In my mind, in order to justify his contract and starting spot, Cato needs to average: 12pts, 9rebs, 2.5 blocks. Does this sound unreasonable? Until then, Cato isn't wortht he money. ------------------ The lottery sucks. Playoffs 2001.
haven, that sounds very reasonable. And you know what - he would have averaged just those #s if he played say 35 minutes a game, instead of 24. ------------------
So if Predrag is such a good shooter and Walt is such rubbish why did Wizard shoot better in both catagories then him?????? Unsolved Mysteries! ------------------ Miggidy Markell says: 1. Eastcoast is da sh*t 2. Rockets rule 3. Hip/Hop is dope 4. Buy the new Ruff Ryders album! Miggidy Markell is watching Stay STRAPPED & WATCH ya back or be Assimilated.
I have a great sense of humor TB3. However, when I smoke that crack, it makes me a horrible horrible man! I see that you like to tell people their opinions are not fact, and that others cannot stand by their arguments. Well, you can do neither as well. Hint: You claim Cato is a top ten center, right? I show you some numbers from the season comparing him to Studly Sean Bradley that are almost identical to Cato's, maybe slightly better. You say it is because he was injured last year and WOULD HAVE done better. So I ask you this.....how in the hell can you consider him a top ten center, when the only year he has played any minutes in the league, he spent hurt? He didn't play many minutes with Portland. According to you, we haven't seen what he can do yet. Is his potential top ten? Maybe. He has a long way to go until he is even worthy of a top ten bid. He is not even a top ten shot blocker, the strength which you cited earlier. Maurice Taylor outrebounded Kelvin Cato last year. ------------------ There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Just because Duncan plays PF doesn't mean he isn't a better center than Cato. ------------------ "You've got 6 fouls, use them well" -Derrick Coleman
2 things... Cato is not a top-10 center, but has the postential to crack into this group. Walt is not part of the Rockets future unless we are talking short term. ------------------ Don't you have anything better to do?
Okay, people. Duncan is a center who plays the PF position. Get used to it. ------------------ "Have we not here the best cards in the game to win this easy match played for a crown?....." Bill Shakespeare
I dont't think Cato is better than Ewing, Sabonis, Ilgauskas, and some other centers you guys mentioned; but I would rather much have Cato on this team than let's say Sabonis. The Center has to fit the team and Kelvin does (at least shows potential that he can). ------------------ www.rocketzone.web.com
Rocket Ry: If Walt were 5 years younger, sure, I'd say he'd be a valuable asset to the Rockets. But by the time the rest of the team is coming into its own, Walt's skills will be declining. What athleticism he does possess will begin to fade soon. While I agree that Langhi has every chance to become a player, I think it's a bit foolish to predict he'll be better than Stojakovic at this point. Peja has a very real chance of averaging 17pts next year. I'm not saying Langhi won't, just that such predictions are as premature as those saying Langhi will not be a player in the NBA. Cato is *not* as good as Divac. Nor as good as Ewing. And Duncan probably is a C.... at least, if he played for Houston, that's where he'd be. ------------------ The lottery sucks. Playoffs 2001.
No offense to the Cato apologists, but anyone who thinks his lack of post moves, non existing offense, inability to catch a decent pass, mediocre defense (shot blocking excluded), and lousy outside shot had anything to do with his wrist injury hasnt watched enough of Catos play up until last year. It was I that made that comment about Cato being the 3rd best center on the Trailblazers squad before they traded him to the Rox. Fact of the matter is the Blazers tried to shop him before the Snippen trade. Fact of the matter is I read that they were probably going to outright release him being that the Blazers had Sabonis, and planned on playing O'neal ahead of him, and could move Sheed, and Grant to the 5 spot. Right now Cato isnt in the top 30 players I would have play center for the Rox in a one year situation based on his play so far in his career. Id actually play a fat Kemp at center over Cato. And no one in this room is going to tell me that any coach in this league wouldnt start Kemp at center over Cato last year. Cato may in time prove to be worth it in the long haul, but as of now he isnt worth it. Lets just all hope that Cato has indeed worked hard and makes all these posts about him fruitless. ------------------ "I have amazing, powers of observation"...Pink
What is the average league salary if you don't include guys that make the maximum allowable? That is to say, do franchise players get 10 times as much as other starters and therefore throw the average salary number way off. Example (not real numbers) Average franchise player's salary (20 out of 350 players) - $12 mil Average starter (100 out of 350 players) - $3 mil Average bench warmer (170 out of 350 players) - $.5 mil ------------------
Also if everyone thinks one good offseason for Cato will make him a top 10 center, what the hell has he been doing the past 3 offseasons? Was he maybe working on a cure for cancer? No I imagine he was working to get better so he could stay in the NBA and now everyone thinks one good off season will make him a top 10 center? And I would much rather have Pryz or Mihm because they have more potential (yeah all Cato fans who love to say this word I said it). Either of these 2 could become good all around players, not a lazy overpaid one dimensional (defensive) player that received a big paycheck for a good pre-season game vs. Cleveland. The only two real potentials Cato has shown this far is he is tall and he has the body to carry a little more weight. Dunking doesn't really count because there are very few 6'10 men who can't dunk. ------------------
4chuckie -- aren't you the one that kept insisting that Jason Williams was better than Steve Francis? Maybe we should take your opinions on personnel with a grain of salt... [This message has been edited by TheFreak (edited August 18, 2000).]
