I love his attitude, his desire, but man, this guy can not shoot the ball worth a damn. I mean the guy is shooting 38% as a 2 guard. Perhaps it is time for Drew to start at the 2, as he would clearly benefit more from Francis' penetration and dish game. What do you guys think? DaDakota PS. I love Cuttino, but for someone who is a great foul shooter his shot sucks..and so does his shot selection.
I don't necessisarily think his shot sucks, but will agree 100% that his shot selection could use and overhaul. In another post on Cuttino a week or so back I mentioned something that MJ worked on when he first came into the league that helped make him into the superstar he became. He worked on shooting the middle distance jumper(10-12ft). Jordan thrived on hitting that shot and I believe that Cuttino can do the same. Every single game we see the same isolation play on the right side of the floor where Cuttino calls for his teammates to clear to the left so he can have room to make his move and blast past his defender. Well, guess what? Teams are catching on as of late and the opposing defense is sliding over quicker forcing him to take terrible shots or forcing a bad pass. As I've said, Cuttino is going to have to learn to adjust. He needs to develop a finesse game(middle distance shooting perhaps!!) and not rely on his athleticism to get him over because being athletic will only get an NBA player so far. He has the athletic ability to do wonderful things and he has some mad skills...he just needs to hone and polish those skills to become a star in this league. ------------------ We don't need no stinking badges!!! We need some stinking WINS!!!
I agree with you Pimp. Cat is easy to point to, but the truth of it all is the young team doesn't make good decisions at times (4th quarters). It is sad to say but Steve performs like he has been in the league longer than anyone else on the team has. Cat could cause so much damage to the other teams if he would make his game just a little simpler. Take the middle distance shot. Also when driving don't look for the foul to be called. Go the hoop looking for the basket. I think that is why he at times looks out of control or blows layups.
I'll have to third(?) the motion. Mobley's problems are much more about shot selection than his shooting ability. His jump shot isn't lacking, he just takes some really tough ones, or some entirely unneccesary ones. But he does have a shot. Seeing him plant jumpers in Pippen's face in the Portland game comes to mind.
Cat is a streak shooter. He is going to have games like this (2-15) and games where he hits 11/15. That's just his offensive game right now, real streaky.
Mad Max shoots about 40% for his career. Starks is close to that. Guys who shoot that many 3ptrs will have lower FG%s. (editing this to post the career numbers of superquick, streak shooters, my apologies to Barzilla) Maxwell....40%, 32% 13.3 Starks......41%, 34% 13.6 Armstrong.41%, 33% 10.0 Mobley.....41%, 35% 11.6 See: put him in proper company, and he's a star too me. Perfect combo for Stevie. Plus, Mobley's isolation play was 12-18 success vs Raptors. 10-12 vs Clippers. Last night I counted only 1-3. few iso's. Man, why say a streak shooters sucks? He will single-handling win has many games as he "loses". Just say you have no patience for streak shooters. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited January 05, 2000).]
Gang, I don't mind streak shooters so much but I do not like 38% streak shooters. But that being the case, perhaps Rudy should pull him out when he is clearly not hitting. I like Cuttino, I just HATE his shot selection. He is an up and coming player who acts like he is a superstar. He has talent, but he needs to temper his game a bit. Take the simple play, not necessarily the fancy one. DaDakota
Mobes as stated above needs to have better shot selection.He is a streaky shooter,to be sure,but this doesn't mean if RT would slow him down a bit and put in more plays(rather than ISO,s)for him(and Anderson)his shot might become alot more consistent.Rather than being given freelance to do as he pleases,he should be developed in a more structured way.Cat has shown the work ethic and I honestly believe he will achieve a measure of consistency,if the law is laid down.This being said he brings many,,many things to the table.People compare him to Vernon.I guess what really bothers me about this comparison is Cat is nowhere near the defensive player Mad Max is.That is not to say he isn't a good defensive player,because he is.MM just happens to be about the best defensive guard next to GP in the league.(and they are in the same backcourt,scary huh?) One last thing and perhaps the most important,CAT can get to the line at will.This is something that can't be taught.His speed and quickness amazes me.He doesn't need to settle for all these damn J,s.I wish Francis would be given the carte blanche that Cat is given.He'd go to the line 10-17 times a game.(and I'm not talking about him abandoning his point guard duties)In my opinion Stevie is the guy that has more maturity in his game,while Cat should be controlled by Rudy. Now,Cat can be one heck of a player,but we have needs and when utilized efficiently Shandon is our two.LETS GET THAT POWER FOWARD!....Cat=STUD PF I know I've spun off,but I've been away in Tahoe for a week so I need some time to get back in the flow. I hope everyone had a super holiday season,now lets hope our boys get turned around and make some noise. HH
Something to consider about speed and shot selection To state the obvious: Quick first-steppers initially make the D stop the drive. The D either does this by backing away or doubling. Mobley has achieved this level of success; we should give him those kudos. That in itself is more than most expected. To continue the obvious: When the D steps back, now Mobley must knock down some enyo face shots to keep them honest, for the greater good of his drives and drawing the double teams (D Armstrong faces the same problem). Remember, Mobley has achieved his double teams without the benefit of a pick. That is success as well. I don't mean to state the obvious here...we all understand these points, but they preface my response to the shot selection criticism (which I agree with, but not blindly): If the Mobley ISO continues showing this success rate, I'd like to see him get the ball 4-5 feet closer (likely requiring a pick then clear-out). Also, I'd like to see him take it immediately to the hole on occassion. These should help shot selection, by getting him closer and allowing an immediate catch and shoot, respectively. Shooting 18" and beyond off the dribble while in ISO is the shot selection I'd like to see go away. Eliminating that would be enough for me. Will, We could figure his FG% for 2s easily, but I don't really care to count his individual percentages. I've been won over by Rudy's stats. I count the success rate of plays. Mobley ISOs are doing very well since I've been counting.
