I've posted many of these in other threads, but one thread to tie it all together might be nice. Here's the type of quote that seems to pop up every couple of days: I think Francis will shoot less once he has some confidence in the good players around him. Griff will be a team players, Cat....well um. Let's go through the myths, one by one, and prove why they are just that (myths). Most of these are actual facts, not editorializing that can be debated. Myth #1: Cat thinks he is a top five SG and shoots as much as any of them to get his points. Wrong. Just by taking a quick look at five star shooting guards, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce, and Tracy McGrady all shoot more than Cuttino Mobley by a substantial amount. Myth #2: All Cat does is jack up 25 shots per game, if he didn't do that he wouldn't be good. Wrong. Cat shoots 18.35 times per game, a far cry from 25. However, the true measure of a player's efficiency when shooting is the amount of shots it takes him to get his points. I call this the points per shot ratio. Saying "X player" shoots less than Cuttino isn't an effective argument, if that player scores less points. Cuttino Mobley's PPS: 1.18 Michael Finley's PPS: 1.16 Wally Szczberbiak's PPS: 1.28 Allan Houston's PPS: 1.21 Steve Francis' PPS: 1.22 Allen Iverson's PPS: 1.13 Michael Jordan's PPS: 1.04 These are just a few examples. Note: I am not necessarily saying Cuttino Mobley is better than these players. He is better than some, and not others, because there is more to the game than scoring. However, this should debunk the myth that Cat's volume of shots is the only reason for his statistics. Other star shooting guard's that are praised on this board must take a similar amount of shots to get their points. Either they're all overrated, or none. It's not just Cuttino. Myth #3: Cuttino should be placed as a 6th man since he's one dimensional. Wrong. How many of the above players would you bench? It's the same principle. A shooting guard's responsibility is to score. Furthermore, I'd like to know the definition of an all-around player. I hear this all the time in conjunction with Michael Finley, yet he only averages 0.8 more assists and 1.1 more rebounds than Cuttino. Is that really the gap between a one-dimensional sixth man and a all-around star? Personally, I think most of you are spoiled by Steve Francis. He may get 7 rebounds and 7 assists per game, but it doesn't mean every guard has to have those type of all-around numbers to be a star. Francis is a rare case that we're lucky to have. Mobley's not Steve Francis. That's been established. But it doesn't mean he's not an efficient, star-quality player. Myth #4: Mobley doesn't play defense. This is the only place where there will be some editorializing, because there are no statistics for one on one defense. I have, though, noticed a trend of posters located outside of Houston criticizing Cat's defense significantly more than those in Houston. This signals to me that many are going by reputation, and aren't seeing the games to notice the different. Cat has made strides in his perimeter defense. He may not be a Bruce Bowen or Doug Christie, but he does put out effort on that end of the floor, unlike two seasons ago. I've seen him stick with some of the better two guards in the league, and though he's not a lockdown type, I'd say he's turned into an average one on one defender if you closely watch. Furthermore, it really starts to get annoying when you have the pro-Steve crowd making these accusations, and not even mentioning Francis in the post. As I said somewhere else, if you compare Steve's defense to Cuttino's, Mobley starts to look like Ben Wallace. There is only one real statistic for defense for guards, and that's steals. It's not the whole package, but consider this: Kobe Bryant has all sorts of chances to go for steals, and guard players closely, because he has Shaq behind him if the guard should penetrate past Kobe. Mobley lacks that luxury, because he had Kelvin Cato. Kobe averages 1.48 steals per game; Mobley 1.47. Myth #5: Mobley won't ever become a team player. This seems to stem from the accusations that he shoots too much, and I already explained those above. Do Cuttino and Steve need to shoot less on a team with more options? YES! But, there's no real reason to say that one will and the other won't, especially since they both shoot approximately the same shots per game. Exactly what options have they had in their seasons as stars of the Rockets? An injury prone and declining Hakeem Olajuwon? Spot up shooters Glen Rice and Walt Williams? Kenny Thomas, a player who needs to create on his own to score? Kelvin Cato? They've never had the chance to play with low post talents such as Yao Ming