cat's past 27 games...it's more than a hot streak.

i wouldnt go so far as to say mvp numbers but i ike what i see.

 

Ha! Verse, you just saw a Crispee post and rushed right in to get on the Crispee in yo face bandwagon. Just kidding. See here's a smilie. I'll probably draw the wrath of HeyPee, now. Seriously, Cat has been phenomenal for awhile. I really think it is because his ankles got better. He just didn't have the quickness there for awhile.

On the criticizing note, I hate to see it, but daaaaamn, I think he will always provide the opportunity. Like ignoring Collier underneath and whipping a horrible pass to him on the perimeter.

Did you read the Comical article where Cat said he decided to do less dribbling against the Sonics. It worked, Cat, it worked.

 

verse:

I think you have to mention assists and rebounds. They may be unconventional stats for a 2, but I think that MVP voters are usually, but not always, looking for versatility, a la Bryant.

 

How many of those games had Francis in them, just out of curiosity.

I am thrilled by the way Cat is playing of late.

DaDakota

 

Does anybody have any overall stats on NBA shooting percentages over the past twenty years? If there are shooting stats broken down by position, that would be even better. I'm not saying that Cat's stats aren't great, because they are, but there was a time when 47% shooting was average...

 

Damn verse, you have to go and start my favorite thread, and now I'm going to have to purge myself of 1000 words for the LOVE OF THE NBA! I love basketball!

To put this 27 games in perspective, that is about the time his two ankles fully recovered, and close to being when Francis returned. The guy as seriously improved the smoothness of his shot. He isn't just getting in done; he is becoming the team's best scoring option. He is becoming an all-star scorer.

Notice Kobe is 3 inches taller than Cuttino and has Shaq...and no question about it...Kobe is a good shooter. His numbers are:

25.8 ppg
47.5 FG%

over 23 games Cat matches that perfectly

26.0 ppg
47.5 FG% over 23 games

This is no fluke. Cat has improved his shot significantly. From my view in the stands, he is no longer fading left or right when he shoots. Boylen or somebody corrected that. Cat now goes straight up or does is unstoppable step-back J ala Larry Bird/Dennis Johnson. He'll
also do a jump back, which is a little different than a step-back.

<b>So, When Is a Difficult Shot, a Player's Money Shot</b>

Anyone who is not gifted with height or superior leaping ability knows that if your shot is going to survive at any level of basketball, you are going to have to learn something beside a straight jumper.

For the longest time, people have said Cuttino's shots are bad shots, because of the difficulty factor. You can say that, but I've always thought that he *must* do something more than jump straight up, because he is only 6'4", especially in the last minute. He's always been a good shooter, but couldn't get off the simple shots like Francis and Kobe can because of their advantage of being taller and jumping higher than their defender. Guys like Cat, Dumars and Larry Bird do not have that advantage.

They must do a difficult shot. Wasn't Hakeem turnaround high difficulty. These are not bad shots when the player learns how to improve them.

Cat has learned how to improve his shots. He needed to to survive in a zone world. Maybe that is why it took him his 4th yr to correct his fade, because he didn't need to until the zones came. It also helps that Rudy gave him all the reps while the team was transitioning with sucky years.

Look what we have now. A scoring machine who has a three-dimensional attack: He can shoot mid-range off the dribble; he can drive better than everyone in the league (except Iverson); and he can help spread the defense by standing in the corner for deadly three's. You might laugh at the last one as a "dimension," but that combination (catch-n-shoot, drive, shoot off the dribble) allows him to pretty much fit in any and every basketball system I can think off. He is like clay for Rudy. Rudy can mold him into anything he wants, and Cat is more than happy to change for this coach.

<b>Cat's Improvement</b>

There is one consistent Rockets truth: Do not attempt to place a ceiling on Mobley. He improves every year at a rate unparalleled by any other Rocket. So, what is his next trick for next year...imo, if the Rockets interior game improves, or if Francis's learns how to run a ball movement system better (ie, the Francis PG experiement finally hits pay dirt), Cat is the least of my worries in adjusting. He is proving he can adjust to zones and have his best year ever, and that rules change was supposed to stop him.

