Theres so many unanswered questions before the free-agency hunt kicks in high gear next year. Next Summer, a certain selection of NBA Gms with a hefty offering of Ben Franklins will attempt to lure Chris Webber, Micheal Finley, and Maurice Taylor into their dens. Maurice Taylor? Yes, Maurice Taylor, better known as MO. Mo's recent inspiring and entusiastic play will only intensify next summers Gm turkey hunt with Detroit leading the pack(Mo was born in Detroit). Rudy T., C.D an Co. better not be too patient in waiting for a rare bird to fly in from Sacremento or their own special turkey will be migrating to Detroit before you can say: "Gobble-Gobble" ------------------
I'll have to disagree, I think Maurice is heavily considering his hometown of Detroit. The Pistons will be the first to open up their green doors of consolation for the forgotten brother of the Webber saga. I guarantee it! Crash, I say lets play it safe and show Mo how much he's appreciated, right away. ------------------ [This message has been edited by ROCKETBOOSTER (edited February 24, 2001).]
The player thats holding Taylor back is KT. Taylor should be playing a little more than he has been. Last night when he didn't have to share with KT he exploded for 34. ------------------ President of the Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford,Larry Hughes, and Charles Woodson fan club.
It seems to me that it will be much easier and cheaper to sign Mo. The race to sign Webber is goign to be intense and drawn out. Also Webber has been susceptible to shoulder injury. We already have one superstar in Steve and possbily another in Cuttino. Would it not be more prudent to spend money to create deeper team?? Considering the number of games played and the frequency of injuries I woul drather sign Mo and get a few more good pices rather than the trophy player (Webber). ------------------
Maurice Taylor 6-9 260lbs born in 1976 positives: silky-smooth jump shot; unlimited offensive skills; uses all sides of the floor well; gelling on the floor with teamates; important part of team chemistry; strong upside. biggest positive: If made top priority would sign without breaking the bank allowing us extra caproom to tweak our roster a little by signing another intregal free agent/s; thats very important. negatives: semi-soft in the paint. A poor rebounder. defense needs to improve. btw, I didnt violate any copyright rules, I pulled this up off Rocketbooster.com ------------------ [This message has been edited by ROCKETBOOSTER (edited February 24, 2001).]
Good points for keeping Mo are made. I perticularly like his age and potential for continued growth with Steve and Cat. Lets watch the next 26 games and see what happens. Just don't forget that Webber is in his prime now and probably will be for another 4 to 6 years. A lot of championships have been won with a good mix of youth and veteren leadership. Webber brings everything mo does talent wise. Throw in supperior rebounding and size and it seems like a no brainer. Lets just see how the rest of the season plays out. ------------------
Mo is good but Webber is Hall of Fame Material if he keeps up his pace. ------------------ President of the Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford,Larry Hughes, and Charles Woodson fan club.
I disagree. While I feel much of the board is right in saying that in many games Mo has not been utilized enough, I don't think Mo's as much of an Ironman as some other Rockets. I think KT's earned a good deal of his minutes. I, too, am worried about losing Mo T in the hunt for Webber, but I don't think there's a basis for comparison. Webber's a complete player. He's not only unstoppable on offense, he's also a great passer, defender, and rebounder. Mo T's a very nice player, but his weaknesses hurt the team, and we will suffer if we don't have someone in the front court who can really defend and rebound. ------------------
Webber is much better than Taylor but is looking to play for a championship team.Therefore we should look to sign players like Antonio Davis who can improve our rebounding and frontcourt defence.We should also try to get Ruben Patterson or Rodney Rodgers at the small forward spot and at the same time resign Mo and Shandon Anderson.We should also try to get the best players available in the draft,obviously our biggest needs are at center,small forward and at the power forward spot if Taylor decides to leave Houston at the end of the year which is quite likely because he is looking for the most money that he can get. ------------------
NBA Talk's 2001 free agent guide has Mo ranked as the 6th best player available. It also said that he would be asking for between 6 and 8 million per. Interesting read, brings up who the Rockets will be looking at next season, guys like C-Webb, Antonio Davis, Mo, Shandon(the 10th best FA?!?), and Rodney Rogers. Here's the link: http://www.sportstalk.com/nba/stuff/freeagents/ ------------------
I think Mo loves it here in Houston with Steve and Cat. He seems to especially like winning. Did you see him coming down the court last night at the end of the fourth quarter? Arms outstretched and hollering like a man possessed! I think he was having the time of his life. It looks as if he has finally found his groove with the Rox and he is loving it. I don't think Mo has any intentions of going back to a team that has little chance of winning. He hated it in LAC and the situation is not all that different in Det. Just another loosing team. He would not have many nights like last night. I think he is the Rockets if we want him and I don't think he will demand the max from us. But I don't think he will wait long for an offer after what happened to him last summer. BTW, do you think there was any extra satisfaction for Mo in having such a huge game against the Magic after last summers fiasco when he thought he was going to Orlando? ------------------
What trade demands are they talking about David Faulk making? And did you notice who was omitted from the list...The Dream. Think he might be rissing on the F/A list real soon? ------------------
Damn that would be nice if we could get Davis and Webber. Davis could easily play center. ------------------ President of the Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford,Larry Hughes, and Charles Woodson fan club.
Timing is everything!Cant show hesitation and instead got to sealed th deal next year on MO!Got to have him back in Rockets uniform! ------------------ Rudy T. will find and fulfill Rockets destiny.
QUESTION: ONce signed .. do we need to worry about FAULK . . .I don't like this guy and he kinda scares me. . . I don't want him destroying the Rockets Rocket River ------------------
Is it certain that Shandon will not take up his player option? Surely he's going to wait out one more season and then hit paydirt big-time? Why don't we focus on re-singing Mo and snaring Antonio Davis to play at Center? Through the draft we may just be able to draft a big defensive SF (Battier?) with our 4 picks. ------------------
I think if you add Webber to this team we are instant contenders for the title. If you put Webber beside the Dream the way he is playing now then our front court becomes comparable to San Antonio. If we could get Cato to live up to part of his potential as a rebounder and a shot blocker look at what we would have coming off the bench. We would have three of the better shot blockers in the league. We already have the best backcourt in the league, with the rest of this year to develope they will be even better next year. Mooche is one of the best back up PG's in the league. Our biggest question mark would be at SF. Would we resign Shandon to play SF, do we give Damn Lanky a shot, do we try and draft someone like Battier or Morrise or do we try to go after someone like Ruben Patterson? Hopefully Walt Williams would not be apart of the equation. If Webber signed here it would put him in a big city like he wants, on a team with a championship history and a new arena and the best players coach in the league. Furthermore it would give him a chance to seriously contend for the NBA title next year and every year until he retires. ------------------
