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Cato has positive attitude on training, Yao joining Rockets

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by HotRocket, Oct 4, 2002.

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  1. HotRocket

    HotRocket Member

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    Cato has positive attitude on training, Yao joining Rockets
    By JONATHAN FEIGEN
    Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
    AUSTIN -- Kelvin Cato feigned the old surliness, but he couldn't make it last. He laughed a "got you" kind of laugh. He talked easily and comfortably, effecting none of the old artificial indifference.

    In what amounted to a breakthrough by Cato standards, he said he was happy -- happy in of all places, training camp. He joked with teammates. He played ball, which for him represented a departure from all the days he had viewed it strictly as work.

    "Everyone is out here working hard," Cato said. "The normal training camp would be, be like, I guess, like me. Normally, I'd be a little out of shape. I'd be getting frustrated. Now everybody is out playing hard. Everybody is competing. It's fun. I'm having a good time."

    A year ago, Cato had announced he was out of shape and planned no improvements from his disappointing previous season. He moved quickly to an angry, if temporary media boycott. He spent so much time at training camp gasping for air, he seemed to need a director's chair to ensure there always would be a place to collapse.

    So far this season, he said he has been in shape and happy. If training camp is a chore even for the fitness freaks, it could be a nightmare for the conditioning-challenged.

    Cato has not been mistaken for Cuttino Mobley. But he has not been confused for last season's model, either.

    He weighed in at 288 pounds but would like to lose more weight. Cato, 6-11, said he's in preseason game shape, an improvement over "training camp shape" but with work left to do.

    "Working out with some of the coaches in the offseason and playing pickup games was real good for me," he said. "I got a chance to work on my game. Also it helped with my friendship with the team, with camaraderie."

    Generally, the better Cato has felt, the better he has gotten along, the better he has played. When he is talking and joking with teammates, he is usually more active on the court. When he has withdrawn, so has his game.

    But if improved physical conditioning has led to a better attitude, it could not have come at a better time. With the Rockets' selection of Yao Ming to play center, Cato will not win the job by default. But he will be valuable, and how he deals with the coronation of the first player chosen in the draft could key how he plays.

    "I was a little against it (Yao's selection) the first day," he said. "But after thinking about it, I just want to win. I've been on this team for three years. We haven't been in the playoffs since I've been here. I had a taste of what it's like to be in the playoffs (with Portland). I want to get back.

    "I hope ... if he does get the position that he can do everything he felt he could do and everybody expects he can do. I just want to win. I don't care about starting or coming off the bench. All I care about is winning. If he wants to win, I want to win with him."

    Hearing this, Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said he was not concerned with how Cato, 28, will react to Yao's arrival.

    "I heard some of the things he said," Tomjanovich said. "He wants to win. He wants to play and play well.

    "I thought he had a great year last year for him. He's moving in the right direction. He had his best statistical year, a great attitude year for him."

    For most of Cato's first two seasons, the only statistics that seemed to matter were six and 42, his six-year $42 million contract. He averaged 6.6 points per game last season, fewer than in his first season with the Rockets, but made 58.3 percent of his shots, and grabbed seven rebounds, both career bests.

    Yao should offer greater offensive skills. But if Yao goes through the usual rookie struggles, with the added burden of rare scrutiny all while coming off a demanding Chinese national team schedule, Cato's play could be more important than in any of his previous seasons with the Rockets.

    "His things are very different," Cato said. "We both block shots, but I don't think I can block as many as he can being that he's 7-6. His scoring ability is different than mine. He's a natural-born scorer. He's so big that not too many people can contest his shot besides Shaq (O'Neal) and probably (Dikembe) Mutombo. Getting up and down the floor, I'll probably be faster than him.

    "It's not about that. It's about winning. All I want to do is win. I don't care if Rudy puts five guards out there. If we win the game, I don't look at the stats or any of that. ... "


    I guess this means that Ming will start over Cato. It seems that Cato wants to win now, and he realizes that they won't win with him starting...
     
