Some interesting stats: Shots taken per minute last year: 1.Francis: 0.395 2.Taylor: 0.389 3 Eddie Griffin:0.359 4. Mobley:0.35 5.Yao: 0.338 Shots taken per minute this year so far: 1.Taylor:0.45 2.Francis: 0.383 3. Yao: 0.326 4. Mobley:0.313 5.Jackson:0.306 Now you see how is the black hole this year. Actually Cat doesn't shoot that much. His problem might be dribbling too much and his shot selection.
Okay...whenever Mo Taylor made a nice pass...the person couldn't score. Mo makes nice passes to Yao down low...of course if it's not 3 second violation...he made a nice pass to Mobley who missed the easy layup...or maybe it was Jackson. I do admit that Mo only passes when he absolutely has to...he is looking to score...and usually, he can score..make those jump hooks or jumpers. But...yeah I concede that he is a black hole. But we won! So go Rockets! I am sure that JVG will bench Mo Taylor if he is doing a bad job...that's why we have Braggs and Cato and well..Eddie Griffin is still unknown. -Mo's Bros
Mo stayed in the game last nite to get a start on getting his game back. He was hurt in the very early days of practice. I am always hard after this guy, but I will give him a 'pass' til he's in game shape. Then, I'll start back in on him.
Here are some interesting stats to ponder over: Shot attempt/assist ratio: Career MN 1.6 SF 2.5 JJ 4.0 CM 5.5 YM 5.9 MT 9.4 EG 9.7 KC 11.3 This year: MN 0.9 JJ 2.7 SF 3.2 BN 4.5 CM 5.0 YM 5.6 KC 7.5 MT 9.0 Interesting that last year, Kenny Thomas was accused of being a black hole, yet his FGA/A ratio was the lowest of any of the main front court players besides Posey.
hey hold on a minute there. don't go dogging othella my man. he had a right to shoot like that because he WAS the best option at 50+ fg%. The day Mo shoots 50% from the field (or 60% now with Yao around), will be the day i give him free license to shoot as much as he wants.
Mo is out of rhythm, but I think he'll be fine. He's going to shoot more because he's often out on the floor when he's the primary scoring threat. He has taken some bad shots, but he's also missed shots that he quite often makes. He might not be the greatest passer, but I don't think he's a ball hog.
MoT taking those shots are fine by me. Once he finds his rhythm he will be effective. He is our second low post option and a pretty good one from that in the past. Obvioiusly a small part of me does feel that he keeps the ball to himself too much and doesn't look to pass at all but part of being an offensive player is finding your groove. He will find it soon and all will be good
See what happens when you overreact 3 games into the season? 14 points on 7-10 shooting off the bench and 7 boards. Not too shabby.
Both Mo and Cat might had been affected by injuries early in the season. Watch them to explode more like tonight as all opponents now tend to double team Yao and pressure Francis, giving up open shots to them. Even Boki would gain confidence this way as well.
Othella was one of my favorite Rockets, but the fun police needed the Jaws of Life to pry that ball free from his grip. I didn't mean to imply that Othella's lack of passing was a bad thing. I only meant that once he got the ball in the post, the ball stayed in the post. If the argument was on who shoots the most per minute, it would be Mo. Mo handles the ball a lot for a Rockets PF not named Barkley.
Yeah, I hope no one thinks I'm bashing Mo. I actually like him. It's just obvious that he's never met a shot he didn't like, and I really want to know what percentage of the time he shoots rather than passing.
Fror those that say MoT can not pass the Rock did you notice the exellent pass to Steve Francis going to the basket for an easy 2pts last night? That was probably the pass of the game from a Rocket. For those that want to compare shots per minute for MoT and the Rockets starters consider this, When MoT is in the game we typically have a very limited number of offensive options in the game. Think about it MoT plays primarily with the second team and he is called upon to carry the bulk of the scoring when he is on the floor with Moochie, Braggs and Boki. When Steve, Cat, JJ and Yao are on the floor togeth there is a legitimate scoring option at every position. Did anyone notice MoT's outside shot last night? That is exactly how his shot looked during his first season with the Rockets, it never looked like that last year. Remember when MoT got that outside shot going during his first year it was money the rest of the season. All I have to say is now that MoT is healthy and in shape he is starting to look more and more like the player most of us thought he would be after the 99 - 00 season. One slight exception...MoT is starting to rebound. MoT could turn out to be a major factor for the Rockets this year.
It's just very unfair to compare him shooting the ball to the starters because when he is in the game there are quite often only a couple of legit offensive weopons on the floor. Wen the starters are on the floor there is an offensive option at every position.
Ditto your whole post, but especially this part. Did you guys see that play where he hungrily tore the offensive board out two Nets guys' hands, barely avoided falling out of bounds, then got the putback? Damn, I was wishing the whole BBS had been at the pub with me for that play. Especially the Mo bashers. I know NJRocket was watching, since it was a game between NJ and the Rockets. And I know he's been skeptical about Mo. I wonder what he thought of that play and that game.
With a few notable exceptions (like Crash and Batman) the board has found a new favorite Rocket bashee -- take a rest Eddie while everyone is climbing onto Taylor's back. Mo is a solid offensive performer and he is showing desire on the defensive boards. I wish more boarders could learn to be content with success -- i.e., a .750 winning percentage to which Mo has made a positive contribution. Please, can't we dwell on some positives instead of always relishing the negatives?
Mo will be a starter before the end of the year, or at least play 30+ minutes a game and push for 6th man of the year honors. He is talented, in shape, and motivated this year.
I think that Mo has a great shot at winning the 6th Man of the Year if he remains on the bench the season. Throughout his career, Mo has been known as a great scorer, but poor rebounder and defender, thus he is a great fit coming off the bench to provide instant offense. But then again, this years he's done a pretty good job on the boards, so maybe he will move back into the starting line up. Personally, I like the way it works now, Cato starting at the 4 giving us great defense and rebounding, and then bringing Mo off the bench to give us scoring.
