Is Mihm available? Why not pick him up as our backup Center? He would be ideal...a good passer and a decent shooter who can snag a few bounds and soak up 6 fouls. Only need him for around 18-20 minutes a night. Thoughts? DD
That would be nice, but it is a backup center we need......and Mihm would run the same offense as Ming... Heck, I would take Collier right now. DD
DaDa, I have a question for you. Do you want our future backup 5 to play the same role as Cato (step in as a backup 5 as well as play the 4 a bit) or do you want him to be strictly a backup 5 and NEVER be on the floor at the same time as Yao?
I would rather have a guy who can keep the offense and defense consistent...a mini Yao player. Someone the other team has to respect on offense and defense. Yao and Mihm can both shoot, I would not mind them playing together occasionally. DD
Only problem with that is, IMO, if you're going to have a "mini-Yao" player on the floor at the same time, our rebounding will suffer. Mihm isn't a pansy, but he can't crash the boards with the intensity that we need to negate Yao's box out and let teammates get boards method. And let's face it, our 4s aren't the greatest boarders either, so I'd rather have someone crash the boards HARD and have a jumpshot from 10-13 feet than a person who will stay outside and sink 18 ft jumpers. I also don't think that keeping the consistency in the game plan is necessary. When Yao gets tired, JVG will loosen the reins on TMac and let him do his thing (hopefully). I just want a hardnosed boarder who doesn't have hands of stone. Maybe Steven Hunter who is young enough to "grow" with the nucleus?
He was #10 in the league in rebounds per 48 minutes (tied with Jeff Foster, ahead of Magloire), and #6 in offensive rebounds per 48 minutes.
Where did you get the idea that he is a good passer? He average 0.3 pass per game for about 20 min a game, which means he assists one ball every 3-4 game. Actually, he holds the records in the NBA that played 400 plus minutes without an assist when he was a rookie. Go figure that one out.
From March 20, 2004 to April 25, 2004, Mr. Mihm played 15 games without a single assist. He dished out 21 dimes in the entire season, 3 short of the Stockton (I mean for a game). The longest streak that he had back to back assist: 2 games.
I'd take him. He's a good back-up! I think the tiny bit we lose in defense from Cato, we pick up a great deal of shooting and inside scoring from Mihm (at least comparable to Cato's shooting ability). Check this out... In the the last seven years, Cato has never averaged more than 25.6 minutes per game. So, taking that into account, his best rebounding season was 01-02, in which he had 7.0 RPG within those minutes. Last year, he logged 25.3 minutes per, and had 6.8 RPG. Chris Mihm, has never logged more than 22 minutes per game (2nd year). In the last 5 years, Mihm has logged 17.5 minute per game and hovered around 5.6 RPG. What's strange is the year that Mihm had 22 MPG, he averaged 5.3. Not sure why? Sophomore slump? Not sure if Mihm (or even Cato for that matter) will ever be a "35 minute-game player" like, say K-Mart. But, nevertheless, they do give comparable numbers with the minutes they are given; 17.5 vs 25.5. Plus, Mihm would give us more versatility as the backup. He's not sloft on the glass. He can score off of rebounds and putbacks. He's decent at some post moves. And he's a decent 10 ft shooter. Mihm's PPG average was slightly better with less minutes; 6.3 PPG with 17.3 minutes. Compared to Cato's 6.1 PPG, with 25.3 minutes. Both bench players.
Cato is Magic Johnson compared to Chris Mihm since Cato average more 3 than times of assist than Mihm in similar minutes last year.
So, you telling me that you'll willing to give up the rest of his game for a differential of .3 to 1.0? Remember, we don't have a backup center! Also, you're telling me that "low assist" in a back-up center is a make or break deal? Or would you rather have NO backup center and give up his 6ppg and 5rpg with 17MPG? I also think the "Magic" analogy isn't a good one. It's not a good analogy because they aren't that far a part in assist. I mean, if you were talking about Vlade Divac who has 5.3 assist per game, then yes. You may have a point in using the "Magic" analogy. But not with miniscule numbers like three times .3. Valde Divac is "Magic Johnson" compared to a LOT OF CENTERS!
Isn't Mihm an RFA? DD, if you were the Rockets what would you offer to Mihm? And when you come to that number ask yourself if the Celtics will match. My gut says you would want to offer him a salary starting at 3-4M per and I think the Celtics match that. You could offer him the FULL MLE to try to scare off the Celtics, but then you have to ask yourself have you just given this guy a terrible contract?
