He will be on tonight guys, so just giving you the heads up. He might talk about his likely destinations, where he would like to play, his experience in Houston/the trade, etc.
I talked to him 2 Sundays ago. He said he would love to come back. He would be perfect for the Rockets!
We couldn't afford him, unless we traded James and Moochie to get him (if Cat doesn't opt out). And will Cat opt out? The lockout is potentially looming.
If he wanted to come back I'd welcome him with open arms. I doubt we have the money to sign him but it would be nice even with the possible chemistry issues. he's a great defender and a shooter. Better shooter than wesley but at least when he fakes and drives he can create something out of it.
Cat is not a half cour set player, because he never had chance to be one in the early years of career when he developed his dance steps on the court. I dont think Cat will fit in Houston right now. I still love the guy tough, I watched Kings only because of him.
IF the Cat did come back it would be under the JVG system which he would be agreeing to, so, sure, welocme home Mobes -- if you and JVG said so.
I think mobes excelled in the JVG system better than any other former rocket. He was a very good to great defender that took on and posted up Kobe and Tmac. He also chased around iverson as well as anyone else in the league. Cat would be great playing next to mcgrady.
Where are the roll eyes? I recall Mobes taking a not-so-veiled shot at JVG in an interview after the Kings beat us last year.
Screw Mobely, even if he wanted to come back, the Rockets wouldn't be interested in him. He would kill our ball movement and he isn't the smartest cat around. I like him as a guy, but he definitely isn't the right fit for our team. Let him take his drama elsewhere. If you think JVG would ever take him back even for nothing, then you are smoking something. The guy just isn't the right fit for this team, I don't think he would be willing to be a 3rd string guy to T-Mac and Yao. The last thing we want is a guy to disrupt our team's current structure and emphasis on two stars. Yao needs more shots and to be more of a focus of the offense. If Cat is willing to do that, then by all means. But I think for how much he is asking we can have another guard (there are PLENTY of them out there as FA, it is a large pool this off season) who is as good if not better, as far as suiting our needs. Besides, there is just too much ill-will from all sides involved, so it would be poison to team chemistry. In short, thanks but no thanks.
The Kings run Pete Carril's great motion offense. The Kings own Mobley's Bird Rights meaning they can easily outbid the 25 or so teams with only a MLE. If the Kings don't want Mobley back, why in the hell do we?
I agree he would kill our ball movement. I have mixed feelings about bringing him back. Remember, he responded pretty well in JVG's first year, unlike SF. Something tells me there is zero chance of him coming here.
I usually break down a post into separate quotes, but I completely disagree with everything you said. Cuttino didn't create half the drama that Steve created after the trade. Sure he was disappointed, but who wouldn't be? I really don't understand where the idea that JVG and Cat had a bad relationship is coming from. Cuttino was one of the first ones to really buy into the new system as far as play goes. JVG may not have liked having Steve and Cuttino together since they were so similar, but I don't think he hated Cat as a single player. Not willing to be 3rd string to Yao and T-Mac? He was a third string guy every year he played in Houston, whether it was Dream/Barkley or Steve/Yao. You could argue that he was 3rd option in Orlando behind Steve and Grant Hill. Same goes for Sacramento where he was behind Peja and Bibby. He is gonna take his shots but I think Cat is smart enough to know he's not gonna be able to carry a team. We all know that Yao needs to be more involved, but if you saw any of the playoff series you saw a team that struggled quite a bit to get good shots with Yao off the floor. We need a SG that can create, and Mobley can do that. So how much is he asking? It seems you have some inside information. You may assume what he is going to command, but it's not even June yet and free agency is still a ways off. As far as other free agents, you are right, it is a large pool at the SG spot...which makes it more likely that Cuttino comes cheaper than some of the big names. Ray Allen, Michael Redd, and Larry Hughes are going to get huge money. We have virtually no shot at them. Joe Johnson is restricted, so he's a longshot unless he picks Houston out of the crowd of suitors. Then you have a second-tier of Mobley, Eddie Jones, Kittles, Sprewell, Bonzi Wells, and Bobby Simmons. Scratch Bonzi off of that for obvious reasons. Kittles is injury plagued. That leaves Sprewell, Mobley, and Simmons. I'll take Mobley over either of the other guys. Truthfully I haven't seen much of Simmons, but I know that he has had ONE good year. Look at former Clippers Mo Taylor and Derek Anderson and where they are now, and I'm not too sure of Simmons. Mobley may be a bit of a longshot too, but he's not on the top of anyone's list...he probably won't come for the MLE, but there's a chance to land him with a sign and trade. Like i said earlier, most of the talking after the trade was by Francis. Cuttino also was disappointed and I'm sure bitter for a while, but I'm sure he knows why the Rockets did it. He's not a bad character guy, so I don't see any problem with him fitting in with the guys we have. I think everyone is overblowing his animosity toward the Rockets organization. The bottom line is when it comes to his game he has almost exactly what we need at SG. He can hit the three. He can take it to the basket and create his own shots (currently we only have Mcgrady and James that do this well). He plays very good defense (remember the 2004 Lakers series vs Kobe). He can handle the ball well (he was our PG in '99). And maybe most important, he's an athlete. I hate to summarize our whole season on one playoff series, but I think the Dallas series proved that we need to get more athletic in the backcourt.