OK, I'll run the numbers. Field goals attempted = 378. 3's attempted = 101. Therefore 2's attempted = 277. Field goals made = 146. 3's made = 33. Therefore 2's made = 113. So Mobley’s 2-point percentage = 113 divided by 277 = 40.8 percent.
will thx, i also added some comparison numbers to career totals for: maxwell starks darrell armstrong mobley in my first post above. striking!
Oh, DaDakota! You were starting to go positive for awhile but have reverted back. I find many of your topic titles to be insulting to my team. We are fans, after all.
Bballfanatic, We are most assuradely all fans, and as a fan, I want my team to excell. When they are not, I look for reasons why they are not successful and discuss them here with my fellow Rocket blue bloods. It is a catharsis, and yes, I am critical of players that I think can do so much more. I call these players Scarecrows, after the wizard of Oz. You know, "If I only had a brain" Youth is wasted on the young. DaDakota
Which then the Question to be beckoned is: Why the hell can't SA get any freaking time on the court. He's the only player who consistantly brings D every night, hustles, gets boards, assists, plays hard, and is shooting around 47 percent.
I wouldn't mind seeing Cuttino's load lightened a few minutes in favor of Shandon and Bryce at the 2. Shandon can drive to the basket as well as Cuttino. Especially, since Cuttino rarely drives to the basket. Maybe it shows, but I'm more than a little disappointed in Cuttino's decision-making. I hoped the game against the Clippers was a turning point. I hoped we would see more assists and few jumpers. Maybe I should set my sights lower. From now on, I'll hope he doesn't go 2-15 anymore.
HP -- Good point about the 3's. But let's check it out. Can one of you guys find Mobley's (A) total 3-pointers, (B) total 3-point shots, (C) total buckets, and (D) total shots? Then we can compute his 2-point percentage by subtracting A from C and dividing it by (D minus B).
I'm know I'm going way out on a limb here, but I wonder if Mobley is getting minutes over Shandon, not because he deserves more then Shandon (because he doesn't), but because he's in his last year of his contract. And, even though he's not starting, the Rockets want to be able to use the agrument that he gets starter minutes and that he's in there when it counts - 4th qtr. They may need this agrument to use against other teams that come knocking and offer $$$ and starting positions. They already have Shandon here for a few more years, and don't need to appease him. Although I wonder if he would have made a different decision if he knew how it would have played out......just like the "real world", sometimes it's not about actual performance, it's all about politics.
Lainey -- I'm not making any predictions here, but the pattern you're describing in Mobley's playing time isn't what a team does for a last-year-of-contract player it's preparing to re-sign. It's what a team does for a last-year-of-contract player it's preparing to trade.
DaDakota, Glad to know you most assuredly are a Houston Rockets fan, and I'm sure you mean well but can you just please tone the titles down a bit? Please? There is no reason to be so negative in general when negativity will only hurt the team. No offense though but Mobley has had some high scoring games too and hit some clutch threes. At those times, if one game can decide if a player is a shooter or not, why don't you post about how good he is? Would be a nice change. Sorry, I am being a little bold. Someone like Walt who had been bad for like 20 games might deserve a mean title on your topic but Cat doesn't deserve it. In my opinion. Chuckled about the "If I only had a brain" comment. Cat will be alright.
