if you're talking about the Athlon magazine, they listed Shandon as a small forward. twentysomething in the rankings. They listed Dickerson at #9 as a two guard and Cat somewhere in the teens. They listed Steve as the 2nd best point guard behind Payton (with Marbury, Kidd and Cassell behind him)
When I think of playoffs,I would take shandon,and cat any day of the week. What was your last memory of dickerson in playoffs?sitting on the bench like a chick!!!!Lots of skils,but no heart.thats why we gave him up!!!! ------------------
Let me see if there is any thing we can agree on based on SG position. SA is the best defender, MD is 2nd. Cat is best offensively, MD is a close 2nd. SA is a far 3rd. SA has done nothing to prove he is capable of scoring at MD's level much that of the Cat. He scores at an anemic rate, but makes on when he shots them. He passes too much which hurts the offense. He needs to be able to score when Francis is healthy. MD and Cat are better scorers than Allan Houston. Houston has them elsewhere, which is why he's an allstar. ------------------ "You've got 6 fouls, use them well" -Derrick Coleman
Dickerson, rookie, got schooled by Kobe Bryant, the best SG in my opinion and among the top 5 players in the NBA. Kobe schools everyone including SA and Cat. Cat was playing that perinial all star Fisher. Not a fair comparison. And Cat was given the chance to legthen the run in the playoffs.... SA was playing on the JAzz, It doesn't get any worst than that. ------------------ "You've got 6 fouls, use them well" -Derrick Coleman
Joe Joe, I'm a bit confused. First you say Anderson can't score like Mobley or Dickerson - I guess you're looking at the ppg there? But THEN you say that MD and Cat can score better than Houston - how do you figure that then? And HOW does Anderson passing hurt the offense? I would think that the offense is hurt more by Mobley jacking up a useless shot? Anderson plays unselfishly on offense and plays superbly without the ball. He does the things needed to win. Sure he can score on people, but he also uses his ability to make it easier for others to score. ie he PASSES to the open man or to the mismatch. He spreads the floor well and cuts well to get into position to receive a "bail out" pass. Anderson is the best player of the 3, just a shade ahead of Micahel Dickerson. Mobley is a great gunner, but he's not really in the class of Anderson/Dickerson right now. ------------------
I like all three of them, yet in different ways. At this point, I prefer Anderson. He's so well rounded. I think everything worked out really well. If I had to pick which two I'd want together on a team, I'd have to take Anderson and Mobley. With what each of them brings to the table, I think they compliment each other well. However, I did hate losing Dickerson. I really was looking forward to seeing him as a Rocket for years to come. ------------------
Dr of Dunk, outlaw, I'll double-check the names of the magazines. Guess I missed Shandon being listed as a 3 in ATHLON (I think that was one of them). I did appreciate Steve's listing as the #2 PG behind Payton. I can't get info until later tomorrow (when I read these mags for free at Barnes and Noble). The one magazine that I'll buy when it's out is...er, the name is probably Fantasy Basketball-some-s***-or-another, it tends to rate every single player. So, if this thread is still alive by then (why not? it's Dead Season) I'll supply grist for the mill. ------------------
I am sorry, but the reason we traded MD for Steve was because They wanted MD over CAT. This is beacuse MD is better than CAT. In regards SA, He is a better overall player than MD & CAT. ------------------
Anderson has my vote. I like them all. MDickerson is faster but Anderson and Cat can fast break too. Cat has the better shot & ballhandling over Dickerson. Shandon's O will improve this season with better backcourt chemistry and fewer turnovers. ------------------ "UNBEATABLE"
NotChaney, Dickerson has a much better jumpshot and outside shot than the cat. the cat is just better at one on one skills and getting into the lane, although dickerson has the hops to finish. ------------------ "See they pick and pick and pick. Man they picked me to death." -Steve Francis on the Utah Jazz
I think SA brings the most to the table for this team. If you'll step back & look at his progression through the season last year, his game steadily improved as he became more comfortable with the offensive scheme. Also, the starting 5 were all new to this team & had a great big learning curve to deal with. Francis, who runs the offense had to learn the strengths of each player. SA's involvement with this team at first centered around his defense, which he brought with him, but as Francis & the coaches became more comfortable with his offensive abilities, they started relying on him more & more. He started having more & more high scoring games as the season ended. If we had not acquired MO, I would've expected to see SA's scoring average go up. SA reminds me of Rodney McCray with his unselfishness on offense, which can actually become very frustrating, because Rodney would pass the ball even when he was wide open. SA also reminds me of Vernon Maxwell, because of his defensive ability in shutting down or at least slowing down the other teams best guards & SF's. If he will continue to move without the ball & Francis keeps looking for him, SA should have some pretty good offensive numbers. As far as the other two, I'd take Dickerson over Mobley, because I feel he would play more within the team concept. It's great to have someone that can create offense, but when they seem to come into every game with that being their mindset, they might tend to hang on to the ball a little longer than they should (aka, Mobley). That being said, giving up Dickerson to get Francis was a no brainer. ------------------
