Mo Quotes- Rockets staff and players on the signing
August 30

Maurice Taylor

"Just being in the atmosphere of a team that wants to win a championship, it gave me chills. Looking at the pictures, hearing C.D. (Rockets' executive vice president of basketball Carroll Dawson) talking about the parades, about the rings, I had chills going down my spine.

It proved to me I do belong here. You look a team that's been to the mountaintop like the Houston Rockets, I'm going to put pressure on myself to be the best possible player that I can be. With the pieces they already have in place and myself, we can do some amazing things next season."

"If you watched Houston's team, they needed another presence in the post to score some baskets, get some rebounds, help the guys on the perimeter.With Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and myself, we can do a lot of things that the Houston Rockets are used to doing, such as making it to the playoffs, playing well, and the ultimate goal -- winning the championship."

"I'll cross (next summer's free agency) when I come to it, but my decision was based on a team that I would want to stay with. I have the luxury of a one-year deal to see how I like the city, see how everything goes. But I wouldn't make the decision (to sign with the Rockets) if I didn't think it was a possibility of me signing here (long-term)."

"I didn't want to get trapped into a long-term deal, because I feel a lot of people haven't seen me play my best basketball. With me coming into a new situation with Houston, people will see me play my best basketball."

Steve Francis

"I told him, 'we've got years together. We have an opportunity to be good immediately. We were missing a physical forward, and you can be it. We haven't proven anything in the NBA yet. We're all young. We all have potential. A lot can happen.'"

Carrol Dawson

"He can play out on the floor, with his back to the bucket, he's got range and he can put it on the floor. He makes your mouth water when you watch film of him. The more film we watched, the more we got to want him."

Rudy Tomjanovich

"I think we have a real gem of a player in Mo Taylor, a potential superstar and a great kid. Larry (Smith, Rockets assistant coach) and I went up to see him and had a great three-hour talk, and we left that meeting convinced he was right for us and we were right for him."

Cuttino Mobley

"We talked to him, not just in Houston, but in D.C., wherever Steve and myself were. We need Mo. He knows it. And now that we have him, we're a more explosive team. Mo averaged 17 on a team that wasn't a good team. The way we run, play `D,' get steals -- the way we're young, he's going to be even better."