Mo!

Yes it is great to see the chemistry that MoT and Yao seem to be developing. MoT just seems to do whatever is needed without a word of complaint.

While I would have agreed with your statement earlier in the season, but KT is showing signs of being more "team first, me second" type of player. KT presents nice matchup advantages against certain teams from the 3 or 4 spot.

 

I also think Yao is more effective when Mo is playing. Mo seems to make a concious effort to get him the ball uder the basket.

 

ahhhhh yes, mo taylor.

he said he had been working really hard. we heard that he was schooling kenny thomas. all these fools around this board talked about trading him and about how sorry he was.




sometimes, its better to wait and see, than to talk trash. to see mo backin' 'em down , and then see that baby hook! ahhh a thing of beauty. i love to see mo and griff together. i think they make a great combo. and mo really is rebounding alot better, he seems to really be making an effort to crash those boards.

things look very good

 

MoT's play of late has made him a lock to start soon but I wonder how that will affect the play of Yao? The two have really been playing well together. Not sure if it's from being on the same quad for practice or anything but Yao and MoT need to be getting more PT...

 

Almost after every play or every foul that Ming has made, when Mo is on the court, I notice he is the one mentoring the big guy most. I also like seeing Mo coming off the bench like the game plan because he is showing a nice chemistry like ya'll said. I hope he wins the 6th Man Award.

 

Mo has more experience than KT, and it seems his overall knowledge of the game is far more advanced than KT too. KT has no outside shot, and he slows the offense down way too much with his jab, jab, jab, jab, jab, dribble & spin, fake, fake, fake, then brick. He's good when he gets the ball and immediately makes his move to the basket. Otherwise, he needs to kick it out and let the offense work for a better shot.

On the other hand, Mo makes a quick move, or he backs it in and waits for the double team. Mo has really impressed me with his passing, especially out of the double team. His moves are quick, he is in shape, and his shooting touch in ON. He can do everything that KT cannot, and he does them well.

Mo should start, although I hate to bring EG off the bench. Too bad Rudy can't teach EG to be a 3, and cover the 4 on D.

 

Tayolor and Yao look good playing together because they do play together alot. In practice they are always on the same team, and Taylor has told Yao where he wants him to go and get the ball from him in scrimages. Yao posts up in games and gets the rock from Taylor alot when they play together because of this.
When ever Yao is palying, I believe Taylor should be too...and vice versa.

 

There's not much question that Mo is the better offensive player to Kenny and Eddie, but that has nothing to do with who is starting. If Mo was starting right now with Kenny, half the BBS would be in a furor over any bad game Mo had (disappearing from quick fouls like he tends to get) and demand Rudy's head for not starting Griffin.

These rare threads of saying how Mo should start over Griffin would pale in comparison to the threads of disdain we would face if Mo was actually the starter. I'm sure Rudy's motivation is to limit the number of Mo hate threads to hit the BBS.

The reason there were so many Mo hate threads 2 yrs ago was because his defense is really soft (let's guys just back him in and take their spot) and he is not a rebounder. That remains true, from what I've seen, and I don't expect it to change any sooner than I expect Kenny's midrange game to reach Mo's.

Mo is becoming our Instant Offense and he doesn't have to worry about his knack for foul trouble or defense. He can just focus on offense. I like it.

Now, what we haven't seen is him do it against a real power forward, yet. Backing in Rick Fox with no Shaq is one thing, but we need him to do it against bigger guys, too.

 

Kenny isn't going to play Dirk well. Neither is Mo. Griffy has a chance. I'd like to see Cato whack him into next year a few times.

Situational play. You can't just say x or y all the time. Each guy can do something. That said, I think it's wise to put combinations out there that work well together. I'm very happy with Mo in the instant offense role, as HP notes. EG is a better man defender and rebounder. It's good to pair Mo with KT for man defense, if KT wouldn't suck all the air out of the damn ball every time. Mo + EG seems great, but you have to get away with it vs non-threat sfs. Mo + Rice - no thanks ever. Mo + Boki could be killer o and sad d someday. Mo + Tmo intrigues me, if Tmo has his preseason game. TMo has the size to help. Mo + Hawkins is pretty nice, but leaves the door open to Pfs.