MD is definitely the best in my opinion. He is kidna like a Shandon Anderson and Cuttino Mobley combined. And I think he is extremely underrated playing in Vancouver. Plus, as good as everyone thinks the Cuttino/Francis guard combination is, imagine how good the Francis/Dickerson combo would have been. With Dickersons good outside game, plus a pretty fair driving game, which he does have, he would be the perfect two guard to give Steve assists. The onyl reason I think the trade worked best as it went down is because it allowed for the florishing of both players. While I think Cat would have done well in Vancouver anyway (if he was traded) I think the new situation allowed MD to grow into a much better player ore quickly. YOu could kinda see how he was a little stifled here. However, with Steve that mgiht have changed?? But if we could trade straight up right now Cat for MD I would do it. ------------------ Remember.... You are not really drunk until you must hold on to the grass to keep from falling off the earth.
lest we forget that it was SA that kept Clyde from having a career ending night with defense. a second year players defense contained a veteran. i think Shandon is underestimated a little as well. ------------------ cynthia don't go!!! i miss you already
"How we underestimate Cat." Despite my vote for SA, I'd like to agree with this statement. I was in Houston in March and watched the Rox play the T-Wolves. I knew the Rox would get spanked -- they did -- but was hoping Cat would play. His kid had just been born; he was out of town; I was disappointed. Then he showed up at halftime. So I got what I wanted-- well, a win would have been nice. The thing about Cat is, I love the enthusiasm and energy he brings to the game. He and Steve make it fun to watch Rocket basketball, especially after the Barkley/Olajuwon years. (ROX) Dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble dribble PASS SHOOT MISS (OTHER TEAMS) dribble dribble the other way JUMP DUNK SCORE etcetera. I'll take Steve and Cat for the fun. I'll take Shandon for the professionalism. After this year and more growth, I might not say that. As far as Michael Dickerson, he's great, and it hurts watching him play for another team, but he's gone, in no real position to hurt us (if he was with Portland or LAL or Phoenix, different story) so I'll let him go. We gave up quality to get quality. He proved that. ------------------
holy ****, how about we just take all 3, or give dickerson and anderson growth hormones so that they can play the 3 & 4 spots? no but really, parting with dickerson and othelaa was hard last year, but parting with mobley and anderson would have been just as hard. theyre all great players. I cant pick.but i know rudy would take cuttino over dickerson, the paper said that during the francis trade orlando/vancouver..not sure which one.. was asking for cat, but rudy gave up michael over cuttino, that telss me somehting about cuttino he has greater soul... dont get me wrong i love both michale and shandon, but i also trust rudy t.
Dr N I am using pt/min. SA is about 75% of MD in this stat. Allan Houston is a consistent scorer, but if you look at Cat and MD, well and SA, they got better as the year went on. MD and Cat scored better per minute the second half of the year than Houston. SA passed up too many open looks. 1st this takes away high percentage shots. 2nd, it hurts spacing because teams sag off him at the three point line. He got better as the year went on, but still did it sometimes late. Allan Houston is one of my favorite players despite the fact he plays for the KNicks. I see MD as a young Houston. A very well rounded player. ------------------ "You've got 6 fouls, use them well" -Derrick Coleman
Shandon Anderson is my favorite of the group. He is my favorite Rockets player. I think highly of Shandon because he plays great D, he doesn't wine when he doesn't get what he wants, he is well-rounded and he can score 28 points or more in a game if he has to. ------------------
In context of the current team/system, I have to go with Cat. His relationship with Steve which we've hyped up ad nauseum, along with his explosive scoring ability make him the most essential of the 3 as far as we are concerned. On the other hand, I've always loved Shandon Anderson, and he's an extremely close second. In his own way, I think he compliments Steve well. Dickerson is a fantastic player, but probably is the most out of place in our current offense, although he would perform admirably. He deserves to be on a team that has a dominating inside presence to free up his shot. Still, it's hard to go wrong with these guys. They're all better than average at least. ------------------ "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and STATISTICS..." - Mark Twain -
