For those of you that don't get or read the Houston Chronicle, heres a great story on Cato, an excellent player for the Houston Rockets. Cato sore in satisfying way: Gimpy Rocket churns out yet another double double in win By JOSH GAJEWSKI Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle An exhausted Kelvin Cato stood next to his locker following a hard night's work at Compaq Center on Saturday night, hunched over with both hands bracing the two arms of his chair while the black Nike sandals he wore on his feet revealed a left ankle that was slightly bigger than the right. "Man, my feet hurt," Cato would repeat. But while hunched over, the Rockets center quietly read his line of the final box score that sat on the seat of his chair: 40 minutes, 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, 11 rebounds (five on the offensive end) and four blocked shots. It was Cato's ninth double double of the season, the 11th time in his last 13 games he pulled down double-digit rebounds and the block total tied his season high. His performance helped turn a sluggish early performance by the Rockets into an impressive 99-89 victory over Boston, their second win in a row over a playoff-bound team. "Oh man, my ankle was killing me coming in," said Cato, who missed Thursday's game against Minnesota after spraining the left ankle against Milwaukee the night before. "But it's that time of the year when either you're not going to play or you're going to play and I've got to play." Cato said team doctors told him two bones underneath his left ankle are rubbing against each other, causing an annoyance that likely won't go away until after the season. Cato aggravated the injury in the fourth quarter against the Celtics, but he still managed to play the full period. He made all three of his shots in the final quarter and pulled down his final three rebounds as the Celtics never got any closer than five points. "Cato was tremendous in there, it was good to have him back," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "He played a lot of minutes, played with energy (and) he's been playing very consistent. Those blocked shots and hustling -- when he plays like that it increases our chance of winning." Cato scored four points and pulled down two rebounds in a first quarter that left the Rockets down by 18 points and added another basket in a second that the Rockets dominated to get back into it. He hit a 17-footer from the baseline during an 8-2 Rockets run shortly after the break that tied the game for the first time. Then, Steve Francis, who struggled to a 3-of-15 shooting night, began to find the big man underneath in the fourth period. Twice in the final seven minutes, Francis drove to the lane and lobbed alley-oop passes that Cato slammed through. Earlier in the quarter, Cato followed a Cuttino Mobley drive and miss with a putback off the glass that capped an 8-0 run, putting the Rockets up 79-68. "If we can get Cato 10 or 12 points and him hitting jump shots, if we can get him scoring like that, it's going to be tough for any team to come in here and beat us," Francis said. The Rockets scored 13 second-chance points to the Celtics' 6 and had 26 points in the paint. "My hats off to him," Rockets guard Moochie Norris said. "That's been his goal for the longest time is to go out there and get double doubles every night. He knows other guys in this league that get double doubles, and he knows he's capable of doing it every night and that's what he's starting to do. "He's starting to prove everybody wrong and let them know that he can really play this game. I'm a strong believer in Cato, I love his game and he's just a hard worker. As everybody can see, once he puts his mind to it and says he's going to do something, Cato does it. That's all you can say." But for the gassed Cato, it was just another day at the office. "It was a normal game for me," said Cato, who came in averaging 6.7 points and a career-high 6.9 rebounds this season. "I'm just glad we won. "Any win that we can get right now is a plus because we're not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs even though everybody is counting us out. You just have to get on a run and two in a row is how to get it started."
Maybe he can lead the league in rebounding next season and earn his car back (did he ever pay up on that bet?)?
Much respect to Cato. Even if he goes back to his old ways I think he has justified the contract. Man can you imagine a frontline of Kelvin, Griffin, and Lewis? That is one big lineup. Make Blinebury eat his words.
well if he keeps it up, he's easily worth the contract. maybe even a good deal on the last few years? i also like how on almost every interview he mentions the rockets pushing for the playoffs. even though it's a longshot i like the attitude.
Don't you guys think a frontline of Cato and Griffin, backed up by Mo Taylor at both spots is one of the better frontcourts in the league? Rebounding: Griffin and Catro are both 10-reb games waiting to happen. Shot-Blocking: Cato and Griffin can both block around 3 on any given night. Scoring: Griffin can go outside, even out to the 3-pt line. When we want to go inside strong, or keep the defense honest, we have Cato. I really really like that frontcourt tandem, defensively more than offensively. Our guards would look much better defensively with those 2 able to average 5 blocks or maybe more between them. I hope Cato sits out a week though. We can't afford to let this injury linger on, because he's already prone to injuries. We need him next year more than this year.
I haven't caught too many games recently, so my thoughts are suspect, but Cato's weakside dunks seem to me something which defenses can learn to adapt to without lessening the pressure on Steve. The positive side is that as long as Cato can continue to be that weakside threat, it keeps the defenses honest. I'm not optimistic about Cato being able to average a double-double, however, if his points depend solely on weakside dunks and put-backs. And I'm afraid if he doesn't get his points, or the opportunities for those points, he'll get all moody again. If Cato can learn to hit a shot 10-15 feet away from the basket consistently, I think that would do wonders for him and the team. It's refreshing to hear the optimism of the players in the article. Having gotten the negativity/pessimism out of my system, it's really, really, really satisfying to see Cato doing well, and I agree that a Griffin/Cato frontcourt with both guys playing like they can would be formidable. If nothing else, Cato's play makes him good trade-bait. For the record though, since I seem to recall hearing that Cato scans the BBS once in awhile, I don't want to trade him unless a deal comes along that we can't pass up. Great job, Cato! We're all rooting for you! Fan pessimism is only a defense mechanism. 10/10/2!
We already have probably the best backcourt in the league, if those guys could reach that status, who could stop the Rockets? NOBODY!!!
BigM, you noticed it too! Cato always talks about the playoffs. I love him for that. The big guy has a lot of heart, and a lot of pride to respond to all the bad press he has gotten in his first few years. He has responded in a HUGE way, and I'm proud to say that Kelvin Cato is a Houston Rocket. Keep gettin' those dub-dubs, Big K!
The only thing keeping Cato from routine triple-doubles is that you have to leave the game after your sixth foul.
"Cato sore in a satifying way"? what the hell is this? a rockets website or a morbid sexual fantasy of marsha clark during the OJ trial?
Ah, now I see. Didn't get it when HOOP-T referred to it. Cato, sore, satisfying, posted by Mr. Oily. It gets better: "An exhausted Kelvin Cato stood next to his locker following a hard night's work at Compaq Center on Saturday night, hunched over with both hands..."
Last year, Bullard was quoted in the Chronicle, talking about that playoff push. The next day he was talking with my brother-in-law about going fishing as soon as the season ends. "Whenever that is," said my brother-in-law. "Should be early April," replied Bullard. Cue: knowing laughter.
LOL, bro'! Anyway, it's a true story. Tell the media one thing, despite the plain truth. (I do prefer the players keep a positive attitude, however, even if I don't.) Speaking of one-on-one: Bullard came to Iowa City a few years back (Iowa Hawkeyes, his alma mater) and lost a 3-pt contest at halftime to an Opie Taylor-lookalike freshman Hawkeye. Ah, the rueful smile on Bull's face when it was over! But I digress. KELVIN CATO. This thread's about Kelvin Cato.
