Mo Taylor due back in February?

I did not have a chance to catch the game. That would be perfect. We could showcase him and then trade him during the summer.

 

Well, I hope that would be a +. We've already got 2 power forwards playing superb basketball right now.

 

DM,

I would be surprised if he is activated during the regular season. He may begin light practices and limited working out with the team, but doubt he (or his repaired Achilles tendon) will be ready for rigors of NBA play this year. I think the plan will be to strengthen his leg, recondition him fully and get him as ready as possible for the '02 season.

It's possible, but pretty unlikely that he will be able to contribute this year.

What's occurred already this year would overwork a MASH unit!


Dallas (Doc)Rocket

 

Yeah, lots of teams sign players to 50 million dollar contracts for 6 years, only for the purpose of trading him...

 

Cat, When teams sign players and see they made a mistake, they try to save face and trade him. How long was it after they gave Vin Baker his money were they talking about trading him? MvIllvane, Bradley, T.Knight, it happens all the time. Just because you get suckered into that kind of deal doesn't mean you want to keep him if he sux.

 

I'm with the Mo T supporters in that I don't think enough's happened at this point to warrant putting Mo T on the block. Yes, Griff shows promise and playing at PF at that, and KT is much better this year, but it's not like Mo T's had the opportunity to suck it up since signing his contract, and the good signs in KT and Eddie hasn't stopped us from dropping 15 games. There's a lot about Mo's game that we are right to have concerns about, but no one can deny that the guy can score consistently from 15ft and that's something we've needed desperately. If at least our frontcourt was set, I could see how there's no room for Mo T to come back, but that's obviously not the case, and I'm not convinced that we can't give all three guys significant minutes when healthy.

I too don't feel Mo should play this year. I want him healed fully; none of this coming back early and then reinjuring himself. We're not too bad off with KT and Griff manning the 4-spot right now. It's lack of depth or experience at other positions that's hurting us more, at least with the injuries.

 

I can't lie, I don't really care for Taylors game. Thomas is rebounding better and scoring just as much, so what are we missing? Thomas is playing better D and probably getting to the ft line more. Maybe its me, and i do like the 15ft shot, but not enough to call him a vital piece to this team. From the looks of it ,Griffin is going to be better than both. Taylor game is the same as when he can from college, a soft, lackadasical 4 man. Has the body and the tools, but doesn't put it together. He'll have that on his head until he shows and produces otherwise.

 

look outside the box leebigez,

kenny thomas statistically has as good of numbers but stats often don't tell the whole story

I like KT but hes a good bench pf/sf type, thats really all

What you don't get is MO's ability to hit the 15-18 ft j consistently opens things up for our guards to penetrate, etc. Also he always started fast, hmm wonder why we have slow 1st quarters

as for griffin and taylor why can't they play on the floor together: EG gives the rebounding/shot blocking that taylor doesnt and griffin can post up without having another forward calling for the ball on the low block as MO likes and is successful at the perimeter game. In fact kt would be harder for griffin since he doesn't have a consistent outside jumpshot and would need lowblock space to do his stuff although he faces up a lot it still hurts spacing either way

 

Look out side the box? WHAT?

It is very simple. Griffin should be our 4. He does the things that the Rockets need. He rebounds, he blocks shots... He should get the minutes. That does not mean give him 20 minutes a game next year, that means give him the same minutes any franchise type player demands.

I believe that Mo taylor is young and may prove to be a very good power forward. However, the sky is the limit for Griffin. In my opinion we need to figure out who will back him up.

As The Cat stated earlier. Mo Taylor signed a contract for 50 big ones. But Rice also has another two years on his contract.(I think) If we did not have Rice I could see Griffin playing the three next year. Who do you think is easier to trade Rice or Mo? Griffin is going to have someone's minutes.

Our problem is we have too many players that are slightly above average but only one dominant player. We need one more big time player. I believe Griffin can be that person. When we sign Francis to a longterm deal then he will sign for the maximum. (there is a limit to how many players we can sign to a big contract) He is our franchise player. Cat at this time is our second option but I predict that Griffin will be our second option. If I am right (IF) and Griffin becomes our Kobe or David Robinson then our Francis-Griffin-Cat option would probably be the best 1-2-3 combination in the league. We would definitely be a contender.

I believe we have our little guys. We need to find out which one of our big guys can help bring us our championships. The others are expendable. In a perfect world, Griffin will grow two more inches, adds 25 pounds and become our dominant center. Imagine what we could do then!

 

the center position in the nba as it stands is nowhere near where it once was and i do believe griffin is going to eventually be the center of the future, plus all i was trying to point out is mo doesn't suck and his game should complement griffin's well and it was referring to thomas equaling mo's output i was referencing how stats arent the best determinant of performance in basketball

 

For one, Mo is definitely going to be easier to trade than Kenny. So during the off-season, we should try to offer Mo to Denver for Raef. I believe they view Raef much like we see Mo. ( good, but not great) Denver knows he's gone after this season anyways. And we can probably offer the same kind of $$$ to Raef that we gave Mo to make the trade work. This clears up some room up front(in a way).

Once, and if, we do that trade we then try to send Mooch ( considering he plays bad for the rest of the season) to GS for the one that got away. Hopefully Jax is still around by then.

