God, how many sillinesss. Foolish and foolish and foolish posts. I don't know if Mo detractors meet well Mo taylor. Do you know who is that person? That's not the sensation. 1.) First of all. How you can say Mo makes a poor defense and not mention Mr. Eddie Griffin. It's incredible that you can defnd more at a rookie that haven't demostrated nothing, NOTHING, except shot one three and another three and other and other, than a player who have demostrated a contrasted talent. Huricano, I don't think that shot one and other and other threes can be a PF responsability, altough you don't say nothing about Griffin, nooo, he's a young player with a great potential, he must be starter. And of course he has a great defense, he must be named BETTER DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR. C'mon the Mo defense it's a good defense, he have physical conditions and attitude. But people see easier to say "he's a fatty..." and if you see a rockets game, you see also that he can come to play the best defense of the team, and I know taht easy, but think about it. 2.) YEs he's not a big rebounder, but Steve is not a grat passer, cuttino is crazy sometimes... and you can say:"oo francis give only 6 assists per game, not 9. ANd that's a PG responsability, so he can't play, better, let's trade him" All playershave his strengths and weaknesses, you can't say O´neal is a bad player because he doesn't knows whats a jump shot. 3.) It's clear that he knows well this game, he's a talented player, a very talented player. He can do things that nobody can do on this team. He have a shot at long distance(here in spain the distance is on metres, so I don't know well how many foots are...) , he can put the ball on the floor, dribble with his size... TALENT, and the most impotant, make the rigth decision every moment and create spaces an game from the low post. 4.) IT's a S**t don't know english well. I can't say many things that I think an I don't know explain. BUt I think it´s well explained + o -. Sorry by the errors on the writing.
My thoughts exactly. I think Mo can be an effective bench player scoring 12-18 points a game (like he did in March) with Cato as the defensive/rebounding specialist, who will hopefully cover for some of Mo's defensive liabilities. That's a good (not perfect since both of their contracts are absurd) second unit for the frontcourt IMHO. You need instant offense in the second unit and unless Mobley comes in off the bench, Mo is about all you have right now. Of course this does not mean that I wouldn't entertain trade offers to get that big physical PF...and heck yeah, everyone wants Brand, myself included, but is it realistic....I dunno. If Brand was an unrestricted FA this year, he would be right next to Kidd as the most highly sought after FA.
ok tell me i read this a priase for NO-Mo Taylor. now do not get me wrong he got game when it comes to scoring. BUt lets be real, Rudy will play for 42 minutes if you are worth anything and Mo taylor is a definsive liability like Darryl Ward was for the astros.. and speaking of BIG BODIES. with all that A$$ he got should he averge more rebound on just shere size cause he covers the hole paint. I say trade, mooch, and grif to the Mavs for Raja bell and Lafrainz. Dallas will have more cookie doe players and we will ad atleat a little toughness
Anyone who is as impressed with Mo Taylor as the creator of this thread is obviously thinks scoring is the only stat that matters in the game. Mo Taylor is a good scorer. His value ends there. And unfortunately for Taylor fans, he plays power forward, a position where it as important if not more important to be able to play physical post defense and rebound. Taylor is among the worst rebounding power forwards in the game today. His defense isn't much better. And furthermore, the top priority of this team is to bring Yao along as quickly as possible. What could speed that process up more than having a competent power forward playing beside him? Mo Taylor is not the answer at power forward for Houston. Personally, I don't think he should be a starting power forward for any team in the NBA. Someone mentioned that he played great in L.A. Not really. Yes he scored more for a lousy Clipper team than he has in Houston, but his rebounding and post defense were downright pathetic then too. I never liked Houston throwing big money at Taylor. He'd be a great 6th man, but you need more from your starting power forward than Mo can give you.
That is an pretty expensive second unit considering the two plays 25-30 minute a game combined. my suggestions: 1) play Cato as 4 with Yao being and rotate Cato to 5 when Taylor plays 4. or 2) let Clippers sign Brand and trade for cato+filler, Clippers need a center next season. 3) Sign PJ outright with the MLE, then think about how to get rid of EG and Taylor. 4) In any case, keep Posey, he is the most usable F we currently have. And don't trade Rice for another bad contract. Rox is going to need some serious money when Yao's rookie contract expires, unless Rox doesn't want to keep him. I don't see that happening.
While we're stuck with Mo Taylor, we might as well concentrate on his good points...instant offense and great passing. However, I'd give him up, and EG with him, to the Knicks in exchange for Kurt Thomas and Othella Harrington (I'll go to realgm later, since the trade won't happen anyway), so that we could get some nastiness and/or offensive rebounding at the 4 spot. That's the only NY trade I'd actually make. One way or the other, we do need to upgrade at the 4. We need a better rebounder. I like Mo, but he isn't getting the job done.
Their is nobody on the rockets basketball team that has the uncanny ability to draw a defensive charge better than Taylor, he will put his body on the line out there. His defense is way underrated.
