Did anyone else notice that in the Steve Francis press confrence when the names of the future, and the guys that were going to take the team to the next level were being mentioned, one name was absent? Steve nor CD mentioned Cat. To me this could mean something. How can you leave out the guy who is supposed to be your best friend on the team??? Does anyone have a take on what this could mean? Maybe Cat in a deal for Rashard?
Addition by subtraction baby. Get rid of Mobley's ballhog, streetball, selfish, anti-team ball attitude and the Rockets are instantly a better team. Now that the Rockets have an inside presence with Ming and a developing Griffin and a score first PG, the absolute LAST thing you need is for a short, ballhog to jack up 20-25 off balance fadeaways with 2 hands right in his face and ming and griffin pinning their man down low and crying for the ball. Especially when that ballhog plays NO defense and is a TO machine The Rockets have their nucleus of Francis, Ming, and Griffin. They need some role players now to complement them. A selfish guy like Mobley will not be willing to set aside his huge ego for the good of the team (he wouldn't pass the ball to a wideopen Hakeem for the game winner in game 1 of the 99 playoffs as a ROOKIE and instead got the living $hit stuffed out of him by Shaq, Barkley hated Cuttino). Enough with the circus act of iso's and off balance, low % heaves at the hoop by a mediocre player like Cuttino. Maybe Francis is finally seeing the truth about his boy.
You don't know that Cuttino will keep shooting as much if Ming and Griffin PROVE they deserve the ball down low. By the way, Franics is a worse defensive player than Mobley and accumulates a lot more turnovers, not to mention he's not as good of a shooter. I guess you would want to get rid of him too? I agree that Cuttino needs to change his game this season. The biggest thing is that I hope he lets his shots come to him rather than forcing them up. He would rarely miss wide open three's last season. If he can just do that, Cuttino will be fine. He's the best shooter on our team. So you can see the future I guess. I would like to wait to see if Ming and Griffin can consistenly score on the NBA level before I get rid of our best scorer. So far all Griffin has proven is he can heave three's, and Ming hasn't proven anything. Oh, and show me a link to where Barkley said he hated Cuttino. Or is that just your interpretation? If the coaching staff had the balls to demand that Cuttino stop forcing shots and if the coaching staff would remove the ISOs, I think you would see things change. If Cuttino is still shooting crazy shots without the approval of the coaching staff that's when I would agree with you, but I don't see that happening. So far, it seems like the coaching staff has been supporting him and encouraging the ISO. It's as much the coach's fault as it is Cuttino's. I agree with all of your first statement except the mediocre player part. Cuttino's got game, anyone can see that. He proved it the second half of last season where he scored 24 ppg on 46% shooting. Yeah, those really sound like numbers a "mediocre" player could put up. GET A CLUE! With Ming, Taylor and maybe Griffin down low to kick the ball out to the 3-point line, Mobley should be able to reap the benefits. As for your last statement...whatever. So what? Steve didn't mention Cuttino's name. It means absolutely nothing.
I cannot find anything there that resembles Mobley at all. I hope you are being sarcastic. First of all, there is only 1 player that I can think of that jacks up 20-25 off balance fade-aways with 2 hands in their face, and that would be Allen Iverson. Not to mention AI was a previous MVP. Second, Mobley hasn't had BOTH Griffin and Ming on his team at the same time pinning their man down low. And WHEN he has had Griffin in the game, he has been on the 3 point line. Give the guy a chance.... Third, Cuttino is not even close to being the worst defender in this team, alone. Steve, Mooch and Glen Rice all cannot play defense and are worse the Cat on the defensive end. Fourth, he averages 2.43 turnovers in 42.1 minutes a game. Compare that to the "much loved" Kobe Bryant who has been said to be the best SG in the league. 2.79 turnovers in 38.3 minutes a game, do I need to say anymore? Conclusion to my research: You are just a Mobley Hater.....
why are we trippin, lets just wait until the start of the season and see how they act around each other.
and if they did hate each other then mobley would be traded in no time. And we can get a lot for him to.
If you want to pick on a guard for that, you picked the wrong one... Mobley has never shot 20 shots per game in any season, much less 25. You're tired of low percentage heaves? Might want to try telling Steve and his 41.7% shooting before Cuttino and his 43.8. First, Cat was fouled by Horry on that play. Second, Kobe Bryant literally airballed shot after shot in the playoffs his rookie year... I guess he will never amount to anything ever? This is all I will get into in this topic, for now. I've gone through this before; don't waste your time. No matter how many facts you show, there will just be more generalizations to discredit them. Clutch isn't the biggest Mobley fan either... but in addition to discussing individual numbers, he provided a very telling stat: the Rockets record in the last two years when Mobley shot 16 times or less. I don't recall it right now, but it was very good. Before someone jumps on that, that doesn't signify that the Rockets "need him to be less selfish" or anything like that. Mobley's shots are usually around the 15 per game mark when there is a completely healthy team. What it does signify, contrary to popular belief, is that Mobley is fully capable and willing to take less shots and give everyone else their touches. If any of you seriously think Cuttino will average more than 16 shots per game with a completely healthy Francis, Mo Taylor, Ming, and possibly Lewis, you've completely let your hatred cloud your rationality.
i think some people just read too much into things. cat for lewis? we would have to start oscar. not to mention we already have rice, kt, and nachabr at sf.
I did find it strange Cat was not mentioned by anyone and, in fact, his name was specifically left off some listing of the future.... but, let's not totally read into it and make assumptions just from words. I think we have to watch the team over the next few weeks and time will tell. I agree though with Rice and Nachbar and others at the 3, I doubt we would move Cuttino to Seattle....Also, there is no way he gets more than 7 mil per year here.....IMHO
You guys are out of your minds. I see what happened here, now that Franchise haters feel they have to put up with Steve for the next 7 years, they move on to the next target. We should feel lucky to have a player of Cat's caliber, and who was also a 2nd round steal and payed far less than comparable players. Quit your b****in', all of you. The season hasn't even started and the lynch mob is already out.
Them not mentioning Mobley is very strange, but I would be heart-broken if he wasn't on the opening day roster. He has been playing for Houston longer than any current roster player. I thought we wanted to build chemistry.
the no mention is strange,,,though we should not read into it too much.... at least this debate here is purely basketball based....the Steve Haters use non-court garbage to disperage him... guys: it is okay to debate a player's effectiveness and fit on the team from a pure basketball standpoint, but people who call for trades without factual merit and those who use non-basketball related inuendo and gossip to disparage our players should be banned...at least these guys are debating his effectiveness....though I think Cuttino is a very effective player for this team and disagree with some of the arguments, I do like the fact that these folks are debating with stats and real game talk and not the garbage and trash on other threads.... This is what this site is all about...
No disrespect but this was so stupid and idiotic I didn't even bother to post a true response to it. Mobley will remain a Rocket.
Look if you don't like Mobley that's fine, but don't make up lies to back up your complaining. Pippen actually designed that play for Mobley because he and the Rockets didn't think the Lakers would expect it. I remember people roasting Pippen for not wanting to take the shot and making a rookie take the shot. And Barkley hated Mobley so much that when Mobley and Co. jokingly bought Charles a rocking chair his last game as a Rocket he hugged them and wished them well. Yeah, Barkley REALLY hated Mobley! If you're assuming that Barkley "hated" Mobley because he gave him a hard time his rookie year, well he must hate Francis because he actually got on Francis DURING GAMES for doing silly things. Just had to post that since it seems you have resorted to telling lies or making up stories.
Cat isn't going anywhere, it was just an unfortunate oversight. Like Julia Roberts forgetting to mention the real-life Erin Brockovich when accepting the Oscar. It happens.
If Steve mentioned Cuttino, the haters would claim that he was stuck in the Steve and Cutino show. That he was unfit for a team game or leadership. They would also claim he was gay. Question-- how can one be a Rockets fan and hate most of the players and Rudy individually? It is a mystery to me.
Sometimes it occurs to me that analyzing players' comments is a lot like disecting SHakespeare; we put a hell of a lot more time and thought into the words than the author ever could have.
If I rember correctly wasn't the context of what Steve said in relation to either new guys this year or the younger players? That I believe was the point of reference. Mobley is far from new or a first year rookie. He is the veteran on this team as far as age and years go....
