? If you take the games either one has played 20 minutes or more, shouldn't the Rockets be scoring more points per game when Mo Taylor is playing 20 minutes a game than games when Morris is? 20 minutes is an ample ammount of time where each player should affect the Rockets offense. When Morris plays 20 minutes or more, the Rockets have averaged 94.2 ppg and have a 7-2 record. When Taylor has played 20 minutes or more the rockets average 89.1 ppg and have a 5-7 record. There seems to be no apparent problem scoring when Morris has played signifigant minutes. So where exactly is he a hinderance? I'd agree in part that whomever gets doubled by Morris' man has a slightly harder time getting his individual numbers, but I think you exagerate the effect it has on the overall offensive output of the team.
Jaybird, that was an excellent post, shows the chemistry of Terence being on the court. Another point in comparisons, Terence is ONLY costing the Rockets 1M over two years, what is MoT costing???????? FREDTERP
