It seems Van Gundy's favorite player right now is Cato. Love his game... love his hustle. It also seems to silence a lot of Cato haters, as I do not hear any Trade Cato threads lately. What do you think guys, will Cato continue to improve?
Kevin Willis once said teaching Cato was like trying to light a wet match. I like his hustle, but I hope he doesn't revert back to the old Kelvin - when all anybody ever talked about was his paycheck and not contributing much at all. His metamorphisis began slowly after Yao took over his starting spot and became one of our big 3.
I think Boki is the most improved, but Cato has been doing well this year. I think he'll improve a little bit more before reaching a plateau(sp?) when he starts to consistently hit the 15 footer.
When you consider the expectations that many had about Boki after last year and the summer leagues...Just modest improvement would qualify as huge for him. I agree tho, Boki has been a pleasant surprise so far, and I dont think he is finished getting better...I like him as a player, and especially for the Rockets sake...I hope Boki gets waaay better. as far as Cato goes.. the reason why you dont see Cato being shopped by the fans anymore except to pick up valuable players is obvious. He learned what it means to work hard for your money, which was what most people's gripes were about. He started improving last year tho...so if you guaged his improvement from the season before Yao....he would win most improved in a landslide. It will sure be nice to get Mo back tho...I hate to see only Cato and Braggs holding down the 4 slot. Sometimes you need the scoring that Mo brings to the table, and even with the improvement of Cato, he isnt exactly who you want shooting at critical points in the game.
If you're talking about the league MIP award I think Ronald Murray or Zach Randolph will win it (Sorry Moochie and David Aldridge) Cato has improved in his new role but I'd still trade him to Dallas for Antawn Jamison or to Memphis for Pau Gasol.
I don't think posters with negative comments about Cato a yr or two ago "haters". They were right on. He only came alive just last year and improved on that this year. He's worked hard, hustled, rebound, defend and even knock down a few jumpers. His weakness is still the 12-15 ft shot. He is also a little foul prone, especially when he is tired. Can he improve? Jeff thinks he can improve on his stamina. I imagine he's working on his shots too. I am happy with where he is but would welcome his improvement.
Cato sucks. Yes thats right. He cant shoot and thus every time down the court on offense the rockets are playing 4 on 5 because zones allow teams to not have to guard non shooters like Cato.. Griffin shooting threes and creating spacing at the three point line is much better for zone beating that cato standing unguarded at the foul line. Im saying Im smarter than Jvg. IN man to man D a few years ago,cato would be an asset. Right now he is a liability and dallas showed that and JVG looked dumb for not knowing what to do. I kept seeing Cato swiping his arms at Dirk with no luck. Then on offense cato being left alone so mavs could double ming thus making our offense shot to hell. To bad everyone here just looks at stats and not what goes on in the game. Yes catos fg% is good(all he does is dunk thats why) and yes he rebounds. But its making Mings life a living hell,and hopefully Ming figures it out and tells coach we need a pf that can shoot.
Cato isn't the league's most improved player, but he's definitely having a good season. If Cato continues to play with passion, the Rockets are only going to get better and better. When Cato plays with heart, Houston is tough to beat.
I didn't get to may attention to the Dallas game as I was having as much luck with my bowling as the Rockets were having with the Mavs. However in the other 5 or 6 games I've seen, Cato is developing a nice 10 to 12 foot shot. A couple of times, he hit one to beat the shot clock. He is also starting to hit freethrows. Is he a go to guy? NO! Will he ever be one? NO! Does he SUCK? NO! He's a hussling, scraping, picksetting, rebounder who shoots an occasional short jumper with enough accuracy to keep the defense from totally ignoring him altogether. This is all we need from him at this time.
I think this needs to be a new thread as well...i don't think we've had a trade Cato this year have we ?
If we bring Oakley in, and he teaches Cato how to hit that 15-footer, and also a few tricks that he's learned ove the years, then I'm fine giving Cato 18 minutes at the PF spot on a regular basis. He'll also get around 15 minutes at C, so that's a total of 33 minutes for Cato. Throw in 28 minutes for Mo at PF, and that makes for a solid rotation. Griffin, Braggs or Meech can pick up garbage minutes.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, DON't QUOTE SWEETIE! I use my ignore list for a reason. I actually think that people are forgetting Cato's play last year. He had a decent season last year backing up Yao in limited minutes.
Cato is #8 in the league at offensive rebounding. He may not strech the defense with his horrid 3pt shooting (ala Griffin) but he does tip balls away from the other team and grab rebounds that turn out to be either dunks for him or an extra possession for the team. I would take an extra 3.5 shots per game over a PF who can hit a 3 pointer 30% of the time.
Cato most improved? No. He's being playing this way for the last two years. And then some... We just have a good team that are on the same page. Thanks to JVG. Cato fits in his role right now. For now... As far as the NBA. Vin Baker will probably win the "Most improved player" award.
Absolutely agree with you. And yes, I do not mean league MIP. I am observing though that Van Gundy has a knack at finding potential and motivating players to play to their potential. Season looking real goooood!
hey sweetie, If you're so smart, what exactly do you propose JVG do in this situation? Should he magically unsuspend Mo in order to play a PF that can shoot? Or how bout he goes and checks Eddie out of the hospital? Padgett got time in that Dallas game and stunk it up. JVG is working with what he has. Don't blame him for the stupidity and emotional problems displayed by our old power forwards.
I seldom agree with Sweetie but in concept I have to agree. Cato is playing well even great but there remains a vacuum to be filled by no one else but EG. Yes MoT's has his role waiting for him and when he come back it would be a big boost. Sorry to say, however, I daydream about EG getting back. When I see what the team has done without those guys, I cannot help but be excited about the possibilties. What possibilities? Funny as it sounds I see both EG and MoT playing some at SF. Not to start there but being able to play there during the game. I believe playing Ming, Cato and MoT or EG in the game at the same time give us an advantage against almost all team. The risk with that would that they would not be able to stay with the quicker SF's. That risk is mitigated in both cases by the team defense we play and in the case of EG, his length will help, and in MoT's case, his size will help. On the offensive end however they both have range with EG's all the way to 3 pt line. The prospect of both, especially MoT, posting up the SF's has to be another advantage to the Rox as the team further cement and refine their inside-out game. Finally, and just as critical there are matchup problems, at the 3, like Garnett, Dirk/Jamison/Walker and R. Wallace that we currently cannot handle. Playing those guys some at the 3 will improve our prospects in those matchups. This is in no way intended to reflect how useless AG, JJ, Boki, Padgett are at the position. It is a reflection of the options that JVG has available to him when all hands are on deck. It is all good!
