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

I notice Timing hasn't chimed in on this thread as a perenial Cat basher.

But being an MVP is more than posting big #'s. Being an MVP means he's major contributor to winning season. He's playing excellent but he's not necessarily making his teammates better...but Steve <b>IS</b> making Cat better.

 

verse, tpl, crispee -- EXCELLENT posts!!!!

I honestly can't think of anything to say that hasn't already been said . . .

Cat reminds me in some ways of Allen Iverson. AI has this incredible finishing ability, to where he can make INCREDIBLE shots, and get down the lane like no one else in the league -- except for Cuttino. Cat and Iverson both have had major detractors, have been undersized, and generally looked down upon. But time and time again, they have proven the detractors wrong. Iverson has become a 30 ppg winner, getting better and better year after year. I never figured Cat to be any more than a 15 ppg scorer after his first season. But he has gotten better and better and better, to the point where, if he continues to improve at his current rate, he'll be an easy all-star, and a perennial MVP candidate (assuming we win).

When I saw Cuttino early on this season (first few games, before Steve injury), I felt that his decision-making had gotten better. Then the ankle injuries, and Steve's injury left Cat as basically carrying the load himself, at about 70%. Thus, he ended up not making shots, putting up bad shots, and not looking good. Frustration. Now that he's healed, and Steve is back, Cuttino has become a much better decision-maker, and a more stable, secure, consistent scoring threat.

Now all we need is for him to get Gary Payton-like defense

 

This guy deserves a Cassell-like extension. If he were an FA today, he could easily earn 7 or 8 million.

I'm hoping that, in true Cuttino Mobley style, this offseason he works on his weaknesses, which are quickly dissapearing each offseason. All I ask is that he TRIES his best on D and looks to pass a little more. After all, isn't he good for 1 more assist per game next year when Rice and Mo Taylor are back?


Also, someone (I think Raven Lunatic) said something about Payton saying that anyone can do what Cat's doing. Is there a quote? Where did you read this?

 

Even though Cuttino Mobley does not have that Gary Payton like defense, I am pleased with how much his defense has improved throughout this year. I think his defense is another underrated aspect of his game.

 

Sorry, double post.

 

What do I have to chime in on? The absurd Larry Bird comparison? Bird was nearly a career 50% shooter and someone is seriously comparing their shots? Or how about how absurd it is to compare a 27 game stretch of one player's season on a lottery team to the entire season for another player who's on a sure playoff team. Or how about how Cat played for the entire first two months of the season when we actually had a chance to stay in the playoff race. I guess those two months where he probably shot about 41% just don't matter anymore. What was our record without Steve when Mobley had ankle problems? 1-16 or something? Mobley kept playing why?

Last 27 games our record is 12-15.

14 of those games against the Eastern Conference.

From my own observations of Cat it seems he is more under control and is taking better shots. He's not shooting the wild off balance runners as much as he used to. If he can continue this for an entire season then that's great for the team. However for some of you to entirely dimiss 3 1/2 years of basketball and focus on 27 games is pretty horrible. These games have been absolutely meaningless and Steve's progress this season and role as the primary scorer has been hampered by his nagging condition which might be inflating Cat's numbers as he's playing 3 full minutes/game more the last 2 months than he did in the beginning of the season. Let's keep a little perspective before we hand Cat the first ever 27 game regular season MVP award.

 

There we go. We were missing Timing's dissenting view. Whew, I feel better. Nobody else can dismiss 100% recent play as a possible new trend. And then punch everybody in the neck with the reality of averaging lifetime stats as the only right answer.

But even you acknowledge he's playing better. That must have been hard for you.

 

Cat is playing very well and it seems he's not dribbling as much as he had in the past. Rudy seems to have him coming of a couple of picks which gives him the space to shoot over taller players better. Having Francis just gives him a comfort level because no one told him he had to take more shots because Steve wasn't there, that was just assumed. The key is always trusting the players on the court with you and not assuming you have to do everything. I still wish he would pass the ball a little more, but since his shot selection is a little better, I can deal with it. MVP candidate? I doubt it, but he is playing at a high level right now.

 

I did too! I got two cats and the other is named Francis.

 

I will not dismiss 3 1/2 seasons of play for the sake of 27 games. I choose to view his play within the context of his career. Right now he's shooting slightly better than he did last year and he's playing 4 more minutes/game than he did last year. Let's see where he ends up before some of you choose to really believe that despite consistenly shooting around 43% for his career that he's all of a sudden a 47% shooter and 25 points/game scorer. In addition, no one here has considered whether Cat scoring 25 points/game is actually a good thing for our offense as he's not much of a passer even when he's getting the ball a lot. If Cat can really be a 25 points/game scorer and we can win with him being that then that's great, but I'm not even close to being convinced yet.

 

It is 28 games now.

 

I've happen to have liked Cuttino's play for the most part for his career.

He shots at a "low FG%" and takes bad shots. I see a player that forces his opponent to play defense and risk fouls. Cat got to the line often which more than made up for his wild shots as far as I'm concerned. He's been an efficient scorer, but not the most efficient shooter as FG% is concerned for his career.

This year he's improved his 3 pt shoot and doesn't get fouled as much. I'd say he's a very efficient shooter this year. More efficient than Kobe, more efficient than Francis.

Kobe still has had a better season because he handles a larger load of the scoring, rebounds better, and has a better assist to turnover ratio. Not MVP numbers..but definitely all star numbers.

I've always considered Mobley a second tier guard since his sophemore year. I've only seen him once in this 27 games and he looked like he belonged with the other elite SGs. He's much better than Stack.

 

Well, I was exaggerating a bit. In the win against the Sonics, in the Chronicle the next day there was a section where Mobley was talking about how he had changed his strategy a bit because Payton and the Sonics hack a lot and reach in. The following quote by Payton was something like this, "Scoring 38 points is not a big deal. Anyone in the league can score 38 points." So Payton was talking about what Mobley did over the season, but I get the impression that he doesn't think much of Cat for some reason. Just another reason to hate The Glove, I guess.

 

Well the team is 12-15 in that stretch so is his play good for the team? You make the call.

If he averaged 47% and 25 points/game on an elite team for an entire season that would be an MVP season. He's yet to do any of that. Anyone can splice out portions of a season and make an MVP case. The Nuggets fans did the same thing on this board with Nick Van Exel after a couple of weeks.

His shooting has been outstanding, the other aspects of his game like passing, defense, decision making have been about the same from my observation.

I wouldn't bet against his continued progress either but I don't call a selected 27 games continued progress. When he does it for an entire season then we have progress.

 

Crispee don't you remember last season at all? Don't you remember assuring me that Mobley would surpass Steve's scoring numbers last season? In addition, how can you have a serious discussion on Mobley's offensive production without addressing Steve's condition this year which for any given game can make him highly ineffective as a scorer?