i wouldnt mind seeing a lineup of yao, griffin and cato on the frontline. if griffin is going to stay out top jacking threes all night then he should just play small forward. its not like he is any slower than rice. you can then play cato at 4 or 5, doing the dirty work and allowing ming to be the post option. the spurs play 2 centers so there is no reason the rockets cant. ming is no slower than duncan so i think he could actually guard most power forwards. he seems to have good enough lateral quickness. can you imagine them in a zone? the rockets would get tons of rebounds.
Even if Rudy played Cato at pf.. it wouldnt be EddieG he replaced , it would be MoT. MoT needs playing time to get back to 100%, Eddie needs playing time to develop..Unless there is a trade or injury, dont expect to see Cato at pf. Even if he got some time at the 4,,,the foul situation would limit him to minimal minutes. RudyT likes Eddies game and choose him for the pf because of it..the ability to stretch defenses on one end and block shots on the other is unique. He will never be a banger under the basket, but he will develop into a better pf as he adds a little bulk and a little more experience. RudyT just traded KT to insure EGs development, he sure isnt going to play Cato over Eddie.
Not a terrible idea, tho what I have been advocating is like against Malone when he went off, bring in Cato to play Karl (not Moses) Malone for a few minutes and change the flow. I would love a few intense minutes of Cato when necessary, as Hawk and/or Posey when a 2 or 3 is going off, like Mash the other night.
What I would like to see this offseason is for Cato to shed off some pounds and maybe regain some of the athleticism and speed he used to have. Then he would be the ideal 'Thorpe type' to play beside Yao. I guess Griffin would be the 'Horry type' at the 3.
Cato could still slide over to the five. And if both are in foul trouble, I suppose Taylor could spend some time at the 5. He's not much smaller than some of the other starting centers in the league (A. Davis, B. Grant, K. Thomas, etc.).
This would be a great lineup, especially when running the ZONE defense. Talk about a great backline...3 shot blockers......the rim would be closed to opponents. DaDakota
Cato will just move over. The idea is not to play that lineup the entire game but for stretches at a time when matchups dictate.
Cato looks as athletic as he ever was. It takes athleticism to dunk the ball with one hand off a lob pass. I think his strength and weight has really helped his rebounding because no one can box him out. All Cato has to do now is develop a money 15 foot jumper ala Horace Grant and it will be all over for opposing teams. I totally think he is capable since he is not a bad free throw shooter.
Who knows why Rudy T in not playing Cato in with Yoa, i was watching a couple of games and Murphy and Espn comentators were talking about the same thing, puting in Cato and Yoa at the same time. I'm not saying start Cato are anything abusurd like that just put him in with Yao and see what happens. Who knows why Rudy T is not playing Cato in with Yoa, maybe they are about to trade Cato and they dont want to mess with any new line ups. Was wondering when does Cato's Contract run out?
