Steve and Cuttino had great games, but these two guys deserve the game balls. The shooting will come around-- if these two guys play like they did tonight, we could seriously come close to the 55-60 win range. Cato did everything I ever dreamed he'd do and more. He hustled, blocked shots, rebounded with intensity, and even made a couple of open jumpers. Willis ran the floor and collected lots of buckets on the fast break, played good defense, and tipped a lot of balls that he didn't get credit for as rebounds. For anyone who didn't see the game, the stats don't do these guys justice... they were fabulous.
I agree..and it's great to have Willis back.The effect he'll have on Cato will really pay off.Great job by both of those guys.
I liked Kenny Thomas against Abdur-Rahim...it wasn't a dominating performance but Kenny had a couple of nice trips down low against Rahim.
I couldn't watch the game, only the livestats on NBA.com. I kept thinking "Hmm, looks like Cato's actually awake tonight". Did he actually seem alive? No arguing with the refs? Going for offensive rebs? Blocks? Rotating? Guarding the paint? He wasn't just standing there? My my, this could be a fun season...
I loved the effort byt the 2 big guys also....but hopefully within the next few weeks Eddie will be getting atlest 22mins a game or so....he is so active and athletic.....but this was a great win considering how poor we played on the offensive end...
I didn't see the game... How did Willis and Cato work together? Were they on the court together? At what points did they seem to have any chemistry? How do you think they'll work out as our power frontcourt duo? (KT and EG being the frontcourt finesse guys...) BTW, how was the overall KT/Cato/Willis/Griffin scene? It sounds like it was a messy game.
I was at the game tonight and what I saw out of Cato amazed me. I have been one of the most anti-Cato people on this board, but he really impressed me tonight. During timeouts I saw him going up to all of the rockets trying to fire them up and looking really into the game. I can't believe im going to say this but he really was the heart of the rockets tonight. I'm not set to completely jump on the Cato bandwagon just yet, but if he keeps it up he will definately be worth the contract he has. Go Cato!
It was a good win, but it was very boring. We are young and energetic, but we continue to dribble the hell out of the ball and walk the ball up the court. We won because of what we got inside, not outside. Its going to be games when we don't hit jumpers, thats why its important that get something inside like we did. 18 pts 16 rebs from willis and cato was great. Thomas gave good effort and like i said with time he can get 13pts 6 rebs, the same numbers taylor got last yr
Now that was the Cato that we need! If he can do that for us we will be a very dangerous team and maybe we will get more respect than the "They might get that 8th spot"title we have right now. If Cato and Willis can stay healthy and play the way they did tonight I think we can challenge any team in the league. One thing I still dont like is WALT.Not that I dont like him but we have Rice starting and I think we should bring Morris behind him instead of Walt.I also wanted Griffin to play some more but I figured that would happen too.I just dont see this play the veterans and let the "rooks"sit and learn crap,I think the most talented players should play. SO,WALT must GO!!!
Willis and Cato really didn't play together at the same time. Willis played the whole 4th quarter, but in the overtime, it was Cato over Willis. Griffin really didn't get a lot of minutes, but he was in there a couple of times with Cato. I love the fact that Rudy T can juggle this combination around in all sorts of different ways. I think it all depends on match-ups in seeing if Cato and Willis will be on the floor at the same time or Willis and Griffin, etc.
Defensively, our Cato - Willis - KT combo played a great game. Kenny's offseason program to make him quicker has paid big dividends on the defensive end. Most of the steals he made were the hard, reaching variety that usually get you in foul trouble. Cato set a great standard for himself tonight. He brought a different attitude to the game tonight - humble confidence - that is should prove an asset this season. His patience with his defense tonight was, IMHO, the best aspect of his game. He stayed on floor not getting faked into fouls which kept him out of foul trouble and paved the way for his OT stint. Willis brought exactly what they wanted from him:rebounds,blocking out, solid D
I think someone forgot to tell Cato that this is not the preseason and these games really count. I really liked the hustle Willis showed off of the bench. I hope that was part of the spark that helped Cato. Old School
Eddie looked really good tonight as well. His defense on Shareef in the first half really turned the momentum around. He made him change his shot on several occasions.
With Cato and Willis getting shots and Francis, Mobley, and Norris not playing buddyball, i don't see why we couldn't get that kind of production everynight. We know Willis is going to shoot the ball regardless and Cato shoot get his points off rebs and penetration. Now if you were to tell me Collier would be the back up, then that would have been a problem. 18pts 19rebs should be expected what we get out of the pivot. Rudy should tell everyone that when you throw it in to Willis, 1 person gets back on d and everyone else crash the boards because its not coming out
Cato's play was simply impressive last night. What amazed me the most was that he was playing solid fundamental position defense. There were several times when he just moved with Ratliff, put his hands up when the shot went up and caused Theo to miss. There werent many boneheaded plays where he went for unnecessary blocks. This is all the Rockets need from Cato, and if he can continue playing this way, this should be a very bright season.
