Despite the loss, this was a great, exciting game. Like Clutch, I was cheering my lungs out and when Cato hit the shot at the end of the first overtime, I thought that I would collapse. Like I said yesterday, if Cato could learn how to hit a free throw he would be a VERY dangerous player -- especially in a league where you can count the dominating centers on one hand. A couple of negatives, however: (1) Am I the only one here who thinks that Mobely is just a bad version of Francis? He tries to do all of the things that Francis does, but he just doesn't do them nearly as well. When Francis went down, it was silly to try to run the offense through Mobely. There was simply no way that he was going to score simply by taking his man one on one. On that note, I don't think that Mobely and Francis should be out on the court at the same time. Their games are too similar. In fact, I would like to see Francis and Drew on the court together a lot more. I think that with Stevie driving to the basket, teams will collapse in the middle leaving wide open jump shots for Drew. Mobely can't hit those shots. And Mobely just makes too many turnovers. I know that having Mobely and Francis on the court at the same time may cause some bad defensive matchups, but until the Rockets have a forward who can hit outside shots on a consistent basis (SAM MACK, for instance), we need to have Drew out on the court. (2) I thought that there was some very poor play selection at the end of the game. We were shooting brick after brick and I kept saying that we should be passing the ball around to Drew. I mean, isn't he supposed to have the best outside shot on the team. He just hit the three pointer on the fast break, why don't we look to pass the ball around instead of just giving it to one man and asking him to go one on one. (3) There was a five minute period of time in the second quarter where the Suns did not hit a single field goal, but they still started catching up because we fouled them every time they came down the court. We were dominated at the line once again. We must cut down on the stupid fouls. (4) We let a 16 point lead get away from us. I know that the Rockets are undermanned right now, and I know that the NBA is a game of streaks, but the Rockets cannot give up second half leads like this. (5) I still don't understand the player combinations that Rudy puts on the court at the same time. The Rockets simply cannot rest all of their starters at the same time anymore. Their second team just doesn't have enough fire power. And they aren't that good on defense. When Francis is out of the game, Barkley needs to be in the game and vice-versa.
Gotta love a guy that posts commentary in "bulleted" format... makes it easy to respond : Am I the only one here who thinks that Mobely is just a bad version of Francis? 1) Although I do agree with you somewhat, I don't think you're giving Mobley enough credit. He is a good one-on-one player and at this point in their careers, I think he plays more under control than Francis. Although this is changing and changing FAST. I don't know what happened but Mobley somewhere was given the green light to jack shots up at will, and he's taking advantage of it. I also don't think a Francis/Mobley backcourt would be beneficial because nobody else would ever see the ball on 75% of the plays. However, Mobley coming in to give Francis a breather allows us to continue the driving, penetrating, threat we have in Francis. And yes, Mobley can do this. He's proven it all throughout the season that he can attack the goal and score in the land of the giants. Funny how we we went around 2 decades looking for a point guard-type that could do this and now we have 2 of them (yeah, so Mobley's more of a 2-guard, I don't care, it sounded good). I think that with Stevie driving to the basket, teams will collapse in the middle leaving wide open jump shots for Drew. Mobely can't hit those shots. Let's face it, over half the time, Drew can't hit those shots, either. He's shown that throughout the season. I'd rather have Air Bullard shooting those open bombs than either of those guys. And Mobely just makes too many turnovers. Per 48 minutes, Drew averages more turnovers than Mobley (3.90 vs 3.14, not including the most recent Suns game). but until the Rockets have a forward who can hit outside shots on a consistent basis (SAM MACK, for instance), we need to have Drew out on the court. Ugh... that Mack character again. Unless we can get rid of Bullard (NO!) or The Wiz, we shouldn't be signing a Mack. We'd have 3 small forwards that play no defense and shoot 3's as well as a Shandon Anderson that can't find his offense -- No thanks! We were shooting brick after brick and I kept saying that we should be passing the ball around to Drew. I mean, isn't he supposed to have the best outside shot on the team. He just hit the three pointer on the fast break, why don't we look to pass the ball around instead of just giving it to one man and asking him to go one on one. 2) My guess is because Rudy trusts Mobley at this point more than he does Drew. That being said, Rudy's giving Drew all the chances in the world to prove him otherwise. Drew's been steadily improving as of late which is good to see. And, he was drafted as a good shooter, but he hasn't proven that he is one to this point. We must cut down on the stupid fouls. 3) Same ol' same ol'... along with the stupid turnovers. We let a 16 point lead get away from us. I know that the Rockets are undermanned right now, and I know that the NBA is a game of streaks, but the Rockets cannot give up second half leads like this. 4) Obviously. But they were doing this before they were undermanned. Of the Rockets' 12 losses, they've had a lead in the fourth quarter in 10 of them. When Francis is out of the game, Barkley needs to be in the game and vice-versa. 5) If Barkley is in the game when Francis is out, who do you want to be playing PF since Cato is the Center? Whoever is playing PF won't be a threat to score. Shandon hasn't been a threat to score. You lose all kinds of rebounding when Barkley goes out, so who's going to clean the glass when Francis and Drew are jacking up shot after shot? Before you say "Massenburg", he seems to either be injured with the groin pull or in Rudy's doghouse. Carlos Rogers can probably play the 3, I guess. All this being said... I still see this team improving. ------------------ Rocket fuel pumps through these veins...
I understand a lot of what you're saying, but disagree on Mobley. I just think you have got to have players like this: Young, energetic, loves the game, hustles, scraps, quick and can shoot the lights out on some nights. I think he has a bright future. I remember getting into it with some before about whether they preferred to keep Mobley over Dickerson. At the time I would have preferred Dickerson. Now I really don't know... ------------------ Clutch Out to prove Scottie Pippen will apologize at gunpoint. www.clutchcity.net
Mad players like Mobe may not show their consistency right now, but keeping them is a wise decision. Our team has been fire-less for some time, such a mad player in Mobe can start the fire, just like Seattle's Mad Max.
Tod the bod, agreed on the Mobley part, Mobley thinks he is the man, he tried to beat the opponent one on one every time. He did a good job driving to the hoop in the Portland game. What he shouldn't be doing is to try to shoot in the faces of others. He is not Larry Bird and last night he missed two shots consequtively like that in the second OT. Play team ball in crunch time like the Suns! [This message has been edited by Finalfantasy (edited December 02, 1999).]
tod: Blah. Cat never gets respect... He and Francis play well together - he's MUCH better this year than last. Last year he had to rely on Quitten dealing assists... That didn't work. It works with Stevie, and he's hittin' threes like there's no tomorrow. Also, when Stevie was busy with Kidd, Cat was busy with Penny. And busy scoring. Just something else to keep in mind. Cat is VERY fast... I still say that the Rox missing FTs lost the game. They pissed away at least 8 points just on FTs. These guys have GOT to practice more...
Tod, didn't you recently say that Francis and Drew should never be on the court together? I agree on Mobley. I was super high on him before the year, but I really wish he would learn to pass more, or at least cut out that midrange falling away from the basket shot. Dr. - "Let's face it, over half the time, Drew can't hit those shots, either. He's shown that throughout the season." Drew's shooting 38% from 3-pt range. Second to Bullard with twice the attempts. That's pretty good.
I understand some question re. Mobes, he makes some mental mistakes. But he also is a serious threat to other teams, both offensively and defensively. He's integral to this team's success.
I don't have a problem with Mobley. He's streaky, yes, but when he gets hot, he is on fire. Kind of like a quieter (?!?) version of MadMax. The player I'm having a hard time with right now is Shandon Anderson. Where is his game???????? ------------------ Just Win Baby! More Than Three Times!
Shandon looked timid. I think it's FRancis' job to get him involved and rebuild his confidence. That's a lot to ask of a rookie, but that's the type of leadership we will need from him down the road. He needs to get Shandon some layups.
