I think Mobe leaving to be a Starter would be a mistake. He is a great 6th man I'm not sure about his starter capabilities Esp in Chicago and toronto. I think it would be an underestimation on his part of COACHING will the other coaches give him a Green light? In chicago - will he defer to Brand, Artes, and be the 3 ~ 4th option [esp if they sign E Jones - he'll be a 6th man] In toronto he is be what the 2nd option behind Carter? Whois there 2 guard now? They have coaching situation too. mobes is a Top 5 6th man He'll be a 15~20 SG behind folx Like SHAN! [in the east he'll be against EJ, Spree, T-mac, Iverson, Miller, 4 ~ 5 times a year] He'll have to play defense which may limit his offense. He won't be going against tire 1st teams or 2nd teamers Rocket River ------------------
He wants to establish himself in this league, not as a Rodney Rogers, but as an all-star. That just won't happen coming off the bench. He will be in the starting lineup opening day for the Rockets next year. ------------------
I woulnd't mind seeing Cuttino Mobley leave but it could effect Steve Francis. He has a lot going for him in both Houston and Washington, so losing Cat could hurt our chances. ------------------
I think Mobley could easily start for a number of teams. He plays starter minutes. That is very uncommon for someone who doesn't start. M., your "undersized SG" label is overstated, because he matches up well offensively with any of the taller SGs in the league. Would it be accurate to label Iversen an "undersized SG"? I don't think so. He is more than that. So is Cat. Because Rudy gives him starter minutes, I think he is still okay with that in Houston. I don't know if that would be an acceptable situation for him with another team. ------------------
Anybody know if the Wizards have any room to sign mobley? It would be a great move on jordan's behalf if he did so. That would make going after Francis a lot easier when the time comes to lure him back to Maryland. He will be tempted. Be scared my friends. ------------------ humble, but hungry. [This message has been edited by PhiSlammaJamma (edited July 13, 2000).]
All the Wiz can offer is their 2.5 exception, something we can match. So Cat won't be a Wizard. ------------------
MM,What do You want from a SG? Mobley had a great finish to the season after a rough start. On the offensive end, He creates for himself, he creates for others, gets to the line, snares an offensive rebound every now, and then is about average from the 3pt line. For SG's, he holds his own rebounding despite being undersized. His two weaknesses are defense and turnovers. He had trouble initially making the D transition to the 2. The turnover problem isn't too bad since he still has more assists than turovers. I am banking that with more experience these can become average abilities if not strengths. The "out of control" Mobley improved his FG% by an average of 1.8 % pts a month. For the last 37 games, he averaged over 45% and never below 44% in a month after january. ------------------ "You've got 6 fouls, use them well" -Derrick Coleman
Mobley's FG % is middle-of-the-pack when you look at SG's that averaged over 25 minutes per game. His rebounding is in the lower half. His turnovers per minute are high. I see about 42 SG's that averaged over 25 minutes per game last season and Shandon and Cuttino are in the top 8 in turnovers per minute. Not good. Hoepfully they'll improve on that next season now that they've played together more. I still say he's overrated, but don't think I'd go quite as far as MManal. He can be a star 6th man. Maybe even as a starter. ------------------ Just shut up and post
MM,What do You want from a SG? What I want in my SG starting along Francis is exactly what Shandon Anderson provides. I want a strong defender that can match up against the Kobes and Vinces of the league, one that provides the intangible hustle necessary for a championship team and plays very much under control. The thing I like about Shandon is that he plays very well off the ball. Watch his cutting and movement away from the ball closely, its very very effective esp when the Rockets go with their motion sets. You will hardly see Shandon take ill-advised shots, and he does not need the ball isolated for him on one side of the floor to be effective. The 1-4 set where the Cat isolates basically takes the ball out of Francis's hands which I am not big on. I am ok with Cuttino doing this stuff on the 2nd unit, but it would just be terrible if he did this out of the gate. Can you imagine 35-37 minutes of that garbage? I would like Cuttino to be on this team as a 6th man as I have stated but if he demands to start, I hope the Rockets tell him to get lost. Cuttino can be a top notch 6th man in this league, but a full time starter is out of question on this team imho. ------------------ Check out the Best Source for Draft Info Draftsource.net
My take on the Mobley situation is that he should not be a starting shooting guard. He is very overrated by those that think he will be a star in this league. I hope the Rockets do not guarantee him any type of starting position even if that means he walks on the free agent market. His game is suited as the ideal 6th man but not a starter type. He needs the ball in his hands to be successful, takes a ton of bad shots and is an undersized shooting guard that is going to have trouble matching up against the taller SGs in the NBA full time. If the Bulls want to be dumb enough to offer Mobes a ton of cash and a starting spot then let them. On a championship team, you do not need a shot jacking, ball dominating, undersized SG starting. Off the bench for a change of pace thats fine but starting, forget it. If Cuttino Mobley walks, I will not feel the sadness that others will feel; I will actually be relieved that this crazy saga tying the Rockets down is over. My initial reaction to Mobley potentially walking was to pursue a sign and trade deal for either Derek Anderson or Ron Mercer. However, after thinking about it more, I think the Rockets would be better off just holding onto the 4.1 mil they would have had to give Mobley and promising it to Austin Croshere in 2001 if he will sign for the mid level exception this summer. That way, they can have Croshere in the fold and still pursue Chris Webber or Rashard Lewis (if he signs a 1 yr deal) next summer. ------------------ Check out the Best Source for Draft Info Draftsource.net