Anybody that needed a center for an entire season, and would take Ewing, Olajuwon, Sabonis, or Smits ahead of Cato, would lose their job. Centers that I would trade for Cato right now if I was the Rockets: O'Neal Mourning . . . . Um, that's it.
I don't know why people keep pumping up Ilgauskas as one of these CBTC. He's not just an injury waiting to happen - he's a walking injury list! I read on ESPN the other day where he might not play until 2001. And, I know that, last season, Grant and McDyess played Center. I do get a chance to watch some non-spurs games here in Austin. But to me, those guys aren't really Centers - they (esp Grant) have no back-to-the-basket game, don't block shots, are short(er) and have been PFs their entire careers until last year. The Suns could start Cliffy Robinson at the 5 if they wanted to (not a bad idea actually, given their other options) but I would still call him a forward, playing out of position. As for Pryzbilla, have some faith in Rudy. If he thought he was going to be better than Cato (for our system) he would have drafted him instead of dealing the pick away. Pryz is Muresan-slow and couldn't keep up with our fast-break team. A final note. Patrick Ewing needs to retire! What is that has-been doing, wanting another 2 year contract? I would hate to have him as a Rocket. He doesn't seem willing or able to adjust to what his role should now be - at best, a third or fourth option on a good team. ------------------
Freak I still think at the begiing of the season last year the JW would have been a better fir here, of course I would have been proven wrong by our injuries. JW is a traditional PG who distributes while Francis is the new age PG who creates for himself. I still argue that if CB & Dream would have been healthy that JW would have been as good of fit here than Francis, but as I said earlier due to the injuries I was proved wrong. Now I do like Francis's game but I am a traditionilst and I am still don't like our PG being the 1st scoring option. I agree JW will never have ths skills as Francis but the real key is how much C-webb likes playing with JW. If C-webb stays then I think it shows that he keeps his big man happy, and more than likely moore FA would sign with SAC if C-webb is signed to a LT deal. Remember C-webb wasn't happy going to SAc and it was only after he started playing with JW that he began to like it. JW & C-webb have brought alot of press to SAc, through JW's flash and C-webb's domination. But yeah in our current situation, without a proven big man we are better off w/ Franchise. ------------------
pat is garbage. if for no other reason than he still has a damn flat top. and has never had a nice fade to go with it. and what's up with the calvin murphy hairline? ------------------ miles ahead of the rest
Sam Cassell I was going to make the same comment. If he had just spent more time on the court, he would have had 13ppg, 9rpb, 3bpg in about 36 minutes. Had that been the case, we'd have much less criticism. The fact is, if he doesn't improve at all through his workouts and just spends more time on the floor, we've got a solid center. I expect him to be improved this year, but I don't know how much time he gets with Dream's last season, and Collier maybe seeing some minutes. We may have to endure another year of criticism until Cato can get the majority of PT at center. ------------------ Bad spellers of the world: UNTIE!
Tb-Cain: But the fact is, he *didn't* play that many minutes. And it's not fair to extrapolate over more minutes. BTW, he wouldn't have had that many rebounds, in any event. I want to see what Cato can do starting, over a course fo a full season, averaging 30 mins per game. If he fan give me those #'s, and some good defense, then he's worth what we're paying him. Yes, I don't think he's a top 10 center. But I think he can fit the position adequately. ------------------ The lottery sucks. Playoffs 2001.
HOOP-T/haven: I think he didn't get the time for a couple of reasons. First, he was coming from a situation where he basically got spot minutes. I think Rudy wanted to acclimate him to his new role. Second, I think he spent too much time in foul trouble. That is definately an area where he needs to improve. When you're coming off the bench for a few minutes a night (Portland), you don't typically have to worry about your fouls. In that situation, you just play hard. As an aside, I don't see why you can't extrapolate the numbers though. In fact, the more minutes you play, your numbers could improve beyond the extrapolation. I think a season worth of games is sufficient to indicate how much a player would produce given more time. I'm not intimately familiar with scientific methods, but around 82 samples (minus injuries) seems large enough to form an educated guess. There are plenty of variables that would have to be taken into account, but then, there were plenty of variables in the time the player actually played. I'd be willing to bet Rudy and CD take into account how much production a player provides in the minutes they're given. And HOOP-T is right, and I was wrong (sort of), I rounded up. Cato's boards last year came out to 8.88888... over 36 minutes. Given 36.45 minutes though...watch out! I personally have questions as to whether or not he'll get more minutes this year though. It's Dream's swansong, and Collier will probably get minutes just because he's what we netted with the number 9 pick in the draft. I'd be happy with 30 minutes, I'd prefer more like 36. We'll have to wait for 2001-2002 for that though (most likely). Then again, maybe I'm just in love with his potential. ------------------ Bad spellers of the world: UNTIE!
