Three things I'll go ahead and throw out before the discussion gets goofy : 1) Mobley, even for a shooting guard, is pathetic with assists. Take a look at all guards that average 30 mins/game and have played in at least 30 games. Mobley ranks near the bottom of that list if you only count guards (and there should be about 45 or so guards on that list). If you factor in the fact he plays 42 mins/game the situation may become worse. 2) Mobley shoots 43%. But this year that is good enough to put him almost exactly in the middle of the pack of guards in 1) above. 3) The offense is not necessarily geared toward assists. Although this has been changing with Cato and his patented dunk off drive-and-dish plays. Also Francis has been driving like a man possessed lately and throwing it out to open players or feeding backdoor for easy shots when the defense collapses on him. Ok. That's all I got.
looking at the stats...Cat is averaging 4 assists per 48 minutes. now this does not rank in the top 50 players in the league per 48 minutes (number 50 was 5.9 assists per 48 minutes), but there are plenty of 2 guards (shooters) on winning and losing teams that have a worse assist per 48 minutes stat.....Overall, Cat ranks in the top 75 or so....out of 2 guards he ranks somewhere in the middle. Bottomline: Get off Cat! His stats prove that he is not the worse in the league and not the best in the league either..he is the average 2-guard in the assists category...because our shooting guard did not pass the ball to someone else who could have shot and scored, does not mean he cost us the game. The guy is a scorer first and yes, most two guards also average about 43% shooting and about 3-4 assists per 48 minutes...he is no tracy mcgrady or kobe, but he does well enough in the assist and scoring category to match guards like steve smith, bonzi wells and allan houston
Dr of Dunk and this entire thread: I suck...i just double checked my number per 48 minutes and calculate the wrong assist number...I based it off of 32 minutes per game versus 42 minutes...which means....most of my analysis was, well....a little off. I have to quit the pipe I guess. I guess I am a homer Cat fan at heart because i love the guy's enthusiasm and when he gets hot...it is fun to watch...I hate to see him continuously blamed for their woes when you could look at just plain hustling and free throws that lost this one! I am with ya on points 2 and 3 though.... I imposing a self-banishment for 1 week because of my bad analysis......
two things i'll throw out there before this conversation gets goofy: 1. if you're hot, why would you choose to pass to players that have basically proven that they cannot shoot? 2. every time you pass the ball, you do not get credited with an assist. to say cat does not pass is inaccurate. to say he does not set up teammates for easy baskets is possible. but, the last time i checked, setting up teammates for easy baskets was the job of the point guard...and he is the shooting guard.
I'm not a Mobley hater or bashers, but the argument that he is a shooting guard is ridiculous. Where in the definition of shooting guard does it say "get no to vervy very few assists"? Steve Francis was also 10-20 last night. You're telling me that not once in the whole game could Mobley, who was being guarded tightly due to his hot shooting, pass to his also hot shotting backcourt teammate and friend to rack up an easy assists. Or if they were also guarding Francis closely, someone had to be open.
It doesn't mean shoot first, second, third, and fourth. And Mobley is not the best shooter on the team right now nor has he ever been.
I have only seen a couple games this year, but in both cases Mobley more or less REFUSED to pass the ball until he was double or triple teamed, off-balance, and on the verge of a turnvoer. So to say that cat does not pass IS accurate--at least in the couple games I saw. I have never seen a player so dead set to shoot the ball. As far as Mobley averaging a decent amount of assists per 48 minutes, you have to keep in mind that Mobley gets more touches than virtually every 2-guard in the league. So mediocre assists stats do not show that Mobley is pretty good passer.
I agree to an extent that there is a sense in which it is better if Mobley shoots the ball instead of passing. Reasons: Cato--just not a scorer Rice--injured Taylor--injured Griffin--can't shoot (lately) Tmo--can't shoot Maybe he would pass more with better shooters around him.
Are you kidding me??? Look at the stats Timing: Mobley has averaged 26.7 points over the past 10 games (Feb) and that puts him WELL above anyone else on the team as our top scorer, not to mention THE hottest player on our team right now period (50% from the field last night). For the season: Francis is averaging 21.9 ppg while Cat is a close second at 21.1 Both are shooting a comprable 43% from the floor. Check your facts before you make such blanket statements.
Houston Rockets: Cuttino Mobley FG%: .434 APG: 2.6 Denver Nuggets: James Posey FG%: .367 APG: 2.5 Memphis Grizzlies: Shane Battier FG%: .415 APG: 3.0 Golden State: Jason Richardson FG%: .414 APG: 2.9 NY Knicks: Allan Houston FG%: .451 APG: 2.3 Cleveland Cavs: Wesley Person FG%: .507 APG: 2.4 Chicago Bulls: (was) Ron Mercer FG%: .399 APG: 3.0 bottom line...cat's passing about as well as other 2 guards on bad teams. the answer: put better players around him and see how he does....but it's downright STUPID to blame the shooting guard for not passing on a team that sucks ass.
No, it isn't. It's only stupid if you refuse to see any angle but the one you have chosen. You can argue either 1) that Mobley doesn't pass more because his teammates can't shoot, or 2) that his teammates can't shoot because Mobley doesn't pass more. Plausible cases can and have been made for both sides, and for a combination of the two.
Check your own facts pal. You made a blanket statement which isn't true. Cat's hot streak and Steve's cold streak still has Steve ahead of Cat in terms of shooting %, not to mention KT who is far ahead of Cat. KT 48.6% Francis 43.6% Cat 43.3%
Where do the stats you posted show causality in any way. It makes just as much sense to say all those teams suck cause their two guards impede the flow of the offense. If you look at the list you dont have your greatest guards in the league - you have some players and some rookies, but other than Allan Houston, who is having a bad year and everyone agrees is kinda one-dimensionaly anyway, there are no real great players on that list. Shocking, then, that they dont have more of an all around game to go with their 'scoring' stats.
assist numbers are poor for the whole team, not just cuttino. we hardly ever rely on ball-movement and when you play one-on-one it's pretty difficult to get assists. i find it very hard to knock cuttino right now especially the way he is playing, earlier in the season definitely though. we're digging for a problem that isn't there. what more can we ask for cat to do? i've seen a vast improvement from him on decision making and especially on defense. what happened to 3 days ago when we handed it to minnesota and boston? i'm assuming cat didn't any more assists than. the reason we lost to the clips was the small-ball lineup, not cuttino.
What did I post that wasnt true Timing?? What you are saying is: Kenny Thomas is the best shooter on the team?? KT has the best shooting % because a majority of his shots are close to the basket. How can shooting percentage determine how good or how hot or cold a player is?? Give me a break......... Allen Iverson is shooting 39.6% from the field this season, but I guess you want Dikembe Mutumbo taking all of the shots because he is shooting 49.8%???