 

pasox2,

For the first time this season, we saw some Mo, EG, and Kenny last night. That lineup is pretty awesome. I expect that a lot against Dallas.

 

How much of this do you think is talent, and how much is it mental - i.e. Mo's "unwillingness" to play more aggressive defense? Just curious.

 

JayZ,

Of course, this is all speculation, but I believe some of it is caused by not wanting to get into foul trouble. Mo has a tendency to disappear, right? A lot of that was from getting 2 quick fouls and sitting.

talent vs willingness is too much of an artificial stark contrast for me. I think he has the willingness, but is unable to do it without getting into foul trouble. Look at Eddie, he has the willingness to play D, but he seems intent on letting his man move anywhere he wants in the low post and using his shot blocking to make up for it. That's not always going to work. Eddie needs to deny spots on the court...and so does Mo. That is basic defense. Denying spots in the low post is a fundamental of front court defense. Kenny is the only one who actually deny players their sweet spot, and he denies entry passes, as well. It takes a lot of work, because offensive players know how to get their spot. I'm sure in the NBA that it isn't an easy thing to do to hold your defensive spot without letting the guy spin around you. imo, Kenny's our best player at doing that, and that's why he starts and Rudy calls him a great defender. Why else is Kenny starting? To showcase him for a trade? Yet, I'm sure some people really believe that.

 

HP,

I dont really think your statement holds water that Mo can score and is an absolutely zero in every other aspect of the game. His last full season, he grabbed a total of 5.5 RPG but if you remember his rebounding numbers steadily increased throughout the season. Towards the beginning of the season, he would have 0-3 rebound games and folks would be bashing him. As he became more acclimated and started getting into less foul trouble, his numbers began to rise. Mo had several games with 8 or more rebounds in the second half. Considering Mo is far more aggressive around the hoop and plays a lot more inside this season, I think he is good for 7-8 RPG if he can get minutes like last night (28-30 MPG range).

As much as you rave about KT's "Raging Bull" and high energy abilities, you would think that he had a season under his belt where he grabbed atleast 8 RPG no? Is that 8 RPG so much to ask for a high energy "Raging Bull"? Hmmm, KT got huge minutes last yr and grabbed 7.2 per game. Sounds pretty elite to me.

My opinion on this KT issue is that he can be a valuable asset to this team b/c he is a solid defender and adequate rebounder. However, I just dont think this team will fold like a house of cards if KT isnt on it. Im ok with keeping him as long as his offensive inefficiency doesnt hurt the team via crappy spacing or defenders playing off him b/c he cant hit a mid range shot. It would be fine with me if the team can click with these non-traditional lineups, but the jury is still out on that. Also, I dont know where you get that the lineup with KT-Mo-Eddie worked well last night. The Rockets lineup in the 4th qtr last night where we put the game out of reach was Mo-Eddie-Hawkins-Francis-Mobley. Mo was making excellent passes, posting up, running in transition with the others and just playing a solid all around team game. Overall, he shot 3-8 with 9 pts 7 rebs 4 ast 2 blks. Not bad against a decent PF like Tyrone Hill but something that should be improved on as he gets into the flow better with this team.

 

Yao is starting to absorb the physical game that he is getting on the floor. He will adjust perfectly with the young Rocks. But with the compliment of Mo on the left wing it is even more sweeter. Mo starting also to use his wide body really well on the paint and his perimeter jumper can be letal, but his aggressiveness is such a nice compliment.

 

MManal,

<i>I dont really think your statement holds water that Mo can score and is an absolutely zero in every other aspect of the game. </i>

well, being that I never made that statement, I agree with you. sheesh. I am not anti Maurice. Where do you get that from?

And I certainly am never going to hold my breath expecting Mo to get 7-8 rebounds on 28-30 minutes. Kenny's outside shot has a chance of improving as much as Mo chance to start grabbing rebounds consistently for the first time in his career, much less him holding ground on defense.

I swear, someone points out Kenny's strengths that are making him the starting SF and point out Maurice's weaknesses why he's not starting over Griffin. Why don't you explain to me why Griffin is starting over Mo and why Thomas is starting over Rice? And leave speculative trade talk out of it.