    #1 HotRocket, Oct 4, 2002
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2002
  2. R0ckets03

    R0ckets03 Member

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    Okaaay, I think the real Cato has been kidnapped by aliens.

    Seriously, this should help our team tremendously.

    A bench of:

    Cato
    KT
    Eddie
    and Boki

    will absolutley destroy!
     
    #2 R0ckets03, Oct 4, 2002
  3. Shot caller

    Shot caller Member

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    Wow. Do you think he will declare that he is going to lead the league in rebounding?

    I think Cato will play very well off the bench. For some reason he just thinks that is his place.
     
    #3 Shot caller, Oct 4, 2002
  4. leebigez

    leebigez Member

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    Hate to be a pessimist, but no matter what anyone says, there are not enough minutes for griffin,ming,thomas,taylor,cato,rice,morris,nachbar on the frontline. I could sit here like a lot of peopl and sugarcoat it, but thats not me.Someone is going to be very displeased about not getting minutes.Ming and Griffin are our 4 and 5 of the very near future. Nachbar is the future 3.Thomas needs time for a contract extension, taylor needs time for display at least as well as cato.I'm all for having a good bench, but bench players should be just that. A typical bench, only 1 at the most 2 players are starter quality. Once you get more than that, you get into the same problems Portland has now, Seattle had in the early to mid 90's and indiana probably this yr.I would hope it would work, but realistically, it just doesn't.
     
    #4 leebigez, Oct 4, 2002
  5. Oski2005

    Oski2005 Member

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    I don't see Boki being a problem as Rice will probably retire in a year or two, wait, when does his contract end??? It'll be okay, I'd rather have too many good players than none at all.
     
    #5 Oski2005, Oct 4, 2002
  6. AroundTheWorld

    AroundTheWorld Member

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    Rice will probably miss a lot of games due to injury. Morris won't get any minutes. Cato should not get more than about 19 a game. Leaves 125 minutes (SF, PF, C) divided by 5 (Ming, Griffin, Taylor, Thomas, Nachbar) = about 25 minutes each. Take into consideration that Nachbar will probably not get more than 20 in the beginning, the same might be true for Thomas. Leaves 30 min. each for Ming and Griffin and 25 for Taylor. And that is without additional injuries.

    Seems fine to me.
     
    #6 AroundTheWorld, Oct 4, 2002
  7. kh0001

    kh0001 Member

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    I agree to leebigez in certain extend, but I don't think there will be trouble this year, while rookies are still adapting.

    However, if we kept the same roaster next year, as the rookies grow up, I won't be suprise if something bad turn out...

    KH
     
    #7 kh0001, Oct 4, 2002
  8. Drewdog

    Drewdog Member

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    *yawn*

    Just like last year, Cato is all talk. Lets see what he can do once the season starts.....
     
    #8 Drewdog, Oct 4, 2002
  9. rockbox

    rockbox Around before clutchcity.com

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    Great news about Cato's attitude, but I thought Yao had signed from the thread title. What a let down.
     
    #9 rockbox, Oct 4, 2002
  10. Will

    Will Clutch Crew
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    This confirms what we've thought all along: Cato has the mentality of a backup. He'll be a contented bench player for many of the same reasons he was a weak starter. He sounds relieved.
     
    #10 Will, Oct 4, 2002
  11. ricerocket

    ricerocket Member

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    Cato just realized he will be under no pressure, won't have to play that much, and he will make 7 million dollars to do that. He can sit back and let Yao Ming either excel, flop, or burn out. What does it matter to him?
     
    #11 ricerocket, Oct 4, 2002
  12. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    Blah blah blah...

    Thank god Cato is coming off a year in which he led the league in rebounds.



    Hey Kelvin......ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THEN WORDS !!!

    Sound and fury signify nothing.