And sometime before then, we try to send Dan on out of town for some front court help, preferrably Samuel Dalembert who went to Philly in this past draft. Philly needs some offense and Dan might be able to get a fresh start there. Dalembert won't walk down the court to get back on D like Cato does sometimes, plus he and Eddie played in college together.

Now with our front court pretty much settled, we look for the best talent in the up coming draft. Rudy always preferred signing big men versus drafting centers. He likes guys with experience in the paint. And since our 5 spot is full, we take a versitile 2/3 and maybe a point to replace Mooch.

1st round- Rod Grizzard
2nd round- Dan Dickau

Our roster next season (if I had my way):

5-Raef, Cato, Collier, Dalembert
4-Eddie, M.Jax., K-9
3-Rice, Grizzard, TMo or Walt
2-Cat, O.Torres
1-Wink, Dickau, Tierre

That would be a nice line-up

 

Oh Nugzfan, Swopa....

...you guys got your work cut out for you.

drpepper, nice little fantasy, but there ain't no Santa Claus that caters only to Rockets fans.

And personally, I think Kenny is much easier to trade than Mo. Consider how little Kenny makes.

 

DV, not having Mo on the court isn't what is slowing our guards up, its the failure of the coaches to realize that iso's don't work against a zone. Yes, he had a steady shot from 15 to 18 ft, but have you noticed how teams are paying attention to thomas and his drives to the basket? have you noticed the trips to the ft line which is getting the other teams big men in foul trouble? Penetration and scoring from the 4 opens up the offense for the guards, not just hitting a 15 ft shot.

Which would you rather have: KT going 4-8fgs and 4-6fts or Taylor going 6-12fg and no ft attempts. Personally, i like the drawing of fouls to get the other guy out the game. Most coaches will agree that they would give up that 18 ft if thats all he'll do. thats pretty much all he'll do too.

 

Difference is, Mo hasn't been given a chance to make a mistake. He hasn't played a minute yet. All reports say his attitude was top flight, and that he has a much stronger upper body, and has lost weight.

It'll be really interesting what the Rockets do, and I think a lot of it may depend on how Eddie develops physically, and how Mo and KT work out in the offseason. In some scenarios, they could keep all 3, in others, one may have to go. I wouldn't mind starting Eddie, bring in a center (Brad Miller? He played for Rudy in those World Games), and bring Mo off the bench as an instant offense type. Very few teams have big men with Mo's offensive talents coming off the bench.

drpepper-Mo will not be easier to trade than KT. KT makes around a mill next year, while Mo will have a hefty contract and missed a year to injury.

 

I agree Nike, I guess Mo's salary is the going rate for backups nowdays. I think Horry makes about 7 mil per and so do Bo Outlaw. If Orlando can get rid of bo's contract, I don't see why after nect yr we can't unload Taylor. Bo do play hard and teams like those Bo Outlaw type players. Maybe when it looks like they're finished, Popovich will see Cato and taylor as a replacement for Robinson-Duncan. Dave will retire and Time will be the most sought after free agent. We might have to throw in Mobley, but to get some one like Duncan, he can get the hell on. Sorry Cat, but Griffin,Francis,Duncan trio would be lethal for any team.

 

Four things:

1. The Rockets LOVE Mo Taylor which is why they signed him to a long-term deal even though they drafted Griffin. The Rockets had and still have big plans for him.

2. No one is going to deal for Taylor until he proves that his ankle is 100% which won't be until the middle of next season at the earliest.

3. Kenny Thomas' contract is up after this season though the Rockets retain the right to the 4th year. As great as he has been this year, his contract status may have something to do with how the Rockets approach his situation considering Mo is already locked up and Griffin will be here for 4 years before they have to worry about re-signing him.

4. Deciding to trade Taylor when we haven't even seen what he can do on this team is pointless. It is fairly common for people to decide they want to bail on a player who hasn't played due to injury and then have a change of heart when they come back and start playing well.

 

the thing is leebigez, while i like KT our offense is guard oriented and he has to face up and go one on one to score while its great as instant offense, i want mo because steve and cat can dish it to him for his bread and butter 15-18 foot shot because when healthy both will penetrate with ease. Not debating the fouls, but i want ball movement and mo's game is more conducive to that at this point than KT because thomas relies on his quickness in facing up bigger players while mo has the sweet jumper-if kt becomes consistent on his shot my opinion may very well change


Don't get me wrong i like all of them but i think with our guard oriented offense and the skills kt and mo bring to the table i would prefer mo starting and kt as instant hustle/offense off the bench-if he works on his j he could be a candidate to play sf in the future.

Overall, our future is very bright and merry christmas to all

 

Why not use Mo at the 5, with the new rules, height doesn't matter. Mo is strong enough to take a lot of the 5's out there.

 

Jeff-
I understand your points. I do believe that Mo would prosper in this system. However, Griffin in my opinion is a STUD. He should get around 35 minutes a game and I fear if Mo is around sitting behind EG there will be problems.

The argument isn't who is better, the argument is who would be a better back-up. Who could we package in a deal to get some help? At this point the Rockets can really only do minor deals. (Walt to a contender in need of a shooter) The end of the season will be the indicator. We need to see how EG performs. If he is what I hope he is then someone needs to go and the person that would have to go is the one that commands the most time on the floor.(MO)