A couple of times I have been watching the NBA playoffs and thinking about how critical so many fans here of him and how much many of playoffs team would kill for him. Most recently I have been thinking how tough the Nets would be if they had Mobley instead of their little Kitten. What about last night if Christie had Mobley's shot form (and sac) instead of tossing up that alligator arm looking shot. What if KG had Mobley to help him score instead of the molasses slow Wally and Peeler. What if the Spurs had him taking big shots instead of Bowen and Ferry. Brent Barry sucking (Brent has Mobley's talent, Jon has Mobley's sac--but neither has both, kinda of like the situation of Christie and BJ for Sac). More and more evidence for the value of Mobley. In sum, even of the elites (the playoff teams), Mobley with his combination of talent and sac would help a ton for quite a few and would be a nice addition for most the rest. Perhaps Dallas and Portland are about the only teams in the playoffs or league Mobley would have negligible use for, but even for them he would get some vital PT for I assure you. Finally, until Mobley has a guy like Duncan, Shaq, KG or a team like the Kings that he avoids passing the ball to I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt on shot selection. Until the frontline is worth a darn in fact it will be impossible to judge both him and Francis as team players IMO, because a bad shot by them is just as good as a decent look by everyone else.
This is EXACTLY the reason you take Ming. Mobley wants his old college pal Odom, and who can blame him, but in reality, Mobes would be far more effective with Ming in the low post. DaDakota
If Ming has the effect people think he will, then our backcourt will benefit big time. You saw what happened when they got some support, when Hakeem got hot his last year in Houston. The Rockets stormed to 45 wins.
Desert Scar - I think I see where your headed (the need for front court players) and agree with the point. Unfortunately, I don't agree with the logic. You have taken one facet of Mobely's game (shooting) and superimposed it over other teams saying "look this is all they need is shooting like Cuttino brings" and they are more competitive. Shouldn't we also consider what other players bring to the table? Christie has a reputuation as a very good defender. How well does Cuttino do against Kobe? Christie also averaged 4.2 apg last season compared to Cat's 2.5. A good argument could be made that Cuttino's ISO's would be counterproductive to the Kings ball movement which is the basis of their success. Wally World averaged 18+ ppg while taking 158 fewer shots than Cat. For his career Szczerbiak is a much better 3 pt shooter. I don't want this to degenerate into a "Cat is better than so and so because..." argument. I just want to remind you that team chemistry and having the right pieces in proper balance is a little more complicated than what you have portayed.
Gater, Would you concede that the biggest problem the Rockets have is on defense? Ming would help more in this area then any other. Imagine a zone defense with Ming, Griffin, and whomever we get to play SF. This would be a very formidable back line of defense, our guards could funnel their opponents to the middle which is what Rudy likes to do, and at this point we have 2 or 3 shot blockers playing goalie. I think the Rockets would improve immensly with Ming at Center. DaDakota
I'd rather get Maybiner (6'11" in shoes with Yao's 7'4" wingspan) in there to block shots and rebound. That way we can still get Odom or whomever.
Why all this facination with Odom? He is a bad seed. Getting caught smoking once is a mistake, twice is a pattern. Lamar is even more immature then Francis and Cat, we need someone in here who can show our guys how to be a professional. Ming is already more mature then all of them. Lamar is a GOOD NBA player, Ming may be a GREAT NBA player. The only real choice is to take Ming. He fills so many holes on this team, defense, rebounding, passing from the post...he is a younger, taller, Tim Duncan. Odom is a spliff smoking, talented head case......IMHO, it is a no brainer to pass on Odom. DaDakota
Gater- In my opinion, a championship team must have two scorers. I believe the Kings have a bunch of players that are very talented but perhaps not champions. Except for Bibby, the rest were entirely too nervous. As players say on the court, THEY WERE SELF CHECK. No matter how talented those players were, they did not want the last shot. In Cat, I know we have a player that will take the last shot and is not scared to be the goat. He proved it in the playoffs against the Lakers when Shaq blocked his shot right before Scottie had his notorious turnover. I guess my point is, Cat is a selfish player.(right now) However, scorers make it easier on the rest of the players when it counts, in the playoffs. Shaq and Kobe take the pressure off the rest of the guys. Did Webber do that for the Kings? Webber's mannerisms and actions did nothing but tighten the collars around Doug's and Peja's neck. Cat's a winner. He is not going to run away when the game is on the line. Give him some time and he will learn how to make his team a winner. If Stackhouse can learn, Cat will learn also. I HOPE YOU GUYS DON'T COMPLAIN WHEN HIS SCORING AVERAGE STARTS TO GO DOWN BECAUSE HE DECIDES TO START GETTING HIS TEAM INVOLVED. Nevermind, I know it will happen.
