I saw a stat flash over the screen while watching last night's game: Kenyon Martin's RPG average in the playoffs: 5.9. That's approximately what MoT's were yet he gets savaged for being a weak rebounder. Here are the 2001-02 stats for the 4 conference championship contenders' Power Forwards: Martin: 5.3 RPG Webber: 10.1 RPG Walker: 8.8 RPG Horry: 5.9 RPG MoT fits right in with that group plus he's younger than all but Martin. Only Webber is exceptional. Walker better. None except Horry are great defenders. Martin and Webber are decent shot-blockers. Is MoT all that inappropriate as our PF? Statistically he seems to be in the proper range.
Please don't do this...please. You aren't really lumping Mo T in the same category as Webber and Walker are you??? Certainly you have more sense than that. Horry...while not a true 4 has more intangibles to his game that Mo has ring dings under his mattress. Kenyon is still young and is certainly a much better defender than Mo will ever be. I'll give you the rebounding comparison with Mo and Kenyon but Kenyon plays with so much more intensity and determination around the basket. I would bet all the tea in China (even though Im a little peeved at china right now) that after 5 years, Martin will have better rebounding #'s than Mo
Have you seen Mo in a regular season game weighing 300 pounds? Even if the rumor is true, lots of NBA players are out of shape in the offseason. He has plenty of time to drop pounds.
Please do not sound like a broken record...please. We all know you hate Mo Taylor. It's in your freakin' signature. Just because someone likes him doesn't make him an idiot.
I'm just citing a few simple numbers that lead to an obvious conclusion: MoT belongs with that group. Yes, the nuances of his game are different... as they are all different from each others'. That's what makes the world go round. You may not prefer them but that and $2.75 will get you a cup of coffee! MoT is only a year older than KMart I believe, so their improvement could parallel. I don't know what to do with that 300 number. Is it verified? I'm not sure what the truth is about MoT's weight. Someone here saw him and thought he looked good. He's been rehabbing; I'm inclined to think the Rox would be all over his weight because they are seeing him virtually every day in rehab I would think. I think that EG will eclipse MoT as our PF anyway-- unless he grows and fills out and moves to 5 .... and we don't get Ming, of course. If so he will be a heckuva scoring option off the bench. I have a new favorite for the early Round 2 pick: Ryan Humphries at ND (Imagine if he had stayed at OU!). Go read the review of the Chicago camp. He is drawing admiration but it doesn't sound like he will move up significantly because of his definite tweener status. I would love a Rocket team with Ming at the 5, Cuttino coming off the bench for instant offense at the 2, MoT coming off the bench for instant offense at the 4, Cato relieving at the 5 (he'll be happy) and Ryan Humphrey coming off the bench for hustle/defense at the 3. 1: Francis 2: Cuttino (for now) 3: KT 4: EG 5: YM
Horry is PF by platoon. He shares time with Samaki Walker not to mention that SHAQ fellow under the goal. Martin - is a 2nd year player [or is it 3rd] - who sat out a year with a broken leg [correct?] - So MoT is kewl with me. but this is not class company for him to be in. All but MAYBE walker are better defenders Rocket River
One of these things is not like the other... one of these things just isnt the same... and for the record...i never called anyone an idiot...i would have questioned the sanity of anyone who lumped Mo into the same category as Webber and Walker
I thought Samaki was backing up Shaq; he was last night. I don't think you are right about Horry platooning. Yes, only Kobe and Shaq play virtually all the game but substitution does not equal platooning. Martin missed the NCAA tourney of his senior year with a brokien leg. Martin was the #1 pick the year before we got EG. I think he is 23 and MoT 24. I don't disagree that KMart has more hustle/intensity than MoT. Webber has more power and Walker has better handles. MoT's strength is his outside shooting touch. They all have something. Thinking that the Rockets need a different skill set is fine, but I don't get the indications the MoT doesn't belong in the league. The guy puts up numbers when he's on the floor.
