Curly, We can see you are a Mobley hata, to place blame on a pass that worked just one minute prior FOR A SLAM!!! Hatas are all over the Summit, and I know their schpiel. They protect Francis and bash Mobley. Dude, if you don't think dribbling into nothing and not protecting your dribble enough to even get a shot off is not a "mental mistake," then.....sheesh....like had Maloney done that..."rolleyes"...losing your dribble is worse that the ill-advised extra pass, and a sign that Francis once again cannot step up to even get two shots off. Francis missed 3 opportunities, and two of them he didn't even get a shot off. Francis got stripped or tied up twice FOR THE GAME, and Mobley was left trying to bail that out. Had the play just gone to Mobley in the first place, he doesn't have to improvise. Notice NO ONE starts a "Francis Dribbling SUCKED!!" threads, because we are not hatas. Only a hata, who has a "mental problem" with Mobley would start a blame game thread after last nights performance for both our leaders. They both kept us in the game, and they both lost the game. And at least one of them stood up and admitted it. Mobley was destroying Kobe mercilessly on drives (with traps) all night long. Turn that around (and put Mobley in Francis's position), and you are yelling for Rudy's head to not let Francis take the game winner. Uh, Rudy gave it to Francis 3 times, what did we get....a big reason for you to blame Mobley again. That's good. You got your big blame. Mobley had a shot, and chose to duplicate a pass that worked a minute prior. I admit it. Mobley should have shot. But like Rocketsmillinium says, you would be crying for his head had he missed that. Mobley hatas will continue to exist, just like Vernon Maxwell hatas. and tinman, since you are making the Vernon stories. Tell us the stories of Houston hating Vernon for taking ill-advised shots.
crispee, while mobley had a decent game, he was under 40% (10-26) from the field and did make crucial mistakes. not 'people make mistakes' mistakes, but 'what the f*** is wrong with you my two year old brother would not make that mistake' mistakes. the pass to willis was not remotely the same pass, the lane was much more congested, and the shot-clock thing is obviously inexcusable in a close game. cat just gets two worked up sometimes. if curly is a 'hata' you are a 'lova'. Why not take a balanced view?
Vernon would have shot the ball. I don't remember anytime when Vernon didn't shoot the ball in clutch situations. Cutino screwed up. In order for it to be Clutch City again, mistakes like that can't happen. We'll be the team that almost wins again. Screw that! Especially against the cocky Lakers! Cutino is a better player than the dude who passed the ball to Kevin Willis. Vernon Haters were silenced when he hit the game clinching 3-pointer against the Knicks in Game 7. That was championship. Vernon Haters were at Luby's so Vernon pulled out his GAT and were about to spray them.
Who cares what Vernon Maxwell would have done? Maxwell was a scrub we bought for $25,000 that only had a career because of Hakeem Olajuwon. Mobley is one of the focal points of this team -- big difference.
Don't even hate on Maxwell. Some argue he started Clutch City. I guess you're not a real Rockets fan since you forgot = Game 3, America West Arena. After the headlines of 'CHOKE CITY'. Who ignited the Rockets run? When Cutino has a heroic performance like that, then I'll gladly say he's a clutch player in the same ranks of Vernon Maxwell.
First time long time... Mobley had a couple of big mistakes in the game, but this loss wasn't even close to being his fault. We had multiple chances to win this game, both in OT and regulation. You can blame lots of people, not just Mobley. You could blame Willis for missing some wide open shots, Francis for blowing a wide open jumper or dribbling into some bad situations, Cato for being born, etc. The fact is that without Mobley this game would not have been close. I though that he played pretty good D on Kobi and also kept him busy by attacking him offensively. Considering he did this all on a bum ankle, I think Mobley deserves a lot more praise than blame. On a totally different subject, I also noticed Francis having a lot of ball handling problems. Does anyone think that this has something to do with his hurt wrist?
verse and crispee...I hope Mobley never stops moving, 'cause you two would be neck deep in his arse. I love 90% of his game. And I made a very strong point when we drafted him that I thougt this kid was a sleeper pick and loved it. Whether it is incouraged or just his style, I don't like the way he dribbles so damn much, and never looks for the assist. He's a two, and two's are supposed to score first and look for the dish second...well I think the dish is a little further down his chart. Then comes the mental issues of not keeping his head in the game. If he refocused half of the energy he uses complaining to the refs about a "missed" call and use it for concentrating on the game, he would/could be one of the most productive two's in the game. Everybody on the team has their flaws, I'll bash Francis, I'll bash Rudy. I'm not a hata, and if anyone is a fan, they are a luva and a hata. We want perfection, and if we don't get it, we make excuses, or flame a player. On this given night, I choose Mobley to blam for the loss. You can't say that his two freethrows took the game to over time, more than any other two points in the game. Each time a player shoots the rock, it's clutch in my eyes. Every bucket that was scored in regulation last night was a "must make". I'm with you guys...and how many other times have I ever flamed a player? This one in particular just stuck in my craw.
