Is it me or is MoT playing some good defense. OK, he is not going to block anyone's shot but he playing great position defense and he also does a good job switching on guards like he did on Miller before Posey almost screwed it all up. He also seems to take at least one charge a game now. If MoT gets to where we was offensively 2 year ago and maintains his defense then I think the only thing we are missing is a consistent 3 and a good backup guard.
He's been doing it for quite a while now. His defense has consistently been better than Eddies. BTW, Eddie did a great job denying Amare the ball last night. It looks like Eddie actually gets up to play against Amare and plays well against him.
MoT is better defensively than Griffin. Most folks equate Eddie's shot blocking and long body to defense. He's got potential but he should learn from MoT. Mo plays some physical defensive by using his body. He plays great positional defense as well and works to force his opponent off the block. He know's how to defend against the pick and switches well. I think what makes him effective is his basketball smarts. He plays good D because he understands and exploits strategies in the game.
Yes, MoT has come out and impressed me a lot. I think the MoT/Griffin rotation will work.. just need to figure out the damn 3 spot and the get another guard to work in w/ Francis and Mobley.
Every so often, I get the impression that he is hustling for a rebound; especially in the 4th quarter.
Food for thought. Excluding yesterday's game. When Mo Taylor plays less than twenty minutes, opponents average 89.86 points/per game, rockets averaged 92.14 When Mo Taylor plays more than twenty minutes, opponents average 95.08 points, rockets averaged 95.08
MO Taylor has the weight and size to defend well and rebound. It tends to be a question more about the effort. He has been putting more effort into lately (giving him credit where credit is due). I still think MoT coming off the bench with Rice works best. Seeing what little PHO had off the bench (Googs was embarrassed last night) shows the vlaue of scoring off the bench. also seems to inspire MoT into working harder to earn the 4th Q minutes. Someone mentioned Hawkins... unless he develops a more consistent shot, his minues are limited...
Nice stat but this can be misleading. There are so many other factors involved. Try to make that 28 minutes and see what happens to these numbers? (We're 8-3 if Mo plays 28 minutes or more.)
Here is something that many people are missing about MoT's game this year. The Rockets as a team are terrible definding the PnR. It's probably coaching, I'm not sure but they play it soft and usually the player guarding the dribbler goes behind the screen...very bad news against good PnR teams...Utah, Kings, etc. Mo is playing the PnR "hard" by doubling the dribbler on the other side of the pick and forcing the dribbler to go deeper with the dribble or give the ball up to a weakside teammate. Plus when the screened Rocket gets back to the dribbler, Mo is rotating very well back to the screener. If you haven't watched this part of Mo's game this year, you're missing something special!
Yes, I think Griffin is better at ball-denying than straight up defense. He did pretty well fronting Tim Duncan that led to Duncan's low shot number in that game. I think Griffin is quick and athletic enough to do that well. What he lack is good fundamental footwork and positioning. Back to the topic, I think Taylor definately has shown more hustle in the second half of the season both defensively and in rebounding. That will be very important for our playoff run.
Further breakdown of Mo's Stats Playtime 00-09 Mins 13 Games Rockets PPG 95.07 Opp PPG 90.71 Diff 4.36 10-19 Mins 20 Games Rockets PPG 90.19 Opp PPG 89.28 Diff .90 20-27 Mins 17 Games Rockets PPG 90.44 Opp PPG 92.94 Diff -2.5 28-48 Mins 10 Games Rockets PPG 102.60 Opp PPG 98.1 Diff 4.5
Actually.....Mo Taylor, Griffin, Cato, and Yao have all been playing great defense!!! It's only the guards....who can't even prevent the crappiest guards from getting past them. Mo Taylor is actually a good defender....if he was taller...he would have been awesome. But he still gets good position. And he is NOT SOFT. He isn't afraid of no Amare Stoudemire. He's got Cato to back him up. And Cato isn't afraid of anybody. He will challenge all shots. And they also have Mo Taylor's brother...I think it's his brother...who is always sitting behind Calvin Murphy and Bill Worrell during games. And then they got Steve Francis. And yeah. We have a great team. Eddie is a good shotblocker. Yao is a good shotblocker. If they both get stronger and develop some more chemistry and learn more about each oher and all that good stuff that happens over time...they will be a great wall. And MO TAYLOR CAN REBOUND TOO. I just hope he can keep it up...consistently. Stats don't mean anything when you're talkin about Mo. He does a lot of things....and he takes MANY charges. He is doing great!!! We have such a good team. Only if we could find a 2/3 like James Posey who can run fast and dunk and play good defense and hustle....BUT WHO CAN ALSO SHOOT. That would be wonderful... Oh yeah. Moochie has done pretty much nothing during our 5 game winning streak. FYI.
MoTay is a solid defensive player, not great, but solid. I think people thought that his defence was bad because he was not really moving well. That was because of his injury and I think he has fully recovered now.
I am not a fan of Mo's, but he has palyed very well recently. His shot is becoming very consistant. Short of buzzer beaters, he is taking shots that he can make. He is also a solid post up option. And his defense on the Andre Miller switch was outstanding. There have been several times when Eddie was being lit up and Mo came in and calmed things down. Not shut down the opponent, but brought it back to normalancy. I am very pleased with his game.
I've noticed it too. It seems like even more than one charge a game he is drawing these days. This could very well be due to the fact that with Yao/Cato/Griffin, the opponents know they need to go strong to the hoop, so they forget that Taylor is just going to look for position to draw the charge, and not contest the shot. At least, that's my theory. It works out beautifully for us. Along the same lines, perhaps having Yao on the court in and of itself tantalizes the opponent to go for the Sportscenter poster dunk, further encouraging the frenzied driver to bull rush to the basket a little out of control, followed by a collision w/ Taylor and much rejoicing at the Summit.