Deuce Rings, My thoughts exactly. Dani Boy, Steve is a Better passer than Mo is a rebounder. Steve is also a better Rebounder at point guard than Mo is at Power forward. All I am asking is that Mo put in a little effort on the rebounding front. That is not to much to ask of a guy who makes over 6 million a year and is 6"9 or 6'10 and well over 260 pounds. The Rockets list him at 260. (We all know he weighs more than that.) The point is, when your forwards don't rebound, your guards are left to pick up the slack. The result, it screws up your running game and transition defense. On the defensive end, your guards are not available to receive the ball down court after a rebound so they have fewer fast break points. On the offensive end, because your guards are busy rebounding, the team’s transition defense is compromised, and they allow more transition and fast break points. If I remember correctly, the rockets had one of the best transition defenses in the mid 90's. Rudy would always have the guards retreat as soon as a shot was taken to prevent the fast break. Rudy had confidence in his center and forwards to rebound the ball. All I am saying is that Mo's lack of rebounding has significant negative effect on the team. 2.) I am not saying Mo is a bad player. It is just that he does not own up his responsibilities to the team. Basketball is a team game. And his lack of effort is SELFISH. At least Oneal owns up to his responsibilities to the team. And at Center and power forward you don't have to have a mid range Jump Shot to be effective. You are close enough to the basket that if you rebound the ball, and you are active, you will score 4 to 10 points a game on lay-ups, dunks, and put-backs easily. Look at Amare, he doesn't have a jump shot, but he was able to help his team WIN, and because people in the media felt he helped his team WIN more than Yao, he won rookie of the year. Are you going to tell that you would take Mo over Amare? I don't want to speak for anyone, but I don't think most people on this board would take Mo over Amare. Amare is not the only example, (I don't want this post to be a page and half long) but there are several guys in the league who don't have a jump shot that score 10 to 15 points a game at a significantly better shooting percentage than Mo. And every time a play is drawn for Mo to take a jump shot, it is just that many fewer touches for the guys at the 1, 2 and 3 positions to take. And those are the guys you who are supposed to be taking the mid range jumpers. Mo does not own up to his responsibilities to the team, and he is capable of doing that. And he certainly does not do it for 6 million. ROXTXIA, said it nice and sweet. "I like Mo, but he isn't getting the job done." And there are guys that do for a whole hellava lot less. 3.) Jump Shooter, you said his defense is underrated. I beg to differ. Just because a guy can draw a charge does not mean he is a good defender. For me to say a guy plays average to good defense, he has to be able to play solid one on one, man-to-man defense for 30 to 35 minutes a game. I don't think Mo does that. You can disagree with me if you want. My personal opinion is if he can draw a charge, that is a bonus if your guy can play one on one defense. If he can't then he is a liability when he is on the floor. There are just to many Power Forwards in the west that will chew Mo up alive, especially in the playoffs when everyone takes it to the next level. You just can't have the other teams Power Forward go off for an easy 20 to 30 points. Bottom line, unless MO starts to rebound and play defense, JVG will bench his ass so fast, it won't even be funny.
Huricane, I still think Mo defense is a good defense. I've some games on my mind of this year with Mo making a good defense on the low post and out of the zone. He have a great body. He's not fat as other years. ANd he have speed to defend out at Garnett, Wallace... MO in PHX could have made better stats than Amare in his minutes. He could make 20 points with the same responsability of Amare, and with this minutes, sure he won't take 10 or 9 rebounds, but 7, 8 yes. If Mo plays 35 minutes this season Rockets are in playoffs. Rudy didn't give regularity in playing time to Mo. He gave 30 minutes in one game and 5 in other, and is very difficult have a regularity in your game with that. Sure, there would have been better put him 22 minutes in all games, the same time always, and his rebound could be higher, and also his points. But I can't change your opinion, you have your arguments, like very people, against Mo and if you see that Taylor don't play defense, well. So let's trade Taylor and do other "LIKELY TRADE", and then let's see how Mo is all-star in east and we have the CHOSEN ONE Griffin.
SOFTEE is what is used describing Taylor. The yr the Rockets won 45 games, he barely beat out Mobley for 3rd on the team. Career underacheiver making 8mill a yr to play 25 mins a night sometime. The only reason I would play Taylor is to up his value so I can trade him for someone. If not for that, I would rather spend the time developing Griffin than Taylor. People say Eddie is a poor rebounder , but in those 23 mins he grabbe 6 plus rebs. If he gets up to 35mins, he can grab 10 or more rebs. Eddie had 12 double digit rebounding games whereas Taylor had 2.
I wonder how much can be attributed to the achilles injury, because if Mo's lack of leaping ability is what really hurts him on the defensive end of the court (a bit on the offensive end as well; I'd cringe when I see him take it to the basket and his hand barely clear the rim). He seems to be a fundamentally solid positional defender, but the bigger PFs of the league simply just shoot over him, and this carries over to rebounding as well. If he gets some serious rehab back in this offseason and improves his jumping to pre-injury levels (or better) I think you see his entire game improve. He'll never be an elite rebounder or defender though, and it's probably optomistic to think that even with athletic improvement he'll even be an average rebounder. The problem is, if I'm running the team, do you want two average rebounders and defenders anchoring the middle? I like Mo's game, but I seriously question if he's a long-term answer for the team.
43% shooting for a post player is hideous. Francis and Mobley are not post players. Frankly, Taylor has been an underachiever and I don't care how anyone spins it. Three rebounds for a player his size is down right criminal. With a finesse player like Yao, we need a stronger PF. Taylor would be more effective with a Ben Wallace\Mutombo (sp) type center that can do the "dirty work".
