Of course he is. There is nothing wrong with his Recaps. I would write bias too. I'm just taking a party shot because my friend ("Clutch" of the BBS) seems to have really taken offense enough to call me a liar...again. I hate losses. They are compounded when I see whining here. I'm venting like everyone else.
Back to the intelligence thing then. You mentioned that thinking only hampers the great players. Do you think its the case that Jordan, Bird, Magic, Miller, etc acted only, or mostly, on "instinct" in crunch time. I feel that their basketball smarts were also heavily used during those times and it is what Cuttino hasnt shown he has yet.
Sure, I have always known you have an over-inflated ego...but sometimes it is still shocking to see it. I know I, for one, appreciate your efforts to guide all the "slower folk" on the bbs towards good dialogue and to start actually thinking. How lonely is it at the top?
First, thanks for admitting you're biased. Secondly, I don't think saying you're all about the team is really a fair statement. Shandon Anderson, Steve Francis and Kenny Thomas have always been your personal bi-otches in efforts to build up Maurice Taylor and Cuttino. That is a fair statement. Did you not read what I just posted? I like Steve and Kenny just fine. However, to degrade Cuttino and Mo Taylor, people always make comparisons to those two. People give them too much credit for the Rockets success at times, and don't consider the contributions of Cuttino and Mo. Whenever I've degraded either of them, I've just done it to try and balance out the BBS. This isn't necessarily the best way to prove an argument, but it seems to be the most popular method here. Simply, I do the opposite to try and prove my point. Believe me, I love watching Steve Francis play, and he's one of my favorite players. I've also liked Kenny's potential for quite a while. I wish I could express it more on the BBS, but I don't want to pile on with any "I agree" type posts. However, many people make them appear flawless to show Cuttino and Mo's weaknesses, and very few, if any, point out the flaws that Steve and KT have in their respective games. I think they all compliment each other well, and I'd like to be congratulatory to the team as a whole. However, this BBS more than any other breaks down everything into individual efforts. When we win, it's because of one player or two. When we lose, it's because of one player or two. Very few posters here recognize or talk about the team effort that goes into both wins and losses. You win as a team, you lose as a team. I'd like to compliment or criticize the entire team, but for the majority of the time we break it down into individual parts on this BBS, so I just try and make sure that the criticism and/or praise dished out is balanced. My point is do you honestly think this is mass hysteria, that Rocket FANS just decided they're going to hate Cuttino? The answer is no. He does things to warrant criticism.... you should be able to see that and atleast be slightly open-minded to it. I think Rocket fans, at least some of the ones on this BBS, must have someone to blame all the time. Injuries aren't good enough for many. Considering the talent on this team and the record, they want to put it on someone. It definitely won't come down on Francis and Griffin, who are considered the superstars, so the criticism is dished out at the other person who's supposed to be a team leader but doesn't have superstar potential. This BBS comes down hard on basically any player who's not a superstar. Yes, Mobley has his flaws, but he's not a superstar! Neither is Moochie, Mo, or a handful of other players. They're giving everything they have, but everyone treats them like a pile of **** cause they aren't these all around great players like Steve and Eddie. Many people here are getting the Portland Blazers syndrome. They refuse to acknowledge that the superstars have their own flaws, and just try and blame it on the rest of the team. As a result, everyone wants to trade for more stars, and then you get into a situation like Portland is in. Accept Cuttino, Mo, and the rest of these guys for the players that they are, and quit expecting them to be superstars who are going to win you every game. Cat's severely underpaid, was a mid 2nd round draft pick, and look what he's doing. Practically a consistent 20 ppg scorer. Yes, his shot selection can be shaky, but considering where he's come from, he should be getting at least some praise. When I see that's not happening, I try and do that. Also, I do realize that some believe that Cuttino's actions resemble that of someone who thinks/is a superstar. While I disagree (big time), don't you think Rudy would do something about it if he was going outside of the game plan to try and act as a superstar? If, hypothetically, Cat was consistently acting like a superstar as you claim, wouldn't Rudy be at least half responsible for putting that into his game plan? There's a whole lot more Cuttino bashing than Rudy bashing.
What's wrong with that. Injuries aside, the given player's playing every ngiht either go out and win or lose. If they lose, someone actually is to blame. You can't realistically say they lost because Steve Francise was injured, cause they didn't. They lost because someone made too many bad plays, or bad decisions, etc. Criticizing those mistakes can be just as useful as complimenting their good efforts. I think you're issue is in the way that they are criticized (perhaps not always objectively), but we often see blanket optimism on this board (Wasnt Dan Langhi suppossed ot be awesome) and nobody complains about that. While I agree this happens somewhat, I think a lot of us so-called bashers here are coming down on players who aren't playing their role. Does Cuttino Mobley know he's not a superstar as you claim (and I agree)? I doubt it. Oscar Torres doesnt play great everynight, but he is liked by nearly everyone cause he plays his role and has yet to complain significantly since his minutes has been reduced. I haven't heard any complaints from Kevin Willis either, and he was expected to originally be a major part of this team. Just because Mobley wasnt expected to be as good as he is doesn't mean criticism should be deflected. If Rudy played Tierre Brown every game for example, and he gave great effort and hustle (which I recognize and applaud), but generally sucked anyways, I would certainly be complaining about his play and/or Rudy's playing of him. This team has a significantly large number of players who think they are something more than they are, and that, in my opinion, is why they often struggle and why this BBS often turns into a debate between critics with opposing styles.
There is a lot of hostility in this thread. Still, I'd like to make a point I've been thinking about lately. Cuttino Mobley is making some poor decisions with his shot selection. From what I've seen, Mobley looks noticeably less quick than last year(ankle injury, perhaps). This means he can't penetrate, and the penetration is a staple of his game, it seems to throw him off, frustrate him - he tries to do too much, and thus it leads to his poor shots. At least, that is how it seems to me.
I don't expect Mobley to be a super star. What does bother me, is the fact that he seems to think he is, and plays accordingly. I like to see confidence. But Mobley seems to have too much of it. And too little reason at times. He almost seems to think that because he *is* a team leader that he has the right to take a bad shot... even if someone else is more open. Other players screw up, but imo, it's that attitude of Mobley that causes him to be targeted. So what? This has nothing to do with his role on the team now. Vince Carter wasn't taken #1. Does that mean he gets a free pass? Rudy seems to be so much a "players coach" that he has trouble properly disciplining his players. While I hate it when players are humiliated by their coaches publicly, Rudy rarely even seems angry. Tis a mistake, imo. Also, we all appreciate Cat. Houston is better with him than without him. But that doesn't exempt him from criticism. Sure, those 20 per game are nice... but I have a huge problem with how he gets some of them.
If he is too hurt to play well......he shouldnt play??? Dont get me wrong I love Cat but I do think Rudy needs to lay off the "letting his guys make their own decisions" mentality and be the aggressive "Pat Riley" kind of coach every once in a while
