I'll admit that I wasn't real impressed with him early in the season, because of his inconsistency, but lately he's been playing with more confidence & consistency. In 5 of the last 10 games he's shot 40% or better from the field, 2 games he shot 33% from the field, 2 games he didn't take any shots, & one game he went 0-2. Now, he's not taking that many shots, but I attribute that to the fact that the coaches & players are still learning to trust in him. After all, in the beginning of the season, he couldn't hit the side of a barn with a bulldozer. The kid has the ideal size for a SF, he hustles all over the place, & isn't afraid to go in among the tall trees. I might be dreaming here, but could he be a Rashard Lewis type of player someday? I posted an article in another thread, in which Rashard indicated he might want to come to Houston, & there was quite a bit of excitement about that possibility, but if T-Mo continues to gain confidence in himself & the confidence of the team, we might not need Rashard. T-Mo & Rashard's rookie year numbers are very similar & T-Mo rebounds & blocks shots really well already. Yes, I realize that Rashard was fresh out of high school, but the high schoolers today are showing that they can compete on the pro level rather quickly. I'd like to see T-Mo get more PT & in fact, he's been getting more minutes in the last few games. I'm not pushing for him to be a starter yet, but I would like to see him be the first or second man off the bench & get at least 20 mpg consistently throughout the rest of the year. That would mean Rudy would have to change his most consistent trait (loyalty to the veterans, ie...Walt). The bottom line is, this team's future looks really bright. If we take out the older veterans from the roster & look down the road for just a minute, we can see a possible starting roster of young, athletic talent like this: C: Cato/high draft pick?(Ming/Stoudamire or trade for Curry?)/Collier PF: Griffin/Taylor SF: T-Mo/KT SG: Mobley/Torres PG: Francis/Moochie If Griffin is able to grow into the center position, that could give us a starting lineup of Griffin, Taylor, T-Mo, Mobley, & Francis. Not bad. The future is really looking bright. We just have to ride out this current rough spell & then we'll be on easy street, sort of. Any thoughts?
I think that Rashard can shoot the three and TMO has never shown an ability to do so, even from the college three.
The thing about TMo that I have been disappointed in is his defensive ability. I thought he might have trouble adjusting his offense to the NBA, and he has, but his rebounding and defense I figured would be good still. But he has not shown me any ability to guard 3's in this league. Most drive right past him. If that changes, and he continues to shoot better, then that's great, and let's hold on to him. But if not, I think they should let him go after the season, or trade him.
Tmo sucked his senior year of college. He isn't going to miraculously emerge as a good player. His senior year, he shot under 30% from the college 3 pt line. That's beyond atrocious.
There's no reason he can't inprove that. he's hit a couple of 3's lately, and he can work on that aspect of his game. If he works on his range and lateral quickness, I really don't see why he can't be an EXCELLENT roleplayer. Average scoring, height, speed, quickness, blocking, rebounding. Plus, he's Francis' bud, so I don't see how that can be bad for chemistry. If we don't get Rashard, I honestly see him and Griffin starting at the forward spots for us. I think T-Mo is the type of player that is significantly better when he starts (confidence), so he might take a very long time to buil that confidence. BTW, he was projected top 5 or so his junior year. Talent doesn't diminish at that age, so I'm positive he's a confidence adjustment away from being our starter.
A Tmo breakdown: Tmo shoots 32% from the field and 22% beyond the arc. When he plays more than 15 minutes (10 games), he looks a little better: 4.4 ppg, 38% FGs (19-50), 29% 3PT FGs (5-17), 4.3 rpg, 1.5 apg, .8 spg, .6 bpg, 1.1 T/O (in 21.5 minutes) But minus the Suns game, when his name appeared in the 'got rocked' space in the recap (9 games), he looks a lot better: 4.2 ppg, 44% FGs (18-41), 33% 3PT FGs (5-15), 4.0 rpg, 1.6 apg, .8 spg, .7 bpg, 1.2 T/O (in 20.4 minutes) Minus the Suns game (in which he did have seven rebounds),Tmo's really not that bad a shooter when he gets solid minutes, and his rebounds, assists, steals and blocks aren't bad at all. He could afford a few less turnovers, but so could virtually any rookie (EG's and OT's assist to turnover ratios, for instance, are much worse than Tmo's). Tmo is really just getting comfortable on the court, and I expect his numbers to improve if he keeps getting significant chances to play.
I guess you've never heard of Brendan Haywood. Oh yeah, there was also this player named Michael Finley who had a bad senior year...can't remember what happened to him though...
I agree TMo, Haven should research his facts. There is more to stats than 3 pt %s, it was TRock's overall game that excelled at Maryland. Good post on the stats TMo. FREDTERP
Do you hear that Rudy? With no argument at all, drewdog has called for T-Mo to never be the starter. Banish him, due to the sheer fact that Drewdof doesn't want him to, without any reason at all.
TMo has the body to add a lot of intangibles. He's tall and athletic. If he can shoot <10 shots per game at about 40%, then he can have a huge impact on this team. On the defensive end, he adds a lot. If he can just hit the open shot to keep the defense honest, then he'll be perfect.
Who the hell is Drewdof?? The guy rarely started in college. What makes you think he is NBA starter material?? In case you havent noticed, we already have a logjam at forward and I really dont see how he fits into our future plans. Mo Taylor (healthy) Eddie Griffin Kenny Thomas Oscar Torres (possibly) Rashard Lewis Yeah I dont think I would start him over any of those guys, unless you can tell me otherwise.
Do you even have a clue about what you're talking about? He started for Maryland for 3 straight years. It amazes me how many false assumption are thrown around on this board. Excluding his senior season he shot 36% for the the 3pt line, 52% from the field. So to the people that claim he can't shoot I urge you to try to look a little deeper past the inital statistics you see.
T-Mo is an ideal SF that can play some PF. Taylor & EG are 4/5's, so you can eliminate them from your list. KT has been playing some at the SF spot lately, but I truely expect to see him traded during the off season or sometime early next year, after Taylor proves that he's fully recovered. Rashard is just wishful thinking at the moment & will cost somewhere around $10-11 million per year. It'd also take a sign & trade to get him & you can bet that Seattle won't take a bunch of junk for him. So, that really only leaves us with T-Mo/Torres/Langhi at the SF position. Torres is only 6'6" tall & Langhi hasn't really shown anything yet.
I agree with Drewdog. Even though Tmo has shown vast improvement over the past few games, Tmo would not be the starting 3 on a quality team. He can grow into a great bench player, but Tmo is not the Rockets starting 3 of the future. I'd take all of the forwards mentioned by Drewdog to start over Tmo any day.
Jaybird, good post. It's a shame guys like Haven, Drewdog post things without any research or seeing first hand, the "instant experts". FREDTERP
Thank God someone agrees..... T-mo hasn't proven to me that he is starter material, but I guess everyone else in this thread thinks he is. Griffin, Mo, Kenny, and Oscar are a solid foundation for our forward rotation next year IMHO. I dont see T-Mo fitting in, especially as a starter.......
