Sounds good on paper but I'll believe when I see it for more than one game. From Monday's Chronicle: Getting tough fine for Taylor By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Epiphany had come long before its rewards. Maurice Taylor had finally gotten it. Something clicked. He would be strong and confident. He would draw contact and deliver more. He would use his wide body as a weapon and cause damage. The crossover dribbles and soft jumpers were nice, but it was past time to stop being a nice guy. Armed with this insight, Taylor went out and rolled up eight points. Denver's Antonio McDyess had 40 -- and 20 rebounds. A game later, Taylor had a nothing-special 12 points. By the next day, he was so sick he could not get out of bed. Another game would slip by with Taylor unable to employ his revised game plan. Even when he returned, he was not strong enough to offer much more than four points while Sacramento's Chris Webber rolled up 37. But Taylor had made a decision in Denver, and in Seattle on Saturday, he finally attacked. He went at defenders instead of fading softly away, slammed home fast breaks and finished drives. He returned power to his power forward position. "I was really getting frustrated the last couple of weeks with the way I was playing," Taylor said. "I really wanted to be aggressive and go to the basket. I talked to my coaches, and they told me when I'm aggressive and going to the basket, a lot of the big fellas can't move their feet and stay in front of me. "I wanted to get inside and get some easy baskets early, instead of just shooting jumpers. I wanted to get some easy baskets, get to the line, and that's what helped me." Taylor had 20 forceful points against the SuperSonics, his most prolific scoring game since Nov. 9 (the last time the Rockets faced the Grizzlies, tonight's opponent), and led the Rockets in rebounds (seven) for the first time in 10 games. With the Rockets now set to face an old favorite -- Othella Harrington -- the new forward sounds like a new man. "It was hard," Taylor said of adjusting to a new team. "I'm not used to it. I feel like if I'm aggressive and going to the basket and rebounding, then I'm going to get my opportunities. I got out in the open court and got some baskets, so that helped. "It's a lot easier that way, because I'm not standing around as much when we run our sets. It's a lot easier to get into the flow when you've taken a few free throws, ran up and down, got a few easy baskets, a few layups. It opens up your game a lot more. Now, when I'm driving, guys have to decide to step back, and that's when I can hit my jumper." Signed to a one-year contract as a free agent, Taylor had been showing little to make him the sort of commodity he was not last season and plans to be next summer. His was something of a free-agent run, but Taylor was going in the wrong direction. "I'm not thinking about what other teams might think," he said. "I'm thinking about helping Houston. I had that problem last year. I was thinking about what teams around the league were thinking about me. It really hurt my game. So this year, I just want to help this team." Taylor had been pushing himself to show a new team and its fans why he was brought in. But he said on Saturday that he no longer worried about that because coaches continued to show faith he would turn around his slow start. After averaging 17.1 points last season with the Clippers, Taylor entered Saturday's game averaging just 9.9. Having pushed his rebounding average to 6.5 in 1999-2000, he was down to a career-low 3.8, tied for sixth on the team. "They (the coaches) have not been as frustrated with me as I've been with myself," Taylor said. "They've been telling me, `Just calm down. We know you can play. We know what you can do.' "But them telling me with me not doing it is really frustrating for me. So to have a big game and get going helps out a lot." This is not to say the Rockets' coaches have been satisfied. Taylor's potential value to the team remains clear, but it still has to be realized. "He's talented, he makes tough shots, and he's new," head coach Rudy Tomjanovich said before the start of the road trip. "It's going to take some time. I'm just happy with some of the things he brings to the team, an added offensive dimension. There are adjustments to make, but he has to make them." The decision to make them, however, was made last month. "I knew what I had to do," Taylor said. "It was just frustrating, real frustrating, waiting to do it." ------------------ I voted YES!
YAWN!!! One solid game does not make a career. IMO, dude still has a lot to prove. Now, if he can push his average upwards to his Sat. totals, OK. But until then, YAWN!! ------------------ "We make a lot, but we spend a lot." Patrick Ewing, alumnus, Georgetown University
If Moe keeps it up he may make a beleiver out of me. He could be a Poor man's KT On the real If he can continue I would be very happy with out PFs. [I feel the need to defend KT cause of all the bashers . .] BUt they could be a Potent 1-2 Rocket River ------------------
Screw that. He knows he'll cash in as a free agent this summer regardless of how he plays this year. The market's that thin.