If we need him to catch and shoot in a Sac type offense (Double High Post Zipper--I think), he'll adjust. I don't believe he'll ever be a great court vision guy, but I have definitely learned never to question Mobley's ability to improve and adjust to changing defenses. So why couldn't he fit right in with a King's-style offense. quite frankly, I worry much more about Francis's dribbling and ability to become a PG than I worry about Mobley not passing to Mrs Torrence.

 

Since we are ending moratoriums today, I'm going to say good points verse.

 

47% was average back when players didn't play D. As much as we knock players for playing poor defense, defense has become a much larger part of the game than it used to be. I can look up the numbers when if I get home if you really want them, but I don't think it's fair to compare the 70's and 80's shooting % to today's shooting %.

B

 

A-TRAIN,

I've been following stats since Jan 21st, when it dawned on me that his shot as adjusted...and somewhere along there Feigen concurred in an article and alluded to the ankles being healed. I think verse is doing it since Francis came back or close to it.

anyhow, by my numbers of 23 games...over a season, there is only one person in the entire leauge scoring more at a higher %. That is Shaq.

...and his 2pt FG% is 50.6% over the last 23 games.

 

Verse:

I was really only pointing to the assists and rebounds.

And I'm not convinced that Shaq helps those at all. Seems that PGs with beasts in the middle don't necessarily have higher assists #'s, because shaq usually backs in in a little before taking his shot.

I think that systems like Cleveland's, in which the team struggles to find an open jumper, are more conducive to high assist #'s (I do htink Miller's are slightly inflated for this reason).

 

9-21 5-8 0-2 0 2 2 3 3 3 0 5 0 23
11-16 3-5 5-5 0 1 1 4 2 2 1 1 0 30
12-21 1-2 4-4 0 4 4 4 3 1 1 1 0 29
10-29 1-5 5-7 1 0 1 2 4 4 0 5 0 26
11-25 3-4 2-3 0 5 5 1 2 5 0 4 0 27
11-17 3-5 6-6 2 4 6 3 1 2 1 2 0 31
3-14 0-5 2-2 2 2 4 0 2 2 0 2 0 8
10-20 2-5 4-5 0 6 6 0 1 1 1 2 0 26
13-26 4-11 10-10 2 5 7 1 4 3 1 1 0 40
10-20 1-4 6-6 0 1 1 0 3 1 0 4 0 27
8-20 2-6 6-8 2 6 8 4 1 0 0 1 0 24
2-12 0-2 5-5 0 4 4 2 1 1 0 2 0 9
10-19 2-5 1-1 2 2 4 3 2 0 0 5 0 23
9-20 1-3 1-2 0 5 5 3 2 2 1 1 0 20
13-25 3-9 2-3 1 4 5 2 4 1 0 4 0 31
9-21 2-8 8-8 0 3 3 2 2 3 1 1 0 28
14-24 6-10 4-5 1 3 4 1 2 1 0 1 0 38


Those are Cats numbers starting from the first game in Feb. If you take away those 8 and 9 point games my man Cat is averaging 28.2 ppg! while shooting close to 44%

 

BENCH CAT!

 

47% is also back when there was no 3 point line.

Cat's two point shot average has to be in the 50s which is damn fine for a 2, no matter when.

 

I will give Cat his props (I'm not the biggest Cat fan) for that 27 game stretch.

If he can continue that pace or something close to that, I will do a 180 and be a big Cat fan.

 

3 point line has been around since 79. 50 fg% from a guard in the 80s was not unheard of.

B

 

You guys are crazy. Don't you listen to Gary Payton? He says that anybody in the league can do what Cat does.

 

B,

NO WORRIES is talking about when the 3-point line moved in, I think. Before 1993?, it was further out to the point no one really used it except the serious bombers like Bird and Reggie. Most guards didn't have that range, and didn't attempt it nearly as much. You can definitely see a clear rise in 3s when they moved it in, especially 1995.