DOD, Is that rebounding per min? Among a quick sample of 14 western confernece atarters and earstern conference all stars, Mobley ranked 8 out of 14. Slightly below average, but holding his own. The better SGs were generally lower or equal with the exception of Kobe. MM, He gives the rocs a number 2 option on the court. I see him as more than just an iso player. When Francis, SA, and Mobes were on the court simultaneously at the end of the year, the rockets ripped it up. ------------------ "You've got 6 fouls, use them well" -Derrick Coleman
That team is far from being undersized. Look at the heights of the players.... 6-3, 6-7, 6-5, 6-10, 7-0. Exactly how is that undersized? ------------------ Check out the Best Source for Draft Info Draftsource.net
Undersized is not a synonym of short. Short players are undersized, but not all undersized are short. Horry is thin for a PF and more so back then. Olajuwon is 6-10 1/2 in shoes and playing against Shaq, eveyone is undersized. Drexler and Kenny weren't undersized. ------------------ "You've got 6 fouls, use them well" -Derrick Coleman
It also should be noted, that that wasn't the lineup for the majority of the season. What is the point of this anyway? There are always exceptions to the rule. When you're a player like Horry, you creat mismatches, such as usually having the height advantage, but not the strength advantage. Horry was very capable of playing PF for 20 games, especially when you had an ERASER in Olajuwon, and Elie helped stop the traffic from coming in in the first place. ------------------ The more lefties on your team, the better. Collier is Seven Foot and Left Handed. How can you go wrong? Trade or bench Kenny Thomas.
I was just saying that undersized is overrated. If you have one good defensive stopper in the paint you can get away with a small lineup. Horry and Elie were "undersized" but that did not keep them from being tenacious defenders. I happen to think that a lineup with Mobes-Francis-Shan would be explosive. I just worry about the 2nd unit at that point. ------------------
the difference between Smith-Drexler-Elie, and Francis-Mobley-Shandon, is #1, the first group didn't give up as much size. #2, Smith and Drexler weren't bad defensive player. Francis right now is a bad defensive player (he should get better, but it's doubtful he'll ever be All-Defense) and Mobley is an AWFUL defensive player. Part of that was because Smith-Drexler-Elie were all veterans, but I wouldn't say Francis and the gang will be those type of vets, relying on their knowledge as much as their skills, for several years. So, it makes a lot more sense to use Mobley in his natural role of sparkplug/scorer off the bench, rather than screw up our defense, and make our bench shallow with Mobley starting, which doesn't improve our starting lineup, and makes our bench shallow. ------------------ The more lefties on your team, the better. Collier is Seven Foot and Left Handed. How can you go wrong? Trade or bench Kenny Thomas.
Nike, I guess the old rox teams were small in the front court. I don't think backcourt size is nearly as relevant. I agree with you up until the Kenny was not bad on defense part. Man, he used to get slammed for that and not being able to finish when he got to the hole. It always seemed like he and whoever was at the 3 were made the scapegoats until they finally won it all. I think, defense aside, that the 3 guard lineup could really come out and get up on teams and then you could keep Mobes with the 2nd unit for the rest of that half. This way you could appease him with starting and starter's minutes. ------------------
I think Mobley is a terrific 6th man, and the importance of this role is way underated (remember Cassell for us, V. Johnson for Detriot, Kukoc for the Bulls). I don't think we can just be ambivalent about whether Mobley is a integral part of the team's future. He needs to be. Do ya'll remember how many games he won down the strectch? That is very important, and rare skill in the league, and what made the three 6th men I mentioned above so important. Aside from Stevie, no one else can do that, or looks like they will be able to it in the future, and it is always good to have more than 1 option when things bogg down offensively. Both Stevie and Mobley's turnovers were high, but their 1st and 2nd year players on a team learning a new offense, not to worry yet. Also, the size comparison to the 96 Rockets is very legit. The problem with the Suns small ball, and the Warriors and Nuggets (early 80's) before them is they didn't have the interior defense. The only reason we got away with Horry at the 4 and Mario at the 3, or Chucky at the 4 and Horry at the 3 for that matter, was Hakeem was down their cleaning up the messes. But say if our C position was manned by what Cato could be, and the PF position by Webber is or another 4 with a strong defensive and rebouding presence, I think our size would not be a problem even if we had to start Mobley. I agree I would prefer we go bigger than playing Mobley at the 2 (have him be our 6th man), but whether a vital 6th man role or starting 2 this guy is still our third most important player on the current team. That can't be overlooked even if some of his skills are redundent as he plays our strongest positions. ------------------ "The Rockets were ahead of the Suns by 20 late in game 2 of the series, but when the going got tough, we just Pippened . We would not be done in the series though."