and Eddie Griffin. This is a new slate and a new era for the Rockets, and I think we should get Steve and Cat a chance to play with these talents before making assumptions. It's even more ridiculous to claim one of the two as being a problem with this, and not the other. Steve may have more assists, but he's the point guard, so that's kind of his job. And judging by his assist/TO ratio, he may be trying too hard. Myth #6: Mobley doesn't pass. First, a shooting guard's primary job is not to pass. Second, let's analyze the numbers for some of the shooting guard's around Cat's caliber in scoring: Michael Finley: 3.3 Allan Houston: 2.5 Wally Szczberbiak: 3.1 Bonzi Wells: 2.8 Ray Allen: 3.9 It's rare to hear those players associated with the term "ballhog". A couple of those are on par with Cat in assists, and all of the others are within the 0.8-1.4 range of Cat's assists. Can any of you seriously tell me that one whole assist per game is the difference in a star SG and a one-dimensional one? Furthermore, all of the teams for the players I listed have a higher shooting percentage than Houston, so there is a greater chance for those players to gain assists since they are passing to better shooters. Now, some opinion from me: Cat's NOT anywhere close to a one-dimensional sixth man. He's a rapidly improving star shooting guard, as evidenced by his 25 points, 4.5 boards, and almost 3 assists per game over a 40-45 game stretch in which he was healthy. (45% shooting too) That's more than a hot streak. He's also one of the only Rockets that is a true gym rat, and constantly improving his game in the offseason. He's one of the few leaders we have. If you go to the games, you can see him during timeouts explaining plays to the younger players. You can always tell he wants the ball in the last minutes of close games, instead of shying away from it like many others do. Cat is a very good basketball player, and though we have new talent, he is still very valuable and needed to the Rockets.
WOW, great post! You make some great points there. I agree with you. I am a big Cat fan and I think he takes way too much heat on these BBS. You mention this point in your post but I will bring it up again.....Those that think Cat shoots to much have to understand that with all the injuries that the team had last year many times he was the best player on the floor and HAD to shoot. As chronicled above, I think once we get more weapons on the floor: improved Eddie Griffin, Mo Taylor, Glen Rice, Yao Ming, Bostjan Nachbar etc, I think THEN we can get a better judge of things. It really is hard to evaluate a team and its players when the team is not at full strength. I really think Cat and Francis will improve their games so much more this year since the talent around them will be much better. Chris
Preaching to the choir buddy. I like Cuttino because he improves every year since he has been in the league. He addresses his weaknesses during every off season. That is the reason I criticize Stevie so much even though I think he is a great player. Francis has not improved in any area since his first season in the league. I hope both are much better this season because if our guys play any where close to their potential we can definitely make some noise in the playoffs.
One other thing while we are talking about Cuttino. I live out of town so I don't see a ton of Rockets games and thus changes that happen to the team and the players seem more dramatic to me (versus seeing every game and seeing the changes gradually). But one thing I noticed that changed over the last 2 years is the effectiveness of Cat's offensive game. In a couple of games that I saw on TV this year I was stunned how dominant he was in a few games. He could take people off the dribble and hit amazing shots. I remember that game he had against Jalen Rose. Even though they lost to the Bulls in that game Cat matched Jalen's output shot for shot. Cattino literlly was able to put the team on his back and ride them home. You have to be a special player in the NBA to be able to do that, an All-Star type player. A couple of years ago Cat would not have been able to do that. He really can hit some tough pressure shots, shots where the opposing team KNOWS that he is the man on the floor that has to score and he does anyway. This left me very impressed. I really think he came into his own last year in those last 40 games. Chris
Great post The Cat. Now if we can trade your buds Collier + Mo Taylor for Brian Grant, or if Miami is sleeping... Eddie Grant, then we can rock down to electric avenue.
No lengthy, rationalized post required. One FACT remains. Cat couldn't "lead" us to one win in our 15 game losing streak. A scorer isn't necessarily a good player or a leader.
