Funny. I watched the Hornets game again and saw exactly the same thing I saw before. Mo has three rebounding problems: 1. He ends up out of position. Either he is being pushed out (or under the basket), which doesn't appear to be the case most of the time, or he just ends up on the wrong side of the basket. He doesn't have problem getting inside position so I doubt he is being pushed around. He just winds up in the wrong spot. This has less to do with instincts than it does with the mindset that the ball is his to lose. 2. He doesn't GRAB the ball. When you watch a great rebounder, they not only have a knack for where the ball will be, they hold onto it for dear life. Watch even Kenny Thomas. He really grabs the ball on rebounds. Mo doesn't really yank down boards. He waits for them to come to him rather than going after them. This isn't for lack of hustle or bad hands (he has great hands). It is more getting used to this being something he has to do. 3. Offensively and defensively, Mo has a tendency to set up outside the primary rebounding spots. On offense, he is either posting up with the ball or spread on the opposite side of the floor or running a pick and roll. All three of those options leave him out of position for offensive rebounds. On defense, he tends to go for blocked shots and lean towards the man he is defending. That takes him out of position. To me, this is all a case of a guy who isn't used to rebounding. It's not that he can't do it or doesn't want to. He has just spent his first 3 years not bothering with it. At some point, Taylor should be able to pull down 7 or 8 boards a game, which, considering the roster of players on the Rockets, should be sufficient. If his main role is to score, rebounding should not be his primary concern anyway and, if the guards continue to rebound well, it will offset his problems. Nothing he is lacking is based on attitude or hustle. It is mostly based on poor technique and lack of consistency which can all be fixed with practice. He's got the perfect coach in Larry Smith. That's for sure. ------------------ Time for a new cause.
I HAD been wondering why Mo can't get any boards and what the Rockets' coaching staff intends to do about it. thx for the info MM & Jeff ------------------ president of the dan langhi fan club.
Rockets assistant Mike Wells was on 610 AM last night on the show after section 610 (Whats that called again?) In any case, he was asked about Mo Taylor's rebounding deficiencies. His response was something like the following (not an exact quote) "We have approached Mo about this, and he has been working on it. With the Clippers, rebounding was not really expected of him. We feel that he is capable of improving in this area and is working towards that." Wells also said something along the lines of what Jeff was referring to in that Mo is getting close to a lot of boards but isnt quite able to grasp them. I got the impression from that interview that the coaching staff feels Mo Taylor will be able to develop into an adequate rebounder in time and become the PF the Rockets need. ------------------ Check out the Best Source for Draft Info Draftsource.net