I'd take him back without blinking. He's that tough and nasty outside defender we were missing this year. Wesly's D doesnt compare to Cat's. Plus he can nail that three point jumper to help spread the floor or he can penetrate to the basket, something only T-Mac on our team could do. An outside defense of T-Mac and Cat would stop the Jason Terry's of the league from knocking us out of the first round. And i do agree he bought into JVG's sytem from the start of the season. All that said i think cat is worth more than the MLE. He's gonna get paid by someone, perhaps replacing Redd or Allen, as both have pretty much insisted there going where the most money is.
DieHard Rocket, I wasn't indicating that Mobely and JVG had a bad relationship initially before the trade, I am talking about the current bad feelings I am sure he harbors towards JVG fro trading him away. The man, if nothing else, has his pride, and it just would never ever work if he comes back, it is just not going to be the same, and not just with JVG, but also with McGrady, whom Cat's friend (Steve-O) took repeated shots at. Francis would consider that an act of treachory on Cat's part that betrays their friendship, so I can GUARANTEE you there is no way in hell Cat would ever again be in a Rockets uniform as long as JVG and T-Mac are on the team. It is really a moot argument... As for Cat as a person, I absolutely respect him and miss him as a person/character on the Rockets. He is a good man who has never brought trouble to the lockerroom and never got in trouble off the court. So I have no problems there with him. I was just saying that I don't see him fitting in well as a player, he is stubborn alas Francis and just doesn't "get it". I put high premium on b-ball IQ, and Cat just doesn't have it, his decision-making is terrible, even his coach in Sacramento said the following about his shot-taking: "A lot of guys never saw a shot they didn't like, and I think Cuttino is one of those guys." Do you really think a guy who has never seen a shot he didn't like is going to fit with T-Mac and Yao? Even Sacramento doesn't really want him , but I think Mobely will opt out and try to go and play on some team where he can shoot all he wants. So again, nothing personally against Cat, I like him as a person, but fankly have never been big on him from day one, even when he played for us all out and did his best. The only thing I like about him is his personality, he is fearless and is somewhat a lockerroom leader.
"I would love Houston, but I just think we slowed the ball down too much, and we didn't have as much freedom as we should have. No knock on Jeff (Van Gundy), because he's a great defensive coach. But offensively, I think the freedom like that we have here, with the same defense that he had... you know what I mean? I don't know; Jeff's a good dude. He's misunderstood. But offensively, at times, you were bored and frustrated (laughs). That's just what it is." - Cuttino Mobley on 12.04.04 with the ORL @ 11-5 & HOU @ 7-11. ******************************************************* "You know, stupid can only take you so far in pro sports, stupid and athletic. You gotta be smart, and our basketball IQ this year compared to last year is much higher." .... "And then as [McGrady] got the ball more in Orlando, what I noticed, I could not believe what a great passer he was. Even last year when his intensity waned and he didn't play as hard as he would have [liked?]...you know and he's admitted he didn't play as hard as he should have...his passing was tremendous; he really could see. We needed that. We needed a guy who could pass the ball.." Jeff Van Gundy on 04.30.05 in an interview on WFAN. **************************************************** Kenny Thomas got more Kings' playoff assists than Cuttino Mobley. Sorry Cuttino fans, Bob Dylan said it decades ago..."You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows".
