You Can Celebrate All You Want. I Don't Want This Guy Here At ALL!!

I just want to throw my vote in here by siding with the Freak. There is absolutley nothing to lose other than lottery balls.

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Mark my words, Mo is dreamlike, Everyone is going to love him.

How old was dream before his championship years?



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I am in with you Freak. Mo is worth the gamble. To those who seem to hate Falk, would you have passed on Jordan because of Falk representing him? I am not comparing Mo to MJ, but the player is the one on the court not the agent. If Mo doesn't play, it doesn't matter what Falk does in the office. You do have to give it to the man. He has positioned himself among some of the best players out there. To the person that said Mo will play hard and then not do anything after the big contract....are you apart of the Deion Warrick physic network? If so tell me, do you see C. Webb going to a lottery team next year?

"the Mo'Betta Crew!!!"

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I respect the naysayers' opinions but I must disagree.
It's true that Falk will squeeze us next year. Falk is a cold-blooded, greedy b*stard who has helped engineer the simultaneous rise and fall of the NBA. He helped Jordan get a $30 million per year contract, raising the bar on salaries across the board, making even the biggest no-game chump an instant millionaire. Michael Stewart of the Raptors, for example. While one can argue that Jordan transcended the game and deserved the money he got, Falk gained leverage in falk-ing over teams by forcing them to sign his clients to ludicrous sums. Look at the Nets, look at the Wizards, with Falk clients and bloated contracts, desperate to unload these players so that their teams won't get crunched by the imminent luxury tax. Remember the strike? Falk the Puppet Master. Patrick Ewing didn't even realize that he was being used as Falk's b****. Hey, Patrick, how can you possibly live on $15 million dollars a year? We'll see you on street corners, my friend! "Got Falked: Didn't Even Get Sprite Commercial: Will Work for Food."
I blame many of the NBA's ills on David Falk and agents like him.
Enter Mo Taylor. Young, talented, not too bright maybe, hearing whispers that he's the greatest thing since pre-lubed rubbers. Falk demanded the Clippers pay Mo the max. The Clips gave him the finger. Donald Tightwad Sterling will never pay anyone big dollars. SI's article about Sterling had an interesting quote from Sterling: "I don't think he's a superstar. Do you think he's a superstar?"
No, I don't. Not that I was being asked, but no, he's not at that level. YET. The thing is, he was left in a veritable wasteland of the NBA, with no real direction except the advice of his agent. I'll bet he knows he can get better as a player, that he should get better. But he needs to find a place to do that.
Don't blame the young man for his frustration or the Machiavellian maneuvers of his agent. If Chicago had needed a power forward this year (the last position they needed to fill), he would have got the big bucks. If Seattle had pulled off the Ewing trade, the Sonics would have had MAJOR bucks to throw at him next year. Probably the max, easy. So why not wait out that situation?
Putting it in perspective: I hate my job. I would like to go elsewhere. Although I know I can improve my overall job skills, I know I'm very valuable now. But I'm stuck for now. And my morale is rapidly sinking, even though i know that my petulance will make me look bad to those around me, and poison whatever good I already have in my present situation.
So I go job hunting. Someone offers me $30,000 per year. Another company, let's say in the same city, a company more or less the same, who knows?, offers me $45,000 and better benefits.
Hmmmn, decisions, decisions. Where to go? Er, uh, duh, darf......
Mo Taylor is coming to a real team with great personnel. The problem I see is duplication of role players. KT, Los, Walt, Drew. But these players have value. Two will enter the last year of their contracts after this season. And we'll have multiple first round picks. We may find a way to ship many of these players and picks in order to land Terrence Morris in next year's draft. Which, I think, is what Rudy and CD are attempting. Young, fast, exciting, happy, a rejuvenated franchise.
Mo can't rebound, you say? I honestly think he'll get better. Players like our coaching staff, they listen to them. Othella got better. Apparently Cato's been hard at work in the offseason. And if Mo's boardwork doesn't improve much, yes, it'll be disappointing, but we're a good team rebounding club. And who's to say he won't get better each year?
Mo will want too much money? Don't they all? Juwan Howard gets $16 million dollars, another Falk client, and gets fewer rebounds than Mo. And believe me, the Rockets organization, while making Mo feel welcome, will let him understand that he must work hard and play with the team and improve in order to get the contract he wants. Playing on a team that exudes such joie de vivre will help in that regard.
Let's see, rant and rave, rant and rave. I know much of this is incoherent, but it's late, and I have no time to edit or double-check inconsistencies, so I'll rant on a bit...
The point is, guys and gals, Mo is imperfect. But he's good. The Rockets see something there. The Sonics did, too, but they falked up. If you really think he'll bolt next year, remember that other teams have that 2.25 million exception and will have cap space next year. But he saw a situation here that fits him best: great organization, opening for a power forward slot, chance to prove himself. It might not be what he envisioned before settling for less money. But Rudy and CD will allow him the opportunity to become his own man. And I think that will keep him here.
And if he doesn't work out? Anything is possible. We let him go.
But with no chance of grabbing Chris Webber next year, believe me, we won't let Mo leave.
Nothing to lose, people.
Dammit, get excited about next season!
Who ya gonna double-team? Steve? Cat? Mo? Ya can't do it. UNless you're playing the Lakers, who usually get the help of the officials anyway.


