This board has given a lot of print to acquiring a "solid" 4 who can play with the bid boys in the west. If the Rockets get said 4, would we keep Cato? My question is this: what can we get for Kelvin? His defense is desirible. He also doesn't need shots, which I can see as a good and bad thing. Of course is offense is virtually nonexistent; especially if you take away the lob from stevie. I don't know a whole lot about this. Could we get a decent second year guy like a Hinerich? The Bulls trade everyone away. I guess that would leave them a bit heavy with PFs and centers. Thoughts?
Actually, not as much as you might think. The West has Shaq & Yao. You need a big body to combat those centers. The East has Ben Wallace. Yet another center who doesn't often look for his shot. If you're gonna get a big bodied, defensive-minded center, you're probably looking to styme guys like Shaq & Yao.
Cato is a solid defensive player. He hustles and rebounds. But his contract and lacking of shooting ability doesn't make him look good for the Rockets. The Rockets can not afford to have him coming off the bench to back up Yao, considering his contract again. But MoT, on the other hand, is a decent shooter, but can't rebound nor pass. We basically have a blackhole at 4. So yes, we do need a good 4 to be able to compete.
I think the Rockets should want to keep Cato. We still need a new power forward, but it'd be great to have Cato playing 15 minutes as a back-up center. Compelling reasons: 1. He's a pretty decent center, which is hard to come by. 2. Yao needs a legitimate back-up to give him rest. More than most of our roster, Yao can't play 40 minute games. 3. Besides rest, as a center, Yao has to be more cognizant of fouls, so a legit back-up is doubly important. 3. Contrary to popular opinion, Cato isn't exorbitantly overpaid, considering the going rate for centers. Centers are more expensive than other players. Cato's contract is only slightly rich. 4. If we keep Cato, that's one less good defensive player some other team gets to put on Yao. 5. His contract expires at the same time as a number of other contracts, giving the Rockets a big cap-room summer after the '06 season. Mo Taylor, on the other hand, has an extra season beyond that big summer. 6. His lack of shooting touch is most damaging when he's on the floor with Yao, who needs to have guys who can hit jumpers. If he returns to his role as fulltime back-up center, he won't be on the floor at the same time as Yao and is not much of an offensive liability for a Francis- or Mobley-centered attack.
I think Memphis would benefit from having a true center like Cato, wonder if they would send Stomile Swift our way for him?
another reason cato should be traded: Why the heck did he help malone up after mobely gave him a hard foul. Stupid lazy Cato.
I would really rather keep Cato until Yao's stamina issues are resolved and his workload is reduced. I like him coming off the bench, backing up both the 4 and 5 spots.
I fully agree with JV's analysis. We trade Cato away only if we can get someone who can plug one of our holes, i.e. all-around PF and a passing PG who can shoot. Taylor, on the other hand, is expendable. If we get a PF who can play on both ends, we don't really need Mo. Cato can backup the 5 and the 4. And we still have Padgett and Spoon.
#1 Rule: Never help out a team in your own conference. Jerry West has been trying to add a legit C for some time and I don't what to be the team that gave it to them. Swift isn't bad, but don't let all the highlights fool you. He's still not the PF we are looking for, he's not that big, doesn't rebound particularly well. PF WishList: 1. Rasheed Wallace- depends on playoffs. 2. Elton Brand- only comes w/ big trade, don't want to give SF. 3. Marcus Camby- don't really like the guy, awsome under JVG.
Cato is fine. He's basically a defensive specialist, which is fine. You can win with defensive specialists starting - see the Spurs, Bulls. I don't get why some people think the Rockets need a better power forward. Why? Why pick out that one position and say it needs an upgrade? To win, you need to score more than your opponent. Do the Rockets have enough scorers? Yes. Do they have a good enough defense? Yes. What they need is their best player to improve and play more minutes.
Okay,What kills a good defense great passing or mismatches? I say both. What hurt our offense were these two things. As a whole we dont move the ball around as well as we should. And because of this we turn the ball over way too much. Much of it is bad entry passes and some we just dont help each other out on offense. You can win with athleticism but you cant win championships on that alone. It takes that certain knowledge of the game. Bird had it and so did Jordan. Could Yao Ming develop into one of those type of players? Most certainly, we dont take into consideration how smart he really is. Thats what it takes stay in the league a long time. Cato is a player we should hold on to. He's finally beginning to understand his role on this team. I think Van Gundy has shown how good a player he can be if he applied himself to defense. Why would you want to trade a reliable pf (on defense) who is about one jumpshot short of being awesome ? Unless you get something back for Cato of at least equal value on the defensive end ,we shouldn't even entertain trading him. I truly consider him second to last person you'de trade on this team.