I been asking the same question ESP since this guy will want BIG MONEY do we pay him Taylor money I suspect he wants more Rocket River
Screw it...There are way too many choices and possibilities. I have a better idea: Draft Ming, then trade Francis, Mobley, Moochie, and Cato for Juwan Howard. Then, we'll pay China some money to keep Ming over there for another season. We'll make up some BS story about basketball players over 6 feet tall having to serve in the Chinese Army. That way, we'll be assured of the worst record in the NBA next season. Now, the team with the worst record in the NBA hasn't won the draft lottery since 1990, so the law of averages will be working in our favor and we'll be a lock to get the first overall pick, where we select LeBron James. With the cap room we cleared up in the Howard trade (who only has one year left on his contract), we sign Tim Duncan. This way, we satisy the people that want to draft Ming and satisfy all the Francis and Mobley haters... C: Ming PF: Duncan SF: Griffin SG: James PG: Does it matter? Hell, I could run the point with that lineup You have to admit, it's not any more complicated than some of the proposals here.
DaDakota - I couldn't agree more. I don't think it's a coincidence that the top 5 Def FG% teams are the Lakers, Heat, Celtics, Sixers and Spurs. The trend should be obvious. I am not going to foolishly proclaim Yao as "the Shaq stopper" but there is something curious I have observed during the playoffs. Dunks obviously excluded, Shaq's shots have a very flat trajectory. But because of his height (and to a lesser extent bulk) no one can rise up to inhibit him. Remember how Mark Eaton's height used to bother Dream? IMO, Yao Ming has that potential even if he lacks upper body bulk.
As stated prior, I am not bad rapping Cuttino. And I'm not sure how much more you want out of Webber..he even defended against Shaq. If the Kings did something as easy as shoot FT's better than Shaq used to, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. But... If Cat follows the Stackhouse example, I will be very surprised. However, should Cat somehow mistake RT for RC (Rick Carlisle) and I even hint at a complaint about Cuttino's scoring going down, you have my permission to verbally abuse me. Bookmark this. Actually, I think there's a weird irony in that Cat and Steve will probably have better scoring numbers with Ming instead of Odom. The Rockets have the potential to be a good transition O team. And that comes from D. Right DaD?
I agree with the second paragraph. But, Webber does not have the balls to beat the Lakers. He did not believe it. Proof is in his words and actions. He is considered the leader of the Kings but he did not play like the leader. On paper, he had a distinct advantage over any of the PFs on the Lakers. Yet, he did not dominate. Kobe and Shaq dominated, Kidd dominated, Duncan did his part... He is getting paid franchise money but he did not play like the Kings' franchise player. He should get the same treatment as Garnett. Webber is lucky that he has such a good supporting cast or he would be out in the first round!
Good scenario A-Train! I would add only one addendum, instead of trading all those guys for Juwan, trade them for as many 2003 first round picks as possible. And trade the guys to the weakest sisters in the league, that way raising the percentages of getting the number one pick in the 2003 draft, or as many lotto picks as possible to package and trade up. I'd even add Griff to the package if necessary, as a deal maker. Imagine, Yao-Duncan-James. Very nice.
If Sac had Mobley playing instead of Christy, Kobe would have gone off for about 200 points considering how many shots he took.
I think Odom would be a good fit for the team and I wouldn't be upset if we traded for him (and got at least 1 if not both the their picks), but his questionmarks scare me. If Odom just needs to get away from the Clips and have Mobes and Franchise put him in shape then that trade could work out great as I'm high on Hilario. However, Ming has as much potential as Odom and plays a position that is much harder to find talent. Hopefully during these workouts and Chicago sessions we'll be able to gauge what our team thinks about Hilario and what kind of value the #1 has as a backup plan.
Game 7 are hard to know who will come up big or short. Just because Mobley is a better offensive player than Christie doen't mean he wouldn't have got gator arms. Look at John Starks against the rockets in 94, here is a guy that was as cofident or cold blooded as they come and what happened to him? What if we are in a game 7 and Francis gets a migraine? Its hard to imagine the pressure of playing in that situation. Some player come through and some don't. Remember Kj going 21-22 but the 1 ft missed opened the door for the Rockets to win the game. The guy has 40+ points 21straight ft's and people saying he choked because he misses one. Just because cat has made some regular season shots to win games, its a little different when its for the wc finals.