It is a decent conversation to have without trying to convince yourself that I said "Mo can score and is an absolutely zero in every other aspect of the game."

btw: they are both decent passers. Mo is getting the doubles which comes with cutters. Kenny penetrates and dishes, because he isn't getting the doubles. But that both have passing instincts. Watch Maurice, when he doesn't get doubled, he shoots. He turned and faced again last night. I don't see the Mo improvement you see, and Mo is quoted as saying that Rick Fox made it easy for him and he hopes to get back to his level of play of 2yrs ago.

You don't need to be defensive of Maurice with me. I like him. But I don't agree with Kenny bashing in order to make Maurice look great. Mo has shortcomings.

<i>Also, I dont know where you get that the lineup with KT-Mo-Eddie worked well last night. </I>

MManal. I never said it worked last night. I said that was the first we saw of it. And is an expectation to say it is awesome. As for what blew the game out last night, it was pure Mobley.

 

HP,

Re-read that part of your post. If that does not sound like you think Mo is a good offensive player and a zero in other aspects of his game, then I dont know what does. Concentrate real hard on that last sentence "He can just focus on offense. I like it." Riiiiiiiiiight.

As far as the 7 RPG comment. Take a look at Mo Taylor's stats in his last full season he played with the Rockets. 5.5 RPG in 28.6 MPG. He is clearly playing much more aggressively around the hoop so to expect a slight improvement into the 7-8 RPG range is not a whole lot to ask in that same period of time. Please dont try to limit what Mo T can do to just scoring; Mo is a much improved player and it will become evident this yr.

Regarding the face up vs. post up question. Ofcourse Mo faces up some ie when he is looking to make an entry pass into the post or sometimes he'll turn and face on the block (very rarely this season tho). The most prominent move when Mo receives on the left block is to back it in and shoot the jump hook. He shot this against Tyrone Hill yesterday also.

One last point, I will repeat again that I am not trying to run KT out of town or anything like that. However, I am just not seeing the smoothness in the offense with KT and Mo together on the floor. This team seems to flow a whole lot more with a more traditional lineup. Can Rudy figure out some strategy to make the offense flow with Mo-KT-Griffin or Mo-KT-Yao? Remains to be seen.

 

HP,

One other point you had brought up. Why is KT and Eddie starting and not Mo? My read on that is b/c KT slimmed down some more this summer and has the ability to guard 3s. Even though other teams are guarding Eddie with the SF, the Rockets opt to let KT run down the 3s. That seems to be working just fine; Mo cant do this. Also, Eddie is starting over Mo b/c Rudy realizes the importance of his shotblocking to the team. Rudy has always mentioned the importance of having a good shotblocker to enable the overall defense to be successful.


How do you figure that KT is anything more than an adequate rebounder? He has yet to even average 8 RPG in a season despite playing practically 35 MPG last yr. KT averaged 7.2 RPG in 34.5 MPG last yr; is that something great? Mo's final season with the Clips, he received similar MPG and averaged 6.5 RPG. How do you keep saying that KT is such a better rebounder than Mo?

 

This always a Mo vs KT thing

Mo has the better shot - but is not the better SCORER [Kt has similar numbers last year]
The offense flows better, . . . maybe because he going against second units? Question - Does the DEFENSE flow as well? I don't think so

Offense is Sexy but Defense wins Titles

Kt is the better defender and Rebound
They are about the same passing and scoring
but YES . .. MO HAS THE BETTER SHOT

Rudy knows it is about who plays with who
Mo and Ming can work because neither of them are banging
but can shoot from the high post

KT and Griff have the inside out thing going

I just hate all the TRADE KT
folx screaming that he griping
take one line quotes and running all over with them
[not like Mo never gripes]

Rocket River

 

I think Mo is doing pretty well coming off the bench.He has just come back from a very serious injury and I think he should continue in this role until he really shows a dramatic difference in the low post on offense and on positional defense and rebounding. KT can defend 3's and tries to work hard against bigger 4's.Griffin is the best shot blocker of the 3.
The key is how to best utilize their respective strengths and I think Rudy is trying to do just that.I would continue to have Griffin and KT start with Mo coming on later for now. Griffin does need to get physically stronger so he can work more effectively in the low post while continuing with his shooting and shotblocking so he can become a really good PF.