A question: in the final minutes of the 4th quarter, excluding a blowout, doesn't the coach play the 5 guys who give him the best chance to win? If so, I guess Rudy considers Mooch pretty valuable b/c he was on the court next to Cat and Steve with the ball in his hands in those situations all year.
Moochie would only be traded if the Rockets could land a great player in return. Other than a center, we have no real void. Some teams could really use Moochie as the starting point guard (the Heat and the Knicks come to mind). But such a trade would probably require the involvement of a third team; and, short of Jermaine O'Neal (untouchable) or maybe Marcus Camby (practically), I don't see anyone out there. I sat courtside when Phoenix came to town in early April and the funnest part of the game was yelling "Mooooooooooooooo...." when that giant afro entered the game. He's got energy, he's clutch (apologies to this web site's god), and, what's more, he likes it here. If his price tag isn't too unreasonable, he'll be back. I believe it was posted on this site that his demands aren't too high (whatever that may mean).
With injuries, fatigue, and foul trouble and ejections, having a guy who cna step right in and run the point is key for the Rockets. Moochie is the best pure point guard on the team, so having him step right in for Francis not only keeps the team smooth, but give them another style that other teams have to adjust to.
Moochie is a big part of the team. Second Half of the year, we won so many of the games because of Moochie.
Cat, you don't pay a player the $3 mil per year for 1/2 of a season. Please check the contracts for Matt Maloney, Bryce Drew, and Brent Price (3 ex rocket guards and high salaried players). Too many times Moochie pounds the ball in the ground with little results and has a tendency to get out of control. He played the 4th Quarter because we did not have reliable scorers or defenders (i.e. Bullard, Wiz, and Shandon (can't shoot)). With the development of Langhi, TMorris, and Eddie Griffin. I see Steve at the point and Cuttino at 2, with Langhi, Morris, or Shandon, MoTaylor (please earn your riches) and Eddie Griffin. Cato will either be tired or have fouled out. Moochie, on the bench with the nappy Fro.
I would like to see us bring Moochie back, but I feel we should not put up with any s*** from Fegan. Remember, we still have Sean Colson who we could sign to take Moochie's place.
Moochie is an awesome part of the team. The Rockets need him to play the point at times and I think the teams would be worse without him. I am a huge Moochie fan for a reason.... he does his job very well in my opinion.
Okay Moochie's expendable. I guess we should just get rid of him and replace him. We can find someone just as good as he is at the local park. If that don't work out we can always get Griff to play the point or maybe KT. Come to think of it with Steve here we really don't need a back-up point guard. What's with the Mooch bashing. First Dream, now him. What's next? Demands to waive Steve Franchise. At least Cato-bashing makes sense.
Wakko, no Mocchie Bashing here, from me at least. This is just my opinion. I'd just rather see less of Moochies limited talents and more of Francis unlimted talents in the fourth. This pure point guard nonsense kind of gets to me though. One beer may be more pure than the other. One lady may even be more pure than the other, but Moochie is not a more pure point guard than Steve Francis. And for those of you that have the audacity to say that Mocchie passes more than Francis, well you must have been taking bathroom breaks last year during all those innumerable moments Francis chose to dish the ball instead of taking the open shot. How anybody can say Moochie is more of a purer point guard than Francis is beyond me? Moochie is king of the isolation, he makes Mobley and Francis look like they've been groomed at a Princeton basketball camp.
Iso's have more to do with coaching than players IMO. Steve also runs them a lot so I can't complain there. Mooch is not a better player than Francis, but he does create better than Steve. Steve's only been playing the point for about two years and he's doing a good job and I do think he'll get better, but Mooch is used to that position and is better at creating sort of like the hated john stockton. I'm not saying Mooch should start or even make starters money, but there are more reasons to keep him here at back-up than bring in some other bench warmer. I honestly believe if he plays like he's capable of doing he could contend for 6th man of the year award, but that's just my belief/hope.
Wakko, I agree Moochie is a valauble back-up and i too want to see him stay. But i must really disagree with your assertion that Moochie is a better creator than Steve Francis. I don't want to get into stats because they can be misleading, especially when one guy plays more minutes than the other, but IMO, Steve is just as good as a creator as Moochie. I think Moochie gets too much undeserved credit, people like to compare players, and when they can't find a edge in one area, they tend to make one up, give one where there is none, and i feel this is the case when people say that Moochie is a better creator than Francis. It'll be fun to watch next year though, not like rooting for one to fail and the other to succeed, but to be aware of, and notice if theres a widening gap in creating and passing ability between the two.
We can wait and see, but Steve will get better so it won't be too much of a difference. Hopefully they'll both be good at it. Resulting in....... Steve an All-Star starter. Mooch, Sixth Man Of The Year.
