First, I want to say that I only catch about 20% of Rockets games, so it's possible that I only catch Cato on his bad nights. But... It seems to me like Cato NEVER makes any of his jumpers, not any of the 50 or so I've seen him up. I mean, it's not just a low percentage shot. It's a 0% shot. His post up move also terrible, and tends to get a miss a lot. Why does he keep shooting these shots, then? Even if he manages to hit 30-40%(which is a pretty low rate) of them, I can see him keep shooting them if no better options are available. But he really should just stick to cutting to the basket and get dunks. Because he only seems to shine around the basket.
The truth is that Cato shouldn't shoot the ball, ever. The guy hardly plays anymore and he knows this, so I think he tries to shoot as much as he can when he's in. The guy has no hands so any pass to him (unless its an ally-oop) is a risk.
One of the glaring weaknesses of our offense is Cato being shamed into bricking 15 footers while defenders gang up on Yao and o/w cheat on defense. To your point, any shot beyond dunk range is a poor shot for Kelvin He's just a horrible shooter. That is why his PT is diminishing, especially with Spoon emerging. BTW, Spoon is a surprisingly good post defender, even at 6' 6" (or whatever) because of his strength and quick leaping ability. Cato is a GREAT backup center and quasi-enforcer..........nothing more. D R
As Meh mentioned, his post move is also pretty bad. I rarely see him posting up, backing down anybody these days. As a center, you got to have some post move.
His free throws don't look too bad, so I would think he'd be able to hit from the elbow. But ... Anyway, they leave him open so he's simply gotta take that shot. That, or when he gets the ball he needs to cut/move towards the basket. That would at least draw some defense (if not give him an open layup), so he can kick it to someone else.
Remember when Cato was the Rox's starting center from seasons ago when the West was already Big Man land? Really made sense back then to rely purely on SF's atheleticism.
I thought the same thing. For someone who couldn't hit anything from more than 3ft out, he has a pretty good FT%. Well, he could try to pass it back out, or position himself better. Either way, it's better than taking a shot that doesn't have prayer of going in. I'm not sure he has the ability to put the ball on the floor to do the drive to the basket with the ball.
When Rudy T was our coach, Cato hardly ever shot the ball. For awhile, he couldn't find any way to be useful. But, last season he managed to find a niche of rebounding and playing defense without ever shooting the ball (besides dunks). As Cato and Van Gundy have both mentioned, Van Gundy has encouraged him to shoot the ball more. I presume it is to force defenses to respect him. It's not working. But, if your coach tells you to shoot, what can you do?
As Cato and Van Gundy have both mentioned, Van Gundy has encouraged him to shoot the ball more. I presume it is to force defenses to respect him. It's not working. But, if your coach tells you to shoot, what can you do? JVG definitely does not pull Cato after his bricks. I suspect that JVG would pull Cato if he passed on an open 15 '. Given that YM is a fixture at the 5, Cato's future on this team is as a backup 4 and 5. As a 4, Cato will need to be able to hit an outside J out to 15'. Cato must be practicing his J (or better said that Cato is being forced into practicing his J by JVG.) His lack of outside J aside, I see Cato being more convident this season in his game. If JVG can will Cato into learning how to shoot the J, that would allow the the Rox the option of going big and forcing mismatches that they can exploit.
They are just trying to raise his trade value. So far it's been mixed results on that front. Words for Cato - Play within your limitations.
If I were JVG, I would make sure that Cato shoots 1000 10-15 footers on a daily basis in the summer. There is got to be a way for a guy to gain a little shooting touch. I just don't understand why the foreign players generally shoot the ball much better the the US players. The US players need to realize that a dunk counts the same as a jumper and you cannot get dunks the whole game.
Watching Peja, Dirk, Yao, Pau, Nash shoot the ball is a thing of beauty. It's freaking ridiculous that a 7'6" center can shoot the ball better than the majority of the players in the league.
I don't understand why Cato has not learned any post moves yet. He has been in the league for a long time. As a 7 footer, he is pretty strong and mobile as a center, why hasn't he mastered a couple of moves? like a hook shot, a bank shot? Are these shots really difficult?
frankly speaking, his ft is not bad. my suggestion for him is to shoot the ball near the ft line and don't jump. shoot like a ft.
