Easy. Last season Steve was the 1st option at backup 2. Cat would sit down 8 min into the 1st qtr. Steve slides to 2 and Mooch plays 1. Brilliant, I thought (that is if Mooch was playing any good...big if). Then 8 min later, Cat gives Steve a rest for a couple mins. Steve now replaces Mooch to finish the half with both starters back in the lineup for a strong finish at the half. It worked well because Steve is versitile enough to play two positions. In effect, a 3-man/2-position rotation. Same goes now w/ Cato. Yao plays high-post until Cato sits down 8 min into the game. MoT then plays high post as Yao slides down low. It's easily adjustible if there is foul trouble. Amaechi would only pick up sparse minutes where both gets into foul trouble or get particularly winded.
I asked Rudy T why he didn't play Cato at the 4 last year. He said something about spacing the offense...we'll try it some...but we barely had both of them in...I thought the coach of the 94 Rockets with Hakeem and Otis Thorpe would have no problem playing Cato at the 4. Also there is a misconception about point average...offensively the thing to look at is fg percentage and not making mistakes. I thought Dennis Rodman was a good offensive player...he knew himself...and the open shots he may have passed up eventually led to his teammates scoring in the possession. In general, I'd like the Rockets to cut down on the bad decisions...turnovers, ill-advised shots, the ignoring of post players, the fondling of the leather...it is hoped that Cato's willingness to listen to JVG will rub off on the other guys.
Yes, I was thinking the same thing. If Cato could hit a 15 footer and continues to play hard, he could be very effective. I think he would be more compareable to PJ Brown than Ben Wallace, though. However, I think Cato still has to prove he will play effectively over the long haul as a 30+ minute starter, as opposed to a 17 minute backup.
I've been wanting to see Yao and Cato on the floor at the same time for a while now, and I'm not the only one... I realize there were reasons last year that we couldn't really do it, or if we had opportunities, the windows were very small. The best way I can think to describe why this is a good situation(starting Cato and Yao)is: If we had Ben Wallace, given his offensive limitations, would you start him next to Yao?? I'm not saying Cato is Wallace, but(if I remember correctly), Cato was second in rebounds per 48 minutes last year to Wallace, if not for the whole season, atleast partially. Give Cato 30 minutes per game and he'll give you 12+ rebounds per game. That's exactly what we need. Once Cato shows what he's capable of given starters minutes, Eddie is done. Mo Taylor will be the perfect backup.
Um, none of those guys are role players now. I remember people bringing up Cato as a PF last year and lots of people shunning the idea. I also remember lots of people hating on Cato last year even when he was clearly showing improvement in the second half of the season. It's nice and sort of funny to see the change of opinion now. I don't know what to do with Griff, but I'd like to see Cato start and split the minutes with Mo. Mo could be a spark off the bench, a 10x better spark than bringing Mooch in for the 3 guard lineup. Then, when Cato moves to center, Griffin can come in as PF. There isn't much benefit for having Griffin and Yao in at the same time until Eddie improves some aspects of his game.
well i guess having cato step up makes ewing one of our best pickups in the offseason. ewing is cato's idol and i guess he has really taken to stepping up in front of his idol. this really is a nice thing for us to see after everything with EG going terrible and with MoT being hurt and with the trouble the Rockets had earlier in the preseason. if cato wasn't playing so well right now i would be pretty down on the rockets with all the negativity that seems to be around there now, but cato has been a great surprise and hopefully he can realize some of that great potential he has had for a long time.
i just cant see cato holding a Reef, Webber, or Brand one on one, just dont see Cato able to play them man to man
Cato doesn't have to hold great power forwards one on one. The NBA is a team defense league. Yao should develop into a great help defender. Cato just has to body them up and make them work some. He is capable of that.
