damn the guy is frickin unbelievably good but i thought, according to this place he was just a selfish shot happy clown??? In an effort to foster team unity, Clippers swingman Cuttino Mobley said Thursday he would accept a reserve role this season. Mobley, one of the three veteran perimeter players vying for two starting spots along with Corey Maggette and Quinton Ross, offered to come off the bench in a meeting with Coach Mike Dunleavy. Although Dunleavy said he had not determined who would start the season opener Nov. 1 against the Phoenix Suns, he applauded Mobley's selflessness. "I want all my players to feel that way, but it was great for him to make that offer," Dunleavy said after practice at Santa Barbara City College. "Ultimately, I'm going to make that decision. I'm going to do what I think I'm supposed to do period. "For a coach, though, it's terrific to know that his players are behind any decision he wants to make. It says something about him." Mobley, an eight-year veteran, started 74 of 79 games he appeared in last season, his first with the Clippers. Despite often having to guard bigger players because of injuries to others, Mobley was a key contributor on offense, averaging 14.8 points. "It's about doing your part, being professional and helping the team," said Mobley, in the second year of a five-year, $42-million contract. "It's no big deal to me. It's just about winning." Swingmen Maggette and Ross also started at times last season with power forward Elton Brand, center Chris Kaman and point guard Sam Cassell. Maggette is more comfortable as a starter. He played in only 32 games last season — starting 13 — because of foot, hamstring and back injuries. Maggette led the Clippers in scoring in 2004-05, but his role is not expected to be as significant in the offense this season. Ross was limited to 67 games (with 45 starts) because of back problems. Ross is considered the team's best individual defender, and Dunleavy has preferred to have Ross on the court with Cassell, who acknowledged he's not strong on defense. Backup point guard Shaun Livingston and forward Tim Thomas also could take minutes from Maggette, Mobley and Ross based on lineup matchups. "We have a lot of guys who can play this game, that's a good thing, and it's a real nice gesture for [Mobley] to make," Cassell said. "But it's Mike's decision, and Mike is going to want him in the lineup." http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/clippers/
What does Mobes care? He's on his last big contract in the league. He'll either have a shot at the 6th Man award or he'll wait for Magette to get hurt again and come in to save the day. Either way, he's got nothing to lose by coming off the bench.
Cat was a great 6th man early on for the Rockets. He was the teams leading scorer in the 4th quarter the year he played behind Shandon Anderson. While I'm not enamored with Cat as a starter I loved his passion for the game and it would be great if the Rockets had that kind of instant offense off of the bench.
I think most people on here actually respect mobley for being a professional. I remember one game during the lowly 02 season he was asked to guard keyon martin. he held his own in the post. the guy did everything he was asked to do. remember, rudy had him running back up point his first season.
Mobly was actually the only person I sorely missed when the trade for TMac happened. I could care less about Franchise and Cato. This article was completely useless, nothing important really.. the starting lineup hasn't even been done yet and it's still preseason. Plus, this is like Shane Battery saying "I'm willing to hustle and be a 6th man." Just my free thought.
He actually was the point. He started the year backing up Dickerson at the 2 but since the PG position was so useless Rudy started him there for about half the season and the playoffs.
...selfishly, I might add. I mean, who wouldn't want to play SG next to Livingston, rather than a shot-happy PG like Cassel
Agreed...I didnt think twice about Kelvin and Steve leaving knowing who we were getting, but damn I loved Mobe's passion for the game. In order to understand why Smeg posted the article, you have to remember the flak Cat used to catch for being "selfish" while here. Anytime Cat does something to prove the old Rockets-era-Cat haters wrong....its fun to bring it up and say na-na-na. and then we get heyp coming in and talking crap about Sam I Am...how can you look at yourself in the mirror bub
And don't forget- the reason cassell himself was second string with the Rockets was because he did not want to share shots with Dream and Clyde...an appropriate passing of the torch perhaps.
Oh.. I always thought that Steve was the selfish one.. at least I was too worried about him to be selfish than Cat. I didn't think we had anyone else that could handle the ball like Steve and Cat, so that's probably why they had the ball so much (unless I'm wrong). I mean, Mo-T couldn't handle it and everyone else was born in the 1800's. But Steve was handling that ball like it was just him and Cat alone on a Saturday night. But I did remember some people hating on Cat.. and so I slit their throats and chopped them to pieces. ^_^
I miss Cat, and I wish we still had him. Heck, I wish we still had K-9. Cat, especially, was underappreciated while he was here. He always did whatever he was asked to do by the staff, and got a bad rap around here while doing it, far too often.
Maaannn I remember during Cat's freshmen year (I like saying that rather than Rookie year) with the Rockets.. My cousin and I were at the Galleria and we saw Cat there.. and NO one even knew who the hell he was. That must've been good times for him. We wanted to freak out and totally ambush him (we've never met an NBA player before) but that would've been weird cus no one else knew who he was..
he signed a big contract, but he's started to suck, he's losing his abilities. it's news if he re-negotiated his contract for a lower more deserving fee. otherwise based on his play he doesn't deserve to start and dunleavy would be crazy to start him this season.
