Just a small item of interest I thought I should pass on to my Rockets brethren. I was at IAH tonight picking up a friend and saw Juwan Howard arrive. ------------------ God help me, ...I was only nineteen. Current Rocket's Salary & Contract Info
Did we ever find out if he gave that lady herpes? ------------------ "banging Shaq is a whole different expirience"-Pete Babcock Behold the power of quotation
Too bad he's not coming here to play some ball. What is he anyway? a 4? ------------------ Anyone need a C/C++/Win32/HTML/PHP/SQL/Java/Perl/x86 coder?
Taylor's much better? They seem to be twins... Underachieving "power" forwards from Michigan... ------------------ "Awesome baby!" Dick Vitale
I would say the fact that Mo won't make over $50 million for the next 3 seasons gives him the edge, wouldn't you? ------------------ Rockets need power forward. Mo near now. Go near Mo. You can Run from the bet, you can Rave at the bet...but you just can't hide. [This message has been edited by Raven Lunatic (edited July 10, 2001).]
They do play very similar, but Taylor has 3 years less experience and a better shot...I also like Taylor's contract A LOT better, whatever he ends up signing for. Not sure what Howards contract is, but he's one of the top 5 or 10 highest paid in the league. ------------------ http://www.cld9.com/chris/nbau.html
Don't count your chickens - we haven't seen what Mo will sign for yet. Judging by his uncharacteristic patience in waiting for the Rockets to make a decision, I think it will be a BIG contract. In fact, it would not surprise me at all if last year the Rockets had said, we will sign you to the max next year IF we don't get Webber! ------------------ God help me, ...I was only nineteen. Current Rocket's Salary & Contract Info
Mo Taylor is underacheiving? Go back and get a list of all the #14 draft picks in NBA history. There's no way you can say Mo Taylor is underacheiving, considering his draft position and his current salary. ------------------ Draftsource.net-- the premier source for draft info. Profiles, rankings, mock drafts, and more! The Mo Taylor Fan Site
Cat for his skills I would agree he is underachieving. Underachieving to me comes down to the effort parts of the games and the two biggest effort aspects of basketball are rebounding and defense. Mo for a PF is a horrible rebounder. At best he is an average defender. Also I don't think salary has much to do with being an under/overachiever. Being under/overpaid is the result of either a team being stupid (overpaying like the Rockets did for Cato) or a player settling for too little or simply having bad luck and being in the wrong system or habving a bad year.
Mo loses out on rebounds because of poor positioning. But I watch him and the Rockets very closely, and he might very well be the Rocket putting out the most effort on the court. He is working his tail off every possession to get that rebound, but he isn't blessed with the gifts of being a great leaper, and apparently he has been taught poor positioning. That's a huge part of the reason I support Mo-- every game he goes out on the court he gives everything he has, at least in his Rockets career, and he gets almost no credit for that. I can't say the same for many other players in basketball. ------------------ Draftsource.net-- the premier source for draft info. Profiles, rankings, mock drafts, and more! The Mo Taylor Fan Site
Maximum effort on the court is meaningless if you don't put forth the effort between games. If Mo's problem is positioning (and I agree that is his primary problem, rebounding-wise) then he should work to get better at it. Don't blame the teaching - he is a big boy and can work to better his game in the offseasons and at practice, if he so chooses. I'm sure the coaching staff would be more than happy to break down game tape with him. Heck, I've got tapes from the 94 NBA Finals that I would gladly provide. He could learn alot just by studying Otis Thorp and Charles Oakley banging down low, fighting for position. ------------------ I'm so amazingly cool you could keep a side of meat in me for a month. I am so hip that I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis.
SC, I'm sure he is learning between games... Rudy wouldn't be as high on him for the future if he were not putting out that kind of effort. However, habits are hard to break, and change won't come immediately when you're talking about something you've done your whole life. I'm sure he's working at it, and I'm sure the Rockets are working with him on it, but results don't always come immediately. ------------------ Draftsource.net-- the premier source for draft info. Profiles, rankings, mock drafts, and more! The Mo Taylor Fan Site
Taylor can actually get off the ground, as witnessed last year when he dunked on several big men.....namely Theo Ratliff. Howard might have the worst vertical leap in the NBA. Not that this is an important factor persay, but everybody already touched on the important ones. Howard is a decent player, but not nearly worth 16 mil. per year. ------------------ My doctor says I am bipolar. I am going to get a second opinion. I have never had intimate desires for polar bears.
I watched Juwan Howard last year here in Dallas after he joined the Mavs. He has limited shooting range, is a pretty good rebounder, doesn't go to the hole well, and is not a great passer. He is very good at backing his man down to 10-12 ft. and taking the turnaround jumper. He's also a good team influence...very positive. Taylor has a much better array of offensive moves and is a far superior shooter. He is not the rebounder Howard is. Defensively they are about even. However, I like his upside potential vs. Howard's. Even if their contracts had identical $$s, would opt for Taylor.
Agreed. Taylor is much better than Juwon, as well as being younger. Mark Cuban is an entertaining guy and a great owner, but he's crippled his team's salary cap for the next 5 years by taking on Howard. Cat, I really hope that is the case. The top guys in the NBA figure out their weaknesses and develop them into strengths during the offseason. Lesser guys never improve (and Juwon's one of those lesser guys). If Mo could improve his rebounding to just league-average, he'd be a very good power forward. ------------------ I'm so amazingly cool you could keep a side of meat in me for a month. I am so hip that I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis.
SamCassell (absolutely the best 20whatever pick ever!), agreed. To your point,one more item re. Taylor's weaknesses: He has never looked to be in good bball shape, carrying 15-20 extra lbs. That alone would help him tremendously in all areas.
The Cat: i'll have to disagree with you on one thing. motay doesn't miss out on rebounding because of poor positioning, IMO. he misses out on rebounding because he has - probably - the slowest reflexes in the nba. i've seen him box out players, and he does work his ass off. but he has a VERY slow jump to the ball. it almost looks as though he is waiting for the ball to come to him instead of going to get it. now, some here would say that is exactly the case. i disagree. most times i do see mo jump. it's just that it's a split second later than it should be. that is problem #1 with his rebounding, IMO. problem #2 is he doesn't "pad his stats". every rebounder considered to be good or great "pads his stats" with easy rebounds. you know, those free throw rebounds where no one from the opposing team is even going for the rebound. too many times, i see him watch the ball fall and not go grab it. that's an easy 2+ boards more per game. ------------------ here's a verse: hating this name is a full time job for me; shandon in the nba is highway robbery!
it's the same reason he doesn't block many shots. yes, he has short arms, but he CAN jump high. he just jumps LATE.
Aren't free throw rebounds counted as team rebounds and not individual rebounds? I'm pretty sure that's the case. I think Juwan Howard is a better player compared to Mo Taylor. He didn't get a $100 million contract from two teams by being a decent player. There was a stretch where he was pretty damn good, keeping the Wizards afloat while Webber was down most of the season. He's got an All-Star appearance under his belt. And he flashed an impressive 22 ppg, 8 rpg, and 4 apg season, being the man one season for the Bullets. The guy is a much more accomplished low post scorer than Mo T. Turn around J was considered deadly at one time. Sure, Mo has the better jumper, but Howard consistently puts points on the board. He's the better passer, and superior rebounder. Both have comparable athleticism. Both players' defensive abilites are nothing to write home about. But overall, Howard is still the better player. Better offensive player, better rebounder, better passer, better player. ------------------