Curly, You are entitled to your opinion, so don't take ours away by saying we are stuck on Mobley. We are the ones standing right with you saying that Mobley made an ill-advised extra pass. Ironic, isn't it. I never would have believed that the first "Mobley needs to get his head out is ass" post of the season for the bbs (by you, no less) would be for an extra pass to a 7'er directly under the basket after Shaq left him. A pass that already worked a minute ago So, so ironic, how Mobley takes a beating for trying a pass this time. The difference between our critique and yours is *glaring*. We didn't start a Mobley bash thread with a cuss word...you did. You just aren't willing to believe that some of us quite honestly believe Francis blew this game with his no existent go-to game. In hindsight...I could argue that Mobley should have ran those two plays. And you are going to sit there and claim we are Mobley lovers for thinking that. Nice how convenient that argument is to make you sound oh so objective...."I bash everyone, so I am more objective than you." If you don't think Francis lost the ball twice prior to *both* Mobley situations you mention, then your head is stuck up Francis's arse as much as you say mine is Mobley.
Here's a novel idea. Maybe the reason we lose is because, right now, we don't <b>have anybody else</b> other than Steve and Mobley? They both did stupid things that helped cost us this game...and they both did good things to keep us fighting for the win. Francis was popping jumpers late in the fourth that helped us go into OT. Mobley hit some big free throws to send us there as well. And both contributed. But no one else can have a big game for us. Rice/Walt are struggling. KT is working hard, but he's not a 'go-to guy'. Willis is also a workhorse, but we can't rely on him to hit clutch baskets. If we had Taylor, we would probably be a lot better off right now. We need someone else to step up (namely Rice). Because Francis and Mobley can do a lot of things, but they can't do it all.
I love the re-direction/spin job at work here in the thread. In a game that came down to the final shot, Mobley DID lose it by not taking the open J. He's consistantly lauded here for his willingness to take those shots, so he is rightly faulted for not doing so when the opportunity presented itself (forgetting for a second the shot-clock mistake in regulation). After all, Cuttino himself claimed responsibility.
The only problem I had w/Mobley was that 30 footer he shot w/a few minutes left in regulation. There was 13 seconds left on the shot clock. the last play in OT he had the right idea, he saw Shaq coming at him and saw Willis cutting to the basket. just didn't execute.
Why can't Steve dribble with the game on the line. Francis butterfingers doesn't have the balls to win games. Man I wish we had Cassell's balls in Francis's sack...
Tmo, *stay down* You define "lova." Don't pass that **** off as your ability to say who is a lova or a hata, like you can define objectivity. Do you see me making Francis sucks thread? Mobley did not suck last game anymore than Francis did. So, who is being objective here? Curly and you and fromobile???
I said 'balanced', not objective. I make no claims to objectivity. I just think balanced views are more interesting. My claim is primarily an aesthetic one. However, if you agree that objective reality is 'multiplex,' and that reality includes basketball, then perhaps one could find faults and merits to all players in last night's game. You seem only to note the merits.
Okay, I don't think it's fair to blame one player for last night's loss. It's unfortunate to lose a game like this because any time you lose by a point, you can always go back and point out a number of things that if they had turned out differently, then the Rockets would have won. Don't forget...there wouldn't have been an overtime if Hunter doesn't do a Nick Anderson in bricking those free throws in the end. Let's just realize that it's a team game and to blame one player for the loss is ridiculous. However, to have 0 assists in 53 minutes is a stat that I wouldn't be proud of sharing with anyone.
I dont blame the game on cuttino but something has to be done in my opinion for houston. If steve is the franchise player for the team, he should be taking the shots in the end of the games. I think Steve should be doing the game finishes, and making the team win. To me thats a franchise player, and steve .... doesnt fit that.
steve DOES NOT WANT TO TAKE THE LAST SHOT. he has openly said - in many interviews - that the last shot is cuttino's. so, yea, i'd like to see steve do it, too, but if it ain't in him, it just ain't in him.
Last year that may have been the case, but I don't know that it is this year. We have had several close games, including last night, and the majority of possessions down the stretch Steve takes the ball. It stays in his hands, he goes to the basket, and creates for himself or someone else. He's done a fairly good job at it this year. However, Cuttino Mobley is also a star, and he's a better clutch player. That's not to take anything away from Steve-- but Cuttino Mobley has been one of the best clutch performers in the NBA since he entered the league. If there's a situation I can compare it to, it would be the Indiana Pacers. Jalen Rose is the brightest star on that team, but Reggie Miller is going to get chances in the closing minutes. It doesn't mean Rose isn't a franchise player or star, it just means that Miller is a big crunch time player.
