Maxwell could D up way better, but he was one of the streakiest shooters of the last decade. Since Mobley's shooting is a little more consistent I'll give him the edge, but it's practically even.
Mad Max. I don't care about the skillz...but he made the shot that got me into the Rockets. (The buzzer-beater against the Spurs in the AlamoDome to get us to 23-1 or something in 93-94)
Max in a cake walk. How can anybody really in all honesty take Cat? Besides defense, Max could take over games. Until he went headcase, he was amazing at times. Come on now.
Easily Vernon. Vernon was a terrific defensive 2, got in most people's heads and locked them up. 'Cuttino's defense' is an oximoron. Max was deadly as anything in the clutch. Cuttino is far from clutch. I don't think there's anyway the 94 Rockets win a title with Cuttino instead of Max. They'd be much worse off defensively, not as clutch, and Hakeem would probably have strangled Mobley after he continously waived off Dream to launch one of his infamous low %, rhythm killing, ridiculously illadvised off balance fadeaways with 2 hands in face.
Cuttino is my pick, Max was great but i have to give that credit to Hakeem. After Max left the Rockets he did not do much. Cuttino is doing much more by himself.
I think some of you are just romanticizing the past. Max was a TERRIBLE shooter even as a spot up guy on the perimeter. Mobley is a better overall player even though Max was a better defender IMHO. I've always looked at Max as one of those could have been guys. If he'd worked on his game like Mobley obviously does he could have been something fierce. He had all the physical tools.
Since Mobes and Max are both 2's I think it's fair to compare the two and see who would win in a 1 on 1 battle. I understand basketball is a team game but I think you can determine who's the better player if they went head to head and I think Mobley would dominate Max 1 on 1.
They are the same players except one is a beter defender than the other. The thing is , if Max could take 18 shots per game, he could avg the same as Mobley. Maxwell was a little more clutch, but its pretty much a tossup. I'd probably go with Max though.
i really only started watching the rox in 93 (got to see all of 15-0, nice timing) so i only saw max a lot for about 2 years and never got to see him D up jordan as many of y'all say he did so i can't comment on max outside of the 93 and 94 seasons. while cuttino has hit a few clutch shots, outside of jordan, miller, and i guess horry, just about no one was more clutch that maxwell. he hit a ridiculous amount of late/buzzer beating 3's for us. san antonio one time, golden state, SA again, game 7 vs knicks. so i have to give him clutch over Cat. defense, i guess that would have to go to max. however, don't underestimate the importance of dream in his prime for max. if you know your guy can't go around you b/c dream is waiting, then it's a lot easier to get up on someone and pressure them. cat tries on defense and generally doesn't let people blow by him. add in dream to back him up and i think he would look a lot better. shooting and offense. i think max was a low to mid 30's 3 point shooter. wasn't cat around 40 percent this season. add in the fact max got open shots all day b/c of dream and cuttino has a big advantage. add in the fact cat is really good at the spot up 3 and he would be absolutely deadly with dream feeding him open shots all the time. also, cuttino can get to the basket on anyone. no one can stop his first step. i don't remember max taking it to the basket a lot. granted, he had to work in a different offense that didn't call for that so that could be a reason but he was still more perimeter oriented from what i remember. based on those things, i would have to give the edge to cat.
Mad Max in a flash. While he was one of the Rox streach shooters, when he zoned he was lots of fun to watch. A game killer/winner. I think Horry learnt some of his "clutchness" from Vernon. He also played monster D. He would get into his opponents game AND their mind. Yes he had Hakeem to back him up in the center, but that arguement can be used with Kobe and/or Rick Fox. Are they good defenders...
Cutttino is/was the better overall player. Max was a bit more athletic, but his shooting/shot selection was frustrating. Max was also the one guy who got in MJ's head htough. Tough call. Cuttino is better overall, but I'm not sure he wins more games. In a one on one game, somehow Max would pull it out. But, Cutttino's career has been better and I think he's a better team player.
Mad Max. I still remember when before the Rockets won their first championship, they would play the Chicago Bulls, and they had the Bulls' number, so to speak. They would win the season series, and a big reason for that was the fact that Maxwell was not afraid of Michael Jordan. In fact, he would get right up in Jordan's grill and stare him down. Does anyone remember that? ~kountzer~
That's tough. Would I have rather had Cuttino than Max in '94? Of course not! We won the championship with the team we had. Why would we want to change it? But, there's little doubt that Cuttino is a more skilled basketball player.
I'm undecided... yeah right! let my nickname do the talking, friends! mad max came up huge when his team needed him most, particularly in the playoffs...i don't see that yet in cuttino. i hope to see that in cuttino, but i don't. plus, cat could learn a thing or eight about defense from max.
