Cuttino Mobely on Best Damn Sports Show

I talked to him 2 Sundays ago. He said he would love to come back. He would be perfect for the Rockets!

 

We couldn't afford him, unless we traded James and Moochie to get him (if Cat doesn't opt out). And will Cat opt out? The lockout is potentially looming.

 

If he wanted to come back I'd welcome him with open arms. I doubt we have the money to sign him but it would be nice even with the possible chemistry issues. he's a great defender and a shooter. Better shooter than wesley but at least when he fakes and drives he can create something out of it.

 

Cat is not a half cour set player, because he never had chance to be one in the early years of career when he developed his dance steps on the court. I dont think Cat will fit in Houston right now. I still love the guy tough, I watched Kings only because of him.

 

Please elaborate (if you are serious)...

 

IF the Cat did come back it would be under the JVG system which he would be agreeing to, so, sure, welocme home Mobes -- if you and JVG said so.

 

I think mobes excelled in the JVG system better than any other former rocket. He was a very good to great defender that took on and posted up Kobe and Tmac. He also chased around iverson as well as anyone else in the league. Cat would be great playing next to mcgrady.

 

It's all in the sig.

Come back Cat.

 

Where are the roll eyes?

I recall Mobes taking a not-so-veiled shot at JVG in an interview after the Kings beat us last year.

 

Well, I was in favor of bringing Mobley back, but after that, I'm not so sure...

 

The Kings run Pete Carril's great motion offense. The Kings own Mobley's Bird Rights meaning they can easily outbid the 25 or so teams with only a MLE. If the Kings don't want Mobley back, why in the hell do we?

 

I agree he would kill our ball movement. I have mixed feelings about bringing him back. Remember, he responded pretty well in JVG's first year, unlike SF. Something tells me there is zero chance of him coming here.

 

I usually break down a post into separate quotes, but I completely disagree with everything you said.

Cuttino didn't create half the drama that Steve created after the trade. Sure he was disappointed, but who wouldn't be? I really don't understand where the idea that JVG and Cat had a bad relationship is coming from. Cuttino was one of the first ones to really buy into the new system as far as play goes. JVG may not have liked having Steve and Cuttino together since they were so similar, but I don't think he hated Cat as a single player.

Not willing to be 3rd string to Yao and T-Mac? He was a third string guy every year he played in Houston, whether it was Dream/Barkley or Steve/Yao. You could argue that he was 3rd option in Orlando behind Steve and Grant Hill. Same goes for Sacramento where he was behind Peja and Bibby. He is gonna take his shots but I think Cat is smart enough to know he's not gonna be able to carry a team. We all know that Yao needs to be more involved, but if you saw any of the playoff series you saw a team that struggled quite a bit to get good shots with Yao off the floor. We need a SG that can create, and Mobley can do that.

So how much is he asking? It seems you have some inside information. You may assume what he is going to command, but it's not even June yet and free agency is still a ways off.

As far as other free agents, you are right, it is a large pool at the SG spot...which makes it more likely that Cuttino comes cheaper than some of the big names. Ray Allen, Michael Redd, and Larry Hughes are going to get huge money. We have virtually no shot at them. Joe Johnson is restricted, so he's a longshot unless he picks Houston out of the crowd of suitors.

Then you have a second-tier of Mobley, Eddie Jones, Kittles, Sprewell, Bonzi Wells, and Bobby Simmons. Scratch Bonzi off of that for obvious reasons. Kittles is injury plagued. That leaves Sprewell, Mobley, and Simmons.

I'll take Mobley over either of the other guys. Truthfully I haven't seen much of Simmons, but I know that he has had ONE good year. Look at former Clippers Mo Taylor and Derek Anderson and where they are now, and I'm not too sure of Simmons.

Mobley may be a bit of a longshot too, but he's not on the top of anyone's list...he probably won't come for the MLE, but there's a chance to land him with a sign and trade.

Like i said earlier, most of the talking after the trade was by Francis. Cuttino also was disappointed and I'm sure bitter for a while, but I'm sure he knows why the Rockets did it. He's not a bad character guy, so I don't see any problem with him fitting in with the guys we have. I think everyone is overblowing his animosity toward the Rockets organization.

The bottom line is when it comes to his game he has almost exactly what we need at SG. He can hit the three. He can take it to the basket and create his own shots (currently we only have Mcgrady and James that do this well). He plays very good defense (remember the 2004 Lakers series vs Kobe). He can handle the ball well (he was our PG in '99). And maybe most important, he's an athlete. I hate to summarize our whole season on one playoff series, but I think the Dallas series proved that we need to get more athletic in the backcourt.

 

I'd take him back without blinking. He's that tough and nasty outside defender we were missing this year. Wesly's D doesnt compare to Cat's. Plus he can nail that three point jumper to help spread the floor or he can penetrate to the basket, something only T-Mac on our team could do. An outside defense of T-Mac and Cat would stop the Jason Terry's of the league from knocking us out of the first round. And i do agree he bought into JVG's sytem from the start of the season. All that said i think cat is worth more than the MLE. He's gonna get paid by someone, perhaps replacing Redd or Allen, as both have pretty much insisted there going where the most money is.

 

"I would love Houston, but I just think we slowed the ball down too much, and we didn't have as much freedom as we should have. No knock on Jeff (Van Gundy), because he's a great defensive coach. But offensively, I think the freedom like that we have here, with the same defense that he had... you know what I mean? I don't know; Jeff's a good dude. He's misunderstood. But offensively, at times, you were bored and frustrated (laughs). That's just what it is." - Cuttino Mobley on 12.04.04 with the ORL @ 11-5 & HOU @ 7-11.

*******************************************************

"You know, stupid can only take you so far in pro sports, stupid and athletic. You gotta be smart, and our basketball IQ this year compared to last year is much higher."

....

"And then as [McGrady] got the ball more in Orlando, what I noticed, I could not believe what a great passer he was.

Even last year when his intensity waned and he didn't play as hard as he would have [liked?]...you know and he's admitted he didn't play as hard as he should have...his passing was tremendous; he really could see. We needed that. We needed a guy who could pass the ball.." Jeff Van Gundy on 04.30.05 in an interview on WFAN.

****************************************************
Kenny Thomas got more Kings' playoff assists than Cuttino Mobley.

Sorry Cuttino fans, Bob Dylan said it decades ago..."You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows".