Mobley Press Conference Transcript

Press Conference Transcript: Cuttino Mobley
http://www.nba.com/Rockets/mobley_transcript_000803.html
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Rockets re-sign Mobley

On August 2, Rockets vice president of basketball of operations Carroll Dawson announced the re-signing of guard Cuttino Mobley to a mult-year contract extension. In attendance for the announcement were members of Mobley's family, Rockets Coach Rudy Tomjanovich and Mobley's agent, Bill Strickland. The following is a transcript of the press conference announcing the signing.

Carroll Dawson: I would like to thank everyone for coming. This is, of course, a very exciting day for our franchise and it's something we've been working on for a long time. From the beginning, we have felt fortunate to have this young man on our team. It's been a very good relationship and it's worked well for both sides.

I am proud to announce today that we have signed Cuttino Mobley to a multi-year extension, so he will be in a Rockets uniform for years to come. It's a great day for us and I think that it doesn't get much better than this. I know I'm thrilled, I know Rudy is thrilled and I know the franchise is thrilled about getting Cuttino signed. I am going to turn it over to Rudy and then I think Cuttino wants to introduce his family.

Rudy Tomjanovich: First of all, I want to commend Carroll and Bill for getting this really important issue settled. As Carroll said, we couldn't be more thrilled. Every offseason you have things you can do to improve your team but our No. 1 priority as soon as the season ended and uppermost in our minds was getting Cuttino back. He is that important to this team.

We have changed our style of play and the reason is that's my job; I have to fit the team to the players I have and Cuttino is an aggressive, attacking player. We want to run, we want to be an exciting team, and he fits right into that. He also is one of a handful of players in this league that you can call a "go-to guy." By that I mean we can just get the ball in his hands and something positive is going to happen. Those guys are hard to find.

His personality and his competitive nature are really important to this team. He has already at this stage of his young career taken on some leadership responsibilities and I think that's going to be his niche with this team. For me, this was something very, very big. I felt that this was the best place for him but coaches always feel that way. He had to do what he had to do. He had to look around and check the setting out. But I think he knows this is a great place for him and we couldn't be happier.


Mobley

Cuttino Mobley: This is my mother Jackie Mobley. And my little brother, who is 10 years old. My sister had to work today, so she couldn't come. I just want to say I'm very happy to be back. This is where my heart is. I love Coach, Steve (Francis), who is my best friend. I also have another friend over here, Damon Jones.

The process was well thought out, and it was long, but I just wanted to take that time to think about the choices in life I had to make. This is the best place for me. Everything is not about the glitz and the glamour and about money, if you're not happy. I'm happy with Coach T. because he makes you feel like a person on and off the court and just being around Steve and the rest of the guys on the team, it makes me feel like somebody. Being here is the best situation for me, like I said and I'm just happy to be here.

CD: I would also like to mention that working with Mr. Strickland over the last month and a half now, it's been a real pleasure. He is a great gentleman. I know I worried him quite a bit because we were limited in this process but I called him every day and I told him, "This is about all we can do, if I start bothering you, just tell me." He was quite comfortable with that and I would like to thank him for all the things he did in this process. It was great working with him.

On another note, outside of winning a championship, in going around this city I don't think I've been inundated with questions as much as how we were doing with Cuttino. Every time I went out into the city, I would hear that. To see this young man in just two years become this loved and this looked up to and admired as a player, was quite satisfying and to get him back is even more satisfying. That process was made much easier through Cuttino and Bill and I just wanted to thank them. Now I would like to turn it over to the media for questions.

Cuttino, what kind of influence did talking to Steve on a consistent basis have on your decision?

CM: Steve being a best friend, he didn't really pester me about it. I have a best friend at Toronto also, Alvin Williams, who I've been friends with since I was about 13. It's just that I became close to Steve within a year like Alvin and myself had become in 10-11 years. It's just that Steve and I shared so much. It wasn't as much about that though, I just felt this was the right thing for me. I felt that with Steve and myself and Shandon and Walt and all the other guys, this was the place to be. A lot of other players around the league were calling me and telling me not to, but I think we are going to surprise them, big time.

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What is the length of the contract?

CD: It's a multi-year deal. That's about all we ever say about contracts. That's what we're happy with because to think that Cuttino is going to be with the Rockets for a few years is very satisfying. He just got started in his venture as a player and we think he's going to get better every year, and we're very excited about that.

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When did you know you were coming back to Houston?

CM: I was telling Coach, I was in Switzerland and I was just thinking about it. I was with a friend who is from here and we just talked about it. We hung out and I just came to the conclusion that this was the spot for me.

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Do you expect to make any more moves in this offseason?

CD: To tell you the truth, you're looking at our No. 1 project, and we really haven't worked on many other things. When we say this is major, we really mean that. We worked constantly on this and I think Mr. Strickland can tell you how much I've called him and talked about it.

We will start looking at things now. There aren't a whole lot of things that can be done yet, but this was the No. 1 thing we had to get done this offseason because he has become such a vital part, not only of our team, but of our future. So with this behind us now, we can start looking at some other things, but to this point, we've focused just on Cuttino. That is because of how important he is to us.

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Rudy, does this put your mind at ease now going into the Olympics, having Cuttino signed?

RT: Very much so. We just don't get together in early October and come up with a plan. It's comforting to know that we've got our main people with our team. As far as my planning, I think a lot of the things we did last year in the second half of the season are established, but we always try to keep an open mind. Who knows, we might come up with some different things this year and it's always easier when you have players like Cuttino because he is so versatile. We can do a lot of different things, but if somehow this didn't happen, it's not like one step back, it's like 10 steps back because we have something really special here.

I've been around basketball a long time and I've never seen a group of guys get along so well as these guys. They spend time together off the court and generally, basketball players aren't like that. You get a lot of individual personalities. Cuttino is a big part of our chemistry and it would have been devastating not to get him. That's why we're so happy and relieved.

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How would you address your frontcourt situation heading into next year?

RT: A lot of it has to do with Hakeem (Olajuwon)'s health and how he's doing. We have some young players in the frontcourt and that's an area where we're looking for growth. Kenny Thomas went out to the summer league and I thought he made some progress. He had his ups and downs, but I thought the decision for him to be out there was a positive one and he wants to get better.

Kelvin Cato has worked very hard this summer. When I saw him, and this has been a while ago, there was a whole change in his body and he's been out playing a lot. We like Jason Collier, he is a guy that I think fits with Cuttino and Steve and penetrators because he can pull people out, guys like Shaq and (Alonzo) Mourning, away from the basket. Dan Langhi has been a very big positive and he can give us some help at the small forward. Again, it's an area that we're looking for growth and I think I've got guys that are willing to work and I think we're going to see progress there.


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"The day after tomorrow is the third day of the rest of your life."
---George Carlin

 

Your welcome, Today. Some of us didn't see the press conference, so this is the next best thing

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"The day after tomorrow is the third day of the rest of your life."
---George Carlin