MoT was a 17ppg scorer before he joined the Rockets. Here are last year's 18ppg up till 20ppg scorers: Rashard lewis (17.8ppg) Stephen Jackson Ron Artest Mike Bibby Richard jefferson Michael Finley Jason Richardson Shawn Marion Sam Cassell Zach Randolph Jermaine O'neal Stephon Marbury (20.2ppg) Yao Ming just had his first 17ppg season. I'm not saying Mo is nearly as good, just that it's not easy to score 17ppg. MoT is a very talented player, a talented scorer and his fair market value, as of now, is definitely better than an MLE contract. In fact, he would be WELL worth it if he were making 6M per season rather than 8M. Let's not forget how excited we were to get MoT and how he is the type of player than can carry a team offensively at times. Let's also not forget wha ta hard worker he is - remember he was in absolutely tremendous shape when he unfortunately blew his knee out, then he bounced back last season, and once again he's getting himself into excellent shape this summer to make another run at being much improved. If MoT comes to camp in the same shape that Kenny Thomas came to camp a couple of years ago, he could be VERY VERY VERY good. Putting himself in such great shape would add some quickness to his game, and hopefully that will translate into better lateral quickness (defense) and better quickness (offense), maybe even some extra lift (rebounding). I'm not saying the guy is superb, but don't make it sound like it was NOTHING to get him and don't make it sound like he's not a very good piece of this team. He's a solid, hardworking player who was considered a DAMN good catch when signed by the Houston Rockets 3 seasons ago.
Sane, no one doubts Mo Taylor's scoring proficiency. The problem is he's a powerforward who doesn't rebound, and he's not a three. He gets burned guarding the bigger fours in this conference so his defensive liability is not made up by his offense. Especially if the forward he is getting burned by is a good defensive player. IMO, for a player to be worth at least a mid level contract, he has to do what his position requires of him. A shooting guard should be able to score, a point should be able to distribute, a powerforward should be able to rebound. MoTaylor is what he is in the Western Conference, a forward off the bench, I don't care what shape he comes into camp in.
So you are saying he has no room for improvement? But also, I strongly believe his defense is underated. He probably takes 1 or 2 offensive charging fouls a game. You don't do that unless you are working hard on defense. You've got to be moving your feet well (ie working hard) to get that call consistently and he does. Furthermore, I don't ever recall him getting "burned" by anybody. At least anybody other than a Garnett or Duncan type...anybody/everybody gets burned by those guys. IMO, Mo holds his own. He's not show stopping defensively but I don't see him being this gigantic defensive liability everybody always makes him out to be. Yes, his rebounding isn't great...but again, everybody always has room for improvement and MoT has demonstrated that he works hard...it ain't like he is loafing it. So he can get better. And if he does improve his rebounding, he can be just under one of the West's monster PFs. And that ain't bad at all.
What makes you think he's gonna improve? He's found his spot in the NBA. He may be a powerforward in the East, but what you have seen with Mo is what you're gonna get. He's a lot like JJ. JJ always showed a lot of potential, and even had some really good seasons, but in the end, he's just a secondary wing player.
Another very important aspect of the Houston recruitement pitch is Westside...the summer pickup games and workouts among NBA players there are legendary...it is no secret that many NBA players live here year-round (NVE, McDyess, Sam) even when they don't play here because of the camaraderie at the Club. In any event, you don't sign a still-seemingly-in-his-prime Scottie Quitten as the premier Free Agent on the market at the time if you are not an attractive destination... Or catch the eye of a certain 25 year old superstar SG, who basically chose us as if he were a Free Agent, if you are not an attractive destination... Yao and Tmac make Houston as attractive as any other team in the league. This is only year 1 of a long, beautiful partnership...