Love the Ben Wallace comparisons. All last year I was saying we are a Ben Wallace away from a championship. A rebounding, blocking, tough, big, defense oriented 4 who doesn't care about scoring. Thank you gods of basketball for the injuries that forced the club to see what Cato and Yao can do together. (If/when Griffin does come back, I wanna see him at the 3 as well as backing up Cato/Mo at the 4). Yao and the shooters give us plenty of offense. Let the 4 be purely defense.
i didnt see the game but how in the begeesus did cato get 4 assists? five or six points aint great but if he can dish out a couple, i think that makes up for all the offense he needs.
I think were on the wrong page. Those guys were just examples. But also, I think your defintion if role player is less than mine. Role player to me doesn't mean "scrub."
Let's all keep turning blind eyes to Cato's penchant for fouls. If he can avoid that, he will be fine as a PF. If not, Mo steps in neatly as the Pf, but then who is the backup center? Meech hasn't shown anything yet except a gift for speech. I hope for the best, but as fans we need to be aware of the pitfalls.
Both had their best players get hurt in the series they lost. Also both made it past the first round of the playoffs in the western conference. The Heat were nowhere close to even dreaming of anything like that. Though I'm a defense supporter myself, your example really makes NBA offenses look more pivotal to winning.
Keep in mind that our other alternative (Eddie) only scores 8 pts a game. So the defense clearly makes up for that. Here is another side note I want to point out. Having a player like Cato will actually make it HARDER for teams to double Yao vs. a having Eddie at PF. Cato is generally 5-10 feet from the basket and ONLY shoots high percentage shots. Thus, if they leave him opened, he will make them pay with a layup or dunk etc. On the other hand, when Eddie is out there, people sag off him because having him shoot wide opened 20 footers is actually a good thing for opponents. Therefore, it allows teams to double Yao. So my point is that I believe our OFFENSE will actually IMPROVE with Cato vs Eddie. Not that Cato will score more per se but it will free up Yao and others. Defenders can not cheat on Cato since he plays close to the rim.
totally agree...if they double Yao...we can pass it out or move the ball around and with their defense running around trying to help..Cato or someone else will be left open! Ball movement...if Yao shoots...Cato can rebound and put back the shot. This is only temporary. The only position that I am worried about is small forward. Jim Jackson needs to make the open shots he gets consistently...and maybe Boki can show he can do that. Piatkowski and Mobley..hurry up and come back!
Cato at the 4 has worked out better than I ever dreamed of. We're really not losing out that much on offense if you compare him with Griffin, but we gain a huge advantage in rebounding and defense. Missing out on a backup 5 could be a slight problem, but I think that can be easily worked out. I think Yao will be able to play a larger portion of minutes without getting too worn out this season. But MoT definitely needs to get major minutes in at the 4 and maybe occasionally at the 5. He's an offensive powerhouse that the Rox desperately need. I'd put him on the second team as a spark off the bench though.
Having Cato play the power forward position is not a new idea. Last year, some of us on this board were screaming for Cato to play some power forward. There was some cause of concern regarding Cato playing against power forwards who are more mobile such as Dirk who relies more on outside shots. Could Cato keep up?. However, as I see it..I would rather have the opponents best offensive weapon taking outside shooter rather then a Shaq attack. Therefore, Cato would just need to keep a hand in the face and let Dirk shoot. Plus, Cato would be a mismatch against Dirk on the other end. Cato can power Dirk out of the way in the paint. I say give Cato the thumbs up simply because he is a much more efficent player compared to EG or Taylor. Taylor is a horriably inefficent player and EG has his own problems. Leave Cato and Yao in which equates to have to contend against over 600 pounds of force in the paint. Even Shaq will have his worked cut out against these two.
I might be wrong.....but i believe that the point guard position was played by a Rocket when those 4 were on the court together. Steve would have been mvp if not for garnett's outstanding numbers.
Great move by JVG, but yet, he could've gotten the idea from reading the bazillion posts on the subject here. In a league that is increasingly height-challenged, going from a decently tall frontline to a Great Wall of Houston is nice. Besides, when Mo and EG (if he comes back from his moron moment) come back, you can have two change-of-pace guys at the 4 off the bench.