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I can see this thing going either way. I too have a bad feeling, but hopefully what we see this year is what we'll get if we sign him to a long term contract. Hopefully Rudy and Co. will be able to see what's best. I just don't know. I'm excited about having him this year, but I'm worried about the future if the Rockets decide he's their guy at the four. It's hard to say what will happen.

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Wow, its not that often that I totally disagree with thacabbage, but this is one of them.

<ol>[*] Rudy is a great judge of talent, and is putting a team together he believes will have the chemistry to eventually be a championship team. When he heard we were probably getting Taylor, he cocked his fist, gave it a kick, and shouted, "yeah!" Rudy knows this player way better than I do, and knows how the team plans to build for the future, what Francis and the rest of the team want, and he thinks the acquisition of Taylor is super. I'll have to trust him on this one, until he shows Rudy is wrong.
[*] We are getting him really cheap this year, and if he doesn't change his attitude, rebounding, and team spirit, and develop some maturity, he can go somewhere else, and we can sign someone better next year, without getting stuck with losing cap space.
[*] If he does turn out to be a diamond in the rough, he will have developed a relationship and loyalty with the team, and we'll be able to sign him to a better contract than anyone else, and we'll know he is our answer at PF. I'm no longer confident we have much of a chance at Webber next year, and I don't know anyone else next year who'll be better than an improved Taylor.
[*] If he doesn't work out well with the team, that could be a blessing in disguise, since we probably won't make the playoffs, and we'll get rid of him, and get a higher draft pick in next year's lottery. If he does do well, even though we go to the playoffs, and gain more confidence and team chemistry, we'll have added one more rebuilding piece we don't have to pick up in the draft.
[*] He's young. He's the same age as Francis, Anderson, Mobely, Cato and KT. It's like we got an extra lottery pick. Francis and Rudy will mold him.
[*] Now you guys think that Falk is bad. I disagree. He had a tremendous influence on Jordan, and encouraged him to be excellent, and he knows how to promote a player, and a team. Taylor blew it last year, not because of Falk's influence, but because he just got sick of the non-winning ways of the Clippers. I don't think Falk encouraged that, but he did let him know that he could be a real winner on a winning team. Who hasn't developed a bad attitude there? A good relationship with Falk might draw us more excellent players. Remember, if we become championship caliber, and we have the right young players, if Les can handle it, under the new CBA, we can keep everyone, even if we have to pay them a lot.
[*] Next year's draft will be critical to this team becoming championship caliber. Hopefully we can package our picks to get 2 lottery picks, but even if we only get one in the top 5, we could have our team. Either Cato or Langhi will pan out, or become trade fodder for someone who will. If we don't think we can keep Taylor, we can sign and trade him with draft picks for a top 5 pick.
[/list=a]

I believe this is allowing us to take another step in the rebuilding process this year, which we lost in this year's draft.

Kudos to the Rockets. They did it again.

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the more I know, the more I know I don't know...

 

The Rockets did what again?

Reeling in Shandon Anderson was like catching a prize bass.

Reeling in Mo Taylor is like catching the clap.


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It doesn't matter if I have a signature!

 

I know everyone has an opinion, but you know the saying about opinions. Most of the posts I've read appear to indicate the posters belief that Taylor is a horrible character guy, doesn't rebound, or play D. It also appears that many naysayers have not seen him play and are relying solely on articles written, comments made, and statistics about this guy. I have watched Taylor play on several occasions over the years and have been quite impressed with his abilities. Let's face it people. The Rockets need a presence in the post. Taylor gives them that. If anyone here believes that the Rockets have any semblance of a chance at winning a championship without getting some sort of post presence, as long as that Mammoth of a Man in L.A is playing, you are fooling yourselves. I love the Rockets but I'm a realist. You do not win NBA titles without a low post presence unless you are fortunate enough to have M.J and other great role players. The Spurs as much as I hate to admit it have a better than average chance of beating the Lakers because of the big people they have up front. When the playoffs start the run and gun teams get gone quickly. The game slows down and you have to have a half court game. Very few run and gun teams have effective half court capability. The Rockets with Taylor will be diverse enough to have players with the ability to penetrate and dish, dump it in to the post and shoot the outside J. Mark my words, when the Rockets meet the Lakers and assuming they haven't addressed their PF problem, they will be doubling down on Taylor which opens up other avenues for the guards and the Rockets shooters. I aplogize for the long post, but everyone needs to understand that we cannot have a stud at every position. No championhship team ever has that I remember. I'm sure someone will come up with a counter to that statement, however.

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Almu:

This sounds remarkably like a post I made earlier, when everyone was starting to get hyped. I don't trust this guy either. He's a scorer, sure, but we really don't need any more of those. Whether he'll turn out to be the rebounder we need remains to be seen.

However, what do we really have to lose? IF we sign him, we're signing him to a 1-year deal. If he's a bust - or as I suspect, a lazy whining a-hole - then we simply don't resign him next year. But in the meantime he may very well fill in a gap we have right now, especially if (when) there are injuries on our frontcourt.

Neither party really has anything to lose if we sign him.

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Ok, lured into a Mo thread. My few points


-How is signing Mo going to hurt any (ANY) chances of possibly getting Webber next year? If Mo puts up a sloppy season, let him go. If Mo puts up a great season, and wants the max. Its still the Rox choice to not sign him and go after a FA like Webber.

-Please give me the 90% of players who currently score more PPG than Mo does. You have this backwards. Only about 10% of players last year averaged more PPG than Mo. Yes he rebounds lightly, but the kid is 23. If Francis in 2 years is averaging 3.5 TO's per game, are we going to gripe? Probably not.

-His D may be light, but it isnt near the atrocity that Walt, Bullard, (possibly) Langhi, Collier, Drew, or Mobley puts out there. And there are more than enough Save Walt threads out there. Defense is something that young players typically struggle with their first few years. Short of your Defensive gods like Akeem.

-If anything. Having Mo for only one year does in affect do the current Rox PF's a favor. It gives them another year to learn the spot. If Mo bolts after one year, is anyone going to disclaim that KT, Collier, or Langhi arent going to benefit from a year of seasoning, and learning. These guys should not be starting on any team right now. 1 year of learning the position, coming in limitedly isnt going to destroy their learning curves just help them along.