Mobley is a little out of control sometimes. He has been trying to do a lot of Francis type things on offense. Francis has a great all-around game. Mobley is just trying to get a better overall game,too. Mobley is a stronger defender than Francis now. I am like Clutch in respects that I liked Dickerson better than Mobley last year. Mobley now is better than Dickerson last year. I haven't seen enough of Dickerson this year to say who is better now. I would trade Anderson in a heartbeat for Dickerson.
I posted this in another post, but thought it was relevant here: Mobley is shooting 3rd worst from 3 pt. range on the team (only Barkley and Thomas are worse) - yes Anderson and Williams both have a higher percentage. While I think Mobley has a lot more to offer, he needs to show alot better shot selection!!! Drew has been hot (and did hit a three pointer to bring it close - the only one he took all night), and although he doesn't offer all the intangibles that Mobley does, when we needed to score last night, I would have liked to see Mobley pass the ball to someone else who's been hot rather than shooting 3 pt shots while falling back, or driving and trying to scoop it under three defenders - that's ridiculous. Clutch time is the time to play team ball - not try to make the highlight films! He drove me nuts last year when he played like that, and seems to be doing more of it this year, especially if Francis is out of the game.....it's like he still feels he has to prove himself. I hate to say it, but we were much more successful in OT last night when we dumped it down to Barkley. It added credence to Rudy's comment about that's why he goes to the post-up offense in the 4th quarter. I was actually glad to see it last night, after about 5 consecutive one-on-one plays by Mobley, it was a welcome relief and actually got us back in the game.
With how much Mobley has improved over the summer, whose to say how good he will become. I really, really like having Mobley, Francis, Anderson and Cato for when Barkley and Olajuwon are gone. It has taken us a long time to get good guards and now we need to keep them. (I had to stick Cato in there. Obviously, he is not a guard.) I know yall didn't state otherwise but Mobes seems to be getting too much criticism. After all, he has hit some real gutsy shots to keep us in games. Mobes, however, for whatever reason with Rudy's blessing apparently, DOES TAKE TOO MANY SHOTS, especially in traffic, when passing off might produce a better shot. If he has the green light with the reason being that he will become an even better player because of it, maybe we have to sacrifice the present for the future. I'm reaching I know but he does seem to have the green light, and I can't think of any other reason. So, I don't think Mobely is a bad version of Francis. I think he is a rapidly improving, possible all star at this pace. At the same time, he shouldn't jack up all those shots cus he ain't quite Francis! KEEP IT UP, MOBES! LOOKING GOOD!
TheFreak : I was talking about his overall shooting which until recently wasn't anything much to talk about. If all he's going to do is shoot spot-up 3's, we already have that in Bullard. I'm talking about canning open 18-22 footers when defenses collapse down low. ------------------ Rocket fuel pumps through these veins...
I am pleased with cat's play. the only part of his shot selection that i do not like is his fall away jumper. someone said that mobes needs to pass more when he's driving. well, i think he does pass enough. remember last night's play when cato got the possible 3 point play, but missed the free throw(and of course the whole barkley incident after that). it was mobley that got cato the ball. there have been more plays where cat has passed it off also. cat is improving a lot. if he keeps up the hard work, then he can surely be a great player in the league. last season, he was a second round pick; now that I look at him, I think he should have been an early first rounder.
Last year from 3 land Mobes shot 36% to 33% by Drew, this year over what 15 games it is 38% to 32% in favor of Drew. Mobley appears to be a slightly better FT% shooter, Drew higher right now from the field. Overall, not much difference in shooting skills evident so far. There are clear differences in steals and some other areas clearly in favor of Mobley. I think Mobes maybe should start, but not instead of Anderson (we need him for defense and athelticsm), instead of Williams. Mack might be a good option too unless we finally trade, he is as good as Williams in shooting and is better in other phases (quicker). It makes no sense for this guy not to either play for us or elsewhere. I am not sure if either Mobley or Mack is the answer, but Williams is certainly not. Having Chuck and Williams man the forwad positions at the same time is just too much of a defensive hole. [This message has been edited by sir scarvajal (edited December 02, 1999).]
