http://www.nba.com/features/mobley_001221.html The Cat's All That By Chris Ekstrand You can learn a lot by studying statistics, but there are some things even a whole day's worth of number-crunching won't tell you. Like which players can deliver in the fourth quarter of a tight NBA game. Cuttino Mobley has become such the player for the Houston Rockets. His propensity for making big plays down the stretch makes him a favorite of Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich. It also makes Mobley an early candidate for the NBA Sixth Man Award. "He's a big-play player," Rudy T said. "He can do things in the fourth quarter that only the very good players can do. Some of it is his talent level, but a lot of it is his confidence level and competitive characteristics that the great ones have." Mobley, a second-round pick in the 1998 NBA Draft, has grown in importance to the Rockets in each of his three seasons. In his rookie year, Mobley gained the confidence of the team's three future Hall of Famers, Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen. With Pippen and Barkley out of the picture last season, Mobley's role and production increased. He averaged 15.8 ppg and was the runner-up to Phoenix's Rodney Rogers in the NBA Sixth Man Award voting. This season, Mobley is Houston's second offensive option after Steve Francis, and is averaging a career-best 17.5 ppg through 24 games. "Every single year, I'm going to get better and better," Mobley said. "I watch tapes and work on my weaknesses. I just want to improve as a player. I want to be one of the elite players in this league. To do that, you have to gain respect, and to gain respect, you have to practice hard." Mobley might occasionally look a bit out of control on the court, but the stats say otherwise. He's averaging about two turnovers per game, a low number for a guard playing 33 minutes per contest - and hasn't coughed up the ball more than three times in any game this season. His 13.5 attempts per game has translated to a 17-point scoring average, a ratio most coaches would be ecstatic to have from their shooting guard. "When you have good offensive players, players who can do some unbelievable things out there, there will be a tendency for guys, and not just Cuttino, to try some things or shoot shots that coaches or conservative fans might not think are right," Tomjanovich said. "That happens with him some, but he sticks with the plan pretty well." The Rockets are in the second year of a youth movement that now relies on the young explosive tandem of Francis and Mobley. Francis (18.8 ppg), the team leader in only his second year, welcomes the energy and skill that his backcourt partner brings to the team. "We've got a guy we can go to late in the game," Francis said of Mobley. "He's gonna get big buckets for us, and that's something that we need, especially with a young, growing team. We continue to go to him, and it's continued to work for us." Good to see him getting some attentioN! ------------------ President of the Moochie Norris fan club & Vice President of the Jason Collier fan club!
http://bbs.clutchcity.net/ubb/Forum3/HTML/010111.html ------------------ "He was under more balls than a midget hooker."-Bobby Hill visit www.swirve.com and, http://www.geocities.com/clutch34_2000 for great Rocket insight by some of your fellow BBS posters!
Looks like we are getting some respect from the press. Mobley has really improved his game in the past three years, and although he makes some dumb decisions, he makes up for it with his scoring and energy. ------------------
Good players jack up stupid, ill-advised threes? ------------------ WooHoo! The season's here!....I'm still gonna need that keg of Pepto-Bismol.