Cmon guys, get excited about picking up Mo. He is a young exciting player. I personally think Francis needs a dynamic front court player to be the beneficiary of his eye popping passes. Cato couldnt handle them last year. I suspect after the first few Francis, Mo Fast break alley oops, most people wont be as harsh on the young guy.


Im real excited about the youth, of next years team. Run and gun baby. Its going to be fun to watch the Rox. Can anyone hear really say that having Mo in at PF rather than KT isnt going to improve the team at least 5 games? Which might just get the Rox in the playoffs. To hell with tanking and lottery balls. I believe the Rox have a nice mix with Mo. Francis is all the star one team needs. Anderson is the complementary player, Mobley the dynamite off the bench. Mo is that cusp player who if he does indeed improve if only slightly on D and rebounding (lets say 7.5 boards a game) then he makes for the nice post presence to keep defenders from leaving the post area to double up Francis and Mobley like we all saw last year. It became ugly watching every team double up Francis on every play, and passes slip right out of the hands of Cato, or KT.


Im happy with Mo on this team. Its a win win situation for the Rox.

I personally hate the Idea of a Falk client in H town. I think hes the little scum that builds up along the toilet rim that you cant see to clean. But he has no leverage with the Rox. If the Rox dont want to pay Mo (based on poor play in the upcoming season) next season, let him go, draft some front court help, take the money from Hakeems retiring and go after another front court presence. Plus does anyone else think that having a decent PF in the lineup, might help clear up some congestion for Hakeem to maybe have a decent season?

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"I have amazing, powers of observation"...Pink

 

All this "he played for the Clippers" is such a pile of bull$hit...

Have any of you guys heard of FREE AGENCY?

He could have hustled his ass off and got 12 boards a night on that team...and then picked up a $70 million deal this summer...

There's a reason he didn't...

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Hey what do we have to lose. This certainly doesn't hurt our playoff chances.

Kenny Thomas and Maurice Taylor have striking similar games though. I'd like to see Thomas packaged with Drew for a defensive specialist at the 4 who willing come off the bench and play a certain role.

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Pro Mo. It's not often that you get a chance to audition a talent like Mo for next to nothing. If it doesn't work, we set him adrift like a dead Viking.

If it really doesn't work, can't we trade him like WE SHOULD HAVE DONE with Da Pip (isn't that the point where we turned down Rasheed Wallace)? We don't need a bad attitude in the locke room.

If it really does work, he'll be one of the top free agents available in next year's class; a year of success and harmony might give us the inside track to keeping him-- if we want to!

We need O down Low, so let's go Mo!


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Time is a great teacher-- only problem is it kills all its pupils.

[This message has been edited by RichRocket (edited August 25, 2000).]

 

Not to mention (shorter, less unwieldy post here): Believe me, if the Sonics had nabbed Mo for nothing, teaming him with Rashard, Payton, and their new guy, Desmond Mason, and opening gigantic cap room for that team next year, we would have had a huge hurdle to vault to land in the playoffs. At least we now have a better chance.
I hate Falk, I like Mo. The only way I see him sticking it to us is if, say, the arena vote fails, and Falk says, "Who knows how that team will end up? Let's look around." That kind of thing. For which I wouldn't blame him. (Hope it passes, of course.)

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I'm pro-mo. There is nothing to lose by signing him. Now, Fancis can learn how to get the ball into the post. It will open up his ability to go back door as well.

We will need some backcourt rebounding big time. Both Francis And Anderson can get the job done. And have. But they've got to make an effort to do it every night out.

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humble, but hungry.

 

Mo Taylor...Bottomline: we will be better than we were yesterday if he signs and If Rudy and CD are sold, then I am in, you are in, we are all in! For the love of God, trust in Rudy and CD and God save the Rockets!

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"Their Tiger Kung Fu is strong, but our Dragon will defeat them!"