Steve couldn't get one victory when Cat was out. The Rockets were 0-8 without him. Maybe, just maybe, having 3 starters out is a little tto much for anyone to handle by themselves. Sure the bench guys can start and even play pretty well, but that means that the guys that are now coming off of the bench are Brown, Morris, Langhi, and Collier quality players, and that is what kills you.
Well, I'm not necessarily against trading Mo, but I would prefer to do it for a future pick instead of adding to the glut at power forward. I think the pieces are in place right now for a contending team. How soon will they develop? That remains to be seen. I'd rather be a 7 seed now and wait a year or two for everyone to develop than be a 5 seed with problems distributing minutes down the road. IMO, one of Cato, KT, or Mo (in that order of preference) needs to be traded for a future first rounder. Cato's importance is overrated by many. Very few teams in this era have a true starting center, much less a backup. If the Kings taught us anything this year, it's that the way to beat a dominant two-man tandem is to have a team full of skilled players, not trying to play a certain player because of his size. I think we have a good tandem of players up front, without Cato. I'd prefer to trade him to a center-starved team, like New York, for a future pick and a contract (Eisley, Ward?) On Collier: I'd try and keep him around. In the very few cases in which he's been healthy, he hasn't been bad. Right now, his value around the league is nothing more than a salary addition to a trade. He's big, and you can never have enough big men. I believe in the buy low, sell high theory, and right now Collier's stock can't get much lower. Unless he's an absolute necessity to throw into a trade, and I don't see why he would be, I would keep him around to see if his value might increase a little bit. Cat couldn't "lead" us to one win in our 15 game losing streak. A scorer isn't necessarily a good player or a leader. Duke already made a good point, and also remember that without Shaq, Kobe couldn't even lead the Lakers to a win over the Bulls. Is he not a good player?
Vince Carter is not a leader. Sure, he has talent, but he's a far cry from taking his team to another level. Why do you think he's been crticised so much lately? There is reason for that criticism. Put kobe in a situation where shaq is out for 15 games, and you can't honestly tell me that he wouldn't lead the lakers to just one win in that span. i know that there are examples with shaq being out, and kobe playing where the lakers have won. o yea, here's a good example: houston vs LA- Dec. 30..Lakers win 114-90. Lakers have no shaq..Rockets have no steve. Bryant's line- 16pts..7-17...11 asts mobley's line- 18pts..2-17...7 asts We lose by 24 points.
Why do you think he's been crticised so much lately? Because people want a scapegoat for the Raptors failures. Oh, and if Cat got to play a team with the talent of the Rockets minus Francis, he might get a win too.
Hey Cat, I liked your breakdown. Now if you would, could you show people that Maurice Taylor is not as bad as some think? I personally like the guy when healthy. My only question mark is his health.
He's not a mere scapegoat for the raptor's failures. However you want to slice it, people have to wonder why when the franchise player is out, his team goes on a serious run to make the playoffs. When he is in there, they struggle. The questions surrounding Carter's effect on the team have merit. The lakers don't exactly have talent running through and through either. Aside from shaq and kobe, who is their supporting cast? samaki walker? rick fox? MEDVEDENKO even started in that game. A 24 point blowout is not acceptable, like it or not.
The lakers don't exactly have talent running through and through either. Aside from shaq and kobe, who is their supporting cast? samaki walker? rick fox? MEDVEDENKO even started in that game. A 24 point blowout is not acceptable, like it or not. Judging a player's leadership based on one game isn't acceptable, like it or not.
During the 15 game losing streak, we lost to the likes of the memphis grizzlies, chicago bulls, new york knicks, and cleveland cavaliers. Those teams don't exactly have a 12-man deep roster either.
Mobley is an incredible one on one player who can break down his man, force a double team, and still get his shot off. He is a horrible team player though. He regularly misses open teammates, which causes the other Rockets to quit moving without the ball. When Mobley goes to the hole, his teammates know that they have NO chance of getting the ball back. It is a good thing that Mobley was not signed to a max contract. He is being paid what he is worth- a great scorer who does not have the basketball smarts to improve the players around him. Even those of us who aren't infatuated with Mobley's game really can't complain about the guy because his contract is reasonable for the points he gives the team, and he earns his money.
