Not sure if someone has posted about this.... There has been an increasing opinion that Moochie is playing awful with this team. I wonder if this trend in his MPG is showing that he is slowly moving into Rudy's doghouse. Notice the sharp decline over the last 4 games. Pacers - 36 Nuggets - 20 Raptors - 18 Sonics - 29 Warriors - 12 Blazers - 14 Suns - 13 Lakers - 8 Rudy has been forced to slowly increase Mobley and Francis's MPG due to Moochie's ineptitude. This culminated in them both play 44 mins against the Lakers. It really irks me that Moochie's game has not improved one bit from last season, and he continues to play the same way. Mooch still has a tendency to over dribble and take way too much time to make decisions. This is Moochie's sixth season in the league, and he still has yet to develop a consistent perimeter shot, its pathetic. There is no excuse for Mooch to be shooting 31% from the field and 20% from behind the arc. The vast majority of players on this ballclub have worked like crazy in the offseason to improve their skills, conditioning, etc, and Mooch comes back with a pathetic looking outside shot and still dominating the ball, unbelievable. Based on the MPG trend, it appears Mooch is falling out of favor with Rudy. This team has one glaring weakness and that is it. For all the folks that want a true PG that can handle, distribute and push the break, how about one to replace Moochie instead of trading Cat? That would allow Rudy to rotate his three guards as necessary.
I don't blame Mooch as much as I credit Hawkins. It seems ordinary NBA teams have about a standard 8 man rotation: 2 centers 3 forwards 3 guards When you have guys that play both center & forward or forward & guard, you muddy that formula a bit. But either way, Hawkins is a defensive force, not unlike Mario Elie back in the championship days. Hell, we had Hawkins, THE ROOKIE, guarding Kobe Bryant last night! I think it's Hawkins' defense that has taken away Mooch's minutes.
One of my wife's relatives had two pekingese puppies she was giving away, and we got one for a wedding present. There were a male and female to choose from, and her mom got first pick of which one she wanted. We were to get the one she didn't pick. If we had gotten the male, we would have named him Moochie. Good thing we got the female! The male's name ended up being Chewbacca (Chewy, for short), which is a better name anyways! Anyways, the point of this post is....uhhh...well, I don't think there really was a point. Oh yeah, give Moochie's minutes to Nachbar!
Toast, I dont think thats it. That wouldnt really explain the dramatic rise in the MPG of Francis and Mobley. Hawkins has been playing a lot of his mins at the 3 spot. Rudy always wants one PG type on the floor at all times, thus if Moochie is stinking, Steve is going to have to play a TON of mins as has been the case. I have not seen Rudy run Mobley as a backup PG this yr.
I have wondered since Norris was signed last year if he was Francis' pet. I have also thought that he get his minutes based on Francis' whim. Now I wonder (hope) if Steve is seeing with his eyes and seeing his buddy for the liability that he is. Maybe Steve is finally seeing that Moochie is in the way of his ring collection. We do not have enough NBA quality guards on this team and at 3 mil a year we could get a very good back up or two.
and we got Griffin in return for drafting Jason. though, I think Mason would have been a mighty fine addition to our team....nothing to take away from CAT!
pdg, isn't mooch on pace to set the nba dpg record? damnit, getting in the record book is worth the $$$! where are your priorities! GET WITH THE PROGRAM !
Francis has been demanding more minutes because of his MVP-esque play. When a guy's averaging nearly 30 points a game and is a triple double threat whenever he's on the floor, you have to play him as much as you can. Plus, the Rockets have been playing 3 guards (small ball) quite often this season. That explains why our backcourt starters (Francis & Mobley) log so many minutes. It just so happens that Rudy's been going to Hawkins as the 3rd guard instead of Mooch. At least that's the way I've been seeing it. I wouldn't say Hawkins has been playing the 3 spot. It's more of a 3 guard line up. Although, you're right in a sense. So far this season we aren't seeing Moochie @ the point and Steve @ the 2 guard as often as we did last year ... which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps Rudy's trying to get Stevie to really assert himself as the team leader & the point guard. I thought Steve did an excellent job of managing the offense & distributing the ball for most of the Lakers game, which is nice to see.
the thing that bothers me the most is that mooch isn't even steve's backup. when he comes in cat goes to the bench and steve slides over. what's the point? that lineup gets eaten alive every time. why not rest steve first and play mooch with cat. then bring steve back in and rest cat for hawkins. that leaves atleast one of the big scorers in the game at all times and limits moochies minutes to ONLY backing up steve.
Yes, it's been noticed...along with his 22 seconds of beating the ball into the ground and then hoisting desperation shots. But -- he is covetable by teams needing a really good '1' in reserve. So, line up, gentleman GMs, and give your best shot to grabbing this otherwise likeable, loveable stud.
Well, we can't trade Mooch, or the Rockets will be forced to take down a bunch of billboards and posters around town, thus wasting thousands of marketing dollars... Maybe Steve can wear a 'fro wig....
Thank God it looks like Moochie's days are numbered in H-Town. Suprisingly, he is coveted by some teams and he's the only guy on the team who should be moved right now. Sign up Tierre for insurance and trade the Mooch. The bobblehead/fro honeymoon is over. The team really doesn't need a back up point guard. When Steve's out, the team needs to just feed the ball into the paint.
Well, we didn't have to select Jason with the #15 pick. I understand hindsight is 20/20, but just from a personal standpoint I was really hoping we would take Desmond at the time and thought that Collier would likely be there for the taking in the second round if we really wanted him that bad.