    DaDakota
     
    #12 DaDakota, Oct 4, 2002
  13. roswell raygun

    roswell raygun Member

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    Cato's backup mentality isn't necessarily a bad thing. If he accepts the role willingly, he can be a valuable weapon, coming off the bench to block shots, grab rebounds and contribute minutes when Yao gets in foul trouble. You don't want to pay someone $42 million just to do that, but that's a mistake that has already been made.
     
    #13 roswell raygun, Oct 4, 2002
  14. leebigez

    leebigez Member

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    My point exactly. If you were Kenny Thomas and in the last yr of your contract, would you be happy playing 20 minutes a night? At 8 mill a yr, Taylor would be one of the highest paid backups in the league behind Penny Hardaway. I wonder how many starters in the league plays 25-30 minutes a night unless they're 37 or 38 yrs old? No matter how people seem to divide up the the minutes,no one on the frontline will be happy with playing time.

    To his credit, I think Rudy is a better coach as far as handling personalities than Dunleavy and George Karl.Even with that great connection with players and saying the right thing, Rudy will not be able to handle the situation much better than Dunleavy di in Portland or Karl in Seattle. As sharing as these player may be, every competitive athlete is selfish to a point. Its what make them nba players and us sit at home watching them compete. The 92-95 Sonics had a starting 5 on the bench with McMillan,Pierce,Eddie Johnson, and others sitting on the bench. Portland had Schrempf,Bonzi,Anthony and others but we see what happened to them. I'm not predicting the same fate for the Rockets, but history has told us otherwise. The logjam has to be cleaned up at the expense of the of some players. They might have to trade a quality player or 2,Taylor and Thomas for bench players and picks. Chemistry is a word Rdy likes to use all the time ,but i don't see how much of it you can have when you might have 2 or more guys complaining about minutes.
     
    #14 leebigez, Oct 4, 2002
  15. Sane

    Sane Member

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    Can you guys admit that you're going to bash Cato REGARDLESS of what he says or does?

    If he leads the league inr ebounds, instead of praising him, you're going to say he only did it because Ming arrived, and he had no choice.


    FYI, he didn't accept the backup role. He just said that he wouldn't sulk if he were the backup, AS LONG AS WE WIN AND MING PLAYS BETTER.


    It's good that Cato's in shape, and is going to be helping us no matter how many minutes he plays. Let's see if people will bash KT when he sulks about being on the bench like Cato did.
     
    #15 Sane, Oct 4, 2002
  16. Achebe

    Achebe Member

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    Sane's right. You guys are mean.

    Why can't you guys see that we're at a high in the cycle. Everybody put their arms up.
     
    #16 Achebe, Oct 4, 2002
  17. HeyDude

    HeyDude Member

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    actually, nobody cares what he says really. its what he does, or doesnt do. if he were actually backing up what he says by doing something, nobody would dog him. If he had a decent season last year, people would not dog him. And no, 6 points, 7 reb, 1 block on a very injury depleted team is not decent.
     
    #17 HeyDude, Oct 4, 2002
  18. WyoRox

    WyoRox Member

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    EXACTLY! Cato is still a valuable member of this team and is probably still our starting center for a while at least. I am ecstatic that Cato has shown up at training camp in good shape and with a good attitude.
     
    #18 WyoRox, Oct 4, 2002
  19. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    Hey,

    I call it like I see it, and Cato has been DOGGING it around here for the last 3 years.

    If you guys want to buy into the "New and Improved" K. Cato, then go right ahead.

    I will be the first one to sing his praises if he actually puts forth the work and gets better.

    However, as of right now, I still have some MAJOR doubts about K. Cato.

    DD
     
    #19 DaDakota, Oct 4, 2002
  20. HoustonTx

    HoustonTx Member

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    AMAZING WHAT 42 MIL CAN DO FOR YOUR ATTITUDE!
     
    #20 HoustonTx, Oct 4, 2002
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