Hopefully, at some point, we will not be running out a lineup featuring Stevie, Moochie, and Cuttino on the floor at crunch time. If this club expects to make the leap to the next level, we need to be parading a lineup with more size/versatility come crunch time. It's that plain and simple. Though the lineup can be effective against certain teams in the crunch, it tends to struggle against quite a few teams. Moochie more than anyone else on our team needs the ball to be effective on the floor. Come crunch time, make no mistake about it, I want the ball in Stevie's or Mobley's hands. Too often last year, we tried to exploit the "Mooch on a bigger man match up", with mediocre results. Mooch out there with our dynamic duo leaves us with a deficit on the boards and on the defensive end, while at the same time providing a redundancy in the perimeter playmaking category. I do like what Moochie brings to our team. He's a nice change of pace in the middle quarters and a good sparkplug when our team is down. But I do not want to see Moochie consistently playing heavy minutes in the 4th.
This team will continue winning big time in the 4th Q with Moochie, Francis and Mobley. This team needs to run, and that line-up runs better than ANY!! I mean....they can run better than ANY in the NBA. and let's not forget how easy it is for Moochie to run the top of the key pick n roll when the defense is afraid to leave Mobley and Francis open on the wings. Seems some fans equate this 3 guard offense to having no center.....well, duh....we had no center last year.... Moochie is critical. Moochie is great! Francis and Mobley on the wing cannot be beat!! so...did that rhyme
Rockette Busttier, I don't think it is as much a question of who passes more, but who sets their teamates up better. Steve does pass, but sometimes he chooses to pass in situations when he really should have just put the shot up himself. From what I saw last season, Mooch made the <i>right</i> pass at the <i>right</i> time, and that is something that Francis is still learning. Plus, someone else already mentioned that Mooch runs the fast break much better than anyone else on our team. And with the new defensive rules, I think Rudy wants to run a lot more (plus, with Dream gone, we can play a faster lineup). We need that general up the middle of the floor who passes off to the wing at just the right time. Steve will get there, but for our immediate purposes, Moochie plays a very critical role on this team. Edit: And did anyone else notice a kind of connection between Bullard and Moochie? From what I saw last season, it seemed that Mooch and Bull worked great together in the second string lineups. Mooch set Bull up for some wide 3-point shots. Just wondering if anyone else noticed this.
Raven Lunatic, thanks for reminding me about the name. I agree, Moochie has his attributes, but I just dont why some people label him a pure point guard. I mean he's definitely not looking for the ole' roll and i'll pass one off my ass play. Dammit, he wants a clear out and he wants it now. You don't think he fluffs up his afro every game so espn will show a highlight of his passing ability do you? Crispee, man i know you and your love affair with the three-guard line-up, and your cool and all, but the fact is i hate it man. I see the mismatches it causes on defense, and the offensive benefits, to me, do not outweight these defensive hindrances. [theres invisible smiles all over my post]
don't say I love 3 guard line-ups. do you think i'm that simple. I'm describing our freaking offense....do you see many others doing that. It is equivalent for me saying you like a NO CENTER offense since you root for the Rockets!!! no offense taken...but i'm just getting annoyed with this idea that i'm biased or Rudy is as well....wake up.....it is not true!!! It is called coaching with what you have...not that cc.net wants you to put Roger in or Shandon back in.....damn....we had no CENTER!! and we often had no trustworthy shooting small forward....what would you have run???? my point is: I want anyone on cc.net....anyone....explain to me how Rudy wins last year without a center. I also want someone to explain to me the benefits of Franics and Mobley on the wing with Moochie and a shooting big man running a straight out front pick n roll.....explain to me how the opposing team can defend that without going small as well. Utah refused to match Dallas last year....Dallas beat their ass 3 straight, once the jitterbugs stopped!!! Don't wipe people away by pigeon-holing presumed offense likes and dislikes!!!
Well, I will admit that I did not see as many games last season as most Rocket fans. Damn you, Dallas! DAMN YOU! But from what I saw, there were not many iso plays run for Moochie. Occasionally I saw one on nights when he was hot or everyone else was cold, but generally it looked like Moochies bread and butter was to run the pick, and try to get the defenders to switch off onto him. That usually resulted in a big man guarding Moochie on the perimeter. At that point, Mooch does have a semi-clearout, and uses his cross-over to get by the big man. When the other players come over to help on defense, Mooch passed to the open man. It was like clockwork. I am like you, I don't know exactly what the definition of a "pure" point guard is, but I am of the opinion that Mooch was a big part of this team's success last season. Perhaps of only marginally less importance than Mo Taylor.
Crispee, hey I agree Rudy just milked his best options last year. And his front line was depleted so I understand his infataution with the moochie- three-guard-line-up. But I hope this year he is more confident in his big men, so he doesn't have to resort to this futile line-up.