Mo won't automatically get the max. He'll get a big raise, for lack of mediocre PFs, but he'd get a bigger raise (maybe even the max) if he played well this season. ------------------ I miss Charles.
so, who is considering going into cc.net hibernation this summer to sleep through the Shandon and Mo yell-o-thons about how much of the dream windfall they each deserve. And to think Mobley gracefully took the Early Bird for 6yrs, and we had a month of wild and often sweaty speculation before that. Oh, btw...We are 11-9 this year, and Rudy DOES have this team slowing developing a new offense. woo hoooo! let's
let's what? ------------------ Senior GOP strategists say privately that a key reason the Bush campaign did not ask for a statewide recount was it feared that Gore would pick up more votes than Bush, because of the high rate of ballot spoilage in black precincts. - MSNBC.
t'ah...let's throw tomatoes at cars with Canadian license plates...whaddyathink I meant...Let's meet at Dr of noDish's house for pregame cocktails??? Where's Give Your Head a Shake? Clutch, I think he forgot his password. Why don't you send it to him again.
Marvelous BK!!! That should have been in the Bash Mo Here Thread ------------------ When we tire of well-worn ways, we seek for new. This restless craving in the souls of men spurs them to climb, and to seek the mountain view. -- Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Cool, can I be on that team? And I never said he'd get the max, but he will do well no matter how poorly he plays. He'll get as much as he's willing to work for.
Chrisesakes, OldmanBenies right, you guys love Rocket strife. The season's young, were winning, and I for one believe Maruice Taylor. Hell, he's not b****ing, or griping or causing any strife and he's certainly not a major factor in lossess, imo. Hell, it's not like Les broke the bank to lure him over here. BTW, guess what Mo Taylor is the youngest Rocket on this team. Okay, now bash away for all I care. ------------------ [This message has been edited by ROCKETBOOSTER (edited December 11, 2000).]
Not a major factor in the losses? A starting PF who averages 3 reb a game, who is constantly in foul trouble... Yeah, I guess your right ------------------ When we tire of well-worn ways, we seek for new. This restless craving in the souls of men spurs them to climb, and to seek the mountain view. -- Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Yeah, exactly my point Finn, he's not been in the game long enough to be consider a major factor. Anyway, like it, or not, this was a positve vibe Mo Taylor thread...now it's drowning in Fran Blinberry philospohy. ------------------
What about a starting PG who often has about a 1 to 1 assist/TO ratio? Or a starting center who makes comments that could kill team chemistry? Or a starting SG and SF who disappear in 60% of the games? Or a 6th man off the bench that makes bad decisions? No, it could never be them. All of them never get any criticism on here. But if Mo does one thing wrong, let's blame it all on him. Smart. And if you want to play that game about Mo being a major factor in the losses, you can turn it around too. All of you who cry out for KT have to realize KT as a starter led to a 34-48 season. This season we have Mo at PF and are a winning ballclub at 11-9, with Mo as our only significant addition. Of course you can say I'm wrong and say that this is due to the growth of the other players, and that they are responsible for the extra wins. But by that same token, I can say with definite evidence that they are major factors in the losses. So as long as you want to play the game of Mo making us lose games this year (he is the one singled out by most and so many others get disregarded), by the same rationale I can say that Mo is a significant reason why we are winning this year. (disregarding others, as you are, Mo is our only significant addition) ------------------ President of the Jason Collier fan club! Looking for next year's Jason Collier or Dan Langhi? Draftsource.net ClutchTown.com
I, for one, am going to stand up and appluad Maurice Taylor for being in foul trouble - That means the man is trying to play defense - from my standpoint. ------------------
Tha Cat YOU HONESTLY think the whole rocket turnaround this season is because of moe and that the sub 500 season last year was because of KT? Who do you blame for the clipper's miserible season last year. . it was worse than ours Rocket River ------------------
Mysterious SOB ain't he? ------------------ If you like larger booties, Domanique Sachsa would be on that list as well. --Jeff of SaveMeSomeBooty.com fame in the BBS Hangout forum (hope the man doesn't run for a political position - he's dead meat)
Beat me to the keyboard with that post. Wasn't KT playing (starting?) in the second half of the season when they made a big winning push? --------------------------------------------- The Cat, You have more insight about the Rockets and their installation of Mo as the starter than anyone else on this BBS. If the won-loss records are as important as your earlier post indicates, then why was Mo immdeiately given the starting job since he came from a team with an inferior record to the KT "led" team of last season? Mango ps Sometinmes I think The Cat maintains his staunch defense of Mo because he would hate to admit he has been wrong. ------------------ Lets get the Mo Go working! Test Your NBA Trade Ideas 1. Put new topics in the proper forum. Things happening in the rest of the NBA 2. Use clear wording for new threads. 3. No duplicate threads 4. Conduct yourself as an adult. The Serious Police are watching. Donate Blood or be assimilated!
BrainKagy said: Those 2 sentences directly contradict one another. ------------------ I miss Charles.