MoT is not in the same class as Samaki Walker-he's a class above him. There's a reason Walker was released by the Spurs, a team with the Mermaid on his last legs.
oh, hehe. Anyhow 'Toine and Webber are all-stars. Mo is not. I don't think anyone has argued Mo is an all-star type of player.
Mo Taylor can create his own shot, unlike Horry. Anyone else cringe when Horry starts dribbling, and then fires up a brick that is way too hard?
<i> Is MoT all that inappropriate as our PF? Statistically he seems to be in the proper range. </i> Yes, Mo Taylor is all that inappropriate as OUR PF. Our biggest problem is that we are a pathetic defensive team and Taylor does nothing to help us in that area. Let's go to the stats: Opponents FG%: LAL #1, Sac #9, Bos #3, NJ #6, Hou #28 Rebounding: LAL #3, Sac #2, Bos #14, NJ #8, Hou #20 Blocked Shots: LAL #8, Sac #21, Bos #28, NJ #6, Hou #14 Opposition Scoring: LAL #9, Sac #20, Bos #10, NJ #5, Hou #21 Forced Turnovers: LAL #20, Sac #8, Bos #2, NJ #3, Hou #29 So,what does that indicate? Well, all four of those conference finalist were top 10 in at least 3 of those categories. We're terrible in all categories except blocked shots, where we are mediocre, but of course our blocks were also increased by the fact that Griffin got alot of minutes in place of Taylor. So, is it a problem for NJ that Kenyon Martin doesn't rebound well? Nope, they've still the 8th best rebounding team in the league. Does Horry hurt LA? No, they're still the 3rd best rebounding team. Does it hurt us that Taylor doesn't rebound? yes it does, because we're the 9th worst rebounding team in the league. Is it a problem for Boston that Antoine Walker isn't a great defender? Nope, they're stil hold their opponents to the third lowest shooting pct. in the league and they force the second highest number of turnovers. Is it a problem for us that Taylor isn't a good defender? Yes it is because we allow our opponents to shoot the 2nd highest pct. in the league and we are the worst team in the league at forcing turnovers. Those teams are successful because their other personel can compensate for the weaknesses of each of those Power Forwards. We don't have the personel to do that for Taylor.
Another reason Kmart doesn't have good rebounding stats is because Jason Kidd is such a great rebounder and also because (at least last night this was true) on the opposing team's free throws, the Nets try to box out and let Kidd get the rebound so they don't have to take the time to rebound and then make an outlet pass. However this hurt them a couple times when Rick Fox was able to snag a few offensive boards.
What I like about Mo is that he fits in well w/the team offensively. He has a sweet jumpshot and doesn't always need isolation plays to score as does Kenny. Many times, Mo opens the lane for Cat or Steve and pops in jumpers off of their feeds. Also, he doesn't take alot of stupid shots like Kenny. I do like Kenny's hustle and intesity,though. Mo was the main reasons we jumped to 45 wins 2 years ago. Wouldn't it be nice to combine both of their attributes into one player.
Mo's defense does suck but he's not the only one who stinks it up defensively on our team. From Cato to Mobley, we don't really have any great one-on-one defenders and our team defense really sucks. Kenny tries but he is just too small.Griffin is probably the only bright spot on defense.
<i>Mo's defense does suck but he's not the only one who stinks it up defensively on our team. From Cato to Mobley, we don't really have any great one-on-one defenders and our team defense really sucks</i> You are correct. The problem is Francis and Mobley aren't going anywhere. We're trying to bring in a replacement for Cato. Because most of our guys are bad defenders, we don't have the luxury of being able to cover up for another bad defender. Taylor just doesn't contribute in enough ways. He's our #3 scorer, that alone isn't enough. If all you are going to do is be a scorer, then you better be a great scorer, not just a pretty good one. A 13 to 14 point a game guy needs to contribute in other ways. Taylor needs to be on a team that is a poor scoring team but already has defense and rebounding. He could easily play opposite Garnett in Minnesota. He'd be a good fit there. Here he isn't a good fit, and no Eddie Griffin isn't a small forward.
I thought Martin was MARBURY-ZED along with Jayson Williams Samaki Walker was the starting PF until the playoffs Rocket River
