Mobley Thinks He's Dumars When He Really Is the Microwave

Dumars was a great all-around player. He wasn't an elite player (ala Larry, Magic, Dream, etc) but he was very good. He was a great defensive player, scored when he needed to, and was versatile (he could play sg or the point when Deke needed a reast & Vinnie came intot he game)

Cat is a great offensive player. His defense was better his rookie year than it is now, he just expends all of his energy on offense now and rests on defense.

I like the Vinnei Johsnon and Andrew Toney comparisons. Both guys were streaky (like Cat) and were offensive studs wh succedded because they were in great situations (great teams, teammates around them)

Cat will never be an All-Star type player until he plays D again. Good offensive players are a dime a dozen in the NBA. You give 80% of NBA players 20 shots a game and they will score 15 pts/game.

Cat has the skills to be special but unless he improves he will be an instant offense player who will never be considered great.

 

I still don't understand this notion that Cuttino doesn't play defense. I live in Austin and only get to watch over Winter break and the occasional Spurs/TNT game so maybe he only plays defense when I'm watching and never ever ever when I'm not. From watching him, he almost always seems to stay in front of his man and I rarely see him man penetrate to the basket. When he plays bigger guys, they may post him up but he puts up as much resistance as possible and the only thing they get is a tough shot over him. Now does he shut people down? Not most of the time. But I would say being too short has more to do with that than effort. I remember when we played New York he seemed to chase Allan Houston all over the friggin court threw a million picks and on the last possession he played Allan perfectly. The shot went in, but it was only because he had a few inches on him. I doubt anyone else on the rockets could've done as well. So really, why is there this perception that he doesn't play D. As far as I'm concerned, he's learned how to take the ball to the hole better and how to play defense since his rookie year. His game does not remain stagnant. Hopefully the next area he focuses on is passing then some of y'all will get off of him. Obviously improving the other areas doesn't satisfy y'all.

 

Totally irrelevent, since Cat scores 20 ppg on 17 